Naples, FL ...

[GreenT]

So my car "died" recently on Pine Ridge in Naples, westbound, a block from 41.
I look up and suddenly I realize Tesla Naples is only one block away!
I hobble to their front door. First visit!
(I already realize that this is a showroom, not service, but that the local ranger hangs very close by.)
Walk in, ask for help. They give me Roadside Assistance's card. That's it.
I call. Almost useless.
Not only does Tesla NOT offer any service here but they are PROHIBITED from touching any car here.
Within 5 minutes the mall security cop shows up and threatens me to move my car or he'll have it towed!
I'm like what do you think I am trying to do?
A ranger HAPPENS to be there and explains that it has to be towed elsewhere to have ANY work done on it.
His truck is not even allowed on the property or parking lot.
Got a tow quote ... $550!
I ask someone there ... is there nowhere else a mile away where I can get it towed to?
He says "Yes!". Draws me a map to another shopping center a mile or two away where they keep cars.
I'm about to arrange towing there when he tells me they cannot touch cars there either!
Now I smell a rat.
Long story short, I get towed 25 miles to my house and it goes downhill from there.

But ... can someone explain to me ... why ... WHY ... WHY ...a car company signs a lease with an upscale shopping center to have showroom when they are NOT allowed to even TOUCH cars. Why not have a showroom / service center on the next block?

Besides, IMO a car company should always have service where they have sales.

Oh, they do! Everyone but Tesla!

 

[HankLloydRight]

First, you should get AAA Plus which offers free tows up to 100 miles. I just used that two weeks ago when I hit a pothole in NJ and had to get towed home 50 miles.

Second, there are no "rats" here -- I don't know Naples FL, but it's likely very strict zoning laws that prohibit any kind of auto service in a shopping center or shopping zone. And if someone did touch your car there, Tesla could lose their license to operate their gallery in the shopping center (and probably the same reason the other shopping center was off limits).

Besides, IMO a car company should always have service where they have sales.
Oh, they do! Everyone but Tesla!

Car dealers with service centers are usually in a different zone that allows for both showroom and service center. Tesla has many of those in areas where they found the right buildings and zones (usually closed car dealerships). Mt Kisco, NY, Dedham, MA, Cherry Hill, NJ are a couple around here -- both of those in car dealership zones. When CT eventually allows cars to be sold, the Milford, CT service center will be both a showroom and service center.

So don't hate the player, hate the game.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I call. Almost useless.

Shouldn't Tesla's own Roadside Service tow you to the nearest Tesla Service center for free? What did they say and why almost useless? How far is the nearest Tesla Service Center to where you were?

 

[GreenT]

You did't understand the main point of my post. My whole point was ... WHY would a car company put their "outlet" in such a restrictive setting.
-------
Roadside did try to charge me $550 to tow me to the nearest SC. That conversation is for another day. Nearest SC was 130 miles in Dania Beach.

Instead I had it towed home (10 minutes) (as directed by the Ranger) and got a refund from Tesla later for that after I complained about all the misinformation on the Roadside phone call.
The following day they towed my car at their expense to Dania.
Over the 24 hours I had 10 phone calls with Tesla from 5 different locations (Fremont, Utah, Tampa, Dania and Naples), a different person each time with different instructions.
And none of them even offered me anything to drink or smoke.

 

[Lasttoy]

Zoning issue should not prevent EMERGENCY maintenance. Period. Remind me never to visit Naples.
If you dont having towing insurance? Shame on you. I blew a tire last month, got taken home 53 miles.
If you read all the post on Tesla roadside service? It is very suspect. From great to horrible. Looks you were in wrong place at wrong time. If you had stopped street, you would have been ok?

 

[SM18]

As I understand it, there are different and additional licensing requirements to conduct a vehicle repair or service business. There is likely a conflict with the local zoning too. From what you wrote, it seems the mall is aware and strictly enforces it too.

Aside from that, there are a number of reasons why Tesla makes dedicated stores. It's the easiest way to get exposure without needing to buy massive, isolated properties that have to accommodate service. Real estate is not cheap and good luck finding an area zoned for such in an upscale area. I personally enjoy being able to basically buy a car where I buy everything else. I think you unfortunately ran into the exception more than anything. Most of the stores aren't as isolated as this Naples one seems to be.

