Service and communication (out of main)

[bhtooefr]

Worth noting that this thread is in the investor subforum.

That is, it's still the thread for talking about Tesla's service issues in an investor context specifically.

(This is why I think the roundtable thread doesn't make sense, because everyone just looks at it and has to wade through irrelevant stuff to get to what they're interested in, when we have a whole subforum with threading features for investor discussion. Daily or weekly price action threads would be a different thing.)

 

[EVDRVN]

Worth noting that this thread is in the investor subforum.

That is, it's still the thread for talking about Tesla's service issues in an investor context specifically.

(This is why I think the roundtable thread doesn't make sense, because everyone just looks at it and has to wade through irrelevant stuff to get to what they're interested in, when we have a whole subforum with threading features for investor discussion. Daily or weekly price action threads would be a different thing.)

Good info I hope someone in Tesla management reads it.

 

[EVDRVN]

Again, I am sorry that your experience has been different than mine, but please read my post - it has not just been at the service center. Do not assume that you know what I have dealt with - they have screwed up (pretty seriously in at least one circumstance), and I have had to deal directly with CS. But, they fixed the issues for me, and they were very professional in doing so. Again, I really am sorry that you are having challenges dealing with Tesla, and I am not trying to minimize the bad experience that you are having and what seems like warranted frustration. But, again, my experiences have been very positive.

My apologies, I do not assume. My service with Tesla has been best in class. I have had very good customer service as well. To clarify and not to contrast, my learnings with them have been about management ethics. Front line CS people are very professional and deserve praise, they have it rough at times.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Should we take up a collection to reimburse Rdalcanto for his tire?

No.

As smart TSLA and Tesla owners, and inhabitants of our ONLY planet (and that MUST have Tesla succeed if said planet is to remain viable), what we SHOULD do is call Elon and ask him, "Just what the He11 is going on with Tesla Customer Service? FIX IT NOW PLEASE."

 

[jerry33]

Yes, I too lost about $1M over the last year, mostly in options. Still a strong long, deleveraged now. Since the IPO, according to my records, I'm up a few million, but it's mostly sunk into real estate. I have to point out that not all of that was actually TSLA stock/options; the opinions expressed here caused me to get back into AAPL, to get into (and in some cases out of) some other stocks, and taught me a lot. I wish I'd learned about the downside of options a bit sooner, but I was blinded by making a few hundred thousand in one day when (I think it was) Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a buy and price target well above the current price.

I would love to be in a position where I could lose $1M. Donations welcome.

 

[ggr]

I would love to be in a position where I could lose $1M. Donations welcome.

You know the one about "how to make a small fortune?"

 

[TSLA Pilot]

24 minutes? I was stuck in a place on hold for more than an hour. No land lines and no cell service and had to barrow a persons phone that luckily waited for me to get through. Not even a pick up to check if it was urgent. Not acceptable. How many people need roadside service that has a cue that long?

Concur, both 24 minutes and over an hour are grossly UNSAT times for being on hold for assistance.

Elon, you've got too much on your plate: give this to someone else, tell them you want the longest wait times, and the average, EVERY DAY, and you want to see the trend lines dropping like a rock, beginning next month.

This isn't that hard, so fix it. STAT.

(p.s. It's "queue" btw, not "cue.")

 

[TSLA Pilot]

You don't get it. Some of us have a lot riding on this company.

No, not fully accurate.

EVERYONE living on Planet Earth has a lot riding on this company.

Most of them don't have a friggin' clue though, and that is one Hell of a problem . . .

CO2 level highest in human history - USA TODAY, 5/14/2019

And:

News | Huge Cavity in Antarctic Glacier Signals Rapid Decay

And:

Climate Science Special Report: Executive Summary

 

[TSLA Pilot]

What process do you expect Tesla to implement in a way that fairly treats all customers?

You seem to be insinuating that Tesla should keep a super secret log of customers as to how much money they spent and primarily give goodwill to those customers.

The problem is that Tesla is a not a dealer. The dealers aren't owned by Audi or Porsche so they can bend over backwards and make up whatever policy they want to appease those "special" customers. Tesla can't operate that way as one Model S customer shouldn't be treated differently than another.

I'm not at all trying to defend Tesla. I just want to understand as an investor how Tesla is going to implement a fair process for all customers. Perhaps their current policy should be more flexible, but whatever policy it is should be uniform no matter what you spent. I think they will figure out a way to better communicate with customers about expectations at delivery. Might take time as they figure out operations outside of the dealer system while also scaling up at the same time.

Nope--all that needed to happen here is for the bottom guy to the manage at the SLC location needed to have a friggin' clue.

They didn't.

Their training was substandard, or they're dumber than a box of rocks? Don't know, but they need to be "fixed" or replaced.

