Model S Delivery Issues and Communication Concerns

[Jason S]

I'm left wondering if it is a problem with those RN numbers we basically ignore in the 'My Tesla' part of the website. Mine has zero resemblance to my queue number, and while queue numbers appear to have a very strong correlation to the MVPA the correlation to the actual car seems nonexistant now that the Founders series is done.

I signed and sent back the MVPA on June 9th, got a September schedule date. I've already set delivery as mid-October as a guess, but if this continues I might be looking at November. There are still lots of people like TroySnX ahead of me.

 

[GSP]

No, most people do not realize the logistical challenge, otherwise they wouldn't be complaining. The world does not revolve around one reservationist, nor is Tesla purposely, or willfully, or maliciously ignoring specific reservationists, though, that appears to be the belief of some.

Raise your hand if you've started a car company from scratch. Come on, don't be shy. Shame on all of you who haven't and yet are so free with your criticism and complaints.

Yes, the world understands you've forked over a good chunk of money on faith and to be part of the 'I got in on the ground floor' gang, and have been waiting in some cases, years. Stand and take your bow. Without you, none of this would be possible.

Now that you've been officially recognized, sit down, and do try and realize that while contructive criticism can be helpful (indeed, it's already resulted in changes made by Tesla - how cool is that?!), whining like spoiled rotten children is not helpful and doesn't get you your car any faster, but it sure does make you look silly.

What I wish for all you unhappy people is a chance to walk a mile in Tesla's shoes. Perhaps having a perspective other than your own would be helpful for a better understanding of reality.

Very well said. I can't imagine a better description of the Model S ramp up and customer impatience.

GSP

 

[Sparrow]

I wonder if Tesla will be building some production cars with the later Signature vehicles and we will find many production cars delivered before those final Signatures.

 

[nikwest]

I wonder if Tesla will be building some production cars with the later Signature vehicles and we will find many production cars delivered before those final Signatures.

I was wondering the same. Especially taking into account that there will be European Sigs, too. If European Sigs get delayed for whatever reason, there will be production cars in between.

Then again I am asking myself in case of such a delay if there might be problems with Sig Red colour for European Sigs then. Or if Europeans would need to finalise way before the car gets delivered and the Sig Red bodies will be produced in advance. Or standard red will get delayed for US cars then ...

 

[al_chumley]

Maybe the posts are batched

- - - Updated - - -

Mean't to quote this:

Testing page 9.

Edit: Interesting. My post is #120, while the previous post is #80.

Maybe the posts are batched

 

[Beavis]

They are batching production by certain option variables in order to produce as many cars as possible in the shortest amount of time. There are more possible option combinations than there are reservation holders on the Sig waiting list. So Sig, silver, white leather, black roof, and obeche wood trim might be a fairly rare combination and someone with that combo might get their car early if Tesla decides to run that batch because there may only be 5 cars in the whole reservation list with that combination. They might get it late if Telsa doesn't run that batch.

Since we don't have insight into the reservation order, options chosen, batch variables, and delivery locations, we can't predict the production or delivery order. Some people are going to appear to get delayed and some are going to appear to get theirs early. But there is logic to the production order. You just can't see it without knowing all the variables.

 

[dsm363]

We decided to start a thread dealing only with actual service experiences with Tesla by Roadster owners and soon, Model S owners.
I have a feeling they will be mostly positive but this will give some perspective as to why most Roadster owners have been supporting Tesla Service and understand the high price they are asking for
Actual Service Experiences with Tesla

 

[ElSupreme]

*sigh*

The way to handle this is to ask your representative to put you through to her boss. "Rosanna, you've not answered my questions to my satisfaction. Please put me through to your supervisor."

Then you explain the situation to Rosanna's supervisor and ask your questions. If they can not answer your questions satisfactorily, you ask to speak to their boss and so on, until you find the person who can answer your questions to your satisfaction.

Somebody has the answer. The first line of people, the ones doing the 'customer service' aren't always the people in the know. Their job is to be polite to the customer and do their best to appease the customer. While you may think she wasn't 'telling you the whole truth', it's much more likely she has nothing else to tell you. Therefore, she's not the person you want to be talking to.

I can tell you at ALL the factories that I have worked at. Not a single person outside the factory has ANY idea what is going on day to day. A couple of them were rigorous about producing exactly the schedule and were on time, so sales knew what was being produced. But with an operation producing a single car for a single person. The sales people don't have a clue what is going on with your car.

And you won't get a hold of someone at the factory in the know. They will be too busy actually trying to get your car back on track.

 

[Cottonwood]

With luck, I will get my Model S, SSL#40, VIN#37, tomorrow. Although there have been times when it took a few days for my rep to return my call or e-mail, in general the answers have been factual and honest.

I got caught in the door handle problem that delayed my delivery from 8/28 to 9/11. On 8/25, he was hopeful for an on-time delivery. I had to reconfirm the car was still in Fremont, then asked whether there was any chance on getting it to Denver by 8/28. He had to admit that the chances were very small. When I had unexpected travel come up on 9/11 and tried to take delivery on 9/10, he fully informed me of the problems with the car throwing 12V battery error codes. They got that fixed, but I was gone. I am now scheduled for Friday, 9/14, tomorrow. The delivery has been handed off to the local office and I am in e-mail and telephone contact about the upcoming delivery with the local Denver people.

In general, my experience has been good. My only complaint is the delay in replies, when apparently they had no answer. I would prefer an "We are still working on this." rather than no reply. As I said, that only happened a couple of times.

