Resolved! Ranger Service for Due Bill Items

[markwj]

At the risk of bring slammed, what would other manufacturers in USA / Canada do in this case?

Here in HK, they generally don't have ranger service, so we would have to take the car to them for warranty / missing items work. Closest equivalent I had was a factory recall for that brake issue on my old Prius. I was told that I could bring the car in and get the work done for free, or they could send someone to pickup and drop off the car for me, but I would have to pay US$120 for that.

The issue I see is that without the dealer network, Tesla counters with the convenience of ranger service, but needs to ensure that is monetized.

But, at the core is the problem that Tesla is now shipping thousands of these cars without fundamental things like the prepaid service plan, 3G data plan, or even all offered+purchased options, finalized and available. That is what is causing the confusion here, and until that is finalized, Tesla should eat the costs (with the subsequent problem that it is going to be hard to start charging for something that you've been giving away for free).

 

[walla2]

I am guessing close to 70% of Sig customers and a large percentage of P customers have some item still due after delivery. The HPWC, parcel shelf, cubby, spoiler, detail, moisture in a light, wipers, panel, etc. I would not and most others should not expect or demand that Tesla provide free ranger service for every one of these due items. While I agree the item is due, travelling out to every single location with a ranger would not be something that Tesla could afford or likely do right now. They are in the midst of ramping production, ramping delivery, ramping communication, and ramping service; no division is fully functional. The $100 charge I suspect is due to not being ready for the problem the OP had here and not truly knowing how to handle it. It's the effect of not being quite ready for any of this (Trying to make, sell, and service a mass production global vehicle). My spoiler can wait until I either need ranger service for a critical need or schedule service at a service center. I'm not interested in bankrupting my only possible car service provider by having them come out and buff my car because it arrived dirty when delivered. Granted, that's not what the OP had done, but I think its a bit much to demand ranger service for every due item at this stage of the game. At some point, sure. At this point, I see growing pains.

 

[qwk]

It makes total sense for Tesla to charge for routine Ranger visits right now and then deduct monies paid if the plan is purchased.

I think you misread my response. I did not say I thought he should be charged.

Tesla has no clue whether a customer will choose any service plan. Charge for something he was already charged for first and sort it out later is horrible From a customer service point of view.

 

[bonnie]

Tesla has no clue whether a customer will choose any service plan. Charge for something he was already charged for first and sort it out later is horrible From a customer service point of view.

And if you had quoted my entire post instead of taking words out of context, it was clear that I didn't feel Doug_G's experience fit within a normal ranger visit:

Unacceptable. They were basically completing one of the last manufacturing steps that wasn't done due to no fault of yours, inconveniencing you (your car had to be there, right?). They also note that they'll do it 'on the way to Montreal', so you accommodated their schedule.

The decision to charge you was a mistake. I can see it if it was a Ranger visit that would normally be covered under warranty, saying if you bought the plan later, the money would be deducted. But this was a required step to deliver the car 'whole' to you. There should be no charge.

 

[FlasherZ]

Today I got a $100 invoice from Tesla for Ranger service. I complained on the following basis:

Some of the new rangers / servicepeople don't know that they have the authority to waive that on a visit.

I was told the same thing when I called for my due bill items (GPS receiver, etc.) and I called the regional service manager and dropped a note to the DS, territory service manager, and territory delivery manager. I was assured that for any problems at delivery, the ranger fee would be waived. I didn't much care, because I planned to buy the service contract anyway, but it was a matter of principle. You can't charge for a problem that wasn't resolved prior to delivery.

The Ranger insisted he was told to collect it upon EVERY delivery, then later told me he had a conversation with the TSM.

I also dropped a note to Joost to ensure he knew what was going on.

 

[swegman]

Walla2, I respectfully disagree with you. The OP paid a fee for delivery and prep of the car. The car was delivered but not properly prepped. Other people received their cars with items missing, such as the shelf,roof shade, etc. Tesla should not be charging a ranger charge for what should have been delivered with the car. Tesla delivered cars without all items in an effort to boost deliveries. They could have delayed delivery of the cars until everything was in order, but chose not to. Tesla should bear the ranger cost for coorrecting their mistakes (missing items, etc.).

