I've loved Tesla for 7 years. But after years of abuse, I'm out

[Havoc]

I bought a Model S last November to replace a high-end Lexus. There have been a couple of issues that required assistance from Tesla and I was amazed by the Tesla service folks. They clearly have no interest in serving their customers. I really miss the customer service at Lexus. Heck, my wife gets better customer service from our Honda dealer for her minivan.

When Tesla gets some competition in the EV market they will need to change their service organization from the ground up. People who buy $100k cars don't expect to be lied to (as I was) and generally they have the ability to go elsewhere. And they will if Tesla doesn't change its attitude to customer service. After my last experience at the SC I'm ready to change brand. I'm looking forward to seeing what is around next year.

 

[amund7]

Model S owner since 2014 and almost 5 years. Lots of conflicting experiences, but it all worked out in the end. Absolutely loved the car. Made an app for it.

Got one of the first Model 3's in Norway late Feb 19. Blue LR AWD. Loved the car. Paid top dollar (close to today's full self driving price) for autopilot, or EAP as they called it then. No FSD at that point. But 1 week later price of the car went down, autopilot was included for free, result was for the price I paid for my car I would have gotten FSD and autopilot. I went to Tesla, there was a bit of a line of people with the same concerns. Bear in mind, this line is now the first adopters of Model 3s in Europe, this was only 14 days after the first European Model 3s arrived. Call us early adopters, or call us morons, I'm not sure which we deserve.

We had 14 days of free returns due to Norwegian online sales laws. I was reassured by the Tesla employee that I would get a free upgrade to FSD when the software was ready. I also got the same thing in writing later so I relaxed.

However, one older guy in that same line wanted to return his car, because of the same reasons. He got no message he would get FSD upgraded, even if he was in the same room as me. 1 week old car. They told him, the rules said you could return after 14 days 'if you hadn't test driven'. And they could show that he had test driven a Model S several years before. So he was denied the return.

Thinking back, I should have returned my car right then and there, just out of pity for the old man. (I didn't, because I loved the car so much, and had eagerly awaited it for 2 years or so)

Story is not over yet. About 3 months later they announced trailer hitch for Model 3! Of course I asked Tesla to retrofit, and of course that wasn't possible. Tesla logic. (Unheard of in the rest of the auto world!) After 3 sleepless nights (we moved from a city apartment to a house right before I got the 3, and I didn't anticipate the constant need to haul sofas, TVs, bikes, lawn movers and snow blowers, and also the tragically small trunk opening of the 3 compared to S) I decided to sell the car and get a new one with a hitch. Swapped cars with a small loss (lost FSD pretty much). Been happily hauling stuff ever since.

Oh but the story isn't over yet. The guy who bought my first 3 SMS'ed me. He had sold the car to the next guy. Next guy didn't see FSD anywhere. After a bit of sweating, I finally found the email from Tesla confirming the FSD upgrade. Hope they get it. I suppose they won't. I hear over here, Tesla suddenly started to delete software packages when used car dealers sell Teslas to the next guy. When confronted, Tesla claim the software only belongs to the original owner. So I guess there must be some owners out there with 3 or 4 FSD packages in their account, but only 1 car... does this mean I should get the FSD they took away from the 2nd owner installed in my current 3? Or doesn't it fit... I wonder where that money goes. At least it disappears from us owners. Swoosh.

 

[Nessy]

Sorry to hear about your problems, I have been a model S owner for 4 years and have not had any problems what so ever. I'm taking delivery of my new model S in a few days. When placing my order, I noticed it was more of a hassle then it was 4 years ago. That said it could be a result of COVID19 and the effect it has had on business including Tesla. I hope they don't fall victim to their growing pains and forget the ingredients that made them successful in the first place. On the other hand if their service, attitude and customer relations go south, then I too will make a change.

