Tesla, are they snakes or dumber than a brick?

[mswlogo]

I traded in a car to buy my X. Initially they offered $30k but CarMax came in at $31k and they matched it. Weeks before pickup I faxed my OA the CarFax quote and I see the new Trade Value, all good.

I checked what they said my balance was due and it was all correct. The trade amount is subtracted from the purchase amount to calculate taxes owed. All correct.

Go to pick up and they quoted the same number.

8 Days later (notice it’s immediately after return window) they call me. Said I owe them ~$2000. I argued with them that THEY had checked everything. I also based on trading in or not by the amount they were gonna trade.

They said they will send proof of what I owe them. Sure enough they charged the full tax on the full amount. There is a line for Tax offset From Trade in and it’s $0.00. Not all states work this way.

The amount they say I owe is exactly the tax difference from trade.

What really pisses me off is some customers would have no idea. The CarFax quote even said if you buy a new car from them then you’ll effectively get $2k more towards buying a new car (including taxes).

So, are they a snake oil salesman pulling this stunt or simply that stupid they can’t do Elementary School math by the FINANCIAL officer?

Really leaves a sour taste in my mouth. That on top of waiting 3 hours at pickup time for them to print out a DMV form to sign for a statement of the odometer reading, basically has the VIN of the trade in and my address. If it was up to my wife she would not spend a dime with this company.

 

[HankLloydRight]

So, are they a snake oil salesman pulling this stunt or simply that stupid they can’t do Elementary School math by the FINANCIAL officer?

You have over 3000 posts here in just over a year. I think you already know the answer to your own question.

 

[jeffro01]

Snakes.

Jeff

 

[Silicon Desert]

Like a lot of places, probably poorly trained people and equally slow followup once it gets to the auditors.

 

[mswlogo]

I'm still not sure which it is.

I feel like I'm being harassed now.

I get a TXT From Tesla Every Morning saying you need to Call this number Immediately about your Model X Purchase.
I don't know if it's been resolved or something else important so I don't block it.

44 States do the Taxes the same way MA does on Trade In's.

The guy, Russell ----- | Finance/Billing/Credit and Collections Specialist | Finance Operations, says he'll send me proof.

He sends me a Bill Of Sale or Balance Sheet for a "Cash Purchase" with the Full Tax, no Trade, no Trade Tax Offset (which there are slots for but not filled in). It's also not the Bill Of Sale I signed !!

Then he compares that number to the Trade + ACH. He's a F'n idiot.

Now he is "investigating" how Trade In Taxes work in Massachusetts

This has totally destroyed what should have been the most exiting vehicle purchase ever. What value do I put on that?

It makes both my wife and I hate the company with a passion right now and we're embarrassed to be associated with a product from them.

How many other customers have they harassed into paying those taxes (that they are pocketing) that don't know how it works (I'm sure most do not).

 

[Bet TSLA]

This has totally destroyed what should have been the most exiting vehicle purchase ever. What value do I put on that?

It makes both my wife and I hate the company with a passion right now and we're embarrassed to be associated with a product from them.

It's amazing that you've ever managed to buy anything from anybody. You must be the first person older than 10 for whom nothing's ever gone even slightly wrong. Seriously? "Hate", "passion" over something that hasn't even happened yet? Take a stress pill.

 

[mswlogo]

It's amazing that you've ever managed to buy anything from anybody. You must be the first person older than 10 for whom nothing's ever gone even slightly wrong. Seriously? "Hate", "passion" over something that hasn't even happened yet? Take a stress pill.

Are you kidding?

A car company demanding I pay $2000 more than what we both signed for and agreed to a week ago !!

Do you know how utterly ridiculous that is?

Even if it was a real error, how stupid is a company not to get the correct amount before I left in the first place?

My biggest concern is how many other customers have they ripped off (because of shear stupidity or pure snake oilsmanship).

How can a car company this incompetent survive? That's my biggest concern, not the money.

