Inside sales delivery advisor - Radio silence

[Camera-Cruiser]

Ok, I don’t know to call the inside sales advisors, or delivery advisors, ISAs, or IDAs, but that doesn’t matter, because their communication is bizarre, If it can be called communication.

I got the email that says good news, your car is on the way, here is your VIN etc. It was a white AWD, black interior, and 19” wheels. ISA from Nevada reaches out, to set delivery date and get my money figured out.

I call her, leave voice mail, and get a call back within the hour and she congratulates me on the car. All great. I actually tell her I’m thinking of switching to the P, and want to go test drive. She says sure, let her know. I drive the P (I shouldn’t have) and decide to switch. After the test drive I ask the sales advisor if I could switch and not pay the extra $ for paint and delivery since it had gone up. He said, surely, let’s go inside and work it out. I had a meeting and told him I would just let my ISA know.

I sent the email, brought up the pricing, and want to add my referral code to get the free supercharging and wall charger (you get both right?). I get an answer back the next day which is perfectly acceptable time-wise, but instead of answering the questions, it was who, and specifically who told me that I would not have to pay the new rates? It was weird. I answered as best I could, but the reality was that it was the person I test drove with and a couple of other sales advisors standing around. I was clear and said, “they said we could work it out” and wanted me to go over to the computer, but had to leave. I told her working it out meant “yes you will not have to pay the increase” to me, but their interpretation could have been let’s get his order switched, and then find out that it’s not possible. I don’t know.

I get no response to my question. So I inquire again. The gist is I want the PAWD, PUP, BLACK INTERIOR, and my referral code applied and not to be upcharged for the new paint and delivery fees.

 

[Camera-Cruiser]

Ok, I don’t know to call the inside sales advisors, or delivery advisors, ISAs, or IDAs, but that doesn’t matter, because their communication is bizarre, If it can be called communication.

I got the email that says good news, your car is on the way, here is your VIN etc. It was a white AWD, black interior, and 19” wheels. ISA from Nevada reaches out, to set delivery date and get my money figured out.

I call her, leave voice mail, and get a call back within the hour and she congratulates me on the car. All great. I actually tell her I’m thinking of switching to the P, and want to go test drive. She says sure, let her know. I drive the P (I shouldn’t have) and decide to switch. After the test drive I ask the sales advisor if I could switch and not pay the extra $ for paint and delivery since it had gone up. He said, surely, let’s go inside and work it out. I had a meeting and told him I would just let my ISA know.

I sent the email, brought up the pricing, and want to add my referral code to get the free supercharging and wall charger (you get both right?). I get an answer back the next day which is perfectly acceptable time-wise, but instead of answering the questions, it was who, and specifically who told me that I would not have to pay the new rates? It was weird. I answered as best I could, but the reality was that it was the person I test drove with and a couple of other sales advisors standing around. I was clear and said, “they said we could work it out” and wanted me to go over to the computer, but had to leave. I told her working it out meant “yes you will not have to pay the increase” to me, but their interpretation could have been let’s get his order switched, and then find out that it’s not possible. I don’t know.

I get no response to my question. So I inquire again. The gist is I want the PAWD, PUP, BLACK INTERIOR, and my referral code applied and not to be upcharged for the new paint and delivery fees.

Ugh, I posted before finishing. The rest of my diatribe...

My email tone is super nice, explaining I understand how busy they are and she has been great, other than the weird question, but I don’t mention it. I hear nothing for 24 hours and all I get is your request has been submitted and we will get back to you in 4-6 weeks.

What?

Does that mean you’ll let me know if I don’t have to pay the price bump for the paint and delivery after you interrogate all the sales reps, and then ask If Istill want to place the order for the PAWD? Or does that mean that she ordered a new car for me as I requested and that I’ll have a VIN and maybe car in 4-6 weeks? Which is what my subsequent email said nicely without mentioning interrogating anyone.

Radio silence for a week now and the VIN I had is gone from the order delivery screen, but they are still asking me to ACH funds.

So anyone have a clue? Maybe I am 100% filtered out of her email until the next delivery VIN shows up?

Maybe all the problems are easily explained, that their order management system puts you in a class, and once you’ve gone from one class to the other, poof your gone. But that doesn’t explain not returning calls, which have all been nice-like, and only two after the initial question.”Please give me a call back, I just need 30 seconds to 1 minutes time for my answer.”

Thoughts?

Just good to vent, and yes I could be driving a nice white AWD by now.

