-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Non-existent Customer Service
- Thread starter SJV Commish
- Start date
Hi TroyOrPhyllis,
Tesla stopped supplying 12V power to the aux pin of the 7 way - Fixed!!!
I tried unsuccessfully to show the link last time. Try the link above...
Shawn
Tesla stopped supplying 12V power to the aux pin of the 7 way - Fixed!!!
I tried unsuccessfully to show the link last time. Try the link above...
Shawn
Puggle
Member
It's easy to say 'Tesla are the greatest' and 'you'll always buy another Tesla' but recently I drove a Hyundai Kona Electric, and though not nearly as good as a M3, wow Tesla competitors are making great strides. I actually considered the Kona because I yearn for the Hyundai service/support that doesn't come with a Tesla vehicle.
The point is - legacy manufacturers are finally starting to listen and will have compelling vehicles...one day. I seriously love Tesla, and they will always be ahead, but what happens in 5+ years when one of these giants comes out with an actual Tesla competitor? Which, by the way, is Tesla's whole mission so they aren't even going to play defensive on this.
The market wants more EV variety, Tesla itself wants more variety (and competition), so logically many of us will be driving non Tesla EVs one day. When I bought my MS, there was no other alternative, but that is changing. Just reeeaally slowly.
The point is - legacy manufacturers are finally starting to listen and will have compelling vehicles...one day. I seriously love Tesla, and they will always be ahead, but what happens in 5+ years when one of these giants comes out with an actual Tesla competitor? Which, by the way, is Tesla's whole mission so they aren't even going to play defensive on this.
The market wants more EV variety, Tesla itself wants more variety (and competition), so logically many of us will be driving non Tesla EVs one day. When I bought my MS, there was no other alternative, but that is changing. Just reeeaally slowly.
My two cents on this, copied from another thread:
It is absolutely a problem and it will absolutely come to bite them in the rear as soon as other EVs close the technology gap.
My girlfriend and I have been trying to purchase a car for months now and it's been such a mess. The problems all began when she ordered a mid range only to have Tesla discontinue that line of cars without warning just a few hours later. They not only stopped taking orders, but they decided they weren't going to make cars for the people who had already ordered them. From there, we got linked to a bad sales adviser, who despite good intentions, consistently gave awful and misinformed advice. I won't go into details on everything that has happened.
Now that I have had the displeasure of dealing with multiple facets of the service side of this company, I am convinced that a large part of the problem has to do with the organizational structure. The people who you meet face to face in the Tesla stores have little actual decision making power. These are the people who know you, who have worked with you, who know your story. The decision-making structure is centralized, and so every decision of any consequence gets sent up the chain of command, until ultimately it reaches someone who doesn't know you, has never talked to you, and makes no effort to discuss the situation with the customer. It is a very impersonal and frustrating experience.
You, as the customer, cannot reach anyone with any authority. Online service chats, phone calls, emails...you talk to someone with no information and no authority, who then tells you they will escalate your situation to management and that you will hear back in a few days. Most of the time you do not hear back. Certainly, management does not make any effort to talk to you about the issue at hand. Contrast this to a typical car dealer where all of the decision making power is usually contained within the building. You can go to the manager and look him in the eye and know that he heard you.
Just today I got an email response to a very important question that I had sent a full week ago, only they answered the wrong question. It's clear no one made any effort to actually look into the situation. The poor employee who sent me the email response was, of course, just a messenger, as the actual substance of the response was generated elsewhere. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't his responsibility, and that's the problem.
The decisionmakers in this company exist in a bubble. The poor people on the front lines who have to hear us complaining can do nothing about it. And it's frustrating for everybody.
It is absolutely a problem and it will absolutely come to bite them in the rear as soon as other EVs close the technology gap.
My girlfriend and I have been trying to purchase a car for months now and it's been such a mess. The problems all began when she ordered a mid range only to have Tesla discontinue that line of cars without warning just a few hours later. They not only stopped taking orders, but they decided they weren't going to make cars for the people who had already ordered them. From there, we got linked to a bad sales adviser, who despite good intentions, consistently gave awful and misinformed advice. I won't go into details on everything that has happened.
