just wondering if my particular experience was something out of the ordinary. I'll start with my personal experience:
When I decided to buy the Tesla, i haven't even driven one. I've followed the company closely for a few years and invested in its stock, and have spent a great deal of time reading about all aspects of the car. I arranged for a test drive, then went home so i could customize my order on the website at my leisure. This was around mid Aug 2015 A Delivery Specialist was then assigned to me, lets call this person DS1.
I had chosen a 70D with Pano roof, auto steer, air suspension and 19" wheels and the electric rear hatch option. The websites indicated delivery to be "early dec 2015" at the time, and I knew enough to expect to probably have to wait till around early/mid jan. During this waiting period, firemware 7.0 was launched and people in HK received the autosteer function. not long after that, Tesla HK ninja-retracted the auto steer function. I called up DS1 to ask about details, and after 2 days of nobody picking up (a mobile number) and leaving voicemail, she finally called back. By which time, Tesla HK has put up a statement regarding this issue on the MyTesla website. Without much explaining, DS1 only asked me for more details in order to process paperwork and to sign some official documents.
I also asked about the approx delivery time of the wall charger during the phone call, since i'd like it sooner rather than later and get it installed. She said she's not 100% sure on the time but her colleagues should deliver it "soon". I mentioned i may be on vacation soon and i'd like to check with them so that the charger isn't delivered to a place with nobody to receive it. She'd get back to me she said. one week gone by with ZERO call back until i started calling again, and teh reply i got was, she'll "look into it."
My girlfriend'd like to transferred the old license plate onto the Tesla. It took me 3 phone calls to catch the DS1 and notify her.
skipping various other small incidents of an invisible DS1, and not blaming her for me dealing with paperwork whilst the car was in HK waiting, it was suffice to say i didn't fully enjoy the experience. I was patient and polite, however, understanding that Tesla HK are rather understaffed.
The day of my car collection, I went with my girlfriend together. Since they said that DS1 would be there to explain how to use the car, I thought it'd make things easier. When we got there, a person that wasn't DS1 greeted us and introduced herself as our Delivery Specialist. OK, so this DS2 had ZERO mention of DS1 whatsoever. So we mentioned that we expected DS1 to be greet us. "Oh, today's her day off" she said. I don't know, but assigning a person so specific to my order and delivery and as my single possible point of contact, i kinda expected her to be there. Or if it was so interchangable, surely it's not necessary to have such a personalized setup that, anecdotally, doesn't work?
so we got to my new car, i had the missus sit in the driving seat and DS2 in the front passenger seat explaining the 17" monitor/ car functions. Since I was pretty well versed in the car, i decided to walk around the car and do the closeup inspection against my check list, knowing that if any minor issues could be spotted, this is the time to have it done because having a seat belt that needs a minor adjustment by Tesla HK and having to wait 3-4 months would be a pain in the arse. (Luckily, the car itself had zero issues that i could find.)
so I popped back into the car to listen to DS2, who was going thru all the functions with her fingers dancing on the 17" monitor like some piano player. OK so did she really expect a new user like my girlfriend, whose only tech knowledge was having owned apple phones and a few android phones, to pick up all the location of the functions at the pace DS2 explained, like you're from the Matrix? i don't know, but since the girlfriend didn't interrupt, i didn't either. It was only afterwards that my girlfriend told me DS2 was clicking on the screen way too fast to even see where anything was. (The reason she didn't interrupt was that DS2 seemed to be in a big hurry to get it over with, and I'd probably know even to tell her about the screen afterwards)
now here's the meaty part. We go the screen to the Regen function, and DS2 says that:
1. Regen is when the car uses it's movement to recharge the battery, and it slows the car down at the same time
2. When you press on the Brake pedal regen comes on
I stopped her and asked about point two. Does regen only come on only when you press on the brake pedal? "Yes" she said. So, doesn't the car slow down quite quickly when you let go on the gas pedal? "you also experience the same in most ICE cars anyway, it's just more strongly felt in the Tesla because it's a heavier car." she said. Ok so being techically correct on one point and completely defying the laws of physics for its reasoning aside, I'm kinda glad my girlfriend didn't pick up a lot of information from her. Its much harder to know what to undo then showing my gf how to use the car almost from scratch i guess.