 

[VICTES]

Ook ik beneen op en top Tesla fan , tenminste als het om de auto gaat , in mijn geval een model S.
De service in Amsterdam is in ieder geval schandalig. Je wordt er gewoon niet serieus genomen en sommige werknemers hebben gewoon geen manieren in hoe ze hun klanten te woord staan. Ik ben er diverse keren geweest, onderandere 4x voor nieuwe aandrijfassen.
Ik ben er geen nooit weg gegaan zonder dat er een klant was die flink boos was.
De laatste keer dat ik er was voelde ik me ook heel erg geïntimideerd en gekleineerd door 1 van de medewerkers. En uiteindelijk hebben ze mijn probleem niet eens opgelost. En dit was echt vóór de Corona maatregelen. De eerst volgende keer durf ik geen afspraak meer te maken in Amsterdam terwijl ik van nature echt mijn mannetje sta.
De mijste Tesla rijders hebben hier voorheen bmw,mercedes en audi gereden. Als Tesla niet heel snel veranderingen doorzet in hun service weet ik zeker dat als die andere merken door hebben hoe je elektrische auto's moet maken Tesla kan inpakken. Dat zou echt teleurstellend zijn!! Mijn Tesla is begin 2021 4 jaar oud maar ze doen nu al moeilijk over garantie om de meest stomzinnige reden die niemand begrijpt.

 

[Amy in Philly]

Well, there you go. You haven't been charged for warranty fixes. I wasn't for years, and then I was. What is it, Russian Roulette? And saying the service was great other than not being able to speak to a human being is like saying the food was great other than the glass in the omelette.

I gave to agree with the original post. The service level has steadily decreased over the years. I've had my Model S since 2013. I was promised pickup and delivery for service. It was great for the first few years, then they all of a sudden stopped that service. On top of that, there are no more loaners. What's worse is that the service team doesn't even care. That is probably the straw that broke the camel's back for me. If you're buying a car in that price range, you expect a certain level of service. I love my Tesla, but I can't live with the service. Other high end manufacturers are now coming out with electric cars and I know their customer service is what Tesla's used to be. Unless something changes, my next car will not be a Tesla.

 

[cbkyro]

There are some valid experienced here and I blame you not for feeling this way at all. I've only been in the family since December 2018. My #1 problem at this point is the company charged different customers different prices for software.

Purchasing and taking ownership in December 2018, I paid more for the vehicle than someone buying 3 months before and after me. Costs and prices change so that has been accepted. However, software pricing is more expensive for me than it was/is for those same other customers. Not to mention premium connectivity added as insult.

 

[rcdjbp]

I put a deposit on a Model S over a decade ago. I bought a Signature model (one of the first 1,000 MS made) and became an outspoken evangelist for the company. For the fist year, it was a whirlwind romance and I probably sold a dozen+ cars myself and Tesla treated me like a member of the family. A few years in, things started to get rocky as Tesla got more and more busy but I understood. 100,000 owners vying for its attention made for a different dynamic. But then the Model X and eventually the model 3 came into the picture and Tesla started to be more distant and more cold. At first it was just a lack of personal touch but over time, it became neglect.
Now, its an outright abusive relationship. Tesla literally doesn't pick up the phone (this is not a cute relationship analogy- they don't pick up the phone). They discontinued the "owner experience" group (they used to address owner issues) because... who cares? They cut out the loaner program. They lied constantly ("we're increasing the loaner program! We're building a new service facility just for Model 3! We're selling features we can't deliver!") . They started charging $200 "deductible" for issues that are covered by warranty (after 7 years of not doing so and never making it clear it was even a possibility). I wrote a plaintive email into the great void of "[email protected]" as a last hope that somehow Tesla cared enough to at least lie to me about all this. No response at all.
Tesla, which started out with customer service akin to Apple had slowly devolved into a company with customer service worse than Spectrum (or any other monopolistic company). I guess somewhere along the way they realized that treating customers well was not its best strategy to keep its stock price high. Any resources that had been put to serving customers was reallocated to sales. The lie they tell that they are "trying" is as insulting as a spouse telling you they're "trying" not to cheat. Trying is as simple as investing in customer service (or not divesting what was already in place).
If you've been a Tesla owner for more than 5 years, I can't imagine that you too haven't felt the same neglect and abuse.

I absolutely hate Tesla. I love the car but hate the company. And that is awful. Feels like saying I hate an ex-lover because I truly did love this company for years. I learned to love electric cars and I'm hopeful that some company that still prioritizes customers will make a great one. Otherwise, I may just be stuck with an ICE car because as much as I love electric, I refuse to be treated like crap. Tesla should be ashamed of itself for letting its customers down and for shaming its own product in the process.

It's business brother. Take it or leave it. Try not to let the ego interfere

 

[nelsonfamily]

Hummmm... I wonder why you are being treated badly and I am not? We own a 2018 Model X. We love it. We use the Portland, Oregon service center and they have been beyond spectacularly good for us. We do use their App for interactions. And it has worked very well for us. Our maintenance issues have been resolved well. One was on warranty and was major - but it was handled just fine.

