No car after 24hrs of taking delivery

[dsm363]

Sears shows the Continentals for $204.21 and $40 off a $350 auto purchase making them $184.21 each if you buy two.
Just a thought for those considering having a spare.

Thanks. That's much cheaper and it says mounting is included. Would you have Sears install them! Think it would be hard to mess up (unlike the Roadster).
Continental EXTREME CONTACT DW TIRE - 245/35R21 96Y BW - Automotive - Tires - Car Tires


Looks to be $200 cheaper per tire installed which is big.

 

[akula]

FlasherZ, isn't there an easier way to deal with this overall? Can't they just under-promise and over-deliver? Just tell me Tuesday even if you think that the car will be ready Friday. I am ok waiting.

For what it's worth, this is the nature of the repair business (as I mentioned), whether it's a $200 boom box, $5000 set of amplifiers, $100k car, a $350-500k combine, or even equipment that costs millions. Schedules have to be elastic, as trained repair labor availability is not; some cars before yours may have taken a delay and therefore impacted the schedule of your car.

Anything more just increases the cost of the car or cost of the service. Would you pay $5,000 more for the car to have received a daily status call on your car's repair progress? Would you pay $500 more on the yearly service contract to have received a daily status call on your car?

This is not a Tesla issue, it's an industry segment problem that has been present for decades. Repair shops have supplemented with IT capabilities so that someone answering the phone doesn't have to find a specific tech to ask in the back room, but it still consists of repair notes in a very elastic environment.

It's frustrating, I know -- that amp repair scenario I spoke of above required me to re-tool for my neighborhood movie night because they weren't ready. I had to borrow someone's old receiver and make a couple of cables to make it work. It's just the nature of the business.

 

[BlkCld]

I know. The original cars came with the Continentals and recently I noticed them with Michelins. I had priced the Michelins earlier and found it for $559 I think at either SAMs Club or Costco if that may help you at all but I bet it was also special order.
Best of luck getting it back to enjoy soon.

I got stuck three weeks ago with another car that comes with no spare and a rare size. That really sucked. Never again. I bought a full size rim for a spare now. At least I'll have it in the garage.
I already have another complete set of wheels and tires for the S so I am already prepared.

 

[bigsmooth125]

Just a thought about service expectations...
I fully agree with @akula; he should have received a phone call informing him of the delay. What Tesla needs is experienced service writers and administrators at each service depot to handle this sort of thing. Even Honda offered me better service on my civic because of the excellent level of service my local honda dealer had with their service writers.

+1

My general impression (and perhaps it shouldn't surprise me) is that many people in this forum are too willing to defend Tesla and unwilling to identify its shortcomings, particularly with regard to customer service. Generally, Tesla's customer service is very good to excellent but it's not perfect. In addition, many Tesla apologists want to have it both ways: on the one hand, they tout Tesla's strengths but on the other hand, whenever a flaw is pointed out, they argue that Tesla is a new company, which is of course true. As a Model S owner and a Tesla shareholder, I hold Tesla to the same standard I hold other car companies to--excellence in every aspect of producing and selling a car. I expect a company that provides the customer service of Lexus, a car with the handling of a BMW, and a car with the ergonomics of an Audi. Perhaps this goal is unrealistic but I believe it coincides the goal announced by Elon Musk himself--to produce the best car in the world.

 

[AnOutsider]

+1

My general impression (and perhaps it shouldn't surprise me) is that many people in this forum are too willing to defend Tesla and unwilling to identify its shortcomings, particularly with regard to customer service. Generally, Tesla's customer service is very good to excellent but it's not perfect. In addition, many Tesla apologists want to have it both ways: on the one hand, they tout Tesla's strengths but on the other hand, whenever a flaw is pointed out, they argue that Tesla is a new company, which is of course true. As a Model S owner and a Tesla shareholder, I hold Tesla to the same standard I hold other car companies to--excellence in every aspect of producing and selling a car. I expect a company that provides the customer service of Lexus, a car with the handling of a BMW, and a car with the ergonomics of an Audi. Perhaps this goal is unrealistic but I believe it coincides the goal announced by Elon Musk himself--to produce the best car in the world.