I doubt there are that many folks that began buying MS's back in 2012/13 in SLC, and that have purchased another $600k worth of Teslas in the interim, so the OP should have been well known by everyone there as a "whale" and treated appropriately.

That means a new tire, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, along with an apology for the time it took to replace it. (Even better: a new tire and wheel delivered and installed at his home or office.)

PERIOD.

Tesla SLC dropped the ball, and it only gathered steam as it rolled up hill to the middle-level managers at HQ.

Heads should roll for this as it was just such a stupid series of mistakes to make. This is EXACTLY the sort of thing where heroes are made, where Corporate History is enshrined and awards are given at the Xmas Party for throwing the Policy Manual OUT THE FRIGGIN' WINDOW because the circumstances required it . . . instead, the opposite happened and we have almost two-dozen pages of "Tesla embarrassment" for the world to read.

All this stunning idiocy because more than a few Tesla people in SLC can't seem to think.

 

[adiggs]

You know the one about "how to make a small fortune?"

I think that's "how to become a millionaire?.... start off as a billionaire, and buy an airline"

 

[EVDRVN]

If true this is the kind of mentality that says everything about CS management.

Tesla owner racks up $1147 in Supercharger idle fees at valet-only parking garage : teslamotors

"Tesla, keeps denying my request for reimbursement. They placed me on hold today for 3 hours and hung up. This hopefully gets the attention from them that they need to change this policy."

 

[RDoc]

Hmm, I've long been of the opinion that Tesla will be able to fix their customer service issues before they get a permanent bad reputation once they become comfortably profitable. However, if this kind of thing is getting out to the public that may not be a correct prediction.

It will be interesting to see if any more news sites pick this kind of thing up. Once a bad reputation issue goes viral, it takes a lot to fix it.

 

[Ocelot]

@StealthP3D


Well my post was deleted. So I will ask again. What is your vocation? Education? I would like to know as this board is a great resource, and knowing ones background can give credence to their posts.

 

[lklundin]

As a previously frequent TMC poster, I just wanted to make a few statements that could be of interest to those who previously read my TMC postings.

1) A couple of weeks ago I took delivery of a Model 3 LR AWD in blue w. tow bar - apart from some superficial scratches in the paint over the trunk (probably from cleaning it), it was fine. The scratches were reported to Tesla, no reaction.
2) This was my second order, the first was cancelled after I felt poorly treated by the Tesla sales organization, which first offered me the new tow bar upgrade without changing the other prices, but which then quoted me the new and higher FSD price. To my satisfaction Tesla appears to have closed its second Munich store.
3) I thus bought more TSLA instead of FSD. In fact, with this spring's additional accumulation, ARK Invest's bull scenario would make me a multi-millionaire. I'll believe it when I see it.
4) In my driving area AP is pretty bad. Late speed adjustments endangers traffic (and will cause suspension of license if caught by authorities). Lane keeping repeatedly fails to keep car in drivable space marked by full white line (and also falls to disengage). Upload of car data has been enabled.
5) Center console has had to be rebooted twice.
6) Bluetooth unlock of car failure rate is about 25%.
7) A written question to Tesla regarding the documentation for the BEV subsidy has gone unacknowledged for more than 10 days.
8) AP's lane keeping has reported errors several times. First available Service Center appointment was after three weeks, that would be to just diagnose the problem. I guess I should try to call, and measure how long it takes to talk to a person.
9) AP's cruise control cannot go above 150 km/h, that's a problem around here. (Audi's would go to 250 km/h).
10) After driving in rain, water collects on the inside of the tow bar cover.

Other than that, the car is as expected - and so is the Tesla service. Over the past 20 years I have been in a few accidents with my various Audis, including a high-speed one. Still, I realize that I am driving extra carefully now because I don't want to find out how long even a small repair of my Tesla might take.

If there is a hint of sullenness to this post then it is just because I have learned of the Pravda-esque permaban of @neroden, who was my primary source of not-an-investment-advice. I have looked at a few of my previous postings, so I can say that it should hardly be much of a loss that I will continue to not post frequently here.

Cheers to all longs.

 

[EVDRVN]

Hmm, I've long been of the opinion that Tesla will be able to fix their customer service issues before they get a permanent bad reputation once they become comfortably profitable. However, if this kind of thing is getting out to the public that may not be a correct prediction.

It will be interesting to see if any more news sites pick this kind of thing up. Once a bad reputation issue goes viral, it takes a lot to fix it.

Even showing on pro-Tesla blogs. How does a company like Tesla do such idiotic things like this?

Tesla owner racks up $1147 in Supercharger idle fees at valet-only parking garage

 

[RDoc]

@StealthP3D


Well my post was deleted. So I will ask again. What is your vocation? Education? I would like to know as this board is a great resource, and knowing ones background can give credence to their posts.