The upgrades they are making to the car have us thinking about trading for a newer model X. (Waiting for a bit more range and, maybe, grid interaction).

 

[SmartElectric]

Paid for FSD with wild promises from sales and Elon. Still sitting on HW2.0 with no upgrade in sight. Advisors say wait

Why bother the service advisors, you are already a member here, it was a 5 second google search to find:

#1

Full Self-Driving Computer Installations

When will the FSD Computer upgrade be available for me?
Owners with Full Self-Driving Capability can check when the FSD Computer upgrade is expected to be available by confirming their region and configuration.

Region Configuration Expected Availability
North America Autopilot Computer: 2.5
Built after March 2018 Scheduling
Europe Autopilot Computer: 2.5
Built after March 2018 Model S, Model X - Scheduling
Model 3 - May
Asia Pacific Autopilot Computer: 2.5
Built after March 2018 Model 3 - Scheduling
Model S, Model X - May
Global Autopilot Computer: 2.0 and 2.5
Built March 2018 or earlier May

Was May timeframe for your 2.0HW, but certainly that moved back to later in the year.
You will be contacted when it's ready as per the thousands of posts on this subject.


and
#2

Only one known 2.0HW upgrade to FSD HW3 has been done to date, and that is posted :
Honolulu SC just completed my MCU2 Upgrade

 

[Zythryn]

I put a deposit on a Model S over a decade ago. I bought a Signature model (one of the first 1,000 MS made) and became an outspoken evangelist for the company. For the fist year, it was a whirlwind romance and I probably sold a dozen+ cars myself and Tesla treated me like a member of the family. A few years in, things started to get rocky as Tesla got more and more busy but I understood. 100,000 owners vying for its attention made for a different dynamic. But then the Model X and eventually the model 3 came into the picture and Tesla started to be more distant and more cold. At first it was just a lack of personal touch but over time, it became neglect.
Now, its an outright abusive relationship. Tesla literally doesn't pick up the phone (this is not a cute relationship analogy- they don't pick up the phone). They discontinued the "owner experience" group (they used to address owner issues) because... who cares? They cut out the loaner program. They lied constantly ("we're increasing the loaner program! We're building a new service facility just for Model 3! We're selling features we can't deliver!") . They started charging $200 "deductible" for issues that are covered by warranty (after 7 years of not doing so and never making it clear it was even a possibility). I wrote a plaintive email into the great void of "[email protected]" as a last hope that somehow Tesla cared enough to at least lie to me about all this. No response at all.
Tesla, which started out with customer service akin to Apple had slowly devolved into a company with customer service worse than Spectrum (or any other monopolistic company). I guess somewhere along the way they realized that treating customers well was not its best strategy to keep its stock price high. Any resources that had been put to serving customers was reallocated to sales. The lie they tell that they are "trying" is as insulting as a spouse telling you they're "trying" not to cheat. Trying is as simple as investing in customer service (or not divesting what was already in place).
If you've been a Tesla owner for more than 5 years, I can't imagine that you too haven't felt the same neglect and abuse.

I absolutely hate Tesla. I love the car but hate the company. And that is awful. Feels like saying I hate an ex-lover because I truly did love this company for years. I learned to love electric cars and I'm hopeful that some company that still prioritizes customers will make a great one. Otherwise, I may just be stuck with an ICE car because as much as I love electric, I refuse to be treated like crap. Tesla should be ashamed of itself for letting its customers down and for shaming its own product in the process.

I am very sorry you feel you have had such a poor experience.
I have been buying Tesla products for about 10 years now. I have experienced the changes as the company grew, and expanded, and learned.
I agree with many others that Tesla’s communication is its Achilles heel.

However, I have never stopped feeling more appreciated than I have by any other auto company.
Does a company making 100s of thousands of cars a year operated differently than a company that makes 700 cars a year? Certainly. And yes, customers have to deal with those changes.

I can only hope that your experience is in the vast minority, while customers with good experiences is in the majority.
I also hope you write to Tesla and let them know of the issues you have faced so they can address them, and prevent other customers from experiencing them.

 

[Roys3]

That's life.
For customers - When you're a baby it's all oohs, ahhs, and plenty of attention. When you're old you get kicked to the curb.
For companies - When you're starting it's kiss-butt time. When you're established it's kick-*sugar* time.

