Poor communication and customer service for delivery

[kirkit]

Day 1 reservation holder. I scheduled delivery for 9/1 in Westmont, IL.

Everything was going great until after my first conversation with the delivery advisor on 8/10. After that it all went downhill.

LACK OF RESPONSES FROM DELIVERY ADVISOR:
I had a few questions regarding the delivery process and financing (documents my bank required), and called my delivery advisor/left messages (Irma Navarro). She never returned my phone calls. I emailed her at least 4 times, and I received response to 2 of my emails, and only 1 of them actually answered my question. The rest were generic questions that could be answered by the website FAQ. (for example, my bank needed an exact payment amount including tax, and I hadn't received my final purchase agreement, and my delivery advisor said to check the website and it would be update...and it wasn't).

NO UPDATE PRIOR TO DELIVERY DATE
I was told initially that my car would deliver around 8/28, and they would need 2 days to inspect it. Then I'd come and pick it up 9/1. I went ahead and got my loan 8/31 morning (my interest payments start today). I called the 888.518.3752 Tesla number at 6:30 EST, and one of the agents looked up my reservation and said I was still good to go for my delivery in the morning. So I went and rented a 1 way car rental to Westmont (I live 100+ miles away).

At 8:45 EST, I get a call from the delivery center in westmont saying my car has not even delivered there.

Now I'm furious. 1) my delivery advisor never called me back or provided me with any legitimate updates. 2) I was under the assumption my car was ready for delivery...because they needed 2 days to inspect it before I could pick it up. Why wouldn't they notify 24 or 48 hours before my delivery day that they never received the car for inspection? Why did they tell me 12 hours before when they knew I have to come from out of town?

Now I've lost money on my 1 way rental. I'm paying interest on my car loan. Have to find time to reschedule work. And I don't know when the car will arrive.

Do I have any recourse or compensation for my troubles? They should have updated me within 24-48 hours of my delivery. The Nevada customer service agents are very robotic in their apologies. I get the sense they truly don't understand my frustrations. And the delivery specialist is a joke. I don't even know what purpose they serve. Just replace them with an email robot.

I may request that they deliver the car to my house, but even that seems risky given all the quality control issues, where I may have to refuse delivery.

This experience does not inspire any confidence whatsoever with Tesla as a company. Have been reading about bad customer service and bad delivery experiences. Now i'm worried it will translate into issues with service issues given that im 100+ miles away from the closest service center. At this point I would be open to taking a full refund on the car assuming they give me a refund on my deposit.

 

[m3guy]

They wont give you a full refund sadly.

I read all the stories related with delivery issues, defects etc, in here before I ordered mine, so there is a 50/50 chance that anything can get wrong with my car as well. So I set my expectations according to that. I am suppose to get my car next week and its gonna be 1st delivery attempt which I have still doubts if I can be sure to get the car that day. So I dont hold my breathe yet, but still I might get lucky, hopefully...

If I were you I would choose home delivery, if there is an issue with your car you will simply just reject it and wait for the next one. I know it sounds awful and time consuming but alot of people in here having similar issues. I had even problems with my unattentive delivery advisor, There was a trade-in issue and opted out it to make the process faster.

You will be happy when you get your car.

 

[MikeATL]

This experience does not inspire any confidence whatsoever with Tesla as a company. Have been reading about bad customer service and bad delivery experiences.

As I’m only a future customer right now, what I know comes mostly from the online forums. A large number of people have had similar negative acquisition experiences. It’s definitely not everyone and, as it typically is with reporting of negative feedback, you always hear from the unhappy people more than the happy ones, however it’s clealy too large a sample. The company’s growing pains (and probably the tight cash situation) are clearly being reflected in the customer service experience. I’m very bothered by this as both a customer and stockholder.

What encourages me is that I hear from almost no one who hates their Tesla or regrets buying it. Most people think it is the most amazing car (or any product, for that matter) that they’ve ever owned. Though I do realize the “fan boy” hangouts online may not give you a balanced view of the customer base...... Keep in mind an electric car requires very little maintenance and a year from now the one-time issues you encountered are going to be irrelevant. If the product itself is sound, the other stuff can all be fixed.

