Somewhat disappointing delivery experience at Fremont Hub

[aspec818]

Going in on a Saturday at the end of the year push, I wasn't expecting a fast transaction. I checked in at 11:45 for my 12:15 appointment. The counter rep mentioned they were behind and would be an hour or so before anyone saw me. This was expected with the year end rush, so I just milled around. The place was crowded. There was no where to sit so I milled around outside. There was a white 3 parked directly outside the door had a similar config as mine, LR AWD and it had the Dual Motor badge. Noticed some brown/orange stain etched into the hood and a few other spots on the body. Also, a couple of window were open. Glad that one isn't mine. Must be someone's car taking delivery.

Anyways I continue mulling around. Two hours past, no text. At 3:30, I'm starving as I had ubered here by myself from another city. I check in with the front again and they said they will check on it and let me know. I continue waiting as I didn't want to leave the premises and miss my call. At 4:00PM, someone calls me and asks if I made it to my appointment. They said had me as a "no show" for my appointment and might've had a schedule mix up of some sort. They mentioned they will try to get the next delivery specialist out for me. I was a little irritated at this point having waited hours for no movement.

At 4:30, I finally get a text to meet the specialist at the front. He takes me to my car and surprisingly, it was the same white model 3 parked outside I was looking at. Slightly disappointed as it had that brown spot etched into the hood. And why were the passenger side windows opened fully the whole time? I continue inspecting the car and noticed the driver door sill scratched up. The delivery rep said this is normal from people getting in and out and they can easily clean it up. They bring it back to detail at 4:30 and around 5, I get the car back. The etch mark is still in the hood. I didn't want them to screw the paint up further on the hood so I will take care of it myself. The door plate was also still scratched up. Not sure what they could do so at this point so I just thanked the delivery adviser and went on my way. The guys moving the cars should be more careful as customers paid top dollar for these new cars. Maybe I was expecting too much of a flawless car, but Tesla could've parked my car inside their building with the windows CLOSED if it wasn't going to be delivered immediately. The issues I found overall were minor, but the delivery experience was less than stellar.

 

[SMAlset]

Earlier morning appointments I think run closer to scheduled times as there are fewer people in front of you taking longer to look over their car and go over questions about their paperwork. But 12:15 to 4:30 was surely no fun and you clearly got lost in the appointment system there. For anyone else, sounds like a good idea to keep checking back in with the desk.

Your car doesn't look bad at all from your posted photos but agree with you about windows all being closed etc. All the cars I saw when we were there in September were sealed up awaiting their new owner. Did you bother to list the spot on the hood as a possible due bill issue if you can't remove it? I would while you still have the 3 day grace period just in case. I'm surprised Tesla doesn't put some blue film or something over the door sill plates that can be removed by the owner to keep them from getting scratched up. Maybe they do and it was removed prior to delivery but some careless person got in to drive it in position and ran his shoes over it. I'm having my car PPF'd this week and including the door sill plates like we did on our MS. Those were chrome and really showed any scratches.

I can see where a several hour wait would take alot of you. I'm always surprised by how many families take their younger kids with them because you never know how long it will be. How was driving the car home? I love my car and will miss it this week at the detailers. Looks like we have twins or did you go with white interior?

 

[jkoya]

Delivery at Tesla in Rocklin, CA is no better. Nothing like trying to inspect for paint flaws outside in the rain. Delivery advisor wasn't very helpful either. My delivery experience for our Chevy Volt was way, way better. The one time I'm hoping for a survey is the one time I probably don't get it.

 

[Dana1]

Going in on a Saturday at the end of the year push, I wasn't expecting a fast transaction. I checked in at 11:45 for my 12:15 appointment. The counter rep mentioned they were behind and would be an hour or so before anyone saw me. This was expected with the year end rush, so I just milled around. The place was crowded. There was no where to sit so I milled around outside. There was a white 3 parked directly outside the door had a similar config as mine, LR AWD and it had the Dual Motor badge. Noticed some brown/orange stain etched into the hood and a few other spots on the body. Also, a couple of window were open. Glad that one isn't mine. Must be someone's car taking delivery.

Anyways I continue mulling around. Two hours past, no text. At 3:30, I'm starving as I had ubered here by myself from another city. I check in with the front again and they said they will check on it and let me know. I continue waiting as I didn't want to leave the premises and miss my call. At 4:00PM, someone calls me and asks if I made it to my appointment. They said had me as a "no show" for my appointment and might've had a schedule mix up of some sort. They mentioned they will try to get the next delivery specialist out for me. I was a little irritated at this point having waited hours for no movement.

