No car on delivery day... :(

[iaflyer]

Likely what became a major issue logistically and a bottleneck for Tesla was the old railroad line that went to the factory that was removed. That would have made the most sense to utilize it to move cars out in volume. Don’t know why it got removed but someone a while back on here said the old rails likely needed replacing. They also said putting in new rails and working with the railroad to do so is not the quick, easy matter you’d assume it could be due to regulations that come into play. Bet there are plans in the works and approvals being sought to begin work on replacing that line though.

Rails on low volume yards/ines rarely need replacing. There are very old railroad rails in use - at slow speeds, but still in use. It's more that the wooden ties need replacing, but it's not cost prohibitive. They have machines that do it very quickly.

 

[neroden]

It was definitely a mistake to remove the direct rail loading facilities. I suspect UP, which is adjacent to the factory, was offering a very bad deal -- you'll note that Tesla is currently using BNSF for shipping.

 

[Vic4Model3]

Yet another Delivery day no show.
At least I got a call the night before Delivery!

 

[Darren Donovan]

Here is a very pessimistic view of what could be going on. I'm not saying this IS what' is going on. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions.

1. You take money from Customer A. You put that money in the accounting system. That makes your cash position look better. Then you make up an excuse about delivery. Then they delete the VIN from your account and you go back to waiting. Therefore, you do not subtract from your Assets/inventory. That makes those numbers look better, too.
2. Now you ring up Customer B, say "your car is ready." Customer B pays for the car. That makes your cash position look better. Then you make up an excuse about delivery. Then they delete the VIN from your account and you go back to waiting. Do you see where this is going?
3. But where is your car, really?
4. Now customer C comes along, cash-in-hand. You sell to Customer C right off the lot. Customer C's money makes your cash position look even better. However, you only subtracted 1 car from inventory. And frankly, the car was in less than perfect shape and already refused a couple times. If C wants to keep it, great. But there's a decent chance Customer C won't want to keep it.
5. So Customer C has a problem. You say "Bring it in, we'll fix it." You send it off to "the body shop", ignore phone calls, drag it out. You make excuses about why you can't fix it, and ask Customer C "Do you want to keep waiting? It might be faster just to issue you a new VIN." Or you say, "Sorry, we couldn't fix the problem. We'll just issue you a new VIN." And C goes back in line. But you have C's money.
6. You quietly send the car to another lot.
7. Now you rinse/repeat with Customer's D and E.

So you've transformed one car sale into several. Your quarterly numbers look great. Your inventory looks strong. Then the next quarter, you try to catch up. "So sorry for the wait. Here's some super charger credits."

Sounds about right, Lol

 

[PTBelt]

It is extremely disappointing that they can’t give us accurate delivery dates.

I was scheduled for delivery 6 days out. 4 days later I was delayed by 3 weeks. How does that happen?

You have a delivery date. I was cancelled and told I would get it sometime but they don't know when. I could feel them patting me on the head through the phone.

 

[mongo]

Here is a very pessimistic view of what could be going on. I'm not saying this IS what' is going on. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions.

1. You take money from Customer A. You put that money in the accounting system. That makes your cash position look better. Then you make up an excuse about delivery. Then they delete the VIN from your account and you go back to waiting. Therefore, you do not subtract from your Assets/inventory. That makes those numbers look better, too.
2. Now you ring up Customer B, say "your car is ready." Customer B pays for the car. That makes your cash position look better. Then you make up an excuse about delivery. Then they delete the VIN from your account and you go back to waiting. Do you see where this is going?
3. But where is your car, really?
4. Now customer C comes along, cash-in-hand. You sell to Customer C right off the lot. Customer C's money makes your cash position look even better. However, you only subtracted 1 car from inventory. And frankly, the car was in less than perfect shape and already refused a couple times. If C wants to keep it, great. But there's a decent chance Customer C won't want to keep it.
5. So Customer C has a problem. You say "Bring it in, we'll fix it." You send it off to "the body shop", ignore phone calls, drag it out. You make excuses about why you can't fix it, and ask Customer C "Do you want to keep waiting? It might be faster just to issue you a new VIN." Or you say, "Sorry, we couldn't fix the problem. We'll just issue you a new VIN." And C goes back in line. But you have C's money.
6. You quietly send the car to another lot.
7. Now you rinse/repeat with Customer's D and E.

So you've transformed one car sale into several. Your quarterly numbers look great. Your inventory looks strong. Then the next quarter, you try to catch up. "So sorry for the wait. Here's some super charger credits."

Not how it works...

Accounting doesn’t work that way. The cars that weren’t delivered would show up as liabilities on the books and wouldn’t improve the numbers at all.

Exactly!

 

[Stacks]

You have a delivery date. I was cancelled and told I would get it sometime but they don't know when. I could feel them patting me on the head through the phone.

Im sure a delivery date three weeks out is a placeholder. I don’t have a realistic delivery date.