Every morning I wake up with a TXT from Tesla, that basically says, hey dead beat you need to pay up or else.

And this was not the only flub on this purchase. They made me wait for 3 hours because they couldn't print a standard RMV Form for Odometer that has my address, VIN and Odometer reading. They couldn't get the form to "automatically" fill the info. They had to do it manually. But they wouldn't do it manually until I waited for 3 hours and threatened to reject it. It took them 5 minutes once they got off their ass. The Service Center was not that busy. They were also clueless on Extended Service Contract and how the Tow Hitch Software worked.

And I'm not one of these folks that looks for ridiculous microscopic defects in the paint or perfect body alignment. I've already fixed 4 gasket issues myself (2 on Falcon Wing Doors) and two on main doors. I can deal with stuff like that. No problem. Moron's would probably make it worse. But telling me I didn't pay what the contract says crosses a very clear line in my book. I have no idea if they are gonna give me bad credit, disable the car or repossess it. No idea. Since they are stupid enough to not get the balance right, I don't put anything past them to do something else stupid.

If it was under 7 days I would have returned it out of principle.

Ya just don't F'k this stuff up this badly.

 

[Bet TSLA]

A car company demanding I pay $2000 more than what we both signed for and agreed to a week ago !!

Agreed, they must have screwed up. So let me lay out for you how it works. You respond: "Hey, you guys are confused. I don't owe you anything." Then they figure it out and you're all happy again. Well, in your case I imagine you find something else to complain about.

Let us know if in a couple of weeks they are threatening to take you to court or disable your car. Then I'll agree you have something to complain about. Right now it's just a little confusion. So what?

 

[Legen---dary]

Snakes. I was ripped off far more than you ($10k in 30 days thanks to their outright lies!).
They do not respond to emails 99% of the time, so on the positive side, at least Tesla is contacting you.
I do love the cars - but vehemently hate the company, so can empathize with you regarding their scam-ridden ways.

 

[Ampster]

I would escalate to a supervisor and give him a copy of the code section that makes your case. That way you could go to bed each night knowing that you may have saved countless MA Tesla buyers who traded in their car the kind of misery you are going through. Life is too short to go to bed every night with anger when you can help someone else improve their process.

 

[VT_EE]

I traded in a car to buy my X. Initially they offered $30k but CarMax came in at $31k and they matched it. Weeks before pickup I faxed my OA the CarFax quote and I see the new Trade Value, all good.

I checked what they said my balance was due and it was all correct. The trade amount is subtracted from the purchase amount to calculate taxes owed. All correct.

Go to pick up and they quoted the same number.

8 Days later (notice it’s immediately after return window) they call me. Said I owe them ~$2000. I argued with them that THEY had checked everything. I also based on trading in or not by the amount they were gonna trade.

They said they will send proof of what I owe them. Sure enough they charged the full tax on the full amount. There is a line for Tax offset From Trade in and it’s $0.00. Not all states work this way.

The amount they say I owe is exactly the tax difference from trade.

What really pisses me off is some customers would have no idea. The CarFax quote even said if you buy a new car from them then you’ll effectively get $2k more towards buying a new car (including taxes).

So, are they a snake oil salesman pulling this stunt or simply that stupid they can’t do Elementary School math by the FINANCIAL officer?

Really leaves a sour taste in my mouth. That on top of waiting 3 hours at pickup time for them to print out a DMV form to sign for a statement of the odometer reading, basically has the VIN of the trade in and my address. If it was up to my wife she would not spend a dime with this company.

I'm going to be polite and say they their accounting department needs some assistance.

I have a coworker whom was unsuccessful for six months trying to give Tesla the $19k he owed them. They lost his bank check and it was causing issues with his loan as the title was never mailed to the bank. Tesla (of Owings Mills) flat out refused to take a new check, even when he hand carried it to the SC, saying it was too much of a pain. So... six months later, a nice lady from Tesla calls asking about the $19k. My coworker explained what had happed and stated the lady was shocked. Needless to say, she actually figured it out and took his money.

