Motley Fool story - Tesla Replacement Part Delays

[Tahoe]

Hi everyone –

This week, the service team hit a global customer service satisfaction record. The team has done a fantastic job on what we control currently: our own service centers. We’re now turning our efforts on the centers we don’t control: accident repairs in body shops.

The body shop in the OP article did not begin repairs on the car for three months and then ordered more than 90 parts and took over seven months to repair the car. Neither of those are indicators of competence. To top it off, they blamed their performance on Tesla. We know from complaints that the body shop experience needs to get a lot better – and fast.

What the service team has done so far is a roadmap of how we’re going to fix the autobody experience. Wait times for appointments measured in hours and a handful of days currently. We’re providing same-day service from the Bay Area to Oslo and everywhere in between. In fact, almost 20% of jobs in our flagship center in Palo Alto are handled before the customer can finish their cup of coffee (yes, you read that correctly).

Thankfully, only a handful of our owners experience accidents each year. Since customers schedule and interface with the body shops on their own, we’re largely blind to the service pace.

Most of the customer complaints about body shops mentioned parts, so we focused on this issue. To date, we’ve reduced backlog by over 80%.

Even though we reduced part wait times, we continued to dig into the body shop complaints. What we found was astounding – cars sat at body shops for weeks and sometimes months before the body shops took action and, more often than not, the body shops blaming Tesla for parts delays were the very shops that hadn’t even ordered parts or started the repair.

We are applying brute force to this immediately. We will have individuals on our team personally manage each car on behalf of our customers that are in 3rd party body shops.

We’re also going to increase our approved shop count by 300 over the next few weeks as well as eliminating poor performing shops.

If you have an issue with a shop, please PM me directly and our team will advocate and manage your repair.

Tesla owners will get the service they expect from us – period.

Thanks to the entire service team for their commitment to setting the highest standard for service in the industry,

Jon

My 2016 Model X was hit by an uninsured motorist on Jan 19, 2017, less than a month after I had taken delivery of it. It's now over 11 weeks and I keep getting told it will be just a few days longer. Tesla customer service assures me this has been escalated to one team or another but it has not changed the pace of repair. My request for a free Tesla loaner car or for Tesla to pay for my extended rental has been ignored. The customer service team that assures me they are managing the repair cannot even tell me if it is in the repair shop or the Ranger station they tow it back and forth to.

Jon, where is the service I expect from you - period?

 

[Barry]

Jon, where is the service I expect from you - period?

Did you Direct Message Jon? If not, you should.

 

[T2v]

Pls contact Jon at [email protected] or better still Aaron Marshall the head of global Repairs [email protected]

 

[joetz]

Am I the only one that had to get lots of parts replaced after an accident and got my parts from tesla fast with no trouble whatsoever?

 

[FlyF4]

Maybe you folks should be contacting the media. No company likes bad publicity when they see it on the news.

 

[Barry]

Am I the only one that had to get lots of parts replaced after an accident and got my parts from tesla fast with no trouble whatsoever?

One of the very few

 

[T2v]

Maybe you folks should be contacting the media. No company likes bad publicity when they see it on the news.

Only if the intent is to create bad publicity , as opposed to help an extremely proactive Tesla Team with exceptional customer service who as a norm go out of their way to ensure a beyond outstanding customer experience , tackle some growing pains better !
I am sure a lot of us are also part owners of Tesla and feel very much part and parcel of a revolutionary transformation of the industry and our intent is not to throw the baby out with the bath water

 

[FlyF4]

Only if the intent is to create bad publicity , as opposed to help an extremely proactive Tesla Team with exceptional customer service who as a norm go out of their way to ensure a beyond outstanding customer experience , tackle some growing pains better !
I am sure a lot of us are also part owners of Tesla and feel very much part and parcel of a revolutionary transformation of the industry and our intent is not to throw the baby out with the bath water

Well I was thinking more about bad publicity of the 3rd party repair centers. Not Tesla. From the looks of things, many of these long delays are the repair shops blaming Tesla

 

[seclinton]

Well I was thinking more about bad publicity of the 3rd party repair centers. Not Tesla. From the looks of things, many of these long delays are the repair shops blaming Tesla

Wrong. Just wrong.