 

[MarquetteWho]

Did you run out of charge? If this is the case, it would be like running out of gas a mile from the dealership and asking them for gas can, which you would probably get.

As far as a service center at the Naples mall, not a chance. I have to drive around for 20mins to find a spot to park in the winter. I understand the marketing around the store location, but Teala isn’t able to support actual owners. At some point, Tesla will need to open a full service store in SWF! I’m hoping it’s closer to Marco Island

 

[GreenT]

Did you run out of charge? If this is the case, it would be like running out of gas a mile from the dealership and asking them for gas can, which you would probably get.

As far as a service center at the Naples mall, not a chance. I have to drive around for 20mins to find a spot to park in the winter. I understand the marketing around the store location, but Teala isn’t able to support actual owners. At some point, Tesla will need to open a full service store in SWF! I’m hoping it’s closer to Marco Island

Sorry, I should have articulated that.
No, I did not run out of charge.
Got 2 or 3 error messages on the dash that car was "dying" in the space of a minute.
We've been promised a service location near here for years. Instead we now have (as you'll know) 4 (soon to be 5) chargers within 300 miles.

 

[HankLloydRight]

You did't understand the main point of my post. My whole point was ... WHY would a car company put their "outlet" in such a restrictive setting.

No, I did understand your post. Tesla is different and has followed the same path as the Apple Store, and in fact both the Apple Stores and Tesla Galleries were designed by George Blankenship. (Yes, you can get your computer repaired at an Apple Store, but that's not my point -- there are no zoning laws prohibiting Apple from doing that).

Tesla, in addition to their regular Stores+Service Centers I pointed out, also is opening up a lot of Galleries where the people normally go -- malls, shopping centers, etc. Most every other ordinary car dealership is not in those types of high-traffic places zoned for shopping. I don't ever recall seeing a car dealership with service in a mall or shopping center.

Zoning issue should not prevent EMERGENCY maintenance. Period. Remind me never to visit Naples.

Yes, they absolutely should prevent emergency maintenance. First, who decides what qualifies as an "emergency"? How is Ron's emergency more important than Todd's emergency? How many simultaneous emergencies should a Tesla Store be able to handle? Second, in order to provide any kind of maintenance requires garages, car bays, lifts, tools, test equipment, repair staff, administrative staff, power, drainage, haz-mat handling (yes, Teslas have hazardous fluids), parts inventory, etc. None of those things are ever zoned for malls or shopping centers.

Ok, so allow a Ranger to work on cars in the parking lot. Well, as already mentioned, that's not allowed per the zoning laws... and if it were, then where do they drawn the line? If Tesla is allowed to do that, then we'd likely have "Rangers" for every other car dealer roaming around the parking lots repairing broken down cars, taking multiple spaces away from the public. This is exactly why zoning laws exist, and why there are rarely any exceptions made.

Aside from that, there are a number of reasons why Tesla makes dedicated stores. It's the easiest way to get exposure without needing to buy massive, isolated properties that have to accommodate service. Real estate is not cheap and good luck finding an area zoned for such in an upscale area. I personally enjoy being able to basically buy a car where I buy everything else..

This^^.

It's unfortunate the OP had a bad experience here, I'm not denying that at all.

But what if the Tesla gallery/store wasn't there at all? You would have pulled over and got your car towed somewhere it could get worked on (like you did). I don't think the existence of a store/gallery made your experience significantly worse.

 

[GreenT]

The bottom line is ... why didn't they build their facility "a block away" where they could service their clients?
Towing all the cars at $500 each one way has to be, not only inefficient, but a waste of money.
One a day is $182,000 a year.

 

[HankLloydRight]

The bottom line is ... why didn't they build their facility "a block away" where they could service their clients?

Because "a block away" isn't where the high-visibility is or where the people are which is the objective of the Tesla Stores/Galleries.

 

[GreenT]

So you're arguing "where people are" vs. client friendly?

Wrong objective!!!

The Tesla gallery folks should be able to say "for service, please go to the next block to our service bays."

There's a reason why mainstream manufacturers don't plant themselves in shopping centers.
(If I walk into Apple I do not expect them to tell me they cannot work on phones. (Not that I'd own one.))