Couldn't agree more with this.

 

[dsm363]

+1

My general impression (and perhaps it shouldn't surprise me) is that many people in this forum are too willing to defend Tesla and unwilling to identify its shortcomings, particularly with regard to customer service. Generally, Tesla's customer service is very good to excellent but it's not perfect. In addition, many Tesla apologists want to have it both ways: on the one hand, they tout Tesla's strengths but on the other hand, whenever a flaw is pointed out, they argue that Tesla is a new company, which is of course true. As a Model S owner and a Tesla shareholder, I hold Tesla to the same standard I hold other car companies to--excellence in every aspect of producing and selling a car. I expect a company that provides the customer service of Lexus, a car with the handling of a BMW, and a car with the ergonomics of an Audi. Perhaps this goal is unrealistic but I believe it coincides the goal announced by Elon Musk himself--to produce the best car in the world.

I agree with you. Saying Tesla is a new company isn't being a Tesla apologist necessarily. It's the truth and provides some context to their shortcomings. They are not perfect but I've yet to hear about a car company that is perfect. They may have produced the best car in the world but agree many processes and general communication need improvement. I'm not aware of anyone saying they haven't made mistakes or had issues.

My argument is I've never dealt with a car company at least that is this enthusiastic about their product and willing to try an make things right when they can. By saying they are a new company, it also means we are in the slow and painful transition from a small company to a larger one with many new hires and sometimes procedures in place that aren't ideal. I doubt Lexus started year one with the level of perfection they have now (although they also had the benefit of a large parent company to help). When Tesla makes mistakes, and they will, we should point them out and if we can think of a better way let them know that too. Companies with customers that don't care about the product or the company itself probably don't care enough to care if that company will be around in 10 years so helping them to improve things is pointless. If BMW screwed you over, you'd just go buy an Audi. Problem solved. If Tesla doesn't make it, I think we are in for another few decades before someone attempts to break the mold (car and dealership sales model included). It is just a car after all but I think a compelling one and from an innovative company.

 

[FlasherZ]

My general impression (and perhaps it shouldn't surprise me) is that many people in this forum are too willing to defend Tesla and unwilling to identify its shortcomings, particularly with regard to customer service. Generally, Tesla's customer service is very good to excellent but it's not perfect.

Anyone who has followed me knows that I am a supporter of Tesla's products, but that I've had my issues with some of Tesla's processes. The one thing I'll say is that Tesla is very supportive of its products and works very hard to address any issues that are there. Some of the processes are running a bit lean, and aren't perfect the first time.

My responses here are not in the defense of Tesla, but in the defense of any service/repair based business model, whether you take your lawnmower to Sears, your combine to John Deere, your car to the dealer, or your stroller to Graco. A repair business is not an assembly line -- timing is best-guess and best-effort. It is the nature of the business, regardless of Tesla, Toyota, Fisker, GM, Ford, or Daewoo.

- - - Updated - - -

FlasherZ, isn't there an easier way to deal with this overall? Can't they just under-promise and over-deliver? Just tell me Tuesday even if you think that the car will be ready Friday. I am ok waiting.

Well, you could invert the model, so that you tell someone Tuesday but get it done on the Friday prior. There are a few problems with this as well -- first, in a competitive setting, the customer is naturally going to want it faster and so it's really against the competitive framework of the business to build padding in (unless you really think you need it); second, space management can become an issue, if you get things done early and have to house things early routinely.

It's important to note that I believe Tesla really did think they could get your tire done by Friday, but unfortunately, things changed. It's not like they blew smoke up your butt to make you feel good, but they encountered an exception in the shop. So addressing exceptions by stretching the norm is probably not the best business plan.

 

[Doug_G]

Tesla's main problem is massive growing pains. It was inevitable that the initial deliveries of the Model S would be chaotic. If they hired hundreds of people to handle the deliveries in advance, but the production ramp was delayed two months, then they'd have hundreds of people twiddling their thumbs. Their stock would be pummeled. Instead they try to hire people "just in time", which is inevitably "just a little too late". Their people end up working 100 hour weeks. Mistakes get made. Combine that with rolling out new enterprise systems simultaneously and, well, what they are doing is basically impossible.

