Question about Service Expectations and Thoughts

[Struja]

First off, I don't want this to become a "rip Tesla" thread. I am genuinely looking for some thoughts and feedback on my best avenues to help with a service issue. So, here goes...

In the middle of April (2018), I took my car for the annual maintenance plan. While I was there, I complained that my driver seat was unstable. It felt like it was "rocking" back and forth. My concern was that if I was in an accident, the seat felt like it would peel right off the floor of the car. The car had this issue for a while but it was getting worse. It almost felt like the seat wasn't fully fastened to the floor of the car.

I took the car to the Mississauga service center and they looked at the seat and the tech determined that the seat itself was defective and it needed to be replaced. So, he order me a brand new seat (2016 90D refresh with next gen seats in black). He told me it would take 6-8 weeks for the seat. Seemed reasonable to me.

To be honest, I almost forgot about the new seat until (in July) I came up with a hard braking situation and really felt like the seat was coming off the hinges, so I immediately contacted the service centre to ask about the seat. In response, I got a VM and an email and it seemed like the seat was never ordered at all. So, I was back at square one.

I was told they were on it and I would have my new seat shortly but no time frame was given.

I waited about a month, until the second week of August and I spoke to the same service advisor and was told I would have the seat in 1-2 weeks (I also have that in an email from my serivce advisor). That was about a month ago. Still no seat.

I contacted the service advisor again last week and he basically said, "they had to make you a brand new seat and that takes time". No explanation for why he told me 1-2 weeks a month ago.

It has been 5 months since I was told they were replacing my seat and still nothing.

Any thoughts on what I should do?

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Escalate and talk to the manager in person. I believe you've been very patient up to this point about a safety issue and gone beyond reason to give them the chance to correct the issue. I work in the automotive industry and delays can occur, but five months (20week lead time is unheard of... unless they're giving your seat away to new cars) - this sounds like what's happening with a chaotic logistics system or people pulling service parts without respect to the PO date.

I'd print out all the emails you've received and ask the service manager to be in your shoes and get him to say answer the question > "Is this an acceptable service response if this was your car and shuttling your family around town with a loose drivers seat?"

Best,

Jack

 

[cwave1]

I had a situation like this with Tesla a few years ago. Different part but same problem with it not being ordered and then very long to get. I was dealing with the Mississauga SC. I spoke to the local service manager and that did not help.

When I eventually ran out of patience, I contacted corporate (something like North America service assistance / complaints). I gave them my whole story and after they got involved, things moved pretty quickly.

I have a feeling that the corporate guys making/providing parts give more priority to the corporate service guys than the local service centres.

 

[Eco Capitalist]

Use the escalate feature in your Tesla account. When I had waited what I felt was too long for a part, I used that. I had a call the next day from someone in the US and they drove the issue to completion, giving me (almost) daily updates as to where the part was.

 

[neroden]

First off, I don't want this to become a "rip Tesla" thread. I am genuinely looking for some thoughts and feedback on my best avenues to help with a service issue. So, here goes...

In the middle of April (2018), I took my car for the annual maintenance plan. While I was there, I complained that my driver seat was unstable. It felt like it was "rocking" back and forth. My concern was that if I was in an accident, the seat felt like it would peel right off the floor of the car. The car had this issue for a while but it was getting worse. It almost felt like the seat wasn't fully fastened to the floor of the car.

I took the car to the Mississauga service center and they looked at the seat and the tech determined that the seat itself was defective and it needed to be replaced. So, he order me a brand new seat (2016 90D refresh with next gen seats in black). He told me it would take 6-8 weeks for the seat. Seemed reasonable to me.

To be honest, I almost forgot about the new seat until (in July) I came up with a hard braking situation and really felt like the seat was coming off the hinges, so I immediately contacted the service centre to ask about the seat. In response, I got a VM and an email and it seemed like the seat was never ordered at all. So, I was back at square one.

I was told they were on it and I would have my new seat shortly but no time frame was given.

I waited about a month, until the second week of August and I spoke to the same service advisor and was told I would have the seat in 1-2 weeks (I also have that in an email from my serivce advisor). That was about a month ago. Still no seat.

I contacted the service advisor again last week and he basically said, "they had to make you a brand new seat and that takes time". No explanation for why he told me 1-2 weeks a month ago.

It has been 5 months since I was told they were replacing my seat and still nothing.

Any thoughts on what I should do?

Make sure you have the name of everyone you talked to, including the original tech who *didn't order the seat*, and the second tech who gave you a false parts delivery date, twice. You'll need these when you talk to the manager.

Talk to the manager of the service center about the unacceptable failure in which the parts weren't ordered. And also, emphasize that *the car is now undriveable*, which tends to get issues prioritized.

Also, stop driving it and demand a loaner.

You can also try executive escalation if talking to the manager fails.