DS2 proceeded onto explaining about Creep mode, and says that it's so that the car is smoother when you accelerate instead of a jerky motion. OK so borderline technically correct, the best kind of correct. I interrrupted this time and said that Creep mode means that when your car is in Drive and you let go of the brake, it "Creeps" forward like a conventional ICE car. She then says she'll check with her colleagues in a bit about this and get back to me... so i asked her to also check with her colleague regarding the brake regen thing she mentioned earlier whilst she's at it.
I signed a name on the final delivery piece of paper, my gf asked for the washroom so DS2 showed us where to go. When we came out from the washroom, DS2 wasn't around the car so we went back into the reception area and sat to wait. 15 mins later, the receptionist came to us and asked if we're being seen to. DS2 has just disappeared. She came back apologisely profusely when the receptionist retrieved her, it was that point that we actually received the two keys, and drove off in the car.
She never "got back to me" regarding the Regen setup and the Creep mode thing.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
As you could imagine, I wasn't particularly impressed from start to finish. We didn't get angry at any point from ordering to collecting, but it was only because we're getting gradually closer towards getting a very desirable car.
Being a Delivery Specialist, and not knowing the one single product that you sell? And providing this absymal level of response, even to a customer who hasn't fully paid, it just surprises me. You can't really fully blame this on being understaffed. It's not a catchall reason for everything that's below standard.
Compared to previous experiences receiving an Audi, a Mercedes and even a Toyota, Tesla's HK division seems to have a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully my car continues to function without issue, and I can avoid having to deal with Tesla HK for as long as possible. Not angry, just disappointed.
How did your whole car collection experience go?
When I decided to buy the Tesla, i haven't even driven one. I've followed the company closely for a few years and invested in its stock, and have spent a great deal of time reading about all aspects of the car. I arranged for a test drive, then went home so i could customize my order on the website at my leisure. This was around mid Aug 2015 A Delivery Specialist was then assigned to me, lets call this person DS1.
I had chosen a 70D with Pano roof, auto steer, air suspension and 19" wheels and the electric rear hatch option. The websites indicated delivery to be "early dec 2015" at the time, and I knew enough to expect to probably have to wait till around early/mid jan. During this waiting period, firemware 7.0 was launched and people in HK received the autosteer function. not long after that, Tesla HK ninja-retracted the auto steer function. I called up DS1 to ask about details, and after 2 days of nobody picking up (a mobile number) and leaving voicemail, she finally called back. By which time, Tesla HK has put up a statement regarding this issue on the MyTesla website. Without much explaining, DS1 only asked me for more details in order to process paperwork and to sign some official documents.
I also asked about the approx delivery time of the wall charger during the phone call, since i'd like it sooner rather than later and get it installed. She said she's not 100% sure on the time but her colleagues should deliver it "soon". I mentioned i may be on vacation soon and i'd like to check with them so that the charger isn't delivered to a place with nobody to receive it. She'd get back to me she said. one week gone by with ZERO call back until i started calling again, and teh reply i got was, she'll "look into it."
My girlfriend'd like to transferred the old license plate onto the Tesla. It took me 3 phone calls to catch the DS1 and notify her.
skipping various other small incidents of an invisible DS1, and not blaming her for me dealing with paperwork whilst the car was in HK waiting, it was suffice to say i didn't fully enjoy the experience. I was patient and polite, however, understanding that Tesla HK are rather understaffed.
