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

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There are times when our situations do not fall into Tesla's cookie-cutter app.

Like when I try to enter my address. There is no option that the app will accept. In the end I had to use my dad's address 3 miles away because his address matched the required format! I am in a slightly rural location in the UK, but I do have a post code that works fine for everything else!

In the end it made no difference because my request got cancelled and I had to go back to trying to get through to Tesla by phone.
 
Second, if the work is covered by warranty then why are you paying?? That makes no sense. It’ll be in writing. Show the Tesla documentation the work is covered. Sue if that SC won’t recognize the legal documentation.
I own a 2013 P85 and can confirm that Tesla’s service has gone downhill. When I got the extended plan in June 2013, the plan indicated that there was a $200 deductible for the first occurrence of a covered repair, and that subsequent repairs for the same thing would NOT incur the deductible a second or subsequent time. The plan also indicated that the $200 deductible applied to all repairs at the same time (meaning if you brought in the car for repair of, for example, the touchscreen and the HVAC, the amount due from the owner was $200 and not $400).

I recently have had different service centers (I travel extensively) try to charge for a second or subsequent repair of a previously paid repair (e.g., passenger door handle failed and was replaced, incurring $200 deductible and a few months later the handle in the same passenger door failed and Tesla attempted to charge the deductible a second time).

I've also recently had a service center try to tell me the $200 deductible is applicable to each repair, meaning the above-mentioned touchscreen and HVAC repair would cost the owner $400.

At some time after I bought the car the policy terms changed. The service centers only know what the current policy terms are, and not the terms you agreed to when buying the policy.

My biggest complaint is the inability of being able to reach a person to talk to, the batterygate issue and the chargegate issue.

Today, the metal “washer” secured to the backside of the charge port door came off, so the charge port door will not stay closed. I’m on my fifth or sixth charge port door. I don’t want to go in for service at this time (or have mobile service come to me) and want to ask Tesla what glue or tape to use to re-secure the “washer” to the backside of the charge port door myself, as I recall Tesla had issues with certain adhesives. Simple problem and simple fix. But there is no way to ask this question other than by scheduling an appointment for service and hoping they will call to discuss the issue. That’s really nit acceptable.
 
My experience concurs with most of what has been written above, Tesla service was so good in Australia in 2016/17 that I found myself telling them they didn't need to wash it, they didn't need to give me a loaner, I would come and get the car they didn't need to send it back to me on a flatbed, because I wanted them to save money and stay alive. Then Elon really put the squeeze on numbers in late 17, early 18 and they have been forced to operate on too few people since. The ones that I deal with are still trying to do their best to provide great customer service, but they are so overloaded they are hard to get hold of, and the phone "never" answers. As long as they stay alive and keep supporting my P85D I am willing to live with growing pains, the car is so far beyond anything else available you can forgive a lot just for the joy of driving it.
 
Yep that will become a problem.
It like complaining that you can’t talk to neighbors on the party telephone connection because everybody has their own phone line. Technology evolves and some people don’t want to.

The OP who has a 2012 Model S and dislikes current service is doomed, no parts, minimal experience and aging hardware. It’s like trying to maintain a wooden boat or a 1930s car. The support people work elsewhere. Yeah, stuff changes, people age and gray hair may arrive. It’s difficult to avoid.

yes it’s only 8 years old, but how many people have 8 year old phones or computers. Circuit boards and car networks in the Tesla are likely much different now. Even the mechanical Replacement parts are likely limited.

It’s less stress to upgrade the Tesla to a current Model S than it is to keep a 2012 in great condition. Just sayin....

I communicate with Tesla service over the app. It takes a day or two,but it works.
A car is not like a cellphone, tv, computer, etc. A car is not thrown away after 5 years, 8 years or even 10 years. I read recently that the average age of vehicles on the road in the US is 14 years. Yes, many cars are junked at a younger age (usually due to an accident or fire), but there are many, many cars on the roads in the US that are much older than 14 years. So, I think it is inappropriate to equate an 8 year old car to an 8 year old cellphone, tv, computer, etc.
 
I have a 2018 Model 3 Performance. I’ve always been treated great at the Indianapolis service center, and (before CONVID-19) sometimes would just stop by to see how many cars are on the lot that day, chat with the service advisors to see what’s new, and they offer their computer screens so I can read any new service bulletins or processes. They’re always happy to see me walk in (at least that’s my impression) and answer any of my questions, and I can make an appointment with them on the spot for anything (such as the HVAC air filter change). They ask if there’s anything I need and do things like fill my windshield washer reservoir since I’m there. Maybe it’s the service centers that differ so much? I’m just glad I’m near a good one.
 
A car is not like a cellphone, tv, computer, etc. A car is not thrown away after 5 years, 8 years or even 10 years. […] So, I think it is inappropriate to equate an 8 year old car to an 8 year old cellphone, tv, computer, etc.

times change.

What cell radio is in a 2012 Model S? LTE? What flash memory on the circuit boards? What is the lifetime of the chips? The age of the monitors? It’s just not a mechanical device like the old ICE cars are. How do you even get parts? They likely did not make tens of thousands of spares.