 

[tjkessler]

It's bizarre for me, I have a schedule home delivery date on Monday, but no way to pay. Have both advisors hello, I would like to give you $60K tesla, just tell me how??

 

[bkmartin]

I have complete radio silence as well. Very frustrating. At least, your IDA communicated for a bit.

 

[Peteski]

I guess this is the sort of thing that happens when you have a massive demand vs supply situation. I'm guessing here that you are going to have to pay the new rates because there is a long line of other people queuing up to pay if you back out. That or you are a victim of Tesla's poor internal comms and procedures. Or perhaps a bit of both!

Why don't you go back to the sales guys who arranged the test drive and discuss it with them face-to-face? I know that's a bit more hassle, but that's what I would do at this point.

 

[alchymia]

Yea my IDA is pretty useless at this point as well, definitely the most frustrating part of the process.

 

[rdlink]

A few weeks back I was considering switching from the AWD to P. Ultimately, after test driving the P I decided I didn't feel the extra $11K was worth it for my needs.

However, before going to the store to test drive the P I spoke with Tesla customer service on their toll free number. The woman I spoke with told me, with 100% confidence that since I had placed my original order on 6/28, and making changes doesn't generate a completely new order I would only pay more for things I actually changed. So, for instance since I wasn't changing the paint color I wouldn't pay more for it. She spoke on the issue with the authority of someone who had answered the question many times before.

Not sure how helpful this would be, but perhaps you should call the Tesla toll free number and discuss it with them. You'll have to wait on hold for a bit, but you will get someone who will attempt to answer your questions, and will spend as much time on the phone with you as necessary to do so. The last three times or so that I have called the number my hold time has only ranged between 10-20 minutes. 888.518.3752

 

[whatthe2]

I was working with an Order Advisor to upgrade from AWD to Performance AWD. I still had the edit button, but had been in the store at Park Meadows and thought I'd let the guys I talked to get "credit" for upgrading me to P, so I let them make the change internally (big mistake). First they said they needed to make a new reservation so they charged me another $2,500 and said they would move my existing $2,500 and $1,000 to the new order. I thought they knew what they were doing so I let them go ahead and do it. I then realized that a new order was going to have higher prices so I contacted the OA and asked him to make sure I would receive my original pricing.

He called me back and said unfortunately since it's a new order I would have to pay the higher prices. I told him I might as well have just edited the order on my home page and keep my old pricing. I told him to go back and verify, because I should be able to receive the old pricing. He contacted me and said I was right and I should have the old pricing. He said he was canceling the new order and having my original reservation upgraded to P.

That was on Wednesday and it still doesn't show my order being upgraded on my homepage. I still had the edit button this morning, so I went ahead and changed it to P. My order immediately updated and my Delivery Date changed to by the end of September. It was originally Sep '18 to Nov '18.

Funny thing is, I received and email on Thursday saying my car was ready for delivery (Sep. 26-30). I asked the IDA who sent me the email if it was for AWD or P, since it was a day after I made the switch. The IDA never responded so I asked my OA and he said it was for the AWD since my upgrade was still working through the system and I would be contacted when a new VIN is assigned.

Bottom line, if you still have the Edit button, use it.

 

[brandonee916]

I can tell you from experience that your final MVPA will be calculated with the pricing from your original order date. I tried doing changes via email, etc... no responses. I got frustrated waiting and did the change on the website. There was a lot of back and forth with Tesla since the website showed all the higher prices after I made the change to add the performance package to mine, but in the end it was all the lower dollar amounts based on the original order date. If that helps ease things for you at all

 

[b_ack51]

From what I’ve read and seen your original order date will keep the prices as long as you don’t change anything that price has changed. (Paint, etc)

Their system takes awhile and remember they’re understaffed. There are good ISAs , unfortunately they’re dealing with 100+ people calling or emailing about their car. Then those ISAs have to call 2-4 people inside Tesla to find out about the car.

It’ll work out in the end. 99% confident

 

[wbhokie]

I have had the opposite experience. My IDA responds almost immediately, and has been extremely helpful, but maybe it depends on the person or the questions being asked.

 

[blackeducator]

From what I’ve read and seen your original order date will keep the prices as long as you don’t change anything that price has changed. (Paint, etc)

Their system takes awhile and remember they’re understaffed. There are good ISAs , unfortunately they’re dealing with 100+ people calling or emailing about their car. Then those ISAs have to call 2-4 people inside Tesla to find out about the car.