I wouldn't expect this to entirely settle out for a while - they are still ramping up the service organization. That said, although I've had my share of little glitches along the way, the people have been simply wonderful.

 

[ksdprasad]

+1

My general impression (and perhaps it shouldn't surprise me) is that many people in this forum are too willing to defend Tesla and unwilling to identify its shortcomings, particularly with regard to customer service. Generally, Tesla's customer service is very good to excellent but it's not perfect. In addition, many Tesla apologists want to have it both ways: on the one hand, they tout Tesla's strengths but on the other hand, whenever a flaw is pointed out, they argue that Tesla is a new company, which is of course true. As a Model S owner and a Tesla shareholder, I hold Tesla to the same standard I hold other car companies to--excellence in every aspect of producing and selling a car. I expect a company that provides the customer service of Lexus, a car with the handling of a BMW, and a car with the ergonomics of an Audi. Perhaps this goal is unrealistic but I believe it coincides the goal announced by Elon Musk himself--to produce the best car in the world.

i agree zillion times with you. it is a mistake, they need to admit that.

If elon musk wants to make it best car in the world , they should be best in this as well.

 

[jomo25]

I think everyone agrees with the goal. But no everyone expects that they will succeed on achieving that goal right out of the box. The magnitude of what they are trying to achieve (and yes it is their goal as you state essentially) is the equivalent of a moon shot (SpaceX pun intended). But along the way, there will be bumps. Hopefully small, and quickly addressed, but bumps nonetheless.

This is the real world. They can't sit on their products and wait for perfection. They will produce the best they can, test the best they can, release, and learn. At least that's my expectation. And that doesn't meant that their goal is any less than you described.

 

[akula]

I agree with you, that's why I didn't go crazy on them today when I picked up my car. Was just so glad to get it back! So everyone is aware for the future, a punctured PS2 will run you $836 for a new one, that's if you get it at Tesla and with Chicago taxes applied.

On a side note, I couldn't for the life of me remember if the image of your car next to your vin once you press the "T" button on the touch panel shows your car with the 19in rims or the ones you bought them with? I swear mine had the image of my exact car on that screen with 21in rims displayed before I took it in to get the tire fixed and now it shows it with 19s. Am I going completely crazy?

I think everyone agrees with the goal. But no everyone expects that they will succeed on achieving that goal right out of the box. The magnitude of what they are trying to achieve (and yes it is their goal as you state essentially) is the equivalent of a moon shot (SpaceX pun intended). But along the way, there will be bumps. Hopefully small, and quickly addressed, but bumps nonetheless.

This is the real world. They can't sit on their products and wait for perfection. They will produce the best they can, test the best they can, release, and learn. At least that's my expectation. And that doesn't meant that their goal is any less than you described.

 

[jimbakker666]

+1

My general impression (and perhaps it shouldn't surprise me) is that many people in this forum are too willing to defend Tesla and unwilling to identify its shortcomings, particularly with regard to customer service. Generally, Tesla's customer service is very good to excellent but it's not perfect. In addition, many Tesla apologists want to have it both ways: on the one hand, they tout Tesla's strengths but on the other hand, whenever a flaw is pointed out, they argue that Tesla is a new company, which is of course true. As a Model S owner and a Tesla shareholder, I hold Tesla to the same standard I hold other car companies to--excellence in every aspect of producing and selling a car. I expect a company that provides the customer service of Lexus, a car with the handling of a BMW, and a car with the ergonomics of an Audi. Perhaps this goal is unrealistic but I believe it coincides the goal announced by Elon Musk himself--to produce the best car in the world.

Yes, it's been like this for awhile. I drop in from time to time to see if the general attitude has veered more neutral. It hasn't. It's frustrating because it keeps people with neutral bias from asking questions, pointing out concerns, etc. Who wants to come to a message board where they consistently have their concerns dismissed, or are met with condescension? I saw a post in the swegman thread telling a potential cancellee that 'not everyone has the courage to be an early adopter'. In this thread there was a reply of something to the effect of 'the whining is unbelievable'. Gee, thanks for the welcome.