At 4:30, I finally get a text to meet the specialist at the front. He takes me to my car and surprisingly, it was the same white model 3 parked outside I was looking at. Slightly disappointed as it had that brown spot etched into the hood. And why were the passenger side windows opened fully the whole time? I continue inspecting the car and noticed the driver door sill scratched up. The delivery rep said this is normal from people getting in and out and they can easily clean it up. They bring it back to detail at 4:30 and around 5, I get the car back. The etch mark is still in the hood. I didn't want them to screw the paint up further on the hood so I will take care of it myself. The door plate was also still scratched up. Not sure what they could do so at this point so I just thanked the delivery adviser and went on my way. The guys moving the cars should be more careful as customers paid top dollar for these new cars. Maybe I was expecting too much of a flawless car, but Tesla could've parked my car inside their building with the windows CLOSED if it wasn't going to be delivered immediately. The issues I found overall were minor, but the delivery experience was less than stellar.

They should be able to change out sill, at least.

 

[Formula1]

Delivery process right now is horrible. Tesla knows it. I complained to them via my account to the executive team and they got back to me acknowledging that they need to improve the process. I think ultimately they need to hire someone with alot of customer service experience to overhaul the delivery process at the service centers. Kind of like how Apple hired that person from Burberry to handle their stores and focus on the retail experience. Just a thought.

 

[jjrandorin]

Delivery process right now is horrible. Tesla knows it. I complained to them via my account to the executive team and they got back to me acknowledging that they need to improve the process. I think ultimately they need to hire someone with alot of customer service experience to overhaul the delivery process at the service centers. Kind of like how Apple hired that person from Burberry to handle their stores and focus on the retail experience. Just a thought.

They wont do anything at all until at least February. They know its bad right now because they were anticipating the "end of the year" rush, and just need to get cars in peoples hands, customer service be #$@#$ right now.

They might say all the right things, but they wont do anything until they see what "steady state" is going to look like after the rush to claim the full tax credit is over.

 

[Moose408]

I picked mine up this morning at the Fremont Delivery Center and had the opposite experience.

Had a 10am appointment, showed up at 9:50am. Passed my car on the way in, so after checking in went and checked out the paint job. Looked great. Got the text that my adviser was ready at 10:02am. Inspecting the inside found three issues, they took it back to the service department for 20 mins and fixed all three. (charge door didn't close flush, leather on rear door had a small hole in it and the driver's mirror did not rotate out far enough). I was out of there by 11:15am.

 

[jkoya]

leather on rear door had a small hole in it

How did they repair the hole in the leather ? Did they give you a new door panel ?

 

[aaron0k]

They know its bad right now because they were anticipating the "end of the year" rush, and just need to get cars in peoples hands, customer service be #$@#$ right now.

They were anticipating the year end rush?

I have to wonder how that planning meeting went...

Tesla Manager: We expect a year end rush of deliveries. We need to move a lot of cars in short time.

Tesla Employee: Should we add more people to handle the load?

Tesla Manager: Uh. I guess we should have thought of that sooner. I don't know what do to, it's not like we've had this situation before.

Tesla Employee: Haven't we been delivering cars since 2008?

Tesla Manager: Listen, these people want a Tesla no matter what! It's ok to treat them like cattle. Just distract them and tell them to play with the Fart App while they starve in the waiting rooms.

Tesla Employee: Great idea!

 

[jjrandorin]

Look, I am not making excuses for them, but its not like they are the first company to under estimate demand, even when they think they have a handle on the fact there will be increased demand.

See the launch of any popular online video game for example. See getting tickets to comic con or any other huge convention.. even when they know that the servers crashed the past year (im a older tech nerd so sue me for these examples).

This was totally predictable, and yet, would a company spend a bunch of money hiring people ahead of time and take a chance that demand was not as strong as they expected? If you were running the business, whats better, paying a bunch of people to stand around (hiring too many people, wasting money) or having @$!@$ off customers because you dont have enough staff (but saving money in the process).

Somewhere in the middle, right? You never would staff for your "burst mode" demand because that just cost a bunch of money for not much gain. You staff for like 70-80 percent of that, and hope that your employees can "burst" up to that demand... and if the demand outstrips that, you apologize publicly, but high five privately about the extra money you are making. If the "burst" continues for 4-6 months at that same volume, THEN you higher more staff.