It’s more like a cellphone than it is a ICE car.

You can read about the challenges of maintaining a Tesla Roadster too. Some owners even make their own parts.

Is Tesla Service like it was in 2012? Probably not. Is it worse than everyone else’s ? No. There are terrible car service locations in all brands. But there are limits to maintaining old Tesla’s that should be recognized and accepted.
 
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 completely agree, I have my original model s and a model 3. I have put in an order for a mustang, so I get some service.
 
Expectations are a funny thing. I have empathy for the OP who seems credible. As an early adopter, he got accustomed to customer support which was impeccable. Today, depending on your individual experience, Tesla customer support is somewhere between pretty good and unacceptable. But certainly impeccable is no longer anywhere to be found. His expectations are absolutely not met.

Before I purchased my M3 in December, my neighbor took me out for a drive in his. After I expressed a lot of enthusiasm for the car, he straight up set my expectations as "Yes, you'll love the car. But if you need service or have problems expect to get the run-around. And God forbid you get in an accident and need body work. You'll likely be without the use of your car for a month or more." With this understanding I took the plunge. My expectations are a lot more modest and dare I say realistic? Fingers crossed, I will not encounter the nightmare experience with service that many have described. I will say that Tesla needs to get customer service reliably near average for the rest of the industry for the sake of their own long-term survival. Enthusiasts will put up with a lot, but average Joe's, not so much.

So we can both be right. And both have valid opinions/expectations. I do hope Tesla finds a way to be consistently better on service than they are today, both as a driver and as a shareholder.
 
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.

I would have to agree. Here in NJ, the Tesla service has been great (since purchase date 2 years ago). I've had more service issues than most, but they went above and beyond with me. They spent time with me driving around with me to find source of strange squeaks/sounds (caliper cover), replaced a windshield to fix wind noise (which I didn't think they should do, but they insisted), and about 6 other issues, and never felt rushed. Of course, it would have been better if I didn't have any of these service issues, which shows that they're getting more traffic than they bargained for. They are moving too quickly, and I understand that they had to cut corners over the past few years just to stay solvent. Not opitmal, but reality, and sounds like you all feel the brunt of it.

Plus, it feels to me that Californians were the early adopters, hence were the first to present with many of the manufacturing hiccups that occurred, hence have historically had more visits/customer to the serivce center.

My guess is that you all in CA just don't have enough service centers to support the sales; you can't spit in LA or SF without hitting a Tesla. Somebody should post some stats on CarsSold/ServiceCenter by state; maybe that would shed some light on the issue.
 
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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 have the same experience. I live in Melbourne.
I have bought 3 Tesla directly from the company, and a Roadster privately.
Roadster support is absolutely shocking. No app support, so you have to ring a central call centre number, which you would wait for ages.
No update on work. And charge you for looking at the problem and has no solution for it (not even diagnosed)
They used to be a small company with very limited resources but tries. Now the servicing experience is so subpar. I cant think of any car company being worse. Phone number changes without telling you. No one mans the service desk. Emailed answered sometimes days or weeks later. No proper quote for cost. No update on time. When I tried to make sure they have 12v battery in stock, and they said yes, work will take 1 day. 3 days later, they said delivery of battery will be in another 2 days!!
Problem is particularly bad for Roadster.
I love the mission, and feels supporting Tesla is still the least bad option. But customer service is absolutely CRAP.
 
Let's summarize and draw some conclusions from the comments. Depending upon where one lives the service experience varies from outstanding to horrific.
The Tesla app makes it clear that Tesla, like most modern companies, wants its clients to use their app to make appointments and like most companies there is no one around to answer calls and voicemail systems, as frustrating as they are, require voodoo to reach a human.
Extended Setvice agreements have fine print and are Not the same as warranties. Deductibles are the norm. When Tesla only had 20,000 or less customers they could give inconsistent but occasional personalized service. It ain't gonna happen anymore but was dependent on the local service center staff. In my region, service team has always sucked. I just expected it and worked around it as best as I could.
Oh, one other note, TMC, is the home of whiners who think they're or were on a first name basis with Elon Musk. Tesla is a corporation responsible to its shareholders. Elon is not the corporation and as an introvert has never been on a first name basis with any of us.
Times have changed and Tesla is changing with them and I'm happy to report that their responsible recent policies and action are why their stock price is sky rocketing. You can only give stuff away and waste time on the phone for so long until your corporation goes under.
As we want to see Tesla's mission succeed we need less whining and more understanding of why things are the way they are.
 
For those claiming that Tesla not answering the phone is going to be the end of them should note that other than Corona issues, the stock is up, production is up, earnings are us, new models are in the pipeline (semi, plaid, New Coupe, Cybertruck.
Their cars are getting better, customer surveys show better overall happiness, warranty costs % are down. They are opening new factories all over the World, demand is still great, tech is getting better, Self driving is getting better, more features are rolling out all the time (Dog Mode, Camping Mode, security pin, stop sign recognition, signal light recognition, improved interior heating, heating for sensors, new casting production technology, newer battery technology, longer range, faster acceleration, kind of endless how much better they are getting.

