I don't get this. Service doesn't reply to you at all, not after calls or sending them over 50 emails, yet they failed to fix your sunroof after 3 tries. So they must have replied to get your car in for service three times? Then I guess they stopped replying, and you then sent over 50 emails? After less than a dozen with no reply I can't see myself continuing to send over 50. There's so much hyperbole in this thread it's hard to know what to take seriously.
Ugh! See this is what I'm talking about. Instead of seeing where the problem is, you are blaming me for hyperbole. Seriously!???
So here is my experience with service so far.
- Total ownership of car, 2 years.
- First problem literally the next day, but service was responsive, and they fixed the issue. Great!
- First annual service, problem free (but well lets be honest, it's wiper blades and keyfob battery for $600).
.. all this while I had minor niggles, that I resolved mostly off of this forum or ignored. A few issues, I reported to Tesla via email (service@teslamotors ..). Those issues were never resolved, and I spent far too much time on phone to bother anymore. Minor niggles examples - calendar not synching, bluetooth audio not coming thru, charging issues, some noises, mirrors not unfolding, screens behaving weird etc. few others.
End of last year, I figured I'd get AP2. I emailed Tesla "Hey I wanna trade in my car and get a new one" - No reply! Are you serious? Yeah! I walked over to their sales showroom, December 2016 (still time to get the tax break) (Montgomery Mall, MD), and said "Hey I'm ready to buy, can someone reach out to me please". The guy gives me a number to call on a post it note! Again, really? is this really happening? Dude you should be bending over backwards to get a sale, and here I am with a $100K check, and you are giving me the runaround? Is this really happening!? In retrospect, I should thank that gentleman for not letting me buy another Tesla LOL.
Anyway, so from here on is where the general ownership experience went downhill ...
A not ignorable major niggle started - the sunroof started to rattle. Well it was rattling all the time, but it became a bit too annoying and noticeable. Also the 12v battery gave out. So I figured, hey excellent Tesla service, I'll call and they'll take care of it. These guys are awesome, one phone call, a polite person picks the phone, we discuss when I can bring my car over, sit in a loaner, and drive off, and pick a fixed car a few hours later, cool!?
I called - voicemail, no reply.
Called again - voicemail again, no reply.
Called again - voicemail again, no reply. (3 days now!)
Emailed - no reply.
Emailed AGAIN - no reply.
Drove over to the Tesla service center - was told "Nobody here can talk to you, email or call". By now I cannot believe my eyes and ears!
Got fed up, complained on social media, their SALES guy reaches out to me, and finally, I hear back from Tesla, phew!.
Okay great, so I get an appointment right? WRONG!
They tell me, the "concierge" will call you within 24 hours. I was like, huh? I just need an appointment, no massage.
Anyway, so I figured I'd wait, like a beaten concubine from 1624, by my phone, waiting for that ever important call - like I don't have better things to do. This on a working day! Actually DAYS!
3 days later, no phone call. Frustrated, I reached out to the sales person again who originally managed to get me some signs of life.
Someone calls me, tells me that they cannot fix my battery within 48 hours (I was travelling 2 days later), so I said, fine .. not ideal .. but .. - can you give me an appt. when I come back? Sure! I got an appt 3 weeks later (3 weeks to replace a 12v battery?) .. but I didn't really care since the car is functional (small risk of it not starting I guess). I mentioned sunroof also.
Hmm okay 3 weeks later, I drop my car off. As always, I'm given a total beater model S, but hey at least I have wheels. (I once asked for a better loaner - which was promptly denied. I figured, they don't owe me one, so whatever!) We drive around with a tech in the car, problem with the sunroof verified. They attempt to fix, battery fixed, sunroof still broken. Another appt. Yep, sunroof is WORSE now. Did they actually fix it?
Sooo .. I finally ask them "Hey my 2 year service is right around, can you please really really fix the sunroof this time?", meanwhile I have free music from the roof .. anyway!
They said sure! (That appt. is still pending). Anyway, then what really burned my noodle, is when they put a fine print in there, that they want to charge me, on TOP of the service, for what should be covered under the service. Good thing I noticed that fine print, how sneaky of them to slide that in. So I politely mentioned to them that this is not right. And they point me to some stupid PDF on their site that is not part of the service contract, was never pointed out when they charged my card, but is somehow suddenly relevant! After going back and forth with their service manager (3 emails), and basically hitting a brick wall .. it appears that this is company policy, not much she can do about it ..
So for this, I sent Tesla (non service) an email. Mostly as a complaint to express my dissatisfaction. No reply. I sent another email, still no reply. I emailed every damn Tesla email address I could find - STILL no reply. Eventually out of complete frustration, I emailed
[email protected]
And I got the following autoreply,
Due to a substantial increase in the volume of unsolicited email, my address has changed. Please contact [email protected] to reach me. My apologies for the inconvenience.
Seriously try it! Email that account, see what it returns. Is this a joke?
Fine I did use a little hyperbole.
I did not send them FIFTY emails, I sent them TWENTY SEVEN (I just counted!) UNREPLIED EMAILS There you go, I took out all hyperbole! Happy? Are they ignoring me? Are they fed up of me as a customer? Well dammit why didn't you say so before you cashed my check? Heck even comcast has better customer service! Get real! Also there have been instances where I've had to ask for the service invoice for DAYS before they email it to me. I really don't want to have to follow up on these unclosed loops in life, these unclosed loops in life are extremely draining, especially when I have other things to focus on in life. When I buy an Apple product, the invoice is in my inbox 3 seconds later - I like things that work!. Good customer service to me is "I reach out, they fix" .. if they cannot fix immediately .. they tell me by when they'll fix, minimize disruption, and then they fix. Good customer service is not, I reach out .. and maybe they'll reply? Actually usually they won't! And after lots of pains when they do, they don't actually fix things.
As a comparison car ownership experience (personal), Many years ago, I had
200 miles left on my
Honda Accord's warranty, and I discovered a small crack in the leather. They replaced the whole seat, free of charge, no questions. I didn't even ask them to do this, but they did. I was an ultra poor person then, so I was completely flabbergasted. My other car after that, Acura, similar service experience, although I detested visiting them for oil changes, but whatever! They had wifi and coffee, just like Tesla. My fun/nice car, an Aston Martin, serviced by Bentley Tyson's - absolutely top notch customer service.
And here is Tesla, a car that cost me 5x of my Honda Accord, that wants to nickle and dime me on TOP of the service DURING warranty, for what SHOULD be covered! And they have a hard time returning phone calls, and replying to emails. And then they go bragging about top notch customer service. GIVE ME A BREAK!
And before you point fingers at me, let me add 2 more points,
- My interaction with Tesla has been that of patience and utter politeness. Not a single cuss word exchanged, (although many crossed my mind).
- Any time I have actually talked with someone at Tesla, they have been helpful and professional, but the issue is getting to talk to them, and their general policies.
So please tell me, now that you have a full account of my full Tesla ownership experience, would you call this a "good ownership experience"?
Honestly, I feel I've been lucky, no major issues, no accidents. But given how "awesome" and "responsive" Tesla has been, my Tesla-satisfactiono-meter is showing a 3/10 right now. No hyperbole. Pinky Promise!
So at this point, I have stopped recommending Tesla to my friends. My referrals maxed out every single time except since the start of this year. I usually stay quiet, but if someone asks me for my opinion on Tesla, I tell them how it is. Good and bad.
Awesome car, company has major issues.