I for one an am example of the super long lead time to get parts. My car was <2 miles from the factory at a repair center used by Tesla the factory. It still took over 2+ months to get a rear right rail (frame part) and a list of 12+ other items from Tesla.

Stop trying to take the blame off Tesla's poor availability to stock parts for third party repair centers. It simply isn't true and Tesla hasn't provided any data to back up their claim against repair centers. Period.

I have however challenged Jon to look up my VIN and provide a detailed timeline of communication and list of parts as confirmed by my repair center. I haven't heard from him since I was contacted via this thread.

I can say for certain, that after this went live, Tesla as I have have been informed is now supplying parts to this repair center in ~3 days from ordering. Repair cues however are variable, and one should ask the repair center they use how long the wait for repair is. You can estimate by the number of Teslas sitting around the repair shop.

 

[FlyF4]

Wrong. Just wrong.

I for one an am example of the super long lead time to get parts. My car was <2 miles from the factory at a repair center used by Tesla the factory. It still took over 2+ months to get a rear right rail (frame part) and a list of 12+ other items from Tesla.

Stop trying to take the blame off Tesla's poor availability to stock parts for third party repair centers. It simply isn't true and Tesla hasn't provided any data to back up their claim against repair centers. Period.

I have however challenged Jon to look up my VIN and provide a detailed timeline of communication and list of parts as confirmed by my repair center. I haven't heard from him since I was contacted via this thread.

I can say for certain, that after this went live, Tesla as I have have been informed is now supplying parts to this repair center in ~3 days from ordering. Repair cues however are variable, and one should ask the repair center they use how long the wait for repair is. You can estimate by the number of Teslas sitting around the repair shop.

Ok, maybe it is WRONG by your experience, but for a friend of mine down in San Diego, she found out that the 4 week delay was due to the repair shop lying to her about Tesla being the delay. She found that out when picking up the car after 6 weeks. So, I guess there is a mixture of both. Delays from Tesla and from repair shops. Your experience does not apply to everyone.

 

[seclinton]

Ok, maybe it is WRONG by your experience, but for a friend of mine down in San Diego, she found out that the 4 week delay was due to the repair shop lying to her about Tesla being the delay. She found that out when picking up the car after 6 weeks. So, I guess there is a mixture of both. Delays from Tesla and from repair shops. Your experience does not apply to everyone.

Certainly correct, my experience isn't for all. Given the response and sudden quiet from both sides, seems it's a mix. Only going to get worse moving forward before it gets better as the 3 ramps up

 

[FlyF4]

Certainly correct, my experience isn't for all. Given the response and sudden quiet from both sides, seems it's a mix. Only going to get worse moving forward before it gets better as the 3 ramps up

We certainly hope that you get the results you want in the end. Yea, probably going to get worse unless they make some big changes. This story is a nightmare. I would have had a heart attack by now.

 

[jeffsutherland]

I'm going to bring my Tesla P100D into
Hollis Auto Body

230 Eliot St
Ashland, MA 01721

How can Tesla help get it repaired quickly?

 

[mikevbf]

I'm going to bring my Tesla P100D into
Hollis Auto Body

230 Eliot St
Ashland, MA 01721

How can Tesla help get it repaired quickly?

If Hollis claims delays due to Tesla parts delays, see post 204 for who to contact. And if your car is drivable, drive it until the parts show up.

 

[tchockie]

So I've detailed some of my body shop experience in another thread

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/picked-up-new-ms-rear-ended-the-next-day.77491/

But long story short, I got rear ended the day after I took deliver of the car. 3 months for parts, 3 months for repair, total 6 months. Just got the car back a few weeks ago and omg was it joyous to have the car back.

But I noticed the alignment was a little off and the trunk latch was a little funny. So I took the car to Buena Park SC last week for them to check it out. Turns out, they need to send it to a body shop for some things they didn't like, something about the latch, hinges, and panels. They say it's gonna be in repair for another month. Best part is, no Tesla loaners available. I've been iced for 7 of the 8 months I've been making payments on the Tesla.

Sigh.