Would be hard pressed to justify where Tesla should take money away from other areas to beef up their telephone accessibility.

Some feel entitled to telephone access. Most of them want to bend Tesla to their wishes, but Tesla is on to them.
 
I tend to agree with you. I had some minor technical problems and tried calling Tesla for two days. Like you said..no one answers the telephone and no one returns calls. Finally got some help from a fellow Tesla owner, but it stopped my thinking of getting a 2nd Tesla. I have a 3 year old BMW and the service and personal contact from my service rep, and customer rep, is first class. I can call the BMW NA center 24/7 and get an answer to any technical problem or concern. Then you get a follow up to ensure you were satisfied. I read where Tesla built itself on word of mouth sales, and never had to advertise. But, any product or service that ignores customer relations will find itself ruined by that same word of mouth. My personal experience beyond what I have stated has been satisfactory, but I also wonder if I really need Tesla for help will they be there?
 
I bought mu S85 in early 2014. Delivered 4/2/2014. Nearest Service Center was 200+ miles away near Cleveland, OH. We live in suburban Buffalo, NY. I would drive to the Lyndhurst, OH for my annual service (remember those?) when we would visit my sister for Passover and was always given a loaner. Ranger service replaced the 12 volt battery when it started failing at 3 years. Great service, the tech also addressed tail light condensation and even decided to replace the shell of the key fob. A few months ago at about 5.5 years in the front passenger door handle became increasingly balky and was repaired by Ranger service. I inquired about doing preventative maintenance on the other door handles since there is a well documented design weakness of the mechanism. I was told that Tesla would not do that. April 1st the HV battery failed requiring the car to be flat bedded 65 miles to the recently opened mini service center near Rochester. I got it back 2 weeks later, having to have my son drive me there since no loaner was available. I was looking forward to a small silver lining in the form of restoration of like new battery capacity and range but no, Tesla doesn't seem to think that should happen. Instead, it seems that the battery capacity is software limited to what Tesla estimates the capacity of the battery was at the time of replacement. I think they estimated a bit low. Another chance to leave a customer with a positive feeling lost. Today I note that the rear passenger side door handle has become balky. I made a service request with the app requesting Ranger service but have been given a 9AM appointment at the SC next Tuesday. I will try to reach out to the SC to ask for a Ranger but was told on 4/1 that the Ranger was, "Out of the office" due to CoViD19.
I have been planning on replacing my Model S with a new one sometime next year but I must say that I am reluctant to make such a substantial outlay given the current service situation.
 
F
Some feel entitled to telephone access. Most of them want to bend Tesla to their wishes, but Tesla is on to them.

Continues to baffle me how people are so psychologically intertwined with this company that they defend bad service as long as it's "good for the company". Is it some kind of Stockholm Syndrome? It should be shocking that in a Tesla enthusiasts forum, I could post such a scathing rebuke of the company and their approach and get 6:1 agreement. Who cares if their stock price is up?? I'm not calling for them to fail- I'm calling for them to do right by their customers. If you are here as an owner you should care about the fact that a clear majority of people here seem to agree that their service is awful. And that doesn't just mean not answering phones. Even if you haven't had a bad experience, why would you question (let alone attack as some have done) the many of us who have found it so lacking?
I spent 2% of the cost of my Tesla on an iMac. Apple has offered terrific support at every turn. They have no issue answering their phones, standing behind their product and generally treating me like a valued customer. Once again, I'm not asking for butt kissing. I'm asking for the very basics of customer service. If that makes any of you angry, ask yourself why.
 
Continues to baffle me how people are so psychologically intertwined with this company that they defend bad service as long as it's "good for the company". Is it some kind of Stockholm Syndrome? It should be shocking that in a Tesla enthusiasts forum, I could post such a scathing rebuke of the company and their approach and get 6:1 agreement. Who cares if their stock price is up?? I'm not calling for them to fail- I'm calling for them to do right by their customers. If you are here as an owner you should care about the fact that a clear majority of people here seem to agree that their service is awful. And that doesn't just mean not answering phones. Even if you haven't had a bad experience, why would you question (let alone attack as some have done) the many of us who have found it so lacking?
I spent 2% of the cost of my Tesla on an iMac. Apple has offered terrific support at every turn. They have no issue answering their phones, standing behind their product and generally treating me like a valued customer. Once again, I'm not asking for butt kissing. I'm asking for the very basics of customer service. If that makes any of you angry, ask yourself why.


Well said!
 
My time is just as valuable as the Tesla representative, mechanic, or service manager's time. It is inefficient for both parties

...... and indeed disrespectful to treat one person's time as less 'precious' than the other. Inflicting an inappropriate and ineffective means of communication on one side of a dialogue is clearly inefficient, unless one side is aiming to bog things down to try and dodge their obligations.....

.... which clearly wouldn't apply to Tesla.