Tesla’s centralized non-dealer model is part of the scaling challenge. A local dealer could be more responsive, but can you imagine what it would be like calling Ford or GM corporate customer service? Whether you realize it, you are an “early adopter” and with that I’d have a greater level of patience. Though we won’t benefit from it, Tesla absolutely does need to stabilize and fix these delivery processes for a successful future.

 

[kirkit]

I don't think its right that a lot of people have lowered their expectations with quality and customer service due to Tesla being in its infancy. When paying $50-70k for a car, you definitely should not have to do that.

Over the past 6-7 years I have had cars from BMW, Porsche, and Lexus, all of which had higher MSRP values than the model 3, but similar in price points to the Model S and X. I've had some issues with the cars themselves, but never once had any issues with customer service with these brands. And when I did, they went above and beyond to resolve any issue as soon as possible.

I had a hard time justifying to my wife spending $68k on a Model 3 from a value perspective, especially since I've gotten really great deals leasing cars, and would be downgrading from a 7 series.

Most good experiences I've heard about are from people with a Model S or X. But after this delivery and customer service experience, I'm thinking things wont be the same for the model 3, and I'm starting to regret my decision.

 

[MikeATL]

Most good experiences I've heard about are from people with a Model S or X. But after this delivery and customer service experience, I'm thinking things wont be the same for the model 3, and I'm starting to regret my decision.

I certainly understand your point - this is a premier brand and the customer service should be outstanding in all functions.

Unfortunately, right now the model 3 ramp-up seems to be overwhelming them. It’s challenging for any company to double (and soon quadruple) their volume and not have scaling issues. It’s disappointing however that they were not better prepared especially considering they had originally expected to be ramping up earlier. I would expect that a Model S or X delivery right now is not going smooth either (unless they’ve got dedicated resources just for those brands.)

 

[irishndude4]

I'm paying interest on my car loan

Sorry you’re having trouble on the delivery and I am sure it all be rectified in time and you’ll enjoy the car and forget about the issues but you have no one to blame on the above besides yourself. Pay in cash if you’re worried about a few dollars in interest.

 

[kirkit]

I was told I would have my car 9/1....and I had no reason not to believe otherwise. I'm therefore paying interest on a car I don't have and paid for a rental car for no reason. How am I to blame for any of this? Is it because I should have known better in that Tesla would screw up?

 

[KG M3]

One slight improvement would be to request Tesla provide you an uber/lyft to your delivery. They will do that out here, and should do it there as well.

 

[notAnExpert]

Now I've lost money on my 1 way rental. I'm paying interest on my car loan. Have to find time to reschedule work. And I don't know when the car will arrive.
[...]
I may request that they deliver the car to my house, but even that seems risky given all the quality control issues, where I may have to refuse delivery.
[...]
This experience does not inspire any confidence whatsoever with Tesla as a company. Have been reading about bad customer service and bad delivery experiences. Now i'm worried it will translate into issues with service issues given that im 100+ miles away from the closest service center.

I think you are very justified in feeling the way you do. All companies have missteps and occasionally things fall through the cracks creating situations like yours. However, an organized company with high customer service focus would jump all over it, compensate you, and offer more goodies to make up for the inconvenience and loss. Going by several posts on this forum, it doesn’t appear that Tesla provides that level of service for Model 3 customers at this time. I hope that is not the case in the long run. I want to buy a Model 3 too.

If I were in your situation, I’d go with home delivery. I believe even home delivery can be rejected if your inspection reveals quality issues. It will be a lot less hassle than driving 100+ miles in a one-way rental, and then to find that there is an issue and you have to return without a car.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it all ends. General customer sentiment after delivery seems positive. I hope you are happy soon.

 

[GreenT]

kirkit, welcome to the Tesla delivery experience ... now wait til you see the service experience!

