I am new to this forum but feklt that this is the right audience for my recent TESLA experience.
I recently dropped my 2016 Model S 85D at the Santa Clara service center due to a loose and squeaky steering wheel.
Telsa diagnosed the car and concluded that the entire rack should be replaced at the attractive price of ~$5,000
After reading some of the comments in the forum I decided to take it to an independent car shop. They were able to fix it within a day (loose bolt) for $461.... wait, this is not the end of it.
I called Tesla and asked to speak to a manager. I shared my experience and requested a refund for the inaccurate diagnostic fee (yeah, they did charge $265 just to look at the car). The manager's response was this:
- While he is happy that I was able to fix the car for a fraction of the cost he still stands behind his diagnostic
- In his words, Tesla's policy is not to tighten bolts or fix smaller parts as it takes too long and labor is more expensive than parts (he completely ignored the fact that in my case the part cost was $3,200)
- He also shared that he would have done the same thing I did, but he has to follow the policy
A question to TESLA management: who is more important, your shareholders or your customers? If the former, I do not see a great future ahead.
I recently dropped my 2016 Model S 85D at the Santa Clara service center due to a loose and squeaky steering wheel.
Telsa diagnosed the car and concluded that the entire rack should be replaced at the attractive price of ~$5,000
After reading some of the comments in the forum I decided to take it to an independent car shop. They were able to fix it within a day (loose bolt) for $461.... wait, this is not the end of it.
I called Tesla and asked to speak to a manager. I shared my experience and requested a refund for the inaccurate diagnostic fee (yeah, they did charge $265 just to look at the car). The manager's response was this:
- While he is happy that I was able to fix the car for a fraction of the cost he still stands behind his diagnostic
- In his words, Tesla's policy is not to tighten bolts or fix smaller parts as it takes too long and labor is more expensive than parts (he completely ignored the fact that in my case the part cost was $3,200)
- He also shared that he would have done the same thing I did, but he has to follow the policy
A question to TESLA management: who is more important, your shareholders or your customers? If the former, I do not see a great future ahead.