Now that I have had the displeasure of dealing with multiple facets of the service side of this company, I am convinced that a large part of the problem has to do with the organizational structure. The people who you meet face to face in the Tesla stores have little actual decision making power. These are the people who know you, who have worked with you, who know your story. The decision-making structure is centralized, and so every decision of any consequence gets sent up the chain of command, until ultimately it reaches someone who doesn't know you, has never talked to you, and makes no effort to discuss the situation with the customer. It is a very impersonal and frustrating experience.
You, as the customer, cannot reach anyone with any authority. Online service chats, phone calls, emails...you talk to someone with no information and no authority, who then tells you they will escalate your situation to management and that you will hear back in a few days. Most of the time you do not hear back. Certainly, management does not make any effort to talk to you about the issue at hand. Contrast this to a typical car dealer where all of the decision making power is usually contained within the building. You can go to the manager and look him in the eye and know that he heard you.
Just today I got an email response to a very important question that I had sent a full week ago, only they answered the wrong question. It's clear no one made any effort to actually look into the situation. The poor employee who sent me the email response was, of course, just a messenger, as the actual substance of the response was generated elsewhere. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't his responsibility, and that's the problem.
The decisionmakers in this company exist in a bubble. The poor people on the front lines who have to hear us complaining can do nothing about it. And it's frustrating for everybody.
I think that is just a natural progression as we switch over from fossil fuel to electricity. And speaks to the success of the goal Tesla of getting people off fossil fuels. Tesla cannot service the needs of all car buyers any more than GM, Ford, or Honda can. Competition is good.
Puggle
Member
Yep.
At least in foreign markets there seems to be a little more autonomy (Australian Service Centres are pretty good and get stuff done that shouldn't be possible according to this forum).
galan
Member
I totally agree with SJV Commish. I have had my model 3 for exactly three months, and for all of those ownership months customer service has been lousy, across the board: mobile service, service center and online store. Absolutely not what you would expect from a luxury car manufacturer: higher price=higher service. I won't bother itemizing my list of complaints because most all of them are already documented in the various posts of this thread.
The Tesla fanclub keeps making excuses for Tesla such as "just look at the production growth, they are in a transition," etc., etc. There is no excuse. Tesla knew what their production targets were, and those plans were made months ago and perhaps even a year ago. So why did Tesla not scale-up their customer service operations to match the production schedule? They can't even run the online store customer service; try contacting them - that too is an email black hole.
Is this the staff's fault? No, they are probably working their butts off; the problem is management's very poor service planning.
Last edited:
geoalan
Member
I hear all the excuses, but it's inexcusable. If a company the size of Tesla can't do two things (sale a car AND providing support), not to mention SIMPLE web site support to their "store", then maybe they deserve to go under. I've been a supporter since very early, but I'm about done. NOT because of the car isn't a blast to drive or a piece of crap, but because for the first time in the history of the company I don't think they give two $hits about their customers. Their sales staff, for the most part, have NO idea what they are selling. Apparently the communications from HQ about their new referral programs is non-existent. I have personally "sold" five Model 3's in the last 8 months, and to date, have ZERO referral credit. I'm done promoting their products until they can find a way to support them again. Luckily, none of my friends have experienced any problems with their cars, and each got their supercharger credit (let that set in, they got credit, but supposedly no one got the referral credit).
What makes it worse is that they can't even provide a decent web store (not like Bezo/Amazon, Jegs, Summitt or even Walmart have that simple task "perfected"). I'd take Alibaba or Wish over Tesla's site. Not saying much for a "high tech" company that can't do a simple store front correctly. The only thing they've got right is the auto response e-mails.
I've been waiting for a couple months for a replacement UMC adapter ordered online. Received the customary e-mail that the adapter was shipped, yet FedEx has that the shipping label was created - nothing else. Forget getting answers via e-mail, when's the last time ANYONE has gotten through to Tesla parts on the phone? Been leaving messages for the last week and not a single return call, pretty much like their e-mail customer service (i.e. non existent).