 

[jasdelta]

kirkit, welcome to the Tesla delivery experience ... now wait til you see the service experience!

Are you an owner, what kind of service experiences have you had?

 

[ACA Man]

I don’t think the communication is only for the M3.

When we bought our CPO MS last year, the only phone call we’ve got from the so-called Delivery Specialist/Advisor was to let us know our car will be ready in about a week or so.
After that, our numerous calls and messages left for her went unanswered.
The day we went to pick up the car, I asked why she didn’t return my phone calls, she acted like she didn’t know I was talking about.

And what;s so special about the title of Delivery Specialist?
They didn’t really do anything except meeting us to show the car then handed us over to another person to take care of the transaction.

It’s our very first Tesla and will be our last.

 

[Off Shore]

Tesla's making it up as they go along. This mode of distribution hasn't been used in a century, and never at this volume, and it's going to get more challenging as the volume increases. It's unrealistic to demand dealer-level service while at the same time extolling dealer-free buying. Sooner or later the cars (and semis) will deliver themselves to us.

 

[neroden]

Tesla's incompetence in the delivery process is legendary and was terrible when I got my car back in 2013. They haven't fixed *any* of the problems they had then, and it's gotten worse.

It's not growing pains. It's incompetence. The "inside delivery specialists" have been worthless from day one (I have no idea why they even exist). The call center is even worse; you can't trust a word they say. You MUST talk to locals in the local delivery center to get ANY real information.

That said, the car's worth the one-time hassle of the totally incompetent delivery process. And honestly service has been decent, though I wouldn't get the car if you're more than 120 miles from a service center.

 

[GreenT]

Are you an owner, what kind of service experiences have you had?

Look at the global map and see for yourself how far apart service centers are.
(Compared to chargers.)
As neroden says above, if you live > 100 miles from one I would tell you to stay well away from the brand.
Roadside assistance is on par with delivery communications.
(I had my most recent experience 2 weeks ago with 10 phone calls in one day, with misinformation on every call and 10 different points of contact.)
I have >80000 on my Model S and would not trust it to take me 1,000 miles across country any more.
Not if I got stuck between service centers and had to rely on Tesla service.

 

[jasdelta]

Tesla's incompetence in the delivery process is legendary and was terrible when I got my car back in 2013. They haven't fixed *any* of the problems they had then, and it's gotten worse.

It's not growing pains. It's incompetence. The "inside delivery specialists" have been worthless from day one (I have no idea why they even exist). The call center is even worse; you can't trust a word they say. You MUST talk to locals in the local delivery center to get ANY real information.

That said, the car's worth the one-time hassle of the totally incompetent delivery process. And honestly service has been decent, though I wouldn't get the car if you're more than 120 miles from a service center.

So would you buy another one?

 

[jasdelta]

Look at the global map and see for yourself how far apart service centers are.
(Compared to chargers.)
As neroden says above, if you live > 100 miles from one I would tell you to stay well away from the brand.
Roadside assistance is on par with delivery communications.
(I had my most recent experience 2 weeks ago with 10 phone calls in one day, with misinformation on every call and 10 different points of contact.)
I have >80000 on my Model S and would not trust it to take me 1,000 miles across country any more.
Not if I got stuck between service centers and had to rely on Tesla service.

So with all the difficulties you have had, overall have you enjoyed driving it?
Have you considered selling it and going back to a ICE?

 

[kirkit]

Tesla's incompetence in the delivery process is legendary and was terrible when I got my car back in 2013. They haven't fixed *any* of the problems they had then, and it's gotten worse.

It's not growing pains. It's incompetence. The "inside delivery specialists" have been worthless from day one (I have no idea why they even exist). The call center is even worse; you can't trust a word they say. You MUST talk to locals in the local delivery center to get ANY real information.

That said, the car's worth the one-time hassle of the totally incompetent delivery process. And honestly service has been decent, though I wouldn't get the car if you're more than 120 miles from a service center.