 

[Beavis]

With luck, I will get my Model S, SSL#40, VIN#37, tomorrow. Although there have been times when it took a few days for my rep to return my call or e-mail, in general the answers have been factual and honest.

I got caught in the door handle problem that delayed my delivery from 8/28 to 9/11. On 8/25, he was hopeful for an on-time delivery. I had to reconfirm the car was still in Fremont, then asked whether there was any chance on getting it to Denver by 8/28. He had to admit that the chances were very small. When I had unexpected travel come up on 9/11 and tried to take delivery on 9/10, he fully informed me of the problems with the car throwing 12V battery error codes. They got that fixed, but I was gone. I am now scheduled for Friday, 9/14, tomorrow. The delivery has been handed off to the local office and I am in e-mail and telephone contact about the upcoming delivery with the local Denver people.

In general, my experience has been good. My only complaint is the delay in replies, when apparently they had no answer. I would prefer an "We are still working on this." rather than no reply. As I said, that only happened a couple of times.

Glad to here it. I wonder how many SSL's are still waiting for delivery or don't even have a date yet. A report on the TM forum is that deliveries are about 40/day. If so, they'll chew through the Sigs quickly regardless of batching.

 

[dsm363]

I am within my delivery window (started Tuesday) but still don't have a delivery date.

 

[Arnold Panz]

I am within my delivery window (started Tuesday) but still don't have a delivery date.

So how does this work? Don't they have to coordinate a date with you to ensure you're available (and where you want delivery)? I thought once you got your window you gave them your availability and they locked in a date and location.

 

[dsm363]

So how does this work? Don't they have to coordinate a date with you to ensure you're available (and where you want delivery)? I thought once you got your window you gave them your availability and they locked in a date and location.

They contact you to see if you'll be in town (not on vacation although they can delivery to you on vacation) during a time window. Then they're supposed to contact you saying 'can do do a delivery this Saturday?' for example and you find a time that works for both of you. I should get called soon.

 

[Sparrow]

dsm363 if it isn't too personal, can I assume that at this point you have paid all that is due on the car or do you hand them a check when they showup with the car.

 

[dsm363]

dsm363 if it isn't too personal, can I assume that at this point you have paid all that is due on the car or do you hand them a check when they showup with the car.

I haven't paid anything over the reservation deposit. I think you pay on delivery or when delivery is actually scheduled but maybe the few people who have received there cars can answer that part of the question more accurately.

 

[Jkam]

I wonder if Tesla will be building some production cars with the later Signature vehicles and we will find many production cars delivered before those final Signatures.

I've thought about that too. It seems like it could be a possibility if Tesla really intends on delivering 5,000 cars or anything remotely close to that by the end of the year.

If it worked out that way, as a Sig reservation owner, I would be irate. I would basically ask for a discount on my car (equivalent to the Sig premium) because after Tesla has stripped down the Sig to virtually a general production model about the only thing left to separate the two is early delivery.

Plus I'm Sig Regular #69. I've been told (only after I chased down the information) that I shouldn't expect my car until sometime in November. It is one thing if my reservation was Sig #1200 to be given a November delivery which could be possibly nestled among general production deliveries, but quite another thing when I have such an early reservation number.

So I'm really baffled why I put down a $40k deposit and am paying a premium to get a "special" car that could possibly be not one of the first 1,000 delivered. Being one of the first 1,000 was a material inducement, along with some other promises that have been not kept or dumbed down, for me to put in a Sig reservation and pay the extra money. If early delivery goes out the window, then Tesla is going to have a problem.

 

[Krugerrand]

Plus I'm Sig Regular #69. I've been told (only after I chased down the information) that I shouldn't expect my car until sometime in November.

And the reason you found for the later delivery date was...?

So I'm really baffled why I put down a $40k deposit and am paying a premium to get a "special" car that could be possibly be not one of the first 1,000 delivered. Being one of the first 1,000 was a material inducement, along with some other promises that have been not kept or dumbed down, for me to put in a Sig reservation and pay the extra money. If early delivery goes out the window, then Tesla is going to have a problem.

So, you expressed that to the person whom you talked to when you chased down your information and their reply to your concerns was...?

Don't keep us in suspense.

 

[Sparrow]

If I remember correctly Jkam is in Hawaii, which is probably why there is a delay. That issue should have been discussed when he placed his order.

 

[Krugerrand]

If I remember correctly Jkam is in Hawaii, which is probably why there is a delay. That issue should have been discussed when he placed his order.

Seems reasonable to me. Perhaps if it wasn't conveyed to him when he placed his order, it was assumed (correctly or incorrectly) that he'd just sort of know that as a matter of logic? Generally when people live in unique places, in the boondocks, need to have provisions flown in to their location and such, they quickly realize that they have to wait longer. That that's the price they pay for living where they do.

Certainly an official complaint filed with Tesla that it wasn't conveyed would be in order so that Tesla could make that correction within their system to avoid it happening again. The person in charge of that type of information getting out to the customer needs to be informed of their mistake so that they can get better at their job.

 

[brianman]

I wonder if Tesla will be building some production cars with the later Signature vehicles and we will find many production cars delivered before those final Signatures.

If that ends up being the case, it would be another violation of long ago posted TeslaMotors.com facts:

The first 1,200 Model S vehicles delivered in North America will be Signatures. Model S Signature will come with the 85 kWh battery.

Model S Facts | Tesla Motors

Do I think they care? No. I think they'll just change the website and try to get away with it.

Technically, they've already violated it with Founders vehicles anyway.