Yes Men won't help Tesla improve on quality. Self-censorship to prevent 'bloggers' and 'anti-ev journalists' from releasing negative articles doesn't help Tesla improve on quality, in fact I think it ultimately hurts quality and I know it hurts potential buyers. Tesla is fully capable of fighting and winning their own battles, so why not let them do so instead of all the second-guessing and downplaying of customer issues? Is the Tesla brand more important to you than helping out your fellow man (existing owners and potential buyers)?

Frankly speaking, and I don't intend to insult anyone, but some of the diehard Tesla apologists here turn me off to the Tesla brand. The TMC threads most important to me are those concerning vehicle issues, as top priority for me is reliability in a vehicle so I don't have down-time and added cost. Yet each time I visit one of those threads my head begins to spin as I see people dismissing valid concerns, shifting blame to the client, and generally spinning things Tesla's way. That is not a group I can identify with and it tarnishes Tesla's overall brand image (for me at least).

 

[neroden]

I'd like to add a voice appreciating the problem reports. It's really nice to have a heads-up on all potential problems BEFORE they happen. Makes me far more comfortable. Then if they don't happen? Great!

 

[spatterso911]

I agree with you, that's why I didn't go crazy on them today when I picked up my car. Was just so glad to get it back! So everyone is aware for the future, a punctured PS2 will run you $836 for a new one, that's if you get it at Tesla and with Chicago taxes applied.

On a side note, I couldn't for the life of me remember if the image of your car next to your vin once you press the "T" button on the touch panel shows your car with the 19in rims or the ones you bought them with? I swear mine had the image of my exact car on that screen with 21in rims displayed before I took it in to get the tire fixed and now it shows it with 19s. Am I going completely crazy?

Supposed to show an exact replica of your car, color, rim color, rim size, roof choice. If not, they can fix that quite easily at the service center.


Sent via Tapatalk

 

[dsm363]

Yes, it's been like this for awhile. I drop in from time to time to see if the general attitude has veered more neutral. It hasn't. It's frustrating because it keeps people with neutral bias from asking questions, pointing out concerns, etc. Who wants to come to a message board where they consistently have their concerns dismissed, or are met with condescension? I saw a post in the swegman thread telling a potential cancellee that 'not everyone has the courage to be an early adopter'. In this thread there was a reply of something to the effect of 'the whining is unbelievable'. Gee, thanks for the welcome.

Yes Men won't help Tesla improve on quality. Self-censorship to prevent 'bloggers' and 'anti-ev journalists' from releasing negative articles doesn't help Tesla improve on quality, in fact I think it ultimately hurts quality and I know it hurts potential buyers. Tesla is fully capable of fighting and winning their own battles, so why not let them do so instead of all the second-guessing and downplaying of customer issues? Is the Tesla brand more important to you than helping out your fellow man (existing owners and potential buyers)?

Frankly speaking, and I don't intend to insult anyone, but some of the diehard Tesla apologists here turn me off to the Tesla brand. The TMC threads most important to me are those concerning vehicle issues, as top priority for me is reliability in a vehicle so I don't have down-time and added cost. Yet each time I visit one of those threads my head begins to spin as I see people dismissing valid concerns, shifting blame to the client, and generally spinning things Tesla's way. That is not a group I can identify with and it tarnishes Tesla's overall brand image (for me at least).

People ask questions all the time and are not shot down. Do people sometimes go to far? Sure, this is an Internet forum.

There are also people who accuse anyone of providing context to someone's coming as being a 'yes man' or a Tesla apologist. That also gets old. Tesla has made mistakes and will continue to do so. Hopefully they address them to they extent possible. There are some people who are less risk adverse and less willing to accept missteps form a new company rapidly ramping up production. That is simply a fact, not a put down on that person.

 

[AnOutsider]

People ask questions all the time and are not shot down. Do people sometimes go to far? Sure, this is an Internet forum.

