Service and communication (out of main)

[Buckminster]

Speaking of neroden, is it fair to say:

• Tesla is no longer in a customer communications crises?
• Tesla is no longer in a service crises?

M3 quality is up massively which will have improved both of these.

neroden was last seen berating NYPD on Disqus for those interested.
Disqus Profile - neroden

 

[JRP3]

Tesla is no longer in a customer communications crises?

Hard to say. I placed an order for a Powerwall and solar panels for my mother's house, sent an email asking some questions, have received no response at all after a couple of days.

 

[abasile]

Speaking of neroden, is it fair to say:

• Tesla is no longer in a customer communications crises?
• Tesla is no longer in a service crises?

At the corporate level, Tesla still needs to improve their customer communication processes, and I'm hoping the new CRM-type software they're working on will help. In any case, I would not call the current situation a "crisis". I think individual Tesla employees are, by and large, trying hard to take care of customers.

Today, I'm not reading of large numbers of customers having to wait months for parts, and it seems that service appointments can be scheduled within semi-reasonable timeframes. Many more service centers are being opened. So, there's no service crisis, either, as far as I can tell.

 

[rallykeeper]

My stupid puns-intended rant (copied from my one star review of a recent service experience). Filling out the email survey feels like peeing into the wind, but Elon's year of service has been very disappointing...

Just in case anyone comments this doesn't sound so bad, there have been much worse things about my Tesla service of late, but these issues seemed to address their comments concerns of "Communication", "Quality", "Professionalism" and "Timeliness".

"In person, or on the phone, service center personnel were excellent and continued to perform well in a remarkably challenging service environment. In other words, I have had no issues with the personnel at my service center or the quality of their work.

It is overall Tesla policy that necessitates my poor review. And I contrast that with the level of service I've previously experienced with Tesla in years past to the over 30 years of car service experience I've received from dealers and independent service shops.

On communication, it remains extraordinarily difficult to reach service personnel (most telephone calls were unanswered and messages unreturned; and there was no text chain set up for this service) and I had to proactively reach out for updates (on a repair that took almost 3 weeks).

On timeliness, the car in total spent 4 weeks out of the last 10 in the service center for this issue. (Which also happened last year). This is pretty dismal performance. It's apparent that service capacity remains overwhelmed or there is something structural that causes this extraordinary inefficiency.

Further on timeliness, my car has 2 other pending service items that remain unresolved. A rational service system would have taken advantage of the time my car sat in service, occupying space and awaiting engineer assistance to address those service items. Instead, I have to schedule additional appointments to address them -- wasting not only my time, but the time of the service center. This is a fairly insane level of customer relations management.

On lack of professionalism, the car sat outside in a dusty environment with an open front door (presumably because they were concerned the battery would die again) for a large part of the 3 weeks it was in service. Thick layers of dust coated both the outside of the car and the inside.

It is highly unprofessional that, by policy, Tesla not only doesn't clean cars after they've been in service, but they don't even clean up after themselves.

Even kindergartners learn to clean up their own messes. A policy of not cleaning up after yourself is pretty ludicrous."

 

[abasile]

As we continue to shift towards an environmentally sustainable process, please note that we no longer provide detailing and wash services.

Got this in a text message from our service center today. (Our Model 3 driver's seat makes snapping/clunking sounds when moving for a different driver profile.)

While it's not a big deal for me, it seems to me that washing and vacuuming the car is a fairly cheap way of making a good impression when the car is returned to the customer after leaving it for one or more nights. I understand that some service centers may not have the facilities to do this, and that's fine. However, it seems silly to use the environment as an excuse to not do car washes. I figure it's better for the environment to keep our Teslas looking attractive. Despite being seven years old, our 2012 Model S still gets compliments and generates interest in Tesla.

 

[JRP3]

I'd rather have them fixing cars, and answering emails and phone calls, than washing cars.

 

[rallykeeper]

I'd rather have them fixing cars, and answering emails and phone calls, than washing cars.

Totally agree. They should definitely work on communication first and foremost. (If the car washing thing was my only complaint, I would have given them 4 stars).

On the car washing, I don't expect a car detail or even really much of a clean. However, if they make the car materially dirtier while it's in for service, it's pretty unprofessional not to clean up the mess.

 

[JRP3]

On the car washing, I don't expect a car detail or even really much of a clean. However, if they make the car materially dirtier while it's in for service, it's pretty unprofessional not to clean up the mess.

Yes, of course. My comment wasn't in regards to your situation, which was completely unacceptable.

 

[abasile]

I'd rather have them fixing cars, and answering emails and phone calls, than washing cars.

Yes, of course! However, in the long run, I think they might find it's in their best interest to wash cars. In addition to doing all of the other stuff well.

 

[JRP3]

So, by "trolls" are you referring to people who say Tesla Service is getting better every month?

Bloomberg's extensive survey shows service getting worse over time. This at the same time initial quality is getting better.
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[ggr]

I'm going to sue Tesla. The most recent software update makes my tires wear out 5% faster.

