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My terrible ordering experience. Anyone else go thru this ?

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@NOLADriver

I get your frustration with the sales team. It looks like you are new to the Tesla brand. If you read a lot of comments on this forum there is a common theme that the level of knowledge and responsiveness of the Tesla sales and service teams is not up to par. It looks like you cancelled the deal because you did not like the way they treated you. They really just don’t know any better, and they treat pretty much everybody that way.

But if every member of this forum who had a bad experience with a Tesla rep elected to cancel their order there would not be very many Teslas on the road today. I think you have to decide if you like the Model 3 enough to look past the sub par sales experience. It’s really the best car you can buy in this price range but you do have to be willing to tolerate Tesla’s quirks as a part of the process. And the end of quarter discount they are offering you is a better deal than most of us got.

Think it over and let us know what you decide. And good luck with it whatever you choose.
 
Tesla doesn’t haggle. They typically have some rules for specials at the end of the quarter, but they aren’t negotiable. You were essentially trying to circumvent the rules by asking for more than the policy allowed. The person you were talking to mistakenly thought she could offer more than she was authorized to do. There is no way you can compare this to going to a dealer. Accept that you are getting a better deal than when you first ordered online and be happy. Otherwise, cancel your order again and buy a BMW.
 
Perhaps you could spell if out for me.
How was your initial order the results of bait?
How was them saying you could not get two additional incentives bait?
How was them going back to their original position on a cars you have not yet purchased a switch?
How is the delivery specialist not trying to keep you in your order typical of dealerships?

Tesla never published the upgrade deal, and there have already been other posts saying they would not give upgrades + free supercharging.

It's really very simple: as a business, you don't tell someone they can have something and then later tell them you're sorry but they can't have it. That's customer service 101.
 
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It's really very simple: as a business, you don't tell someone they can have something and then later tell them you're sorry but they can't have it. That's customer service 101.
There was a reversal back to their original position. That is not bait and switch. Bait and switch is purposely leading with something you have no intent on providing to get them to purchase a different thing.
 
I finalized a deal on an inventory 3 last night. My SA said I could get the white interior no charge and the 2k miles referral but not 2 years unlimited. I figure 2k miles 2 years is probably about equal for me. Unfortunately my account still doesn't show the $1000 discount yet for the white interior. SA says still waiting to be "approved". I have my financing lined up but don't want to finalize on my Tesla account until the price is adjusted.
 
Update.

Just got off the phone with the Regional Manager for the south. He called me about the cancellation.

He was completely receptive and professional about the entire thing and immediately offered to look into resolving it. We came to a amicable workaround on the entire issue and my M3P is going to be built.

I sincerely appreciate the banter and feedback. Its been interesting.
 
The question is one of intent. If Tesla did this intentionally, then the OP can say it's a "BnS" and be confident in his interpretation. If Tesla did this unintentionally, then it's not a "BnS". The fact that the followup call, the agent didn't try to keep the OP, indicates that it was just a mistake, and not a "BnS".

Everyone here has dealt with Tesla, so they can make up their own minds on how Tesla operates. In my opinion, it's a combo of ignorance and incompetence. The sales staff don't know all the incentives being offered and the level of training is not particularly high. It's not a stealership, but you still want to take anything they say with a grain of salt, as they're not really responsible for anything. If you need something in writing, make sure they put it in writing.
 
Update.
... Its been interesting....

NOLADriver, I am also a NOLA driver. If you are not a patient person, buy a different car. The ordering process is the easiest part.

Me? I ordered and had to cancel my order because of the referral. Then I reordered. Car was delivered to Houston where I did a full inspection and drive before it was loaded on a truck and delivered to me four weeks ago. Oh, and I gave up my existing car as a trade. Luckily for me - I'm retired and don't need the car. If you don't know, in Louisiana you can't get the temp tags until you get the DMV package. Tesla claims to send the DMV package in 7-10 days.

Well we contact Tesla on the 10th day. Their response: oh your car was delivered? Oh thanks for letting us know. You'll get your DMV package in 7-10 days.

On the "second tenth day", we contact Tesla again. Oh, we'll get that right out to you and you will have it in two days.

Two days go by and we are now being "ghosted" by Tesla. I am now getting the feeling that Tesla is kind of "the soup Nazi" on the show Seinfeld.

Wifie contacted someone on the phone yesterday and we are supposed to get a packet in three days.

So I think I have a perfectly good car (i cannot prove things work because I cannot drive it) in the garage that I cannot drive. I lost the use of my perfectly good trade.

