Referral Problem that Tesla cannot seem to solve

[Markk993]

Got my 4th referral about 5 weeks ago.... the guy i helped came back after and told me that he was told by Tesla that he could not use my code..

Apparently he bought an inventory car... It became an inventory car when someone custom ordered it and then cancelled the deal. The person who custom ordered it used a referral code.

Now the original purchaser is out of the equation and my guy is purchasing an inventory car that apparently still has the original person's referral code attached to it and according to him Tesla is saying that they cannot change the referral code to mine... in short some random other person is getting credit for my referral...

With his permission I spoke to Tesla directly... armed with the new purchaser's name, car info, phone number and the name of the delivery specialist i spoke to a Tesla rep and explained the situation. The Tesla rep told me that they would reach out to the Delivery specialist and to the person purchasing the vehicle and get to the bottom of the situation. That was on march 12th...I was told that they were going to email the DS and get some clarification and that i should hear back in a week or less as soon as the DS responded.

Fast forward 2+ weeks... Called Tesla AGAIN... explained the situation AGAIN, they took down all the information AGAIN... they said they would reach out to the DS AGAIN... and that they would let me know in a week or so...

Fast forward 2 weeks... Called Tesla AGAIN... explained the situation AGAIN but this time the person i spoke to told me that she sees the record of my conversation on March 12th and that the reason the first Tesla rep had not called me back is that the DS has NOT OPENED OR RESPONDED TO THE EMAIL that she sent to him...

I cannot imagine not opening or responding to a work related email to my work address for 5 + weeks... I get grief if i don't respond in the same day... In what world is this OK??

the Lady i spoke to on Wednesday said she would again try to call AND email this elusive delivery specialist and she would follow up with me the next day. Whether she was successful or not in contacting him... So far NOTHING!!

In the meantime the clock is ticking on getting my 4th referral (AGAIN) before 4/30 and it is now not likely that i will have time to get another referral in less than 2 weeks. this means I am potentially out a Powerwall.

Not sure why this is so complicated or why i am the one that has to continually follow up. However maybe i should start calling everyday until someone can give me a straight answer or resolve this issue.

there are multiple easy ways to make this right IMHO including attaching my referral code to some other random person that does not have a referral attachment.

I am waiting for them to tell me that they can't do anything because it is likely that this car may have already been delivered...

ANY HELP OR ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED

THANKS

 

[atc789]

The exact same thing is happening to me, except when my friend bought a car the delivery specialist used the wrong referral (or used one of their friends without telling my friend). When we and my friend complained after delivery they said they cannot change it and I have been fighting with them for the last month. Still trying to get it resolved! No one has been of any help (either at the dealership or head office)

 

[HankLloydRight]

The exact same thing is happening to me, except when my friend bought a car the delivery specialist used the wrong referral (or used one of their friends without telling my friend). When we and my friend complained after delivery they said they cannot change it and I have been fighting with them for the last month. Still trying to get it resolved! No one has been of any help (either at the dealership or head office)

Yup. Happened to me three times now sales associates have swapped in a friends referral code without telling anyone.

and my guy is purchasing an inventory car that apparently still has the original person's referral code attached to it

I don't think this is it. When the first person cancelled their order, the referral should have cancelled along with it. I've had that happen plenty of times, and those referrals show up on the 'Cancelled' list. What I think happened in your case is like these others -- someone swapped in a friends referral code in place of yours. And then they have a racket insisting that it can't be changed.

 

[Markk993]

i think it is fishy as well ... since the delivery specialist hasn't responded now in 5 weeks

i am going to be relentless

 

[Astraviel]

I had the same issue. It took one month for Tesla and my delivery specialist to change the referral code I had used. I asked the customer sales specialist to see if the first referral would give me the $700 credit, and when she told me it didn't I asked her to use the second referral code I was given for my new car. However, she had told me she had already applied the first one. The hell? I didn't tell you to apply the first one! I told you to check if it was a first referral for that person or not! Anyway, it took one month for it to be fixed.

 

[Bebop]

The exact same thing is happening to me, except when my friend bought a car the delivery specialist used the wrong referral (or used one of their friends without telling my friend). When we and my friend complained after delivery they said they cannot change it and I have been fighting with them for the last month. Still trying to get it resolved! No one has been of any help (either at the dealership or head office)

Happened to me too!! Absolute horse sh** if you ask me.

 

[BradWI]

There are definitely quite a few DS’s getting kickbacks for using someone’s referral with their orders. With the 2% Roadster discount for each, I could see these DS’s getting a grand or more per referral easily.