The day of my car collection, I went with my girlfriend together. Since they said that DS1 would be there to explain how to use the car, I thought it'd make things easier. When we got there, a person that wasn't DS1 greeted us and introduced herself as our Delivery Specialist. OK, so this DS2 had ZERO mention of DS1 whatsoever. So we mentioned that we expected DS1 to be greet us. "Oh, today's her day off" she said. I don't know, but assigning a person so specific to my order and delivery and as my single possible point of contact, i kinda expected her to be there. Or if it was so interchangable, surely it's not necessary to have such a personalized setup that, anecdotally, doesn't work?
so we got to my new car, i had the missus sit in the driving seat and DS2 in the front passenger seat explaining the 17" monitor/ car functions. Since I was pretty well versed in the car, i decided to walk around the car and do the closeup inspection against my check list, knowing that if any minor issues could be spotted, this is the time to have it done because having a seat belt that needs a minor adjustment by Tesla HK and having to wait 3-4 months would be a pain in the arse. (Luckily, the car itself had zero issues that i could find.)
so I popped back into the car to listen to DS2, who was going thru all the functions with her fingers dancing on the 17" monitor like some piano player. OK so did she really expect a new user like my girlfriend, whose only tech knowledge was having owned apple phones and a few android phones, to pick up all the location of the functions at the pace DS2 explained, like you're from the Matrix? i don't know, but since the girlfriend didn't interrupt, i didn't either. It was only afterwards that my girlfriend told me DS2 was clicking on the screen way too fast to even see where anything was. (The reason she didn't interrupt was that DS2 seemed to be in a big hurry to get it over with, and I'd probably know even to tell her about the screen afterwards)
now here's the meaty part. We go the screen to the Regen function, and DS2 says that:
1. Regen is when the car uses it's movement to recharge the battery, and it slows the car down at the same time
2. When you press on the Brake pedal regen comes on
I stopped her and asked about point two. Does regen only come on only when you press on the brake pedal? "Yes" she said. So, doesn't the car slow down quite quickly when you let go on the gas pedal? "you also experience the same in most ICE cars anyway, it's just more strongly felt in the Tesla because it's a heavier car." she said. Ok so being techically correct on one point and completely defying the laws of physics for its reasoning aside, I'm kinda glad my girlfriend didn't pick up a lot of information from her. Its much harder to know what to undo then showing my gf how to use the car almost from scratch i guess.
DS2 proceeded onto explaining about Creep mode, and says that it's so that the car is smoother when you accelerate instead of a jerky motion. OK so borderline technically correct, the best kind of correct. I interrrupted this time and said that Creep mode means that when your car is in Drive and you let go of the brake, it "Creeps" forward like a conventional ICE car. She then says she'll check with her colleagues in a bit about this and get back to me... so i asked her to also check with her colleague regarding the brake regen thing she mentioned earlier whilst she's at it.
I signed a name on the final delivery piece of paper, my gf asked for the washroom so DS2 showed us where to go. When we came out from the washroom, DS2 wasn't around the car so we went back into the reception area and sat to wait. 15 mins later, the receptionist came to us and asked if we're being seen to. DS2 has just disappeared. She came back apologisely profusely when the receptionist retrieved her, it was that point that we actually received the two keys, and drove off in the car.
She never "got back to me" regarding the Regen setup and the Creep mode thing.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
As you could imagine, I wasn't particularly impressed from start to finish. We didn't get angry at any point from ordering to collecting, but it was only because we're getting gradually closer towards getting a very desirable car.
Being a Delivery Specialist, and not knowing the one single product that you sell? And providing this absymal level of response, even to a customer who hasn't fully paid, it just surprises me. You can't really fully blame this on being understaffed. It's not a catchall reason for everything that's below standard.
Compared to previous experiences receiving an Audi, a Mercedes and even a Toyota, Tesla's HK division seems to have a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully my car continues to function without issue, and I can avoid having to deal with Tesla HK for as long as possible. Not angry, just disappointed.
How did your whole car collection experience go?