What all this has convinced me is that I will take delivery at the store so that I do not have to prepay for the car before inspection. Should anything be missing or require repair, I will reject acceptance until everything is in order, or tesla puts in writing that the omissions/problems will be corrected with no additional charge (ranger charge, shipping (ala HWPC shipping charge just because tesla is unable to delivery them with the car at the present time), etc. to me.

 

[montgom626]

I would not and most others should not expect or demand that Tesla provide free ranger service for every one of these due items..

Hmmm, failure to plan on TESLA'S part does not make it my problem ($$$$). How they complete the MS and other issues is their problem. I am with the group that feels I paid for delivery of a complete car. If I pay for each missing part, then I am "enabling" their behavior of not getting it done right the first time.

- - - Updated - - -

What all this has convinced me is that I will take delivery at the store so that I do not have to prepay for the car before inspection.

So,if I take delivery at the TESLA store, I do not have to prepay????? I did not know that. I only have to prepay when the car is delivered outside of the TESLA store? With this information, I too will travel to the TESLA store in Oakbrook, Ill. for my final inspection before delivery.

 

[William13]

+1 FlasherZ, I have had wonderful service on the Model S. The Rangers were probably told to charge the $100 to minimize low priority trips. If there is no cost, people will tend towards infinite demand. I fully plan on going to the service center and paying for the TPMS reset every spring and arranging for the yearly checkup in the fall when changing to winter tires.

However the OP was wrongly treated. I assume his charge will be written off after talking with someone higher up. On the other hand no one else will come to my house to service anything for less than around $100. The dollar figure was correctly chosen. Just not correctly applied.

 

[montgom626]

At the risk of bring slammed, what would other manufacturers in USA / Canada do in this case?

That is what is causing the confusion here, and until that is finalized, Tesla should eat the costs (with the subsequent problem that it is going to be hard to start charging for something that you've been giving away for free).

If TESLA eats the costs, they will be highly motivated to correct any delivery deficiencies before delivery.

 

[walla2]

Tesla should not be charging a ranger charge for what should have been delivered with the car.

I respectfully agree with you. I'm not justifing the charge or condoning it. Tesla shouldn't charge anything. I was simply pointing at that at this point it is unlikely that the ranger service is ready to handle all of us for all of our needs. They clearly don't even have protocols in place to handle us. You can check my past posts. I'm no cheerleader. The reality is that deliveries have been occurring since day one, and I suspect that most cars are not complete and have due items. The ranger service will eventually ramp up to handle this. In the meantime, people affected should complain here and complain to Tesla. The rest of us should understand they aren't ready (they were under/unprepared for every aspect) but don't be outraged or feel the need to cancel/reject your car by what happened in one situation.

How they complete the MS and other issues is their problem. I am with the group that feels I paid for delivery of a complete car.

I am in a group that paid more than you for a complete car. I feel that a complete car is due as well. All of us feel that way. All of us paid the same delivery fee. You just feel that attaching your spoiler or TPMS correction is more important than rangers providing critical repairs when they are stretched too thin. Tesla needs more service people and needs to train more rangers. Due bill items will be fulfilled, but critical things need to be served first for Roadster and the Model S owners, and I sincerely doubt service is ready to come to the house or business of every owner to add one due bill item at a time as they become available. Don't get me wrong, the $100 charge is wrong, but it's not a sign that Tesla doesn't care about us. It's just another indication of not being ready.

 

[Brian H]

... Tesla needs more service people and needs to train more rangers. Due bill items will be fulfilled, but critical things need to be served first for Roadster and the Model S owners, and I sincerely doubt service is ready to come to the house or business of every owner to add one due bill item at a time as they become available. Don't get me wrong, the $100 charge is wrong, but it's not a sign that Tesla doesn't care about us. It's just another indication of not being ready.

Yes, I think the ramp-up is spinning off these "due bill" items and glitch corrections at a rate that wasn't properly planned or provided for. I hope it's not too serious a case of "biting off more than you can chew." The ramp-up (which seems to be proceeding famously, =>600 cars/wk?) has costs. Those costs must be met from the added margin the volume provides; that's part of the deal.

