Received Happiness Guarantee One Day Before Expiration

[smoline]

I posted this yesterday on Tesla's forum site. After a few comments from others, it was deleted today, which only heightens my disappointment. I'm posting it here to assist new buyers in avoiding an oversight I made:

I was progressing though options to "trade up" my 2016 Model S 90D for a 2016 Model X P90D. On the 89th day of my Model S lease I received the Happiness Guarantee in an email; in other words, one day prior to expiration. Exiting my Model S lease and purchasing a Model X (else waiting the required six months before entering another lease) WOULD HAVE been a viable option had I received notification and relevant paperwork earlier than one day before expiration. My Model S is a magnificent car, but after a couple months' use, we realized we really needed an SUV (Model X). Now the Happiness Guarantee return is no longer an option. It doesn't seem very "Tesla-like" to avoid disclosing the Happiness Guarantee until 89 days into the lease. I'm disappointed.

 

[Baja30]

Am I missing something? You had the car for 89 days and are disappointed that you missed the window to return it?

 

[smoline]

Am I missing something? You had the car for 89 days and are disappointed that you missed the window to return it?

I'm disappointed that Tesla did not provide me the Happiness Guarantee or any mention of a Happiness Guarantee upon delivery of the car, but instead provided it on Day 89 about two weeks after I began discussing a "trade up" to MX P90D. Had I received it or been made aware of it at delivery, I would have known from Day 1 that returning the car without significant penalty was a viable option. Withholding that information, intentionally or not, does not seem like a Tesla thing to do.

 

[Krugerrand]

My understanding is that you were happy with the car, you just changed your mind about what kind of a vehicle better suited your needs. The Happiness Guarantee is not intended for that type of situation.

 

[smoline]

My understanding is that you were happy with the car, you just changed your mind about what kind of a vehicle better suited your needs. The Happiness Guarantee is not intended for that type of situation.

My perspective differs: After two months of ownership, we concluded that we really did need an SUV as we originally discussed with the sales rep prior to leasing the S. Hence, we were not "happy" with the MS any longer, as we realized it did not suit our needs.

 

[J1mbo]

How did you manage to order the car without knowing about the Happiness Guarantee? The link is on the ordering page, just above "Customize your lease payment".

Am guessing that you were happy, but then the email made you consider changing.

 

[NullException]

I think the OP's central point is that emailing official notification of the guarantee one day before it expires is poor practice.
Regardless of whether @smoline could/should use it as means of switching to an X, I agree that Tesla's timing for that email is wrong.

 

[fallen888]

I understand being made aware earlier would have been ideal, but you still had a day to make your decision, right? Why not take advantage of your mind changing on that day? What am I missing?

 

[Mickie]

If I may offer thy .2 cents. The Happiness Guarantee is posted on the website and should've been known from day 1.That should've been made more clear by the OP's OA or DS, so maybe the fault lies there to a certain degree? I think the head's up email just before expiration is Tesla actually being ethical in the end, not dodgy nor sheisty.

EDIT: Granted, an email a week in advance would've been more convenient than 1 day. Hair, split.

 

[ecarfan]

I think the head's up email just before expiration is Tesla actually being ethical in the end, not dodgy nor sheisty.

Agreed, that seems like a reasonable interpretation of the email from Tesla: it's a reminder of the policy before expiration in case the owner wants to use it before it is unavailable. The policy is clearly stated online from the very beginning.

 

[smoline]

I think the OP's central point is that emailing official notification of the guarantee one day before it expires is poor practice.
Regardless of whether @smoline could/should use it as means of switching to an X, I agree that Tesla's timing for that email is wrong.

Thank you. That's all I'm really saying. This behavior is something to expect from [pick a manufacturer], but not from Tesla. I'm not UNhappy with the Model S (who could be?), but it doesn't suit our family's needs and now know we'd be happiER with the Model X.

 

[smoline]

I understand being made aware earlier would have been ideal, but you still had a day to make your decision, right? Why not take advantage of your mind changing on that day? What am I missing?

Were you able to make your decision to buy a Tesla in one day? On a work day? I couldn't. I wanted to look at newly-released and available inventory MXs, which required some research.

