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Wiki Model S Delivery Update

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29 Founders'
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21 (GetAmped) Marketing cars?

George's latest blog also mentions some of the 50 being used by Service and Engineering teams. Inside Tesla 08.02.12

Some are being enjoyed by reservation holders at Get Amped Model S Tour test drive events, a couple are being used by our Service and Engineering teams, and we have 29 that are either already in the hands of their new owners or on their way via Tesla Personal Delivery.
 
Bad news. After repeated requests for a more accurate deliver date for my car I got an e-mail today from Sean, an Ownership Experience Advocate who works for George Blankenship, saying that my Special Signature Performance #215 would arrive sometime between mid September and mid November. As you can expect I responded back to him with not the kindest words about the very vague time window. I was originally told I would take delivery in August or at the latest September.
 
Bad news. After repeated requests for a more accurate deliver date for my car I got an e-mail today from Sean, an Ownership Experience Advocate who works for George Blankenship, saying that my Special Signature Performance #215 would arrive sometime between mid September and mid November. As you can expect I responded back to him with not the kindest words about the very vague time window. I was originally told I would take delivery in August or at the latest September.
I share your frustration and would be upset if the original time window I was promised was changed. But it boils down to one simple question..."do you want it fast or do you want it right?" Clearly there's something going on creating the uncertainty in ramping up production, you'll be a heck of a lot more upset if they get you a car on time that's not right and has to be frequently worked on and changed or is never what you expected it to be.
 
Bad news. After repeated requests for a more accurate deliver date for my car I got an e-mail today from Sean, an Ownership Experience Advocate who works for George Blankenship, saying that my Special Signature Performance #215 would arrive sometime between mid September and mid November. As you can expect I responded back to him with not the kindest words about the very vague time window. I was originally told I would take delivery in August or at the latest September.

Sorry to hear that. Nevertheless, since we have mid-August, it means they have hopes they might produce an average of about 10 per day the next 4 weeks. As I said before, this is the time where they have to deal with the unexpected, those things which defeated former scheduling and perhaps still do.
 
I share your frustration and would be upset if the original time window I was promised was changed. But it boils down to one simple question..."do you want it fast or do you want it right?" Clearly there's something going on creating the uncertainty in ramping up production, you'll be a heck of a lot more upset if they get you a car on time that's not right and has to be frequently worked on and changed or is never what you expected it to be.

Sounds like Tesla, in an attempt not to disappoint you again with a missed date, responded with the vague time window which had the unintended consequence of disappointing you again. The silver lining in all of this is knowing Tesla wants you in an S much as you want to get it delivered to you. The holdup I surmise is Tesla's commitment to deliver as perfect a car as possible and are working on ironing out the few remaining issues to make that a reality. Hang in there my friend.
 
Sounds like Tesla, in an attempt not to disappoint you again with a missed date, responded with the vague time window which had the unintended consequence of disappointing you again.

My e-mail back to them was for more detailed than what I posted here. So was their original e-mail to me. My disappointment doesn't lie in the fact that they have delayed delivery, it is that their customer communication about the delivery process has been terrible. Three years ago when I got my Roadster I had better communication from Tesla about the delivery process. My car was delayed back then due to being one of the first 2.0s but they were much more up front about the problems and the process. If Tesla wants to be the "best" car company in the world they need to realize that customer service and communication are just as important and producing a quality product.
 
DrC, thanks for the update. That's quite unfortunate. It seems that Tesla has taken a certain approach to be extremely cautious with communications on timelines etc and not committing to anything. I've communicated to Tesla that I'm a big boy and can take "bad"news, and that it's much better to hear proactively from them about any setbacks rather than letting me sit and think everything's OK until I contact them. My understanding is that this was their approach with the Roadster. I'm not sure why they are taking a different approach with the S. If I had to guess, it's either that they would be overwhelmed trying to communicate with everyone, or that they think S owners would be less forgiving than Roadster owners were.

I think they may have a point if it's the latter, but I think it's a mistake with Signature owners, who are clearly their biggest enthusiasts, and will only be more frustrated/angry if the bad news is delayed. If it's an issue of a "punch list" of things that would need to be fixed afterwards (like adding rear seats or something), why not give Sig owners that choice? I'd want as perfect a car as possible, but wouldn't want to wait two extra months for something that could just be added to the car later.

Keep us in the loop -- I'm very curious to hear what ends up happening with you car. If you don't get your car until mid-November, that probably resets a lot of people's expectations, including mine! Thanks again.
 
How did you get August in the first place? I'm ahead of you in the line and my paperwork stated September right from the get-go.

I have to say that I was thinking just today that the company has gone absolutely radio silent since I signed mvpa and that it's pretty lousy communications for a sig reservation holder who is expecting delivery in September ( was originally told "possibly end of August"). I've assumed September, but would be quite disappointed to be pushed back further. I tell people in my company all the time that most will tolerate bad news as long as you communicate clearly- but not communicating at all is just bad business. My guess is that they are petrified of knocking the stock ahead of a possible secondary offering and that they are deliberately restricting news. But if you are listening, george b.- it's time to let me know what's going on....
 
George B. wrote the last blog 11 days ago. Meanwhile, on Saturday, they delivered the first 2 from the signature list. That's the news. We'll hear about more and more cars being delivered, while they work in secret and keep a low profile. Probably for as long as they are focused on all those little things it takes to increase production rates in this early phase. It doesn't seem they are keen to give us a list of those items. Surprise. :)
 
How did you get August in the first place? I'm ahead of you in the line and my paperwork stated September right from the get-go.
Yes, my paperwork always said September but was told that was just a"cover our butt" estimate and that I would most likely take deliveryin August. As Charged_up said, it's the radio silence that has been the biggestproblem. The only reason I got any response at all from someone at corporatewas that I sent a rather stern e-mail to several other people that I havealways communicated with in the past demanding delivery information. Instead ofresponding themselves I'm sure they just forwarded it up to George's office andSean pulled the short straw and had to answer. It would have been nice ifGeorge responded but I guess I'm not a big enough "A" lister to warranta response from him. Although the first two sentences of Sean's e-mail werepersonalized to me (giving me the date estimate and saying how I am a valuedRoadster owner) the remainder of the message was the same canned response I'vereceived before about how they are focusing on quality and that the ramp upwould be slow. I am not a fan of calling people out or burning bridges. This iswhy I haven't just cut and pasted this e-mail and the others' I've sent orreceived from Tesla before. I'm really saddened that my once zealous passionfor Tesla is quickly waning. They should have learned by now how to keepcustomers happy. I'm disappointed they have not.
 
Sean is my contact too and was nice enough to answer re: estimated delivery of HPWC when I asked about it a couple weeks ago (not sure was the basic estimate; a month before car delivery is the target). I was also given a September estimate for car delivery (I figured late September) but I am now considering mid-October as more realistic given the deliveries so far and re-estimates that have been reported.

A bit after all the test drive events are finished, we'll prolly get some more info.