I would strongly caution people about divulging information like this. It's just more information to go into your personal files kept by advertising and similar companies. The less personal information you release to the internet the better.

Remember, everything you post is there forever and available to everyone worldwide.

 

[Snerruc]

On a different note: Tesla delivered my S75 to me as freight cargo and flew in a delivery specialist. Car has never seen a service center. All it does is run perfectly. When I screwed up a key, they sent a ranger 80 miles to replace it free. I just ordered a Raven took 45 minutes including trade in. They gave me a better price than Vroom. Had a call from Tampa SC in an an hour. Ran me through how delivery would go. Then I cancelled my 3 reservation and the money was back in my account in 24 hours. Simply incredible service.

 

[Sudre]

I was not going to post any more here since I thought I had said my piece but I don't want to risk posting in another thread about something that is in line with my service issues.

I took my Tesla on a trip this weekend to the deep South of Missouri. I was amazed how many people down there had not seen a Tesla yet. I was past the town of Licking, Missouri (South of Rolla). People at the campground would walk around all night looking over. I remembered those days in St. Louis when my wife and I could not go to the grocery store with out the whispers of "that's a Tesla" being heard.

This trip was not the greatest for the Tesla portion. I just anti-sold about 50 people who really needed to here good things. I just honestly answered questions. They will probably never see another Tesla for quite a while and will tell many people how every time I unlocked my car the back passenger door would open itself and I am on my third week now waiting for that repair. They will also report how I could not show them the storage space because the back hatch would not open since Tesla will not sell parts to Safelight, the company my insurance company uses for glass replacement.

Now realistically and more honestly what really happened is I ignored most of the curious people as I could because they would ask questions that I did not want to answer because I do not like misleading people or being deceptive. The few that were courageous enough to ask about my car were given quick answers and not a show and sales pitch.

But don't worry. Service issues are not something that is needed in the investor thread because of those posting here about how great their service has been.

 

[Snerruc]

I was not going to post any more here since I thought I had said my piece but I don't want to risk posting in another thread about something that is in line with my service issues.

I took my Tesla on a trip this weekend to the deep South of Missouri. I was amazed how many people down there had not seen a Tesla yet. I was past the town of Licking, Missouri (South of Rolla). People at the campground would walk around all night looking over. I remembered those days in St. Louis when my wife and I could not go to the grocery store with out the whispers of "that's a Tesla" being heard.

This trip was not the greatest for the Tesla portion. I just anti-sold about 50 people who really needed to here good things. I just honestly answered questions. They will probably never see another Tesla for quite a while and will tell many people how every time I unlocked my car the back passenger door would open itself and I am on my third week now waiting for that repair. They will also report how I could not show them the storage space because the back hatch would not open since Tesla will not sell parts to Safelight, the company my insurance company uses for glass replacement.

Now realistically and more honestly what really happened is I ignored most of the curious people as I could because they would ask questions that I did not want to answer because I do not like misleading people or being deceptive. The few that were courageous enough to ask about my car were given quick answers and not a show and sales pitch.

But don't worry. Service issues are not something that is needed in the investor thread because of those posting here about how great their service has been.

I’m curious, why don’t you lemon law it and get a car from another manufacturer? I know it takes time and effort, but isn’t that better than this car causing you so much irritation? Life is short. Personally, I would park it in front of Tesla’s service door, and when they called about it just tell them to call back when it’s working properly. That’s just me. Worked for me.

 

[Sudre]

I’m curious, why don’t you lemon law it and get a car from another manufacturer?

This is an investor thread to talk about things that should or should not effect Tesla as a company.

How in the hell does going with the lemon law option or any of your great ideas help the many many Tesla shares I own?

I am trying to test the service APP and I can tell you it's not great. The wait is too long. I am sure once the person arrives they will fix the problem. Right now if I lived somewhere without a service center I would never buy a Tesla. My back up plan, rather than the lemon law, is to just take it to the service center an hours drive away (including traffic). The problem as an investor is scale. The St. Louis service center will have to handle over 50 cars a day if Tesla keeps scaling without expanding service like they are. I just don't see that as workable. That means they have to get the ranger service under a three week wait time.

The back window.... I am trying to simply do what 99% of Americans will do... call their insurance company to have a window replaced. It can't happen because insurance companies use vendors to do these services and Tesla seems to be blocking them from getting parts. I know a place that certified and repairs Tesla's and it's right next to the Tesla store BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT PEOPLE DO AS A WHOLE. They call insurance and insurance "sends a guy."

If your opinion is that of most of the Tesla investors then I may just get out of this while I am way ahead. Tesla is moving into the mass market. They will fail as soon as all those people start using the lemon law by your recommendation.