Problems adding new 72A charger to existing order

[newtman]

Some background first:
I placed an order for a Model S two weeks ago, after aggressive urging by my sales rep. I was told it would lock in the original pricing, but I'd still be able to take advantage of any updates coming in this week. Since a second 40A charger is no longer a factory installed option, I planned to add it after taking delivery. I'm scheduled for a late May/June delivery.

Fast forward two weeks to today:
There's now two factory installed charger options, the default 48A and the optional 72A, and there's no longer a post-factory second charger option. Seeing this, I asked my delivery specialist if I could pay to switch to the 72A charger, as I could no longer upgrade to a second charger after the fact. I was told I could make the change, but not only would I have to pay the additional $1500 for the 72A charger, I'd have a $500 penalty for changing my order + an additional $1500 to account for the new pricing structure.

Does that sound right? Yesterday's update eliminated my ability to get the configuration I wanted (2 40A chargers) and now it feels like I'm being penalized for trying to get the equivalent in the new configuration (1 72A charger). The whole experience has really soured my impression of the Tesla sales experience.

 

[SleepingAtLast]

that's unfortunate! definitely understand how that would sour your experience, when the whole experience, from placing the order to delivery, is supposed to be nothing short of amazing!

in my experience, the tesla sales team is very responsive in situations like this. have you spoken to the manager of the store you purchased at? i would hope that the manager would want nothing more than to make that disappointment go away.

side note, i was told that tesla is currently working on European cars in the factory right now and American orders are next. if that's true, your car is likely to still be waiting for production start, so that should help your case to make the change.

either way though, they should do right by you here.

 

[markb1]

That sucks. I would suggest that you keep trying. I think Tesla will eventually do the right thing. You could try emailing Elon's office. A little googling reveals the address is ElonMuskOffice at teslamotors dot com.

Also, it's entirely possible that your service center can still get you a second charger, even though that that's no longer officially available. Depends on if there are any of these units floating around. But I imagine that would also require you to have the 40A charger, not the 48A one.

 

[Pantoot]

For what is worth, I was told the same thing by the guy who called yesterday asking if I wanted the "free upgrade".
It doesn't make any sense, hopefully tesla will revisit this, I don't have a VIN assigned yet, so it isn't like it would cause any disruption to their supply chain.

 

[newtman]

My DS cc'd the manager, but I haven't heard anything back. Last communication sounded very final. This feels like a regular car dealership experience all over again.

 

[newtman]

Just talked to the manager, confirmed that Tesla will no budge on this. So now I have to decided whether to not get the car I wanted (and settle for a 48A charger, or pay $3500! to get the 72A charger. Either way it leaves me regretting having trusted Tesla and makes me extremely wary of recommending them to anyone else.

 

[ggnykk]

Some background first:
I placed an order for a Model S two weeks ago, after aggressive urging by my sales rep. I was told it would lock in the original pricing, but I'd still be able to take advantage of any updates coming in this week. Since a second 40A charger is no longer a factory installed option, I planned to add it after taking delivery. I'm scheduled for a late May/June delivery.

Fast forward two weeks to today:
There's now two factory installed charger options, the default 48A and the optional 72A, and there's no longer a post-factory second charger option. Seeing this, I asked my delivery specialist if I could pay to switch to the 72A charger, as I could no longer upgrade to a second charger after the fact. I was told I could make the change, but not only would I have to pay the additional $1500 for the 72A charger, I'd have a $500 penalty for changing my order + an additional $1500 to account for the new pricing structure.

Does that sound right? Yesterday's update eliminated my ability to get the configuration I wanted (2 40A chargers) and now it feels like I'm being penalized for trying to get the equivalent in the new configuration (1 72A charger). The whole experience has really soured my impression of the Tesla sales experience.

I thought there were Tesla email sending out to people that ordered Model S recently saying that the $1500 additional cost would be waived because they already ordered the car. But they would still get all the new features.

Try to escalate it to a manager or something, your sales rep already promised you beforehand that you can lock in your original pricing. If it won't work, just threaten to cancel your order all together.

 

[dano-oly]

So, overall, it appears your overall additional cost would be $1500 ($3500 - $2000 for dual charger). I wouldn't be too upset with that considering you'll be getting all the new upgrades. That said, I understand your disappointment and would continue to pursue the issue.

FWIW, in a year of ownership, I've never needed the second charger and am glad I haven't been carrying around the extra 60 pounds. I assume you know the extra charger doesn't improve your charging speed at Superchargers and fast-DC locations....

