New Tesla Model 3 extended range locked me out, Tesla refused to help

[nonoyes]

Hey guys, he came to here to vent, and this forum allows that. If Tesla wasnt the only game in town, I would've canceled my wife's Y by what happened to us.

 

[Gulfcoaster]

I agree that Tesla are not good with their customers.

I think you should go back to your car and call Tesla from there. I think you should always carry the keycard with you - it fits in a wallet or purse just like your driver's license and credit cards.

I think you should then sell your car - you will probably make a significant profit. You will likely never trust the car or the company again and will have an unpleasant experience owning the car.

I am no longer surprised by people making a new account here and immediately complaining about their Tesla experience.

You couldn't be more correct in stating "Tesla are not good with their customers"......Tesla has NO idea what a customer is.

 

[Gulfcoaster]

That's what came to mind.

OP if you come back, paragraphs are your friend.

LMAO....good one

 

[father_of_6]

Yesterday I had one of the worst experiences of my life.

Just wanted to add that perhaps you should consider trying to increase your life's experiences. If being locked out of your car was your worst one, you might really be missing out.

 

[LoudMusic]

Just wanted to add that perhaps you should consider trying to increase your life's experiences. If being locked out of your car was your worst one, you might really be missing out.

Or they're living a very privileged life. I once had a friend tell me that painting a room was the worst experience of her life. ****ing hell, I want that life!

 

[jjrandorin]

Hey guys, he came to here to vent, and this forum allows that. If Tesla wasnt the only game in town, I would've canceled my wife's Y by what happened to us.

Tesla isnt actually the only game in town, there are other choices (and will be more soon). We do allow venting as long as it is not out of bounds (and this one certainly isnt). We also allow people to have differing opinions and state that, as long as its not a personal attack, and nothing in this thread rises to that point, to me.

I really feel the OP was at the wrong car, at this point. Its the thing that makes the most sense, and fits the story perfectly. In fact, if thats the case, we likely will never know because the OP is not likely to come back and tell us that.

 

[KenC]

Wow, short rope on this thread.

One, did the OP actually register his phone with the car?
Two, did the OP try toggling bluetooth?
Three, did the OP try rebooting the phone?
Four, did the OP try someone else's phone, using his credentials, to unlock the car?
Five, did the OP think about having someone go to his home and getting a keycard to get his car?

Those are some of the things I would have tried.

 

[RayK]

Wow, short rope on this thread.

One, did the OP actually register his phone with the car?
Two, did the OP try toggling bluetooth?
Three, did the OP try rebooting the phone?
Four, did the OP try someone else's phone, using his credentials, to unlock the car?
Five, did the OP think about having someone go to his home and getting a keycard to get his car?

Six, did the OP check the license plate to see if it was their car?

 

[SourJellybeans]

I think the point that "if you're not good with technology, Tesla isn't the car for you" is a fair one, though Tesla owns some responsibility here, too.

What I've observed is the App reports the last status of the car that it knew of - so if your phone or your car loses its internet connection, the app may look like the car is unlocked but the car won't actually be unlocked. If it's the phone that doesn't have a connection, the app will say, in small letters "Check internet connection". However, if your phone and car use different service providers, you could be in an area where your phone has connectivity but your car does not, and if you don't have the bluetooth key setup, you won't be able to unlock it.

This also manifests when you have poor connectivity and are trying to say, turn the climate control on, and the seat heaters at the same time. You might hit one command and then immediately another, but find the second command didn't take (the app may show it initially, then revert it).

Ideally, what the app should do is show some sort of progress bar (or circle) on the command/button you just hit to show that it's sent the command to the car but not yet succeeded. As it is today, I wouldn't blame anyone, especially a non-technical person, for not understanding the discrepancy between what the app reports and the actual state of the car.

 

[ShelJW]

Can't blame Tesla for their policy of not towing a car without the owner present!

 

[father_of_6]

Ideally, what the app should do is show some sort of progress bar (or circle) on the command/button you just hit to show that it's sent the command to the car but not yet succeeded.

All of Tesla's software (the app and the MCU) does a poor job of conveying asynchronous operations to the user, or even handling asynchronous in general.

One example... if I say "navigate to Chipotle", it'll hear and interpret it fine, but immediately display "No results found". Then I repeat the command, and the second time it works. This happens with LTE bars. It seems like there's just no connection to the server yet, but poor asynchronous handling... so the first time it just fails.

 

[Ohmster]

Ideally, what the app should do is show some sort of progress bar (or circle) on the command/button you just hit to show that it's sent the command to the car but not yet succeeded. As it is today, I wouldn't blame anyone, especially a non-technical person, for not understanding the discrepancy between what the app reports and the actual state of the car.

It does just that. Actually even better:

 

[Stanwood Steve]