There are also people who accuse anyone of providing context to someone's coming as being a 'yes man' or a Tesla apologist. That also gets old. Tesla has made mistakes and will continue to do so. Hopefully they address them to they extent possible. There are some people who are less risk adverse and less willing to accept missteps form a new company rapidly ramping up production. That is simply a fact, not a put down on that person.

Well, it is when that person phrases it in such a way that it comes across like "If you can't handle it, GTFOH!" or in another manner which makes it seem as if the problem is with the person and not the car or company... Which, sadly, occurs often. It's the nature of the beast with an "enthusiast"-filled forum, but it sucks nonetheless.

 

[akula]

Well, it is when that person phrases it in such a way that it comes across like "If you can't handle it, GTFOH!" or in another manner which makes it seem as if the problem is with the person and not the car or company... Which, sadly, occurs often. It's the nature of the beast with an "enthusiast"-filled forum, but it sucks nonetheless.

We are all, by definition, biased. We are Tesla buyers after all. No one who is relatively objective would be an early adapter, there is simply not nearly as much to gain as there is to lose. We all want Tesla to succeed, which is simply shown by most of us having forked over our hard earned money for a very new and somewhat untested product.

I did get the car back yesterday, not without incident but I will keep that off the forum as it will most likely just result in unnecessary complaining and no real resolution. We are just better off recognizing that Tesla has a great product and are working to build out their infrastructure not just to sell cars but also support their owners in a timely and responsive manner. This will take time, keep your problems to a minimum people! In the mean-time, I'm just glad to have my car back.

 

[dsm363]

We are all, by definition, biased. We are Tesla buyers after all. No one who is relatively objective would be an early adapter, there is simply not nearly as much to gain as there is to lose. We all want Tesla to succeed, which is simply shown by most of us having forked over our hard earned money for a very new and somewhat untested product.

I did get the car back yesterday, not without incident but I will keep that off the forum as it will most likely just result in unnecessary complaining and no real resolution. We are just better off recognizing that Tesla has a great product and are working to build out their infrastructure not just to sell cars but also support their owners in a timely and responsive manner. This will take time, keep your problems to a minimum people! In the mean-time, I'm just glad to have my car back.

Glad it's back. I agree with you and AnOutsider 100%. People by the vary nature of spending this much money are likely to be biased towards Tesla but think most people do a good job of explaining where they are coming from and try to be objective. People should definitely not attack someone for legitimate criticisms but it happens. Some people bring up the early adopter thing to make sure people understand what they are getting into before they buy to set appropriate expectations. If you know buying a product from a new, lean company like Tesla will have some hiccups but they will make every effort to make things right, you are less likely to be upset if something goes wrong. I don't think any company delivers products that at perfect so we must keep that in mind. With all the growing pains, it says alot about the car and the company that people still love their car and usually recommend it to their friends.

 

[jerry33]

Well, there are a few folks who's problem posts read like an attack and so people get defensive because of it. They probably don't mean their post like that but without body language and voice tones posters have to be more careful of how others might interpret the posts (and the readers should assume poor editing skills on the part of the writer rather than that they actually meant what they implied).

My service has been pretty good through either email or phone calls. Then again, I haven't had any real problems either. Overall Tesla seems to try hard and they eventually do the right thing (mostly) but a few things fall through the cracks. Also there just isn't any way to have enough people with years of Model S experience when the car's only been out a few months. I suspect a lot of their customer service processes are being made up as they go along. I don't believe that 2500 Roadsters world wide over several years really prepared them for 2000 Model S per month. It would be shocking if they didn't make mistakes.

 

[Kaivball]

I certainly didn't mean to offend, however, I do believe it takes courage to be an early adopter of anything.

Different people are courageous about different things.

For instance I could not jump out of an airplane to parachute. I don't possess that kind of courage.

Some can't stomach the idea of spending $100k and become an automotive pioneer and deal with the problems that are inherently associated with being a first adopter. That takes courage.

When someone is swayed by reading about start up problems, and cancel because of that, that person may not have the courage required to become an automotive pioneer.

Have we become so sensitive and PC that something like this is not allowed to be said?