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New Car with no charge

Discussion in 'Model 3' started by Charl2020, Dec 16, 2020.

  1. Charl2020

    Charl2020 Member

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    Location:
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    Is this strange?

    2 weeks ago I bought a brand new Tesla Model 3, and I picked it up from Tesla in Manchester. They told me it was outside charging and would have enough charge to drive home by the time I was orientated to the car.

    Then two weeks later I discovered on my bank statement that I paid for that charge?

    Isn't that so cheap to sell someone a new electric car over £40K and then have the customer pay to charge the battery to drive it home 50miles but not even tell the customer it is charging on their dime.

    Seems odd to me.
     
    • Funny x 1
  2. run-the-joules

    run-the-joules Active Member

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    never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence. ESPECIALLY with Tesla.

    pretty likely that the car had been linked to your account, and then they went "oh crap we better charge it"
     
    • Like x 8
  3. Kevin-rf

    Kevin-rf Member

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    Oct 12, 2018
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    Location:
    New England
    Last time I was in a service center, they stuck the car on a super charger. Imagine my surprise when I get a notice about idle fees while waiting for them to finish with the car....

    Waived, only because it was my first offence.
     
  4. DopeGhoti

    DopeGhoti Active Member

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    Baffling, if not entirely surprising, that the system would bill for charging of a car in Service Mode.
     
  5. yerEVan

    yerEVan Member

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    This right here is pure BS on Tesla’s part. They can shove that offense up their coolant hose.
     
  6. Candleflame

    Candleflame Active Member

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    isnt it that in the usa superchargers at service centres are all free to use?
    one issue is that teslas incompetence is definetly more noticeable in europe/aus where customer service isnt deemed to be as natural/important as in the usa.
     
  7. Big Dog

    Big Dog Active Member

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    I went to s service center about 6 months ago, and while waiting in line, I plugged in. Received a charge on my credit card for a few bucks, but then next month I received a credit for the same amount.
     
    • Like x 1
  8. SMAlset

    SMAlset Well-Known Member

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    Not having a “full charge” is not uncommon from what I remember of our 2017 and 2018 new cars at delivery here in California and from some comments from others on here especially at end of quarter delivery rush time when Tesla is getting as many cars as possible in the hands of new owners each day. Charging of all those cars when they might be delivering over 100 a day, all day long for a couple of weeks, would be hard to do. It’s been our experience that you are given a charge that will get you to a Supercharging station at the very least. And it’s a good idea that you charge on the road asap to check that you are able to with no issues with the charge port. My husband’s just delivered MS couldn’t charge on the way home from delivery center at his company’s Charge Point, turned out to be an intermittent charge port issue and they fixed. Happy to say no issues with it since. So situations like his can happen.

    Always a good idea when picking up your car from delivery or service to check SOC before leaving the premises and ask if you’ll need more range.
     
  9. CharleyBC

    CharleyBC Active Member

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    We charged a few times at the Rocklin, CA, USA Tesla service center/showroom and we paid normal charging fees. I'd never heard that they were free, so this was as we expected.
     
  10. Uncle Paul

    Uncle Paul Well-Known Member

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    Last several ICE vehicles I have purchased had stickers with price for around 7 gallons of gasoline. Believe it was part of dealer prep.
     
  11. M109Rider

    M109Rider Active Member

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    This is pretty obvious that the car was linked, then determined it needed a charge.
    Normal folks would see that, and either let it go, or have the mistake reversed.
    This is not going to be a cost saving effort by Tesla. :)
    To view this as a BS offence punishable by coolant hose death, is a lot of pent up drama and hate for a process mistake. ..
    You must have lost it when dealing with traditional dealerships. They do knowingly rip you off.
     
  12. yerEVan

    yerEVan Member

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    It is a bit of a violent statement. Not pent up at all. The only thing that is ridiculous is not that they charged but that they considered idle fees still buyer’s fault but “we will let you go this time”. Before they took delivery.
     
    • Funny x 1
  13. JBT66

    JBT66 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2018
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    578
    Location:
    Arizona
    Back in 2018 I drove about 130 miles to pick up my car. I arrived with it only having about 80 miles worth of charge. It was late so they plugged me into a L2 charger the. Then took off because it was closing time. I charged for a bout 40 minutes getting to about 100 miles. I finally figured I could make it to a Supercharger that was about half way home. I gave it a shot and got to the charger with like 30 miles left. It was a bit nerve racking not being familiar with the car at all and being in the middle of nowhere. I10 between Phoenix and Tucson .
    My free miles also weren’t enabled yet so I paid about $7 at the SUpercharger. I absolutely love the car. The pick up was unpleasant to say the least.
     
    • Like x 1
  14. EVNation

    EVNation Member

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    Do new ICE cars always come with a full tank of gas? The ones I bought did, so I assumed they all did. Perhaps Tesla could give every new sale 1 week of complimentary supercharging. This would avoid any surprise billing, ensure truly new to EVs owners can get home, and give new owners a chance to verify supercharging is working. It would be good customer service and probably cost Tesla less than $20 on average.
     
  15. danarcha

    danarcha Member

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    Feb 9, 2020
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    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    I think new ICE cars still come with a tank full. I picked up my M3 in May at the Chicago Grand Ave location. I drove about 100 miles to get there. My car was charged to 99% when I picked it up contactless during the pandemic. I was happy it was fully charged because I didn't have my 240V outlet installed in my garage yet and was using the 120V outlet at the time.
     
    • Like x 1
  16. EVNation

    EVNation Member

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    Even more reason to throw in some complimentary supercharging at the start of ownership. New owners might not have have sorted out their home charging, have a long first drive uphill in a headwind to get home, live in an apartment and still be on the learning curve, etc. Tesla could cap the complimentary week at $100 to prevent abuse.
     
  17. ucmndd

    ucmndd Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2016
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    6,196
    Location:
    California
    I have never purchased an ICE car that didn’t come with a “full tank” on the house. That’s probably a dozen new cars between my own and family members, most recently in October. I have a very hard time believing you’ve had the opposite experience “several” times.
     

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