Terrible Tesla Service

[teslico]

A little background first: I picked up my car last month and it was mostly good build quality. However, I went over the car with a fine toothed comb and noticed a number of areas with paint issues although very minor. We’re talking a little touch up paint here and there and polish or compound elsewhere. My service appointment gets scheduled for a month later to take care of these issues among some interior trim issues.

I get here today to the service center in Eatontown, NJ and I was shocked at how I was treated. It started off friendly until we walked out to the car to show the service advisor the issues. He sees me pointing some stuff out and says “seriously dude. You can’t even notice this. Come stand over here you can’t see it.” I tell him that doesn’t matter it’s there from the factory and it bothers me. He proceeds to say “no it doesn’t. It can’t bother anyone. If this is how you live your life, you have other problems.” I calmly tell him everyone is different and people have different attitudes towards their cars. He continues his bs saying “no you must have too much time on your hands. If these things bother you, you need to find better things to do.” I was appalled. I quickly rattled off less than half of the remaining concerns realizing that I may just have to take care of them myself and not wanting to engage in further confrontation. I was mostly in shock as I’ve been lucky and never dealt with someone in customer service like this.

Who tf is this guy telling me what should and shouldn’t bother me and what I can and can’t notice. I mentioned how everyone’s a Tesla apologist. There are things here that don’t make sense for a brand new car to ever have including about 7 areas of light scratches. Rather than slap on some touch up paint he wants to argue. People pay 7k for ppf and ceramic and meticulously wash and detail their cars knowing full well they’ll never see that money in resale. Why dismiss someone who’s particular about his car? Everyone is different and has different hobbies, personalities, etc.

I like my car but damn as a company, they truly don’t care and hire employees who feel the same. We’re apparently all privileged we got the opportunity to give our money to Tesla, and we need better things to do if we expect better quality from the factory.

*end rant*

 

[fholbert]

No paint job is prefect, I think for some here, this must be their new first car. A Tesla is a mid priced car, no more. Look at a new Hyundai, Toyota, Chevy or Ford. You're always going to find small imperfections in the paint. The Tesla Service advisor knows that to fix a small blemish involves sanding the paint. Masking the entire car, priming and painting and attempting to match or blend the new paint into the existing paint, it's going to cost at least $1,500. When the light is just right you going to see the repair and you'll be more unhappy than you are now.

I have a blemish on my frunk. I only see it when I wash and dry the car. My wife has never noticed it and I'm not going to point it out to her. I'll never let a shop try to fix it because it will never be 100% right.

My friend, a MYP owner, recently purchased a new Rolls Royce Phantom. On a $500k car they will fix the imperfection you only see when the light is just right. Not on a car 1/10 the price.

 

[Grabthar]

If you're a perfectionist on cosmetic items (gaps, paint, etc.) then seriously, Tesla is not for you. They will be very clear about those items with you and do not expect them to fix it. That is the Tesla way - either you accept it or sell it.

 

[zoomer0056]

Grievances aired. They probably fixed some things. Easy pill to swallow, the little things anyway. I hope you can take the rest and enjoy your car. There were some cosmetic flaws in my 2022 MSLR. They fixed all that I asked for. The other flaws were ok and I didn't want them to make it worse. If someone notices one of them, I say that "I paid for that." Best car I've ever owned and I'll never go back to the ICE ages.

 

[teslico]

No paint job is prefect, I think for some here, this must be their new first car. A Tesla is a mid priced car, no more. Look at a new Hyundai, Toyota, Chevy or Ford. You're always going to find small imperfections in the paint. The Tesla Service advisor knows that to fix a small blemish involves sanding the paint. Masking the entire car, priming and painting and attempting to match or blend the new paint into the existing paint, it's going to cost at least $1,500. When the light is just right you going to see the repair and you'll be more unhappy than you are now.

I have a blemish on my frunk. I only see it when I wash and dry the car. My wife has never noticed it and I'm not going to point it out to her. I'll never let a shop try to fix it because it will never be 100% right.

My friend, a MYP owner, recently purchased a new Rolls Royce Phantom. On a $500k car they will fix the imperfection you only see when the light is just right. Not on a car 1/10 the price.

I get that completely and let the guy know ahead of time that touch up paint is fine. Better they use theirs while I’m there for other things than buy my own $60 kit. I’ve bought 3 Hondas before and can’t say I totally agree with your point on paint quality. While there may be paint imperfections, I’ve yet to notice scratches in multiple areas on any. However I agree that my experience alone doesn’t mean they don’t have paint issues and these are not luxury cars to expect perfection.

I wouldn’t have even been disappointed if they said no and the paint was within spec. The thing that got me was his need to insult me. Just say no and move on. In the end, they did apply touch up paint to the spots he thought were worthy and they look fine. I wasn’t expecting anything unreasonable nor did I expect that they send the car out to a body shop at great cost. I myself would have said no if that was the solution.