At this point, I would recommend that Elon start charging an add on for "customer service". I would have gladly paid $6000 for service. I am not looking forward to getting any repairs.
 
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she informed him that I would be able to go from white to blue as an add on for free, but if I wanted the two years of Supercharging then my friend couldnt get a referral. I told her "So you are saying that if I am selfish and screw my buddy I get it then?" and "Isnt one of the tenets of Tesla the referral system, why would you make me chose to screw him or not."

Maybe she's constrained to the system she operates. Maybe she interpreted the corporate incentive incorrectly. Maybe she interpreted the corporate incentive correctly. But that's a combative attitude to assume over a trivial perk
 
Thought I'd point out that for Tesla owners who gives a referral, it's up to them to make sure that you who are placing an order know how to use the referral. I can understand from the new buyer's position feeling Tesla isn't being fair but that's not really the case. As it is Tesla not only extends the referral incentive to the owner but to the new person buying. Tesla wants to thank those owners who in essence help sell a car. If you don't use the path prescribed there's no way for them to know if they are being taken advantage of by someone who didn't guide the purchase and just instead wanted to get something for free after the fact. I don't feel they are trying to scam anyone with this. The fact that they let people cancel without penalty (like keeping a deposit) and re-order in the proper way says something.

And if you think about it every online company out there only lets you use one coupon code for a discount on an order. % off or free shipping for example. The objective is to incentivize a sale, not lose money on the deal. They need to be responsible to their employees and investors and I'd like to think we as owners would like to see them do well and continue into the future.

@NOLADriver glad you got your order placed and your friend gets his referral. Hope you like the car. LR AWD here and couldn't be happier. Always hate hearing when people do have an issue but have to say I'm just short of one year ownership and couldn't be happier with my decision to own one. And best driving experience I've had. What's your order timeframe now?

As for delivery of documents, ask for FedEx tracking or such up front. When my husband bought his car, there was one document that was overlooked somehow and not signed. They FedEx'd the paperwork to him and I know I've read other owners on here getting documents sent to them that way.
 
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@NOLADriver I'm so sorry for your experience. Unfortunately, it isn't uncommon for Tesla employees to be completely clueless. It doesn't surprise me one bit that an SA wrote up an order that was rejected as it went up the tree.

I wish I could say that yours was a unique experience, and that Tesla was known for their great customer service. Unfortunately, that's just not the case. Their customer service is horrid, horrid, horrid. Really bad. And that's coming from a self proclaimed fanboy, too.

Just as a guy above me posted, they have a fantastic product with customer service that is so bad it may very well end up sinking the ship. I sure hope not, as their cars are just so good that I have no plans on ever buying a different make. I'll even put up with the completely awful ordering and delivery experience again just to get another one.

To me, the product is what matters the most. Sure, it would be nice to have a great purchasing experience, but I spend years with a car. When you compare how long you have to go through the torturous delivery process to how long you'll be enjoying the car, well, you get the meaning. And fortunately, Tesla service has made great strides in customer service, so in the unlikely event your car needs service, you should have a much better experience than you did when ordering the car.

I do understand that a lot of guys that are moving to Tesla are coming from luxury brands, where you're treated like you own the place from the moment you enter til the moment you leave. And they like that. But to me, the short time I spend in a store or in for service just doesn't matter as much as the time I spend on the road.

TL;DR

You spend a short amount of painful time going through the purchasing process, but you spend years enjoying the car.
 
I was told similarly that getting 2 free years supercharging and the free upgrades was not possible (it was one or the other) BUT it was not directly told that way to me as they were not very open about what they could give away as far as extras.
These free incentives are not supposed to be given out to everyone, Tesla has armed their sales staff with them to sell more cars in the quarter end push.
The reason for them was to get people on the fence to buy now, not to have people buying anyway get stuff for free.
Now because of the Internet people are going in asking for them as if they are standard.

In the end 2 years free supercharging is not worth much ; you can get 2000 free miles and your friend can too plus the free paint. Take that and be happy with it or cancel the order.
 
Update.

Just got off the phone with the Regional Manager for the south. He called me about the cancellation.

He was completely receptive and professional about the entire thing and immediately offered to look into resolving it. We came to a amicable workaround on the entire issue and my M3P is going to be built.

I sincerely appreciate the banter and feedback. Its been interesting.

Glad to see that.

Also about the service concerns, I've seen a lot of people here who've had good experiences, me included. Some service centers might have had issues but I know they're working to continually improve in all areas (and not just the cars).

Where there are issues, you can ask to talk to a manager or send your concern / suggestion for improvement to: [email protected]

Congratulations and enjoy!
 
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