 

[HankLloydRight]

o you're arguing "where people are" vs. client friendly?

It's not "either or".. it's "where the people are" for the stores and galleries, and "client friendly" for the service centers. It just so happens, for your particular case those were in conflict. You wanted a service center exactly where you broke down, which, purely by coincidence, was near a Tesla STORE that didn't offer service. I'd sure love a service center to be a block away from every place I break down. Who would ever need a tow truck! If you broke down a block away from a service center, you'd be saying how great it is and how lucky you were to break down at that particular location. But that's not where your car died. And Tesla can't have service centers everywhere. And if your car died 3 miles up or down the road where there is neither a Tesla Store or Service Center, would you still be complaining about the stores not being able to service cars? You're really upset (which is fine, I understand there were several problems going on at the same time), but you're more upset because of the exact location your car died just happened to be near a Tesla Store that couldn't help you.

The Tesla gallery folks should be able to say "for service, please go to the next block to our service bays."

Ok, sure... but I'd guess the rents are way too high to build a Tesla Service center across the street from a mall. There are a lot of factors to consider.

 

[GreenT]

The only factor to consider is their client base. IMO you're arguing just to argue. Muted.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I'm not arguing to argue.. I'm simply pointing out that it's impossible for Tesla (or any auto company) to provide repair and service centers exactly at every point where people break down to be convenient to their "client base".

That's why people have AAA.

Muted.

Nice way to handle a difference of opinion. Just take your ball and go home.

 

[MarquetteWho]

Because "a block away" isn't where the high-visibility is or where the people are which is the objective of the Tesla Stores/Galleries.

It’s obvious you haven’t been to the Tesla store in Naples. My wive has been to that mall numerous times and didn’t know it was there until I pointed it out. I understand showroom stores in the city, for example Chicago’s. But the difference is most galleries have a service center within 50 miles, which isn’t the case in SWF. I agree with the OP, how can you market a car in an area you don’t intend to service?

 

[HankLloydRight]

But the difference is most galleries have a service center within 50 miles, which isn’t the case in SWF. I agree with the OP, how can you market a car in an area you don’t intend to service?

See, I actually agree with you here. There absolutely should be a SC within 50 miles, or in the same general/regional area as they are marketing cars.

But just suppose for a minute that there was a SC 50 miles away from the Naples Mall and the Tesla Store. The OP still would have had to have his car towed there for service. So Tesla Store or no Tesla Store at the Naples Mall, the end result would have been the exact same.

But the data analysis, demographics, population, economics, transportation networks, and psychographics that go into locating a Tesla Store (high visibility, high foot traffic, high rent, small footprint) are the complete opposite to deciding where to place a Service Center (low rent, low taxes, large footprint, access to shipping/transportation/highways, proximity to customer base, proximity to workforce, etc). I used to do this for a living (for health care facilities), and placing the sales organization at the same location as a service organization is in most cases the wrong way to do it, and compromises both sales and service.

Around here, BMW has their showrooms on the "auto mile" high-rent areas, and their consolidated service center (serving several sales centers) on the outskirts of town, where they can be much much larger, easier to access for customers and employees, and service many more cars more quickly than a service center crammed into the dealership location.

 

[Anzir]

Surprising there is not a service center in Naples, given the demographics. What do Naples Tesla owners do? Drive all the way to Dania Beach??

Unbelievable.

 

[ewoodrick]

But ... can someone explain to me ... why ... WHY ... WHY ...a car company signs a lease with an upscale shopping center to have showroom when they are NOT allowed to even TOUCH cars. Why not have a showroom / service center on the next block?

Besides, IMO a car company should always have service where they have sales.

Oh, they do! Everyone but Tesla!

Do you really think that an upscale mall would want an auto service repair center on their premises. Of course not.
A Tesla facility at a mall is a showroom. It is not, and for many reasons not a dealer.

 

[GreenT]

Do you really think that an upscale mall would want an auto service repair center on their premises. Of course not.
A Tesla facility at a mall is a showroom. It is not, and for many reasons not a dealer.

That's not my point! You have it back a$$wards!
Of course the mall wouldn't!
Did you actually READ my post?
The onus is on Tesla, not the mall!
(Sometimes you have to s-p-e-l-l i-t o-u-t!)