Maybe I'm overgeneralizing... I too am no fan of Tesla corporate, but still love the product and the mobile service.

 

[Battpower]

chatbot can connect to live agent once the simple FAQ are out of the way

May be ok for automated account services but beyond 'give me an update', 'pay my bills' and 'talk to agent' there's no point to them imo.

Of course I'm always ready to see improvement, but can ony see as I find. I did acknowledge that the best use does seem to be those level one questions that really don't need to deliver more than access to information. Personally, by the time I give up trying to find problem solving information I'm way beyond the 'turn it off and on again' stage and need access to 3rd or 4th level input!

 

[SigGuy]

I can only hope that your experience is in the vast minority, while customers with good experiences is in the majority.
I also hope you write to Tesla and let them know of the issues you have faced so they can address them, and prevent other customers from experiencing them.

Hi Zythryn. Judging from the response here, my experience does not put me in the minority. And really, what I intended to illustrate is not that I had a bad experience but rather that Tesla has a bad system that is likely to lead to many bad experiences. Mistakes can happen and people can have a bad day. But if you don't have a system to respond effectively to customers in all circumstances, you will end up with a lot of bad outcomes. That doesn't mean everyone will have a bad experience. It means that bad experiences will be way more common than they should be.

Oh and as mentioned, I did write to Tesla. I received no response.

 

[Battpower]

If you haven't experienced a problem, that's great.

That's significant.

 

[Sandi]

I could not agree with this more. I have had my Model S for 5 years and originally sang its praises from the rooftops. Now I could literally weep everytime I get in the bloody thing. Nothing works and I am just advised to book a service and tell them what the problem is, then they will cancel the appointment and look at the problems. This is because there is no one to answer the phone. I am in Switzerland and I literally have no idea anymore who I can even report them to. I am driving around in a 100,000 franc car that has no music, rarely any navigation system, never able to look at anything online. They changed the dog mode to the lowest temperature of 19 degrees, which when it is hot, is not cool enough. I reboot the car anything between 5-10 times a week. I got the car as I travel all over Europe but our last trip to England was a horror. We had no internet which meant the car couldn’t calculate the charging stations so we had no idea where we needed to charge. The stress was horrendous. I have just paid 2500 for a new screen but I won’t spend another penny on it. I did get to speak to the manager of the while of Switzerland and he was amazing and I thought ge would finally sort the issues out. Then a week later he didn’t reply to an email and I found out he had left Tesla. Honestly I look at my Tesla and it is stunning but the stress and the hopelessness I feel about the situation and the anger at the amount of money it cost, just isn’t worth it. If anyone has any ideas who I can contact, please let me know, but the reality is, no one cares less

 

[Sandi]

Hi Zythryn. Judging from the response here, my experience does not put me in the minority. And really, what I intended to illustrate is not that I had a bad experience but rather that Tesla has a bad system that is likely to lead to many bad experiences. Mistakes can happen and people can have a bad day. But if you don't have a system to respond effectively to customers in all circumstances, you will end up with a lot of bad outcomes. That doesn't mean everyone will have a bad experience. It means that bad experiences will be way more common than they should be.

Oh and as mentioned, I did write to Tesla. I received no response.

I know this problem too.

 

[Battpower]

Mijn Tesla is begin 2021 4 jaar oud maar ze doen nu al moeilijk over garantie om de meest stomzinnige reden die niemand begrijpt.
My Tesla is 4 years old in early 2021, but they're already struggling to get a guarantee for the stupidest reason no one understands.

Can you give more information?

 

[Sandi]

I have had a variety of Tesla for years now (since early 2013) and I have still yet to see this degradation of service. I guess it must be a regional thing. My local service center still has Tesla loaners and communication though the app is timely and concise.

Lucky you

 

[Sandi]

I'm not quite sure how recent the final communication straw landed on your back, but hasn't Tesla been forced to furlough a bunch of employees due to the pandemic? That could be the reason recent communication is lacking, I should think.

My situation with Tesla started on July 4th 2019 and it still isn’t resolved and never likely to be because no one cares less

 

[Sandi]

Tesla service and customer support is atrocious. At this point if I get the car back from the service center and it's less broken than when I brought it that's a win.

Yes, exactly that! I took my Tesla in for a service on July 4th last year and it has been a complete nightmare ever since