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Really frustrated with Tesla Service (headrest issue)

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talkingevs

GO AVS! 2022 CHAMPS!
Jan 28, 2018
473
237
Las Vegas, NV
I know there are already a lot of posts about frustration with service centers. But I thought I'd throw mine into the hat and see if anyone has any suggestions. Our 2018 Model 3, which we are the original owners, has the drivers headrest literally flaking off where your head lays on it. We've never had any vehicle ever have this issue, to include our newer 2021 Model 3. The issue began showing up about a year into the ownership and it was brought up to the service center (have proof). We were advised at that time, they would not cover it under warranty and that it was an out of pocket expense because it was clearly something we did with hair products. This is absolutely false as I don't use gels or anything, and no other vehicle has had the issue. Since they refused to fix it, we left it.

Just this past week, I saw an article from Tesla Canada (Tesla now replacing bubbling Model 3 headrests as a 'goodwill' gesture) about how some service centers are now replacing the bubbling head rest issue as a goodwill replacement (one-time), even out of warranty. Our 2018 went off warranty in July 2022, so it is no longer covered either. But I thought I'd see what their response would be, quoting the article. Obviously the service center replied with an estimate out of pocket and state they won't cover it because it was caused by us? I asked for it to be sent to a manager and I just got the voicemail from them (Alex - unsure if he is out of Las Vegas or corporate). He states that since it's caused by hair products or hair oils, it is not a covered item and will be out of pocket. Furthermore, states that since our vehicle is off warranty, that is another reason they are denying it.

1) We can prove this issue began under warranty (see post here with photos which have become worse, and the Tesla Service denial estimate from 2019-2020 when it was under warranty)
2) It is not an issue we caused as our other Tesla doesn't have the issue and no other vehicle has.

Any suggestions on where to go next? It's a $200 fix, but it's the principal of it that Tesla should back their products. It is these sort of things that are causing us to possibly look elsewhere for our next EVs, even though we love Tesla cars overall. The headrest is obviously defective as others have posted same issues.
 
This issue comes up quite a lot in a couple of the facebook groups i'm in, somebody just asked that question so I went here looking for an answer. Haven't experienced this problem myself, but hopefully Tesla replaces them within warranty for free, without question.