 

[Airdis]

I hesitated to post as I've been a lurker for the last few months, but after seeing yet another experience that sounds like mine, I'll add:

I was a pre-reveal online reservation, and configured end of June. P3D-, White/White. Arizona.

I had a delivery appointment set, then rescheduled. And then rescheduled again.

Fair enough, I thought, I'll be patient — I know they're swamped.

I was assigned a VIN about a week out from my 3rd delivery appointment. Good sign! (I thought)

I paid my remaining balance by ACH — wanted to avoid any "issues".

On the day (last Thursday) I drove down to the delivery center in Tempe, checked in, and was told "We're detailing your car right now."

An hour later, they were "still detailing it". Quote: "We just want to make sure it looks really good for you."

An hour after that, I was taken into the little room.

"Your car's not here."

Where is it?

(Shrug) "We don't know."

But I've been sitting here for nearly two hours being told "We're just detailing it".

(Shrug) "Yeah, sorry about that."

So what now?

"Go home. We just need to find it in the system and then we'll get it to you. Could be tomorrow."

Friday morning, the VIN had disappeared from my account.

No contact from anyone.

I email my delivery adviser. I get a call over the weekend, which I'll summarize as:

No, I didn't know about this until you emailed.
Don't know what happened.
Don't know when you'll get another one.
Can't tell you if that car ever existed.
Don't know how long it'll take.

And my favorite part:

"Hopefully we can get something worked out within a few weeks"

Hopefully.

 

[Ormond]

I hesitated to post as I've been a lurker for the last few months, but after seeing yet another experience that sounds like mine.
Hopefully.

That's so sad! I'm sorry that happened to you. What are you going to do?

 

[Airdis]

That's so sad! I'm sorry that happened to you. What are you going to do?

Thanks. At the moment, I'm back to waiting "hopefully". I'd like to have this car. I like what Tesla does.

But yeah, it's soured the whole thing. The reschedules I could understand — but after taking the day off, sitting down there for hours, basically being lied to that the car was there and being detailed, and told anything ("maybe tomorrow") to just get me to leave and go home - it's hard to shrug that off so easily.

And now, logging on to the website, when I'm back to a bunch of unchecked appointment/VIN checkboxes, it's like I've just been kicked back down the queue a month or two. With no idea of what to expect.

This simply should not happen. Not to me, not to anyone.

 

[des16]

Thanks. At the moment, I'm back to waiting "hopefully". I'd like to have this car. I like what Tesla does.

But yeah, it's soured the whole thing. The reschedules I could understand — but after taking the day off, sitting down there for hours, basically being lied to that the car was there and being detailed, and told anything ("maybe tomorrow") to just get me to leave and go home - it's hard to shrug that off so easily.

And now, logging on to the website, when I'm back to a bunch of unchecked appointment/VIN checkboxes, it's like I've just been kicked back down the queue a month or two. With no idea of what to expect.

This simply should not happen. Not to me, not to anyone.

 

[des16]

I won't go into the gory details, but your story sounds all too familiar. I demanded a loaner or rental in light of the circumstances. They basically shrugged and said tough luck. Then I asked about an inventory car and I was told that there was one, but since it had white interior it would be an extra $1500. I asked them to assume that costs and the guy said no way. Great way to run a business. Time to go back to leasing a BMW. Now I have to figure out how to get my $3500 deposit back.

 

[Darren Donovan]

I won't go into the gory details, but your story sounds all too familiar. I demanded a loaner or rental in light of the circumstances. They basically shrugged and said tough luck. Then I asked about an inventory car and I was told that there was one, but since it had white interior it would be an extra $1500. I asked them to assume that costs and the guy said no way. Great way to run a business. Time to go back to leasing a BMW. Now I have to figure out how to get my $3500 deposit back.

Sadly, because Tesla is not hurting, yet, they don't care about customers like you and others in this thread who have posted their delivery problems. As long as demand is higher than supply, Tesla can be real smug about it. The attitude shown to customers is unbelievable.

 

[NickFie]

Accounting doesn’t work that way. The cars that weren’t delivered would show up as liabilities on the books and wouldn’t improve the numbers at all.

Cash position would be stronger, need for additional capital delayed.

 

[mzairboy]

First they shipped my car with the wrong wheels, but after lengthy conversation I decided to take delivery as is.
I prepaid in full and they said they would do a home deliver for the inconvenience.
Waited a long time for response to schedule delivery date, but then I was told they sold the car to someone else, so no go on delivery.
After I paid the car in full...

I was assigned a new VIN and scheduled a delivery date of Sept 28th, which is when I would be on vacation.
They told me they can no longer do home delivery for me.
I was also told if I didn't come get the car on Sept 28 I would be assigned yet another car and have to wait.
After I paid in full...

So I changed vacation plans and confirmed the Sept 28th delivery for the end of this week.
Today I called the delivery center since it has been silence from my IDA.
The delivery center said my VIN wasn't even supposed to arrive for delivery until sometime in October.

