I really feel for you
@andics, it's such a shame that you've ended up in this situation.
I'm really in two minds about this. Tesla make fabulous cars, about that there is no doubt. I've followed their progress for many years, and had test drives in the S, X and 3. On my many visits to various service centres and showrooms I've had quite a few conversations with existing Tesla owners, and asked them how they have found the company with regard to servicing and warranty issues. Without exception everyone I've spoken to has been full of praise, and described a high level of customer service that I personally have never experienced from a franchised car dealer. I was concerned about this because I live about a two hour drive from my nearest service centre.
And now over the last few months we've had a very sorry tale unfold before our eyes, culminating in this amazing situation where peoople are cancelling cars because of delivery issues. No way to contact the company. No replies to emails. Being kept totally in the dark, and having to resort to pathetic ways to gather snippets of information, like checking source code or tracking ships around the world! There really is no excuse, Tesla.
I'm not a Tesla fanboy, and I certainly want and expect good customer service. I spent half of my working life working in customer service environments, much of that time helping to run a contact centre, so I know all about managing phone call demand, email support etc.
I honestly think that the current problems are down to the pure volume of cars, and obviously a lack of staff. That is not an excuse. The situation is still completely unacceptable, and Tesla will continue to lose and alienate customers while it continues. However, by the end of the year, when the backlog is cleared, I think (hope and prey!) that things will return to Tesla normal, where they manage to deliver a steady trickle of cars rather than the current huge surge, and offer a reasonable-to-good level of customer service.
On the contact centre front I do have some sympathy. It's not something you can just "turn on" instantly. You need premises and equipment, you've got to recruit and train staff. And from a business point of view it is very difficult to justify that to satisfy what is basically an huge, but temporary upwards blip in demand. One option would have been to go to someone like Capita, or "Rent A Call Centre" as I call them, but then even though you can have numerous people answering the phone, so all the calls might get answered, the staff know little or nothing, so all they do is work from their script and can't really give much actual help. It's a tricky situation. I expect Elon et al at the top of Tesla have made a business decision - that it is cheaper to lose a few customers along the way than to justify spending millions of pounds on temporary customer support. It's easier and cheaper to just try and muddle through. Just my ramblings!
I collect my Model 3 next Friday. I'm hoping for a perfect car. Everything crossed.