I seriously doubt Tesla was trying to screw you on this. It's totally due to some employee's poor book keeping.

 

[VT_EE]

Are you kidding?

A car company demanding I pay $2000 more than what we both signed for and agreed to a week ago !!

Do you know how utterly ridiculous that is?

Even if it was a real error, how stupid is a company not to get the correct amount before I left in the first place?

My biggest concern is how many other customers have they ripped off (because of shear stupidity or pure snake oilsmanship).

How can a car company this incompetent survive? That's my biggest concern, not the money.

Every morning I wake up with a TXT from Tesla, that basically says, hey dead beat you need to pay up or else.

And this was not the only flub on this purchase. They made me wait for 3 hours because they couldn't print a standard RMV Form for Odometer that has my address, VIN and Odometer reading. They couldn't get the form to "automatically" fill the info. They had to do it manually. But they wouldn't do it manually until I waited for 3 hours and threatened to reject it. It took them 5 minutes once they got off their ass. The Service Center was not that busy. They were also clueless on Extended Service Contract and how the Tow Hitch Software worked.

And I'm not one of these folks that looks for ridiculous microscopic defects in the paint or perfect body alignment. I've already fixed 4 gasket issues myself (2 on Falcon Wing Doors) and two on main doors. I can deal with stuff like that. No problem. Moron's would probably make it worse. But telling me I didn't pay what the contract says crosses a very clear line in my book. I have no idea if they are gonna give me bad credit, disable the car or repossess it. No idea. Since they are stupid enough to not get the balance right, I don't put anything past them to do something else stupid.

If it was under 7 days I would have returned it out of principle.

Ya just don't F'k this stuff up this badly.

They can survive currently because the product is so good. At some, they will need to get this kind of stuff in order or survival might be a problem. Enjoy your car and try not to worry about it. You are in the right here. It's really just a nuisance waiting for them to figure it out.

 

[mswlogo]

Agreed, they must have screwed up. So let me lay out for you how it works. You respond: "Hey, you guys are confused. I don't owe you anything." Then they figure it out and you're all happy again. Well, in your case I imagine you find something else to complain about.

Let us know if in a couple of weeks they are threatening to take you to court or disable your car. Then I'll agree you have something to complain about. Right now it's just a little confusion. So what?

Let’s see how you would react. Given they are this stupid, I would not doubt anything from them. I don’t need this *sugar*. Not after handing over $180k. I didn’t bargain like some do. I accepted both cars without issue. No loan on either one. And they treat me like trash. Both during purchase and now again a week later. I’m sorry to bust your golden bubble but they completely incompetent.

I tell my wife all the time, if I or someone is angry. It’s usually anger at ones self. I’m mad at myself for being foolish enough to hand this company another $100k. Knowing they are dysfunctional. That’s what I’m mad about. This was undeniable proof in my face how broken they are and how foolish I was to buy a second car from them. I’m the biggest idiot here not the moron asking for $2k.

 

[Reeler]

At some point, Tesla is going to have to mature. But, it keeps getting worse. I think I will bail once VW releases a cheap AWD next year. The lack of Apple Carplay / Android Auto has me hating the ride as I fumble with my phone constantly to play media and make calls.

#TeslaDumpsterFire

 

[VT_EE]

At some point, Tesla is going to have to mature. But, it keeps getting worse. I think I will bail once VW releases a cheap AWD next year. The lack of Apple Carplay / Android Auto has me hating the ride as I fumble with my phone constantly to play media and make calls.

#TeslaDumpsterFire

The phone app in the Tesla works fine. It's just the music player that sucks at the moment. I'm hoping that this is remedied in the near future. Of course, I've been saying this for over a year.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Let’s see how you would react. Given they are this stupid, I would not doubt anything from them. I don’t need this *sugar*. Not after handing over $180k. I didn’t bargain like some do. I accepted both cars without issue. No loan on either one. And they treat me like trash. Both during purchase and now again a week later. I’m sorry to bust your golden bubble but they completely incompetent.