The only reason I paid in full was because I was told that was required for home delivery, which is understandable.
I have driven a friend's Model 3. I have come to the conclusion it is the most amazing car ever.
I have also come to the conclusion that Tesla has the worst communication ever.

 

[Az_Rael]

After I paid in full...

Lord... that is terrible. I might start asking them to unwind the deal and refund my money until they actually have a car for me. Maybe that would light a fire under someone, who knows.

 

[Runt8]

Lord... that is terrible. I might start asking them to unwind the deal and refund my money until they actually have a car for me. Maybe that would light a fire under someone, who knows.

Agree - I tend to give Tesla the benefit of the doubt in a lot of cases and realize that with all they are going through there are going to be problems, but this is outrageous. Being lied to at the delivery appointment is absurd - after that the manager should be bending over backwards to make him happy (including a loaner Tesla for as long as it takes to get him his Model 3).

 

[ceekz]

I'm pretty convinced that's what's going on. I suspected it a week ago when they did the "reservation holders, come get a "close enough" car right away" sale. But then on-the-ground people confirming if they had cash-in-hand they could drive a M3 off the lot with no reservation. Squeaky wheels, and reservation-holders in areas where there's not enough walk-in demand are sometimes able to push through and get their cars.

In the past week I've read simply too many accounts with too many different excuses to think this is simple incompetence. I've even read the "truck was late" excuse for the delivery center IN FREMONT.

I would put the optimistic explanation at this point as trying to pump up Q3 numbers. And I would recommend no one sign or pay for anything until the car is there and they've given it a thorough going over. And good Jeebus, don't sell your current car until you have your new car in hand if it's your primary vehicle and you need it for work. It's just too risky on such a high-dollar product, disregarding it's absurd that people need to go to such lengths to protect themselves in the first place.

Cash payer, 90 miles from Fremont, reservation holder = cancelled delivery date/no rescheduled date. No logic whatsoever except that I'm cursed.

 

[SMAlset]

I hesitated to post as I've been a lurker for the last few months, but after seeing yet another experience that sounds like mine, I'll add:

I was a pre-reveal online reservation, and configured end of June. P3D-, White/White. Arizona.

I had a delivery appointment set, then rescheduled. And then rescheduled again.

Fair enough, I thought, I'll be patient — I know they're swamped.

I was assigned a VIN about a week out from my 3rd delivery appointment. Good sign! (I thought)

I paid my remaining balance by ACH — wanted to avoid any "issues".

On the day (last Thursday) I drove down to the delivery center in Tempe, checked in, and was told "We're detailing your car right now."

An hour later, they were "still detailing it". Quote: "We just want to make sure it looks really good for you."

An hour after that, I was taken into the little room.

"Your car's not here."

Where is it?

(Shrug) "We don't know."

But I've been sitting here for nearly two hours being told "We're just detailing it".

(Shrug) "Yeah, sorry about that."

So what now?

"Go home. We just need to find it in the system and then we'll get it to you. Could be tomorrow."

Friday morning, the VIN had disappeared from my account.

No contact from anyone.

I email my delivery adviser. I get a call over the weekend, which I'll summarize as:

No, I didn't know about this until you emailed.
Don't know what happened.
Don't know when you'll get another one.
Can't tell you if that car ever existed.
Don't know how long it'll take.

And my favorite part:

"Hopefully we can get something worked out within a few weeks"

Hopefully.

OMG what were they thinking at that location. Wonder if they had a trailer/s expected around your delivery time and thought it was on there so didn't want to have you leave without being able to get your delivery that day. In any event they should have been upfront with you instead have egg on their face and given you the option to wait or come back later. If that wasn't the case, and some adviser there intentionally let you sit there for hours, as the manager of the store I probably would have let him go on the spot. You just don't treat customers like that. People may not be happy but are understanding generally when deliveries on trailers get delayed. So instead of just being disappointed, you get the customer angry at you for lying.

I really hope your store manager can help you get your car sooner rather than later. He needs to redeem his store. I have a feeling with cars coming out as fast as they are now you'll be driving one soon. BTW what was your configuration?

 

[ceekz]

After configuration, my delivery date was projected to be "Sept-Nov 2018." The big mistake that Tesla made was to infer that I was actually going to get my car during the front end of that projection when they scheduled me for 9/23. The second error was mine alone, and that was joining TMC where in addition to learning a lot of excellent info about Model 3 ownership, I could vicariously experience ownership through the words and photos of the online posters and start wondering when I would get called up.

Technically, Tesla is has two months to deliver for me within that original window. It is the roller coaster ride that makes me want to throw up. I'm not going to cancel and put a deposit on a Tayman. I'm really REALLY trying to not pester the hell out of my DA or whomever will give me the time of day at Tesla but the suspense is killing me. I wish I would have never had an original delivery date and that I was still blissfully ignorant.

I also have to believe that the happiest owners are posting their biggest joys on TMC, along with the folks who rejected delivery for subpar quality and those who have been bounced around the worst waiting for delivery. The other 500k or so are out motoring and are too busy to post. Right?