Last edited:
ceejay44
Member
Ya... i was extremely frustrated at time of purchase through to and following pick up... fortunately no car issues since, but Tesla (lack of) customer service definitely pissed me off multiple times. They do need to get their act together
X Fan
Active Member
No car issues is our family experience.
Two Model X’s for my wife and I and two model 3’s for our sons.
3s have been impeccable with 18 month total ownership.
FWIW: Mobile/dania beach service has been great in FL and Charlotte has served me well in getting flats changed. I rate Tesla equal or better to my former BMW & Porsche service.
Long ago, they did and there was this: Creating the World’s Best Service and Warranty Program (from 2013)
And, from 2017: Musk: Tesla Service Loaners Will Be Loaded Model S, X P100D. How well is that working out?
I'm surprised to hear that about BMW. Years ago, it seemed standard practice they'd have loaners. I've only ever owned/leased non-luxury brands so no loaners are the norm. They're only done w/certain exceptions (e.g. car needs to be kept overnight or you pay for some very pricey service item(s)).
Last edited:
A small # of them might just be shills (there's a shill on one EV forum I'm on). But, The psychology of fanboys, explained by a professional | GamesRadar+ which I've pointed to a few times before kinda explains things.
My car is AGAIN in for service and the experience is a nightmare. At the latest, the day my oldest graduates from high school and we are down to two kids in the house, I'm getting rid of the X and getting an Etron. I hate my Tesla and if I didn't need the minivan aspects of the X, I'd have eaten the loss already. As it is, I'm test driving an Etron later this week.
Tesla is at present a despicable company. I congratulate and appreciate the role it played in pushing other manufacturers to electric vehicles, but the company needs to be saved from itself.
Not everyone is complaining about Tesla customer service. I have had great service. I suggest writing to corporate HQ with the details of your issue and like any business they will be addressed. I don't buy the excuse "can't reach anyone ".
Hundai instead, as someone said? Talk about quality issues, you'll have a lot to complain about with that company!
Hundai instead, as someone said? Talk about quality issues, you'll have a lot to complain about with that company!
I think we can agree generally Tesla service is bad. However, your customer service experience can vary greatly based on who you are dealing with or where you are in the country (e.g. the Tesla experience in CA is very different from the rest of the US). Back in 2017 CS was relatively good (for me). I could talk to someone on the phone and get my issues resolved in a timely manner. It got really bad for me in 2018 when my car was damaged at the SC, so I switched to Mobile Service exclusively which was awesome. I recently took my car back to the SC after a year and got great service, but the bar was set low.
My car has been relatively reliable since delivery, so I have little touch points with the company. If you have a car with a lot of issues, I can see being frustrated with Tesla.
My car has been relatively reliable since delivery, so I have little touch points with the company. If you have a car with a lot of issues, I can see being frustrated with Tesla.
I think if you have a simple issue to deal with, something that can be handled at the lowest levels of the company, then you may reasonably hope for a good experience.
But when you suggest writing to corporate HQ, I'm going to guess you haven't actually had to do that yet. I have. For a month I tried to reach someone at HQ with any authority to help me and it felt like a complete wall. Is it possible to reach someone if you are persistent enough? I don't know. Possibly. I only know that I spent hours exploring every avenue I could find, and I was not able to do so. So, for me, "can't reach anyone" isn't an excuse. It's a fact.
This is true. If you have any non-standard issue with a Tesla department - Service, Sales, Finance, etc... You are going to have a hell of a time. Be prepared for full voicemail boxes, email bounce backs, and a long wait.
jeffro01
Active Member
Can't... They lack access to parts, any parts. They lack access to the diagnostic equipment, all of it. They lack access to service manuals, unless they're in Massachusetts. There is literally zero opportunity for 3rd party service on a Tesla at this time.
Jeff
Similar threads