I think I agree with this sentiment.

I understand “growing pains” and mistakes/errors. But how they handle and resolve these are absolutely critical. I got a call from one of the managers at the Westmont delivery location after he heard how upset I was about the last minute delay notification. He acknowledged my situation, but one of the first things he mentioned was that there is nothing Tesla is able to do regarding compensation..."we don't have any floor mats to offer". I was immediately taken aback by this.

1) You are straight up saying theres nothing you can do to fix the situation.
2) You are implying I want a handout.

I was taken aback by the floor mats comment. First of all, you need to do something to fix it. period. I wasted my money on the rental car, money on interest...and most importantly, I wasted my TIME which is a LOT more valuable than a few hundred dollars.

I did end up talking to him for about 25 minutes, and explaining to him how ridiculous that comment was and how Tesla customer service so far has been horrendous. If their customer service is this bad and they dont have my money...what will happen when they have my money and I need service? He agreed, and seemed to understand, even offered a free Tesla service (after I had to argue my point for over 20 mins), but ultimately its out of his hands. He will talk to his management team and see what they can do. This will be the main deciding factor.

I told him I was considering not buying the car at all. If I can get a full refund on the deposit, i may be leaning towards cancelling (assuming their's no headache with my bank). Mostly because im not concerned about potential service issues.

It would be difficult to cancel, as I was excited about the car and it was fun when I test drove it. And the headache of finding a replacement and restarting this whole car finding process is not easy. But after seeing these comments, that might be the best decision since I am just over 100 miles from the closest service center. And I just get the feeling model 3 owners will be left behind...especially when standard range cheaper models come out.

Again, when paying about $70k for a car, I expect exceptional customer service (which other similar priced brands provide).

Other notes:
My delivery specialist was useless. Tesla should get rid of her and just send me an automated reply to their FAQ. It did a better of a job than my specialist.

Might as well automate the Tesla headquarter customer service as well, because the 4 or so times I called, they either provided me with no pertinent information, and even worse, provided me with INACCURATE information.

 

[GreenT]

So with all the difficulties you have had, overall have you enjoyed driving it?
Have you considered selling it and going back to a ICE?

I have enjoyed driving it, yes. Love it. Especially when I compare it to gas rentals.
<rant>
I've put 80,000 miles on it and loved them ... UNTIL ... service is required. That moment I DREAD.
I'll wait a year and pile up the list of problems for service.
Considered selling it and have a deposit on another fully electric car brand.
The people who work at Tesla couldn't be nicer! I know "my" tow truck drivers first name. I shouldn't.
They are ill trained at almost every aspect of their job.
I am SO FED UP with getting my car back with most line items still being wrong even though I've been assured they're fixed.
And having new problems show up.
Last time I called Roadside Service the woman initially chastised me for not using the latest firmware ... damn straight ... often new firmware is worse!
</rant>

 

[jasdelta]

I have enjoyed driving it, yes. Love it. Especially when I compare it to gas rentals.
<rant>
I've put 80,000 miles on it and loved them ... UNTIL ... service is required. That moment I DREAD.
I'll wait a year and pile up the list of problems for service.
Considered selling it and have a deposit on another fully electric car brand.
The people who work at Tesla couldn't be nicer! I know "my" tow truck drivers first name. I shouldn't.
They are ill trained at almost every aspect of their job.
I am SO FED UP with getting my car back with most line items still being wrong even though I've been assured they're fixed.
And having new problems show up.
Last time I called Roadside Service the woman initially chastised me for not using the latest firmware ... damn straight ... often new firmware is worse!
</rant>

It’s been interesting reading many post here on the love hate relationship between owners and there Tesla’s. All seem to have a love of fhe car, it’s innovations, handling, etc., but dread service encounters.

As one who has a reservation it makes one wonder if purchasing one is timely or not, or take a chance that the experience of owning one will be worth the switch from gas to electric. I guess I will have to make that decision soon. One advantage for me I guess is I only live about 6 miles from a SC.