 

[Markk993]

has anyone been successful at getting it resolved... i dont care if i get that referral i just deserve credit for a referral.

Was thinking about calling the DS himself and see what he has to say.

 

[Markk993]

Called again today.. after being on hold for 38 minutes... I explained it all again... this time the Tesla CSR is copying me on the email to the delivery specialist....I also asked her to CC the people that manage the Referral Program (which she said she would) so that they are aware as well.

Funny part... I told her that the DS had not opened or responded t the original email sent on March 12th. Her first response was that maybe he was on vacation?!?!?!? I said "vacation for 5 weeks"... all she said was "OH MY"

What i did not think about until now is that (if the DS uses this code frequently) the person purchasing the vehicle may not get the $500 in credits that he would have gotten from me.

I have to believe that there is a car (on order) somewhere in their system that they could attach my code to to make this right. I don't care who uses the code I just want credit for the work I put into getting this referral in the first place.

 

[azred]

It’s good to see you guys standing up to Tesla to get those close friends’ referrals. I am amazed that so many of you have so many close friends buying these rather pricey, niche cars.

 

[RedMS]

It’s good to see you guys standing up to Tesla to get those close friends’ referrals. I am amazed that so many of you have so many close friends buying these rather pricey, niche cars.

It’s not just close friends. One of my referrals was a guy I met at a supercharger. He came up and asked a bunch of questions. We swapped #s and texted for a bit before he pulled the trigger

 

[alloverx]

I thought Tesla was different?

 

[Electricious]

I thought Tesla was different?

They are. No one else has a referral program

 

[Markk993]

just because I may not know some of these people personally (some i do) doesn't mean i didn't put in some significant effort. One guy i met in LV drove him around, let him drive my car, answered a bunch of questions, etc...

it is not about that... It is more about the fact that POSSIBLY an unscrupulous Delivery Specialists could be costing me a powerwall.

 

[atc789]

I agree, I didn't realize this was happening so much where the dealerships are using other peoples referral codes and swapping them. I'm going to call the head office again this Thursday, which will be exactly 1 month since I talked to the dealership. I told them I would give them one month to get this resolved and still nothing has happened.

 

[croman]

Yup. Happened to me three times now sales associates have swapped in a friends referral code without telling anyone.

I've overheard this happening while waiting to drop my car off for service. Local sales guy subs in his buddy's code and says no one will notice. I've also heard that sales person offer up his buddy's referral code (might be same buddy, wasn't really paying attention) for another customer whom I'd actually been talking to. I didn't confront the sales person or that potential customer because if I really did help that customer, he probably would've asked me after becoming aware of the referral system but I was slightly annoyed.

I've gotten one referral and I got nothing for it (that referral period you needed 2 referrals to get the Model S for Kids). I'm now looking at spending money on ebay for one of those cars as I don't think I'll ever get a referral because I haven't made a useful site, youtube videos (mostly useless) or self promote shamelessly enough to get one. All of my friends/acquaintances either cannot afford a Tesla or are too stupid to buy one.

At any rate, Tesla seems to be winding down this program and I'm hoping that radio flyer model S second hand market heats up. I can wait another year on it or maybe I'll start shamelessly pushing referral codes.

 

[artemeus]

I have referred a friend and around the time the delivery has been scheduled, it was changed from my referral to "pete95873". I noticed because the my referral count went down from 1 to 0, so that's pretty easy. I presume whoever switches them assumes that neither party is going to find out, but it is blatant stealing and people responsible should be fired as it erodes trust in the company. These changes via internal system should also be logged with Tesla internal username and timestamp - I am surprised if they are not already.

 

[alloverx]

all depends on the database design, it might be available in some log files but for it to be easily viewable it normally need to be designed for that, e.g. in a history view for a car/customer.

 

[artemeus]

Yeah you can either do that via DB triggers or handle it in software - good chance they are doing some version of it already, but a lot of these Advisors are just kids in early 20s thinking they can pull a fast one - might even get to a free roadster in some buddy's account for month's "hard work" of reassigning referrals. Cars ordered without referrals are getting theirs for sure - no one is going to complain.

 

[neroden]

I have referred a friend and around the time the delivery has been scheduled, it was changed from my referral to "pete95873". I noticed because the my referral count went down from 1 to 0, so that's pretty easy. I presume whoever switches them assumes that neither party is going to find out, but it is blatant stealing and people responsible should be fired as it erodes trust in the company. These changes via internal system should also be logged with Tesla internal username and timestamp - I am surprised if they are not already.

Oh boy. Someone needs to be fired for that. If your friend calls up and complains, he should be able to get the scammer fired.