 

[newtman]

We go a lot of out of the way places that are far from Superchargers but have high amperage destination chargers. The 72A/dual chargers would have made a big difference, but I'm so fed up with the BS my salesman (and their manager) put me through I'm not interested in paying some bogus penalty on top of the cost of the charger upgrade. It's sad that once again, I'm getting a car despite poor customer service rather than because of good customer service.

 

[chipmunk]

If claims in this thread are true, it's possible you may be able to upgrade from 48 to 72 Amps later.

 

[ggnykk]

We go a lot of out of the way places that are far from Superchargers but have high amperage destination chargers. The 72A/dual chargers would have made a big difference, but I'm so fed up with the BS my salesman (and their manager) put me through I'm not interested in paying some bogus penalty on top of the cost of the charger upgrade. It's sad that once again, I'm getting a car despite poor customer service rather than because of good customer service.

how much it cost to just cancel the entire Model S order?

 

[newtman]

how much it cost to just cancel the entire Model S order?

$2500

 

[Ryan Dodson]

I ordered my P90DL on 3/29 which was confirmed on 4/6. I purchased all options except the rear facing seats and spoiler. Excited about my purchase the day after my order I purchased the dual charger (among other items) since I travel to locations where there are destination chargers but not superchargers or Level 2 or 3 chargers.

Yesterday, I received an email stating that I would get the new nose cone and HEPA air filter as part of the premium interior and lighting at no extra charge. However, I was confused about the new high amperage charger option. I called corporate sales to ask how the new charger would work with the dual charger and they told me that it was incompatible. Hmmmm.

They proceeded to tell me that I needed to call the service center where I purchased the dual charger and have them send it back and get the $2,000 credited back to my credit card.

BUT if I wanted to change my order to the high amperage charger I would have to pay the $500 change fee plus the $1,500 high amperage option AND change to the new base pricing schedule which is an additional $1,500.

I'm OK with paying the $500 change fee and the $1,500 option because that gets me square. But another $1,500?

What do you guys (and ladies) think I should do? I'm open to suggestions and does anyone else have dealt with something similar?

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

 

[dano-oly]

Tell your DS/manager that you want the "classic" Model S that you ordered which includes the upgradeable charging capacity. OK, that's probably not going to help....

Time to contact someone at HQ.

 

[ggnykk]

$2500

There are definitely official Tesla emails out there that say new features will be included at no additional cost for people who ordered recently. I saw that email in one of the Tesla Hong Kong facebook page. Try searching at this forum to see if such email exists in US market.

 

[newtman]

There are definitely official Tesla emails out there that say new features will be included at no additional cost for people who ordered recently. I saw that email in one of the Tesla Hong Kong facebook page. Try searching at this forum to see if such email exists in US market.

There's the rub. The dual charger was a post-factory option that was installed at the service center, so Tesla is arguing that me switching to the 72A charger (even though the post-factory 80A charger is no longer available) is changing my order, and therefore they'll charge me the full new cost + $500 penalty. It's the kind of despicable "read the fine print" behavior I'd expect out of a typical car dealership, but apparently Tesla plays the same kind of games.

 

[ggnykk]

There's the rub. The dual charger was a post-factory option that was installed at the service center, so Tesla is arguing that me switching to the 72A charger (even though the post-factory 80A charger is no longer available) is changing my order, and therefore they'll charge me the full new cost + $500 penalty. It's the kind of despicable "read the fine print" behavior I'd expect out of a typical car dealership, but apparently Tesla plays the same kind of games.

Probably just keep your order. I think they will give you the 48A charger instead of the old 40A one at no additional cost. And hope that there will be an options later on that you can upgrade to 72A at service center. As superchargers will double in the next two years, your chance of using your car's charger will be less and less.

 

[brkaus]

Nearly identical thread here - Problems adding new 72A charger to existing order

 

[whitex]

newtman, did Tesla give you the option of getting the pre-refresh Model S you ordered (with 40A charger)?

 

[Ryan Dodson]

Same issue here. Yesterday, I spoke with corporate sales and they would not budge and wanted to pass along the $1,500 price change as well.. I asked to speak with a supervisor, no one was available. One was to call me at 8 tonight . . crickets, now 8:30pm.

I've emailed my DS but he is on vacation till 4/19. I've sent the same email to the stores entire delivery team. We will see. To me, the happy medium is crediting me the $2,000 I've already paid for the dual charger (purchased before the change), charge the $500 change fee and the $1,500 option. It was Tesla's choice to change the vehicle, not mine. Why am I getting penalized an extra $1,500 to keep the vehicle I originally ordered?

Doesn't make sense. Contradicts my initial impressions that Tesla is a different car company.