 

[tchockie]

Literally 10 seconds after my last post, I got a phone call from Tesla customer service, apparently they now have a special division called the Body Shop Advocate Team. I had reached out to Jon McNeil a while back, and again this time when I heard it was going to the body shop again. Travis from the advocate team wanted to let me know they are really trying to improve things and will be keeping close tabs on my repair process and will make sure everything is done quickly and correctly. Then, 5 seconds after that call, I got a call from the SC telling me a Tesla loaner was available and they will come out to my house and swap the cars.

At least I'll be able to drive a Tesla until this thing is resolved. It's weird, i funny ice cars my whole life and now i can't freaking stand them. It was killing me driving the rental ice for 6 months, and when they gave a ice rental at the SC my heart just couldn't take it lol!

 

[Vern Padgett]

tchockie, we had a great experience at Buena Park, buying 2 S90Ds a year ago.

Not so good an experience after wife damaged her front end, evading a speeder. It was at Class Auto of Long Beach for four months and one week before we got it back. They had it nearly as long as we had had it. Their work was fine, but 4 months 1 week? They blamed the delays on waiting for parts from Tesla.

 

[tchockie]

tchockie, we had a great experience at Buena Park, buying 2 S90Ds a year ago.

Not so good an experience after wife damaged her front end, evading a speeder. It was at Class Auto of Long Beach for four months and one week before we got it back. They had it nearly as long as we had had it. Their work was fine, but 4 months 1 week? They blamed the delays on waiting for parts from Tesla.

Yea man, I know that experience very well. The 6 month repair was done at Class Auto. Now its at the body shop near the Buena Park SC fixing the mess that Class Auto made.

Trust me, I made Mr Jon McNeil very aware of how unhappy I was.

It's certainly better having a Tesla loaner this time, but I'm still pissed off.

You know what would be nice? If they let me just terminate this lease early and let me lease a new one. I just can't catch a break with this one. That would make me feel better for getting rid of this unlucky car, and Tesla gets another sale. Despite the sucky situation, I still really love the car and I still think I want another one for my next lease. Which is saying a lot, because I've never leased the same car twice before. Don't get me wrong, this Issue with part delays and body shop incompetence is effed up and they better damn well fix it, but I still want another one lol.

For now.

 

[Vern Padgett]

Tchockie, I agree with you. A swap-out is what what would happen if you bought a bad tool-- they'd take it back and give you another. I just bought a Ryobi leaf blower with a 40 volt battery that didn't work for more than 1/2 second. New battery is on the way. Meanwhile I'm using the 40 v battery from my Ryobi chainsaw. Nice if Tesla would follow that model, at least in a case like yours, or make that offer.

Ted Sanders of Class Auto was great, but would have been better with some feedback at least every month-- maybe a no reply e-mail that let us know our car was fine, and what-- if anything-- was going on. The months after months of silence were disheartening. I buy a $114,000 car and it disappears for 4 months and one week, with no word on it? Just not right. It's not like I've been buying 100k cars all my life-- my last car was 30 years ago and was 14k new. No loaners for us-- I gave my car to my wife, and I rode my bicycle to work for 4 months.

 

[knsu]

I have to concur with the Motley fool story -- My accident to my X was Tesla's fault though I did not even get an apology -- I had automatic garage door open/close enabled. Thought based on the 30 ft from garage etc notices that it was a smart system that actually looked at where it was. Anyway -- one day, as I started the car and inched out of my garage, I received a text, stopped the car and looked at the text then continued pulling out very slowly and carefully as usual -- what can I say, I had my music cranked up high, and our door is fairly quiet, we have tried to get an extra quiet one because its under the kids bedroom! but the car triggered the garage close even though I was not out of the garage. Because my wheel had not yet crossed the door, the safety on the door did not trigger either. all I got from TEsla was that yes, they did close the door on me, and no it was not their fault because I should have know the garage feature is not a smart system.

Now, I went ahead to fix it -- four months to get the broken roof window in stock -- nov to end of feb. Finally got the cycles to take it to the shop 30 miles away and they said when they opened it up, they found that they needed to replace an additional seal -- instead of a few days, has been three weeks and counting!!!