I tell my wife all the time, if I or someone is angry. It’s usually anger at ones self. I’m mad at myself for being foolish enough to hand this company another $100k. Knowing they are dysfunctional. That’s what I’m mad about. This was undeniable proof in my face how broken they are and how foolish I was to buy a second car from them. I’m the biggest idiot here not the moron asking for $2k.

Well, I hope for your wife's sake, that she is never insufficiently responsive. Perhaps you should work on those anger issues? Near as I can tell, absolutely nothing untoward has happened other than some confusion.

And yeah, Tesla has managed to screw up in my case several times. Sometimes it takes them many months to figure out. So what? It will ruin your life only if you let it. Like I said, take a stress pill.

 

[Bet TSLA]

I fumble with my phone constantly to play media and make calls

If you can't use voice control to make calls today, something's wrong. And if you can't control media with voice control today, you will be able too soon. You are talking about user interface stuff, which keeps getting better because Teslas keep getting software updates. You're seriously talking about switching over to a car that doesn't, so that you're stuck with its inadequacies as long as you own it.

Clever.

 

[Reeler]

If you can't use voice control to make calls today, something's wrong. And if you can't control media with voice control today, you will be able too soon. You are talking about user interface stuff, which keeps getting better because Teslas keep getting software updates. You're seriously talking about switching over to a car that doesn't, so that you're stuck with its inadequacies as long as you own it.
Clever.

Voice commands work fine in the Tesla walled garden, but I use media apps that are not supported by Tesla. My phone is dual SIM and Tesla's phone integration has no way to select the outgoing phone line. Although their walled garden is the best, every other manufacturer has embraced phone screen mirroring. Even Tesla's BT or USB integration sucks.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Voice commands work fine in the Tesla walled garden, but I use media apps that are not supported by Tesla. My phone is dual SIM and Tesla's phone integration has no way to select the outgoing phone line. Although their walled garden is the best, every other manufacturer has embraced phone screen mirroring. Even Tesla's BT or USB integration sucks.

Sounds like you're going to have problems with everything unless you buy a matched set. Your car better match your phone better match your home better match your office. What happens when you decide you like some other system better? Replace all of them?

The usual case is that you have to decide on some lowest common denominator that everybody supports. Maybe that works for you.

 

[mswlogo]

Well, I hope for your wife's sake, that she is never insufficiently responsive. Perhaps you should work on those anger issues? Near as I can tell, absolutely nothing untoward has happened other than some confusion.

And yeah, Tesla has managed to screw up in my case several times. Sometimes it takes them many months to figure out. So what? It will ruin your life only if you let it. Like I said, take a stress pill.

Everyone has there limits.

When the car company I just handed over a $180k, more or less calls me DAILY, saying I’m a dead beat. I have serious issues with that.

If they just said, we’ll check into and get back to you, I’d be much better about it.

Basically I get a TXT every day that good be good news or bad news. So it’s been bad news every time and basically I get more frustrated every single time I call. And I’m not gonna to just ignore it because I’m the type that looks at things naively and hoping that’s it’s resolved resolved and I get an apology. Or the msg is you need to just do X to clear things up. And I can see a month from now them saying we called you but you never responded so we sent it to collection agency. So I call every F’n day in response to THERE request to do so.THAT is the problem. I can’t just ignore it. They set me me up with a vague urgent msg every day.

They are absolute F ups. And folks like you defending this absolute abysmal behavior is really funny. I put up with plenty of *sugar* from them before. But when it comes to finances I have little tolerance for this.

It’s not like I’m not talking to someone. The idiot actually thinks he’s doing it right.

My OA checked it and he says everything is correct. But he has no power to fix it.