Much better than hiring and firing people when the burst is over.

Still doesnt excuse poor customer service, but they (front line staff) are likely overworked, and doing the best they can.

 

[electracity]

Tesla Manager: We expect a year end rush of deliveries. We need to move a lot of cars in short time.

Tesla Employee: Should we add more people to handle the load?

How can they staff for December when January will be less than half the current rate? They can work overtime, and they can push off non-critical repairs. But that's about it for options.

But still, based on this experience, I'm sure they can do better when the model Y surge comes.

but its not like they are the first company to under estimate demand,

They substantially overestimated year end deliveries. If musks estimates of production and sales had come true the current situation would not have been some people having poor delivery experiences, but rather a complete cluster......fluff.

 

[aaron0k]

Look, I am not making excuses for them, but its not like they are the first company to under estimate demand...

This was totally predictable, and yet, would a company spend a bunch of money hiring people ahead of time and take a chance that demand was not as strong as they expected? If you were running the business, whats better, paying a bunch of people to stand around (hiring too many people, wasting money) or having @$!@$ off customers because you dont have enough staff (but saving money in the process).

Yes, you are making excuses for them (as are many others)... and that worries me.

I understand the demand, I understand the brand appeal and I understand that Tesla takes advantage of it. I've purchased 3 cars from Tesla. Only 1 of 3 went as planned... my purchase of a Model 3 in December'17 mimics what we're still hearing a year later.

The landscape is getting crowded, and a lot of other car company's are taking lessons from Tesla's arrogance and missteps. Let's hope they change their attitude before others start drinking their milkshake.

Take note of NIO now, then in a year from now...

William Li, NIO Founder, Chairman and CEO, said about the launch of the vehicle:

“We are committed to redefining the user experience and creating a community centered around our users, enjoying life and growing together. The ES6 launch and the NIO Day have set another NIO community milestone,”
​

 

[Moose408]

How did they repair the hole in the leather ? Did they give you a new door panel ?

Yes, they replaced the panel. It was the lower part of the door that has the cubby.

 

[Moose408]

The expiration of the Federal Tax credits are what are driving this surge of sales. They are doing what they can to get cars to as many people as possible. I appreciate that. They are bringing in as many people as they can to help (my DA was an Interconnection Specialist for PowerWall), but when you are delivering as many cars it is almost impossible to make it a smooth process. I asked and they said they were delivering approximately 300 cars yesterday out of the Fremont Hub. It's amazing they can do that even halfway reasonably.

 

[jkoya]

But still, based on this experience, I'm sure they can do better when the model Y surge comes.

My Model 3 delivery experience was enough for me to decide on an Audi e-tron instead of a Model Y.

 

[jjrandorin]

Yes, you are making excuses for them (as are many others)... and that worries me.

I understand the demand, I understand the brand appeal and I understand that Tesla takes advantage of it. I've purchased 3 cars from Tesla. Only 1 of 3 went as planned... my purchase of a Model 3 in December'17 mimics what we're still hearing a year later.

The landscape is getting crowded, and a lot of other car company's are taking lessons from Tesla's arrogance and missteps. Let's hope they change their attitude before others start drinking their milkshake.

Take note of NIO now, then in a year from now...

William Li, NIO Founder, Chairman and CEO, said about the launch of the vehicle:

“We are committed to redefining the user experience and creating a community centered around our users, enjoying life and growing together. The ES6 launch and the NIO Day have set another NIO community milestone,”
​

"reasons" are not necessarily "excuses", they are different. I was explaining a probable "why" not saying that its a great situation. I was just saying that I am not surprised, and that I didnt believe they would do anything about it until at least february / march, no matter what they currently say publicly about it or not.

 

[segascott]

My car came from Rocklin (Sacramento area) as well - they told me at the time that a home delivery was easier for them, and while we wanted to do the cute picture with the bow and all, based on some of the Fremont stories I'm glad we took it at home. 15 mins in and out and I get to take my time looking for minor issues.

 

[jkoya]

Tesla Rocklin didn't have any bows for a picture and I wish I had asked about home delivery. I did purchase a HPWC there so I guess it wasn't a total loss. In any case, you didn't miss anything by taking delivery at home. Glad to hear you had a positive experience and have fun with your car.