 

[Jkam]

Yes, I believe I already stated it was wrong. I'm questioning damning the entire company, one with a great customer service record, over what may be a misunderstanding by the person who responded to Doug.

Stating "time and again we find out about absolutely horrid Tesla service stories" without mentioning the other end of the spectrum seemed a bit unnecessarily dramatic. (Oh hey, we have a thread on actual service stories: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/10137-Actual-Service-Experiences-with-Tesla . Let's start there.)

I don't know if Tesla has a "great customer service record." There are certainly people that get good service. It seems that you are one of them. And then there are others that get less than acceptable service, me being one. So I suppose our experiences are different. However while you point out the thread with good experiences, there is at least one thread with many poor experiences (Delivery Issues and Concerns) and I've read random posts in different threads that leave me to believe that there are more people like me that have bad experiences than there should be. More than enough to question whether Tesla has a "great customer service record." Certainly Tesla has done some good, but I think at best its service record could be considered spotty.

The thing is negative experiences usually weigh more than positive experiences. Average is what is expected. Positive is not expected, but a pleasant surprise. Negative is usually not average or acceptable. So when you have a negative experience, it stands out more due to the lack of acceptability.

For instance, I asked to get my Slacker id/password over two weeks ago. Tesla responded that an Ownership Experience rep would push the information to me soon. Well, two weeks later, still no sign of it with no follow up or explanation why I didn't get my Slacker account activated or when I may expect it. My DS even mentioned at delivery that he would get it to me soon which was over a month ago. Spin it any way you want, that's poor customer service. And I know I'm not the only one.

This whole situation with paying for a due bill item is just completely asinine. Again, spin it any way you want it, but bottom line it is bad. In fact if I were part of Tesla I would be completely embarrassed by it. Maybe I have high standards, but to me talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. This is an example of nickel and diming.

 

[dsm363]

I don't know if Tesla has a "great customer service record." There are certainly people that get good service. It seems that you are one of them. And then there are others that get less than acceptable service, me being one. So I suppose our experiences are different. However while you point out the thread with good experiences, there is at least one thread with many poor experiences (Delivery Issues and Concerns) and I've read random posts in different threads that leave me to believe that there are more people like me that have bad experiences than there should be. More than enough to question whether Tesla has a "great customer service record." Certainly Tesla has done some good, but I think at best its service record could be considered spotty.

The thing is negative experiences usually weigh more than positive experiences. Average is what is expected. Positive is not expected, but a pleasant surprise. Negative is usually not average or acceptable. So when you have a negative experience, it stands out more due to the lack of acceptability.

For instance, I asked to get my Slacker id/password over two weeks ago. Tesla responded that an Ownership Experience rep would push the information to me soon. Well, two weeks later, still no sign of it with no follow up or explanation why I didn't get my Slacker account activated or when I may expect it. My DS even mentioned at delivery that he would get it to me soon which was over a month ago. Spin it any way you want, that's poor customer service. And I know I'm not the only one.

This whole situation with paying for a due bill item is just completely asinine. Again, spin it any way you want it, but bottom line it is bad. In fact if I were part of Tesla I would be completely embarrassed by it. Maybe I have high standards, but to me talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. This is an example of nickel and diming.

Missing the boat twice to Hawaii (being told why it missed the boat) doesn't classify as horrible customer experience in my mind. It sucks you didn't get your car sooner but delivering the car in California or Washington is much easier then getting the car on a boat to Hawaii. I understand your delivery did not go smoothly and that still upsets you but so many more have had a good delivery experience (even if there were production delays). Have they had numerous issues with deliveries? Sure but wouldn't say they have 'horrible customer service'. I again called the ownership team yesterday about something and got a person on the phone within 20 seconds.

Are they still in the phase you have to bug them about things like your slacker password? Have you called them to ask for it? Maybe but overall their customer service is good, especially the service Rangers. Doug_G should not have been charged the $100 and I'm sure that will be addressed.