It’ll work out in the end. 99% confident

--------------------
Indeed. I've had the positive experience of working with two service centers that have been around a awhile: Dania Beach, Fl and Brooklyn, NY. I picked up my Model 3 in early June at Dania Beach and had to come back because of a minor paint issue (probably a nick from its travel across the country) that was resolved within a day... and they gave me a Model S loaner. And in Brooklyn in August I needed a new Key card. Done. No Charge. And they checked the tire pressure since they knew I just completed a 1200 mile+ road trip. It was a busy place, but I was out in and hour.

I have encountered sales reps who knew less than I did about the Model 3 (Atlanta and Boca Raton, Fl). These were new sales spots last year. I'm sure the reps are up to speed now.

The exponential growth of the Tesla company will result is very uneven quality in sales and service. They seem to be on top of it... trying to bring quality control at the point of sales and service. If we see little improvement by the Spring of 2019, then Tesla has a BIG problem that can bring down the company more than the idiosyncrasies of Musk.

 

[Camera-Cruiser]

Thanks for all the feedback. Still radio silence today, and I did try calling the general 888 number about 10:30 this morning, but the wait exceeded an hour. I’ll try tomorrow at 9.

Then got a flat in the S, called roadside and waited on hold for them because of high volume only to be told that since I was outside of my warranty (110,000) miles that I would have to pay for them to bring me a tire at $90 an hour, portal to portal, so expect $300 or so.

They suggested AAA, which I have, but that is just a tow, and they always seem to not bring a flatbed and I have to wait again, so I popped open the can of goop and air and was rolling again in 10 minutes.

Flats aren’t Tesla’s fault, but I was reminded of the value of a warranty. Guy on phone was helpful, and apologetic. Good customer service, even though I passed.

 

[sperkin]

I got an email asking me to schedule an appointment for pickup. I replied back on 9/6 but still no reply from ISA on delivery date or loan app. Totally different experience than my 1st Model 3. Maybe they are just swamped with this weekends sign and drive event.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

The Vegas crew is new, overworked, and seem to be the weakest link in the delivery chain. I had my local store upgrade my order as they have an incentive (Store rewards for Performance orders) and the owner advisor always got back to me with answers to my questions. Perhaps it's worth a trip to the store and talk to that OA. You'll get radio silence from the Vegas ISA until you get another VIN and they have to coordinate delivery. That was 3-4 weeks for me.

 

[arcanexvi]

My delivery is less than a week away and I still haven't heard from anyone from the local delivery center. Direct dialing the center puts me to a voicemail box that's full. 11 days and still no trade-in value... Starting to get a little concerned.

 

[willa1975]

My delivery is less than a week away and I still haven't heard from anyone from the local delivery center. Direct dialing the center puts me to a voicemail box that's full. 11 days and still no trade-in value... Starting to get a little concerned.

That is disturbing.

I submitted my trade-in on Monday night and got an answer on Thursday morning.

They really need to sort this out. It’s one thing when you are just waiting for a match but, when you already have a delivery scheduled, they need to do a MUCH better job of responding to people who are understandably apprehensive about getting all of the i’s dotted and t’s crossed so that they can actually take possession of the car they have waited so long to get.

I think they have actually gotten worse regarding this than they were a month ago when my first delivery date was cancelled at the last minute.

 

[Camera-Cruiser]

Just an update:

Call the 888 number on your order page. I don’t have it in front of me, and it’s the national line, so you will have a long wait. I did it yesterday and the wait was over an hour, so I bailed. I called at 9am this morning, the wait was 15 minutes, and I got all my answers.

No additional fees on paint and delivery, my order was changed, and my referral code applied. The Rep was awesome. She both apologized for the lack of communication from the IDA and explained the process from original order to delivery, including when a VIN gets assigned to the “sled” as it moves through the factory.

She told me the IDAs (inside delivery agents) have one job, get the buyers to delivery with the knowledge and paper work they need to make final payment and take delivery of the car. This is to avoid holdups at the actual delivery centers. They each deal with over 100 accounts per day. They really have no knowledge of costs etc. and if there are any additional fees or not (that’s sales), so once a customer switches from no longer getting a car delivered now, to changing an order, they really do switch gears. The rep said that should have been communicated better to me, and I agree, but it’s cleared up now.

The rep even sent me an email saying things are good, and even copied it to the people in the referral department, so that there is a dated trail of everything.

So give the 888 number a call. Have your reservation number ready, and you will be good to go. Other than the wait on hold.

Give up on your IDA for now, they just prep you for delivery. Seriously, if your switching your config, or have done so, call sales.