-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Tesla bans Stewart Alsop from buying Model X
- Thread starter Auzie
- Start date
-
- Tags
- banned Tesla Inc.
I think being critical and being negative are two different things. You see, I'm one of the biggest Tesla cheerleaders out there and that is exactly why I am being critical of some of their recent moves. It's because I care about them and want them to do better. Tesla has inflicted several wounds on itself in the past year. I really do want Tesla to set more realistic expectations and to ever so slightly scale back some of its ambitions in order to focus on doing things right the first time. With Model 3 around the corner, along with a lot of scrutiny come high expectations from media pundits, investors and consumers. This is arguably one of the most critical times for Tesla, I just want them to hit the ball out of the park and would love to see some of their issues resolved so there are fewer stumbling blocks.
I agree with you that at the end of the day, it's still the same Tesla. That's why certain patterns keep repeating themselves. I'm far more than just a fair weather friend of Tesla. I'm all in. I own a Model S, can't wait to buy another Tesla, and I own the stock. I write passionately in the fora exactly because I'm crazy about this company. Elon Musk is one of my heroes as is Steve Jobs. Sometimes it's difficult to see my heroes stumble. In my case, writing about how things could be improved is my own way of coping with certain disappointments.
Last edited:
Um, yeah. I'd love to actually communicate directly with Elon Musk. There are three major business risks which Tesla Motors has not properly addressed yet:
-- not enough geographical distribution of service centers, forcing me to disrecommend the cars in vast swathes of the US which are more than 120 miles from a service center;
-- what appears to be extremely sloppy code control by staff programmers, leading to introduction of potentially dangerous bugs in updates, failure to comply with copyright licenses, &c.
-- very poor internal communications where 'the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing' -- probably due to lack of employees charged with communications at each department (for instance, the programming department needs a boss whose primary job is to make sure that they communicate with the service centers)
Musk hasn't phoned me, though.
I'm still personally bullish on the company in the long run (this is not investment advice) but it would be much better if Musk made it clear that he understands that these are *real* problems and they need to be addressed. I'm not sure he understands that. (Honestly, I'd be happy with some sort of public announcement saying that he understands this. Instead, we get triumphant press releases claiming that nearly everyone in the US is near a service center, which is just false.)
====
(After reading the whole thread)
Oh, so Musk and Alsop knew each other personally beforehand and have some historical axes to grind. Hmmph.
Last edited:
CarlK
Active Member
People who criticize need to put things in perspective. If you think a company with 1~2% revenue and probably engineering resources of any of those major auto companies, and close to zero marketing resources, could do EVERYTHING that matches or betters these big company you need to get out of your fantasy state. I'm just amazed that Tesla could continue to produce these amazing products and services. They must be putting in a super focused effort not to mention, unlike you and I, these are super smart and hard working people Tesla got there.
Wired, April 2004: http://www.wired.com/2004/04/bust/
So they have prior history: Alsop bailed on funding Elon's X.com at the last minute.
That kind of speaks for itself. Elon did the right thing here, the guy is a whinger.
No-one else needs to worry about getting blacklisted unless they happen to have bailed funding on Musk decades ago.
So they have prior history: Alsop bailed on funding Elon's X.com at the last minute.
That kind of speaks for itself. Elon did the right thing here, the guy is a whinger.
No-one else needs to worry about getting blacklisted unless they happen to have bailed funding on Musk decades ago.
Last edited:
Merrill
Merrill
There has to be more going on behind the scenes, the letter that was written to Elon just stated what I agree with in regard to the reveal and communication everything he said was true. So the fact that Tesla will not sell him a Model X must be much more involved.
Krugerrand
Meow
People need to mind their own business a bit more. Always free with the opinions for others and what those others should or should not do. Worry about your house.
I love how after 170 posts, Bonnie just drops in and breaks down the whole series of events in a couple of sentences. I am amazed by your intellect.
As I said before, I have fired a few clients over the years. I initially made some terrible mistakes in doing so. I used to tell the patient exactly why I had to terminate our relationship (they were rude, non-compliant, abusing, accusatory, etc). That always backfired on me. I received a ton of backlash and arguments from them. Long ago, I changed my ways. I now just say "I regret to inform you that I can no longer be your physician." No explanation at all. I give them resources to find a new physician and simply walk away. Elon's mistake was just like mine. He called out the guy for being rude. He should have left off the reason why. Now, the battle continues. He probably won't do that again.
Ldub22
Member
@Cyberax - The man's article was certainly setting his ownership up for a public display of critiques. Also, it is very possible that this SV insider has a whole backstory that we are not aware of. Sounds like Tesla made a MARKETING decision - this has very little to do with customer service. Remember, the goal of Tesla is to set a positive stage for the Model 3. THAT is the important model.
I think some are debating what Tesla's priorities should be, not saying that Tesla should do everything that the big auto companies are doing. Of course they can't, they don't have that kind of revenue.
JohnSnowNW
Active Member
It seems glaringly obvious that Asslops blog post was only one of many straws that contributed to the banning.
He's getting quite a bit of exposure because of this, which he probably wants more than a Tesla anyway.
He's getting quite a bit of exposure because of this, which he probably wants more than a