 

[JRP3]

You might if Tesla takes so long to replace them they wear down to the cords and go flat

 

[Skipdd]

Am going to log this one under “communication.” Had a call late this afternoon from the Tesla call center in Las Vegas. They were calling to see if I was interested in a test drive because of the new enhancements. I said, “I am currently 2 years in on a lease, are you offering to buy it out? Tesla rep said, “is that with Tesla?” I said, “YES.” Confusion ensued. The call ended with, “I will update our records.” They called my cell, which is the number associated with my account. Some kind of CRM enhancement they are using. And this is the second time this has happened since I upgraded the current car.

I have an upcoming service appt this Friday. So far, so good on that, except they don’t have the UV machine to fix the MCU yellow border, so that has to be a separate appt in mid-December (if that holds).

 

[aubreymcfato]

Bloomberg's extensive survey shows service getting worse over time. This at the same time initial quality is getting better.
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
View attachment 476043

One thing I don't understand about that is if this survey is "normalized" by the amount of cars sold. How many did they sell in different quarters?
Moreover, the more cars on the street, the worse service is glutted.
This is not to say there aren't problems, but maybe things improved but enough.

 

[ZeApelido]

Wow.

Did Neroden turn into a short?

Tesla Is Finally On Track To Scale Up And Continue Showing A Profit

 

[Singuy]

Wow.

Did Neroden turn into a short?

Tesla Is Finally On Track To Scale Up And Continue Showing A Profit

He said former Tesla bull. A Tesla bear doesn't mean a short seller. He probably wouldn't dare to bet against Tesla or any company because it's mathematically suicidal. Shorts are like wallstreet bet autists, they are on another level of crazy.

 

[StarFoxisDown!]

He said former Tesla bull. A Tesla bear doesn't mean a short seller. He probably wouldn't dare to bet against Tesla or any company because it's mathematically suicidal. Shorts are like wallstreet bet autists, they are on another level of crazy.

Based on his comment to that article, it's probably a good thing that he isn't on these forums. His dislike for Tesla service has grown to a point where he completely ignores evidence to the contrary and he irrationally equates service issues with a fundamental problem with Tesla's business that will cause it to go bankrupt. He completely ignores that dealerships have terrible service as well and like everything in life, the quality you get is going to be determined by your own circumstances and who you deal with.

Never mind the fact that the recent quality and satisfaction survey gave Tesla the high marks

 

[KarenRei]

Based on his comment to that article, it's probably a good thing that he isn't on these forums. His dislike for Tesla service has grown to a point where he completely ignores evidence to the contrary and he irrationally equates service issues with a fundamental problem with Tesla's business that will cause it to go bankrupt. He completely ignores that dealerships have terrible service as well and like everything in life, the quality you get is going to be determined by your own circumstances and who you deal with.

Never mind the fact that the recent quality and satisfaction survey gave Tesla the high marks

Some people are unfortunately abnormally vulnerable to the "anecdotes = statistics" fallacy. And Neroden, while otherwise a great member of this forum, was really vulnerable to interpreting anecdotes as automatically implying a statistical problem.

1 in 5 Tesla owners aren't satisfied with service - and that's record high levels (mainly due to communications). Statistically? Not a terrible rate at all. But it's still a hundred thousand or so people. That's a LOT of anecdotes.

 

[Skipdd]

Am going to log this one under “communication.” Had a call late this afternoon from the Tesla call center in Las Vegas. They were calling to see if I was interested in a test drive because of the new enhancements. I said, “I am currently 2 years in on a lease, are you offering to buy it out? Tesla rep said, “is that with Tesla?” I said, “YES.” Confusion ensued. The call ended with, “I will update our records.” They called my cell, which is the number associated with my account. Some kind of CRM enhancement they are using. And this is the second time this has happened since I upgraded the current car.

I have an upcoming service appt this Friday. So far, so good on that, except they don’t have the UV machine to fix the MCU yellow border, so that has to be a separate appt in mid-December (if that holds).

Update. Took car in @8:15a. Hand-off fine. Given Uber credits for the day. Std maintenance plus brake service and swapping winter tires for regular ones. Expectation set for same day with status update via text. At 3:15 after hearing nada, I called Tesla used prompts to get to ServiceCenter...and went to voicemail. Unsurprised. Texted back asking for status. Nada. Took Uber back; enroute I emailed them. Then I got a text apologizing and saying they had not gotten to my car yet. Offered me a loaner which I texted back I would need.

Service Center staff is overwhelmed. I’ve worked with the same people for years and they are good and conscientious. This is an Elon problem. He won’t hire someone to own Sales and Service and empower them to fix. They are understaffed and have poor processes.

Got text today @1:15p that car is done - I will pick up Monday as I was unable to get there by 3:15.

 

[StealthP3D]

He said former Tesla bull. A Tesla bear doesn't mean a short seller.

Something that has served me extremely well over the years:

If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, it's probably a duck!

I guess I'm saying your statement about Neroden doesn't pass my sniff test.