Yesterday I had one of the worst experiences of my life. I have a Tesla model 3 extended range that is almost new(purchased a month ago) I had gone with some family members to a beach near half moon bay/El Granada yesterday evening. The car had 80% charge when we reached. I parked my Tesla on nearby street and walked along beach for about 45 minutes. When we returned, to my surprise, the car refused to open using the iphone app. I had never used the Tesla key until that point because Tesla told me that iphone is good enough to operate the car. The Tesla app on iphone would show the car is unlocked but car won't open. On the car screen, I could see the car was displaying that "Sentry mode" was turned ON for some reason. I had not turned it ON when I left the vehicle so I was very surprised. The app for some reason did not show that sentry mode is ON. I used my Tesla app to request roadside assistance. To my complete surprise, Tesla just closed down my request for roadside assistance in about 30 to 40 minutes while I was standing next to it. I was worried about my car so I didn't want tol leave it like that but soon it got dark there and highway one was shutdown due to wind and natural hazards so my relatives and friends couldn't come from that direction to help us. Somehow a bus coming from El Granada village saw us stranded and stopped for us and we got home. After coming home, I called Tesla and asked them why did my car refused to open? Why did they close my roadside assistance request without any reason? What are my options now that my car is left on the road? Can Tesla tow it? etc. To my surprise the Tesla roadside assistance lady on the phone told me that she doesn't know why my request for roadside assistance got closed!. She also told me that I have to be standing next to my car for Tesla to send any tow truck!!! I asked her if that is the policy then why didn't Tesla help me when I was standing next to Tesla vehicle? Why they didn't send a tow truck or tried to unlock my car remotely by verifying my identity? She refused to answer any of those question. All she would say is if you want help then go back to your vehicle. I was not willing to go back there as it was almost 11 PM in the night and I was not sure how long it will take the tow truck to arrive if my Tesla card can't open the door just like Tesla app. No matter how much I tried to convince them, they refused to help!. Tesla told me that it is their policy not to send a tow truck unless customer is next to the car and they will not comment on why my request for help got closed when I was next to the car. The lady refused to let me speak to her supervisor and told me that her supervisor will call me when he is "available" which he never did!!
Why is Tesla so arrogant and careless about the plight of its customers? I paid so much money and waited for several months to get Tesla thinking it is a reputable company but now I feel that they don't care about us and they are hiding the problems with their cars.

I've had my Model 3 for almost four years now, and although my iPhone has worked the vast majority of the time, I've always carried a key card with me. I only needed it once when for some unknown reason, my phone couldn't unlock the car. It was a minor nuisance. I figure if my phone battery dies, I want a backup. Sorry you had a bad experience with roadside assistance. I've never used them, but my experience with Tesla service in general has been outstanding.

 

[Msjulie]

Sentry Mode turns on automatically when you put the car in park.

Only if previously on, least mine just doesn't spontaneously turn itself on.


Realizing the OP is new here (yeah paragraphs are your friend), it's still fair to say Tesla is not really a customer oriented company by design, least in my experience. Customer service no longer returns email and finding someone on the phone outside roadside is an epic task. They seem to do their very best to not allow you to speak with anyone about mostly anything by exclaiming the virtues of the app for scheduling service, removing any human contact. Useful when it works but frustrating in many other ways.

Tesla should be more up front about the limits of their tech cause face it not everyone understands all the details (obvious as we might think they are) like the phone may not unlock your car sometimes and you better have the keycard.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

I don't believe the OP is a troll, just a pissed-off customer. I urge him to return to the car with the key and give the key a try. If that fails call Tesla service once again so they can deal with the issue.

I could go on about putting a 12v battery hidden in the little round compartment on the front bumper to access the frunk and thus the battery to assist in getting into the car, but that might be too techie.

Rich

 

[BigNick]

Can't blame Tesla for their policy of not towing a car without the owner present!

AAA had the same policy last time I used it, about 5 years ago.

Do some phones automatically turn off some functions when the battery level gets low?

 

[KenC]

I've had my Model 3 for almost four years now, and although my iPhone has worked the vast majority of the time, I've always carried a key card with me. I only needed it once when for some unknown reason, my phone couldn't unlock the car. It was a minor nuisance. I figure if my phone battery dies, I want a backup. Sorry you had a bad experience with roadside assistance. I've never used them, but my experience with Tesla service in general has been outstanding.

Good idea. You can hide a keycard in your phone case, since no one carries a phone naked anymore, right?. Just slip it in the back between your phone and case.

 

[KenC]

I think the point that "if you're not good with technology, Tesla isn't the car for you" is a fair one, though Tesla owns some responsibility here, too.

What I've observed is the App reports the last status of the car that it knew of - so if your phone or your car loses its internet connection, the app may look like the car is unlocked but the car won't actually be unlocked. If it's the phone that doesn't have a connection, the app will say, in small letters "Check internet connection". However, if your phone and car use different service providers, you could be in an area where your phone has connectivity but your car does not, and if you don't have the bluetooth key setup, you won't be able to unlock it.

This also manifests when you have poor connectivity and are trying to say, turn the climate control on, and the seat heaters at the same time. You might hit one command and then immediately another, but find the second command didn't take (the app may show it initially, then revert it).

Ideally, what the app should do is show some sort of progress bar (or circle) on the command/button you just hit to show that it's sent the command to the car but not yet succeeded. As it is today, I wouldn't blame anyone, especially a non-technical person, for not understanding the discrepancy between what the app reports and the actual state of the car.

3rd party apps seem better at this, ie indicating connection progress, I know my Watch apps are like that, Watch for Tesla. I highly recommend it. Add it to my list of redundancy above.

 

[RayK]

Good idea. You can hide a keycard in your phone case, since no one carries a phone naked anymore, right?. Just slip it in the back between your phone and case.

It's where I carry mine but it's sort of putting all your eggs in one basket. If I lose my phone, I lose my card too. Fortunately, I have another keycard in my wallet .

edit: The nice thing about the keycard-sandwiched-in-the-phone-case is that I can use it if I take too long to drive off and the car asks for a card to start. It does take an exact placement of the phone behind the cupholders for it to be recognized though. Probably the metal in the phone restricting the RFID reader's range. Same thing occurs if I try to use the phone against the B pillar reader. Useless to use my wallet (with keycard inside) as I have one of those RFID-blocking ones.

 

[mangrove79]

The OP lost me after the 2nd line. By the 4th line, my eyes were having a seizure. Grade schools in any culture would teach you to use paragraphs, but if it's a bot... Hey, just saying.

A post like this is always more convincing if there are pictures. I would've taken a picture of center console through the window, and a screenshot of the phone showing a closed request, etc. Anyone can come up with 20 lines of text with no paragraphs, even a bot.