 

[smoline]

Agreed, that seems like a reasonable interpretation of the email from Tesla: it's a reminder of the policy before expiration in case the owner wants to use it before it is unavailable. The policy is clearly stated online from the very beginning.

If I'm wrong about this, so be it, but isn't that form supposed to be provided at delivery? It seems so to me, as the fields indicate date of receipt and acknowledgement by both parties (Tesla and the leasee).

 

[smoline]

If I may offer thy .2 cents. The Happiness Guarantee is posted on the website and should've been known from day 1.That should've been made more clear by the OP's OA or DS, so maybe the fault lies there to a certain degree? I think the head's up email just before expiration is Tesla actually being ethical in the end, not dodgy nor sheisty.

EDIT: Granted, an email a week in advance would've been more convenient than 1 day. Hair, split.

Or perhaps providing the form and addressing this option as an element of the delivery process. No one said a WORD about Happiness Guarantee when my Model S was delivered. If researching and informing myself of this condition is my responsibility instead of Tesla's, then I accept it.

 

[smoline]

Okay, friends. I think we've beaten this dead horse even deader. Thanks for hearing me out. I'll shut up now before flaming commences.

 

[Mickie]

@smoline, have you tried pleading your case to Tesla yet? If you're just out of the guarantee, maybe they'll make an exception given your case.

 

[McMuggets]

I don't think other car makers would even try to notify you of the end of any contracts or deadlines. They'd just let the date pass. Regardless, if Tesla were to make an exception for you then they'd have to relent on their hard 90 day deadline for everyone else too. It's a courtesy that they emailed you, and I'll bet that had you said immediately you wanted an X but "had to have time to research newly-released and available", they would have said OK.

 

[Electroman]

My understanding is that you were happy with the car, you just changed your mind about what kind of a vehicle better suited your needs. The Happiness Guarantee is not intended for that type of situation.

It is a no questions asked return policy. Whether you like the car or not is not even a consideration.

Given that OP had already initiated a discussion two weeks prior and - specifically for upgrading and not just returning it, which is the key point here - he may have a case here where Tesla can still honor his happiness guarantee.

Also I am surprised Tesla contacts did not remind him of the happiness guarantee during the two weeks of upgrade conversation. Most likely they didn't notice the deadline either.

 

[metier]

I'm disappointed that Tesla did not provide me the Happiness Guarantee or any mention of a Happiness Guarantee upon delivery of the car, but instead provided it on Day 89 about two weeks after I began discussing a "trade up" to MX P90D. Had I received it or been made aware of it at delivery, I would have known from Day 1 that returning the car without significant penalty was a viable option. Withholding that information, intentionally or not, does not seem like a Tesla thing to do.

Ok lets see, it's on the website and a We Guarantee link when you configure your car, it's in the leasing documentation. And after a couple months of use you realized that you would be happier with a Model X. Did you talk to Tesla about this? So because you did not read or take any initiative to see what could be done. All of a sudden it's Tesla's fault because they sent you an email 1 day before the guarantee ended. Unbelievable.

 

[smoline]

It is a no questions asked return policy. Whether you like the car or not is not even a consideration.

Given that OP had already initiated a discussion two weeks prior and - specifically for upgrading and not just returning it, which is the key point here - he may have a case here where Tesla can still honor his happiness guarantee.

Also I am surprised Tesla contacts did not remind him of the happiness guarantee during the two weeks of upgrade conversation. Most likely they didn't notice the deadline either.

Well because I never received, signed, or returned the form, there was no way it was on record with Tesla in the first place. To answer another reviewer's post, I did consider writing Tesla (I had a letter to Elon personally in mind), but don't feel this is contentious enough to raise a red flag. Bad practice? Certainly. But here in the Washington DC metro area, car dealers focus on quick sales of the transitory populace. Return customers and therefore long-term customer satisfaction is seldom a consideration (except for the local Cadillac dealer, who can and should write the book for long-term customer relations and prolonged customer satisfaction). I thought Tesla would be another exception to the rule. They aren't (not here, anyway).