I know I implied that the paint issues were terrible quality issues on Tesla’s part, but I guess my main point of frustration was how I was treated. It was totally uncalled for and frankly out of the blue. I pointed out one issue, and the guy circled it. I pointed out another and how they told me to put a ticket in at delivery for it, and he just snapped and started insulting me. I asked him to check the alignment because the car tracks heavily to the right and the cabin temp sensor because there’s a constant humming from the screen. He mentioned nothing about it when my car was ready and when I asked just told me everything was fine even though I’m 99% sure they didn’t check as it’s not even in the service notes.

Sure my annoyance over the paint may be overblown, but there’s no justifying saying the things he did in a customer facing role. I had not spoken two sentences to this man when he came at me like this.

 

[kpanda17]

A little background first: I picked up my car last month and it was mostly good build quality. However, I went over the car with a fine toothed comb and noticed a number of areas with paint issues although very minor. We’re talking a little touch up paint here and there and polish or compound elsewhere. My service appointment gets scheduled for a month later to take care of these issues among some interior trim issues.

I get here today to the service center in Eatontown, NJ and I was shocked at how I was treated. It started off friendly until we walked out to the car to show the service advisor the issues. He sees me pointing some stuff out and says “seriously dude. You can’t even notice this. Come stand over here you can’t see it.” I tell him that doesn’t matter it’s there from the factory and it bothers me. He proceeds to say “no it doesn’t. It can’t bother anyone. If this is how you live your life, you have other problems.” I calmly tell him everyone is different and people have different attitudes towards their cars. He continues his bs saying “no you must have too much time on your hands. If these things bother you, you need to find better things to do.” I was appalled. I quickly rattled off less than half of the remaining concerns realizing that I may just have to take care of them myself and not wanting to engage in further confrontation. I was mostly in shock as I’ve been lucky and never dealt with someone in customer service like this.

Who tf is this guy telling me what should and shouldn’t bother me and what I can and can’t notice. I mentioned how everyone’s a Tesla apologist. There are things here that don’t make sense for a brand new car to ever have including about 7 areas of light scratches. Rather than slap on some touch up paint he wants to argue. People pay 7k for ppf and ceramic and meticulously wash and detail their cars knowing full well they’ll never see that money in resale. Why dismiss someone who’s particular about his car? Everyone is different and has different hobbies, personalities, etc.

I like my car but damn as a company, they truly don’t care and hire employees who feel the same. We’re apparently all privileged we got the opportunity to give our money to Tesla, and we need better things to do if we expect better quality from the factory.

*end rant*

Terrible
Don’t banter is that situation
As soon as it gets weird, goto the manager
Don’t necessarily rat the with out, focus on your issue first
With the labor shortage, there are some poor quality workers out there

 

[Yelobird]

A little background first: I picked up my car last month and it was mostly good build quality. However, I went over the car with a fine toothed comb and noticed a number of areas with paint issues although very minor. We’re talking a little touch up paint here and there and polish or compound elsewhere. My service appointment gets scheduled for a month later to take care of these issues among some interior trim issues.

I get here today to the service center in Eatontown, NJ and I was shocked at how I was treated. It started off friendly until we walked out to the car to show the service advisor the issues. He sees me pointing some stuff out and says “seriously dude. You can’t even notice this. Come stand over here you can’t see it.” I tell him that doesn’t matter it’s there from the factory and it bothers me. He proceeds to say “no it doesn’t. It can’t bother anyone. If this is how you live your life, you have other problems.” I calmly tell him everyone is different and people have different attitudes towards their cars. He continues his bs saying “no you must have too much time on your hands. If these things bother you, you need to find better things to do.” I was appalled. I quickly rattled off less than half of the remaining concerns realizing that I may just have to take care of them myself and not wanting to engage in further confrontation. I was mostly in shock as I’ve been lucky and never dealt with someone in customer service like this.

Who tf is this guy telling me what should and shouldn’t bother me and what I can and can’t notice. I mentioned how everyone’s a Tesla apologist. There are things here that don’t make sense for a brand new car to ever have including about 7 areas of light scratches. Rather than slap on some touch up paint he wants to argue. People pay 7k for ppf and ceramic and meticulously wash and detail their cars knowing full well they’ll never see that money in resale. Why dismiss someone who’s particular about his car? Everyone is different and has different hobbies, personalities, etc.

I like my car but damn as a company, they truly don’t care and hire employees who feel the same. We’re apparently all privileged we got the opportunity to give our money to Tesla, and we need better things to do if we expect better quality from the factory.

*end rant*

This post somewhat contradicts your previous post that said delivery was very good “after going over every detail with a fine tooth comb” and any minor issues were taken care of on the spot. Now a month later you seem to be having buyers remorse for some reason about polishing compound. Confusing.