 

[AnOutsider]

Missing the boat twice to Hawaii (being told why it missed the boat) doesn't classify as horrible customer experience in my mind. It sucks you didn't get your car sooner but delivering the car in California or Washington is much easier then getting the car on a boat to Hawaii. I understand your delivery did not go smoothly and that still upsets you but so many more have had a good delivery experience (even if there were production delays). Have they had numerous issues with deliveries? Sure but wouldn't say they have 'horrible customer service'. I again called the ownership team yesterday about something and got a person on the phone within 20 seconds.

Are they still in the phase you have to bug them about things like your slacker password? Have you called them to ask for it? Maybe but overall their customer service is good, especially the service Rangers. Doug_G should not have been charged the $100 and I'm sure that will be addressed.

Maybe the roadster owners get preferential treatment (apparently not so in Doug's case), but I'm still waiting on my clear bra install (probably useless by the time it actually goes on), and a response to multiple inquiries to ownership, service and my DS over the last few weeks.

Sadly, I'd have to throw my hat in the ring that tesla's service thus far is average at best, but more on the side of sub par. Definitely not the experience I was expecting. Perhaps things will pick up now that they're not in "deliver as many cars before jan 1st so we look good for Q4" mode. We shall see.

 

[FlasherZ]

This whole situation with paying for a due bill item is just completely asinine. Again, spin it any way you want it, but bottom line it is bad. In fact if I were part of Tesla I would be completely embarrassed by it. Maybe I have high standards, but to me talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. This is an example of nickel and diming.

*shrug*

This seems to be the case of a ranger who does not know the policy on charging the fees. The ranger has discretion -- in the name of customer service -- to waive the ranger fee under special circumstances like this.

That said, Tesla also has to balance out the load here. Do I expect them to make the 500-mile round trip run from Chicago just to peel off the tape on the spoiler and stick it to my car, leaving the child seats on the list to address with another trip? Incredible waste of money. I would expect, though, that once all due bill items are ready, they schedule a single trip to patch it all up -- and that trip is at no cost to me.

 

[kevincwelch]

Maybe the roadster owners get preferential treatment (apparently not so in Doug's case), but I'm still waiting on my clear bra install (probably useless by the time it actually goes on), and a response to multiple inquiries to ownership, service and my DS over the last few weeks.

I suspect that they want to treat their Roadster owners the best as well, since they have been Tesla's most loyal customers for the longest. Nothing worse than pissing off your base. I think the service issues now and the number of due bill items is because of the ridiculous ramp up to get cars out FY2012. Hopefully, production will slow down this year and Tesla can take a step back and identify production line problems, glitches, etc.

I hope the problems with service are simply due to manpower. I don't know how many people have been charged for ranger visits for early failures/glitches or for items that should have been delivered with the car, but something like this should end promptly. It's a huge PR blunder and really does paint the company as a malignant nickel and dimer.

 

[dsm363]

I tried to get my annual service done on the Roadster in early December but was told I would have to wait as they had directed the Rangers to take care of Model S customers until the end of the year. I did finally get it done at the end of the year.

 

[Doug_G]

Just for the record, I didn't start this to trigger a whine-fest. I posted this for a few reasons:

1. I wanted to warn others that Due Bill items got charged Ranger service. I was not advised of this beforehand.
2. I was also not advised beforehand that these Ranger charges would get subtracted from the "anywhere" service plan price when you purchased it. I though others would want to know this as well. I was a lot less annoyed when told that... nevertheless,
3. I believe the policy is a mistake and I want Tesla to be aware of that.

The policy seems to arise from the idea that some customers would claim that they were going to buy the "anywhere" package and then not do it. That's just plain silly. We're not in kindergarten.

 

[Lloyd]

If you want to escalate this you could file a complaint with the division of automotive repair in California. That would get some attention.

1. They charged you for warrenty repair
2. No agreement and consumer disclosure before repairs.
3. No written estimate of cost.

 

[dsm363]

They simply need to start selling the service plan, I agree. I was told the same thing but I'm getting that plan so he said he'd simply hold off on the charge until I got it.