 

[teslico]

This post somewhat contradicts your previous post that said delivery was very good “after going over every detail with a fine tooth comb” and any minor issues were taken care of on the spot. Now a month later you seem to be having buyers remorse for some reason about polishing compound. Confusing.

Not sure if you read my previous delivery post entirely since it was kind of long. I said “There were a couple of paint chips in inconspicuous areas barely noticeable.” I logged them along with a few others in the app the next day. My service appointment was scheduled for a month out by the service center. I don’t have buyers remorse. I very much enjoy my car. My anger is towards being asked to log my issues in the app during delivery, and then being insulted by some SA with some my mouth on him for coming in for the very issues they told me to log and they’d take care of. I admit my original post here came off as very angry they weren’t correcting minor paint issues for me since I wrote it in the heat of the moment. Ultimately, my frustration is with an SA who felt the need to insult my life choices for asking for touch up paint to be applied to a few areas. He could have said no it’s within spec, and we could have moved on. I’m not sure how that kind of talk in any customer facing environment could be considered professional or even pass as acceptable. I hope that clears up any confusion!

 

[Yelobird]

Not sure if you read my previous delivery post entirely since it was kind of long. I said “There were a couple of paint chips in inconspicuous areas barely noticeable.” I logged them along with a few others in the app the next day. My service appointment was scheduled for a month out by the service center. I don’t have buyers remorse. I very much enjoy my car. My anger is towards being asked to log my issues in the app during delivery, and then being insulted by some SA with some my mouth on him for coming in for the very issues they told me to log and they’d take care of. I admit my original post here came off as very angry they weren’t correcting minor paint issues for me since I wrote it in the heat of the moment. Ultimately, my frustration is with an SA who felt the need to insult my life choices for asking for touch up paint to be applied to a few areas. He could have said no it’s within spec, and we could have moved on. I’m not sure how that kind of talk in any customer facing environment could be considered professional or even pass as acceptable. I hope that clears up any confusion!

If you wished to include a few pics of these paint chips that might minimize confusion as nobody here was At the visit to validate how rude you think they were.

 

[teslico]

If you wished to include a few pics of these paint chips that might minimize confusion as nobody here was At the visit to validate how rude you think they were.

That’s sort of a silly thing to say. No one was else was there, so no point posting about it? It’s a forum where people share their experiences, ask/answer questions, sometimes rant, etc. I specifically quoted the words said to me by the SA. You can decide for yourself if you would find it rude if an SA or anyone said these things to you. If you can’t validate that these things were said to me, then consider it a hypothetical. You can post your two cents or sit this one out if this isn’t a post you’re interested in. I already clarified that I spiraled a bit taking my experience with the SA and making it about paint issues and Tesla as a brand in general. If you are interested in some pics here you go. As I said, minor issues.

 

[BigDEV]

Grievances aired. They probably fixed some things. Easy pill to swallow, the little things anyway. I hope you can take the rest and enjoy your car. There were some cosmetic flaws in my 2022 MSLR. They fixed all that I asked for. The other flaws were ok and I didn't want them to make it worse. If someone notices one of them, I say that "I paid for that." Best car I've ever owned and I'll never go back to the ICE ages.

You know, if it was 2011, then I agree with you - you can't go back to the ICE ages. But it's 2023 and all of a sudden, there is intense competition in the EV space. Tesla isn't the only viable option on the table anymore and they just gave away their ace in the hole by opening up their network.

There literally isn't a single OEM that delivers cars that have the level of imperfections that Tesla does in 2023. I have been car shopping for nearly 3 months and I have test driven dozens of brands.

Tesla either needs to improve across the board or they are going to have their lunch eaten.

 

[kpanda17]

I just requested my first post purchase service request. Moisture in the taillight to be replaced by mobile service.
I will report back on how it went.

 

[ucmndd]

You know, if it was 2011, then I agree with you - you can't go back to the ICE ages. But it's 2023 and all of a sudden, there is intense competition in the EV space. Tesla isn't the only viable option on the table anymore and they just gave away their ace in the hole by opening up their network.

There literally isn't a single OEM that delivers cars that have the level of imperfections that Tesla does in 2023. I have been car shopping for nearly 3 months and I have test driven dozens of brands.

Tesla either needs to improve across the board or they are going to have their lunch eaten.

This same tired argument has been made for a decade. Any day, real soon now it will be true!

“Tesla is going bankrupt because competition” is equivalent to “FSD will be done next year”.

 

[BigDEV]

This same tired argument has been made for a decade. Any day, real soon now it will be true!

“Tesla is going bankrupt because competition” is equivalent to “FSD will be done next year”.

Oh, really? Is that why my Tesla stock is down in the dumps and margins are shrinking?

Keep drinking the Muskaid my friend. If you think Tesla is in the same situation they were in even 5 years ago I've got some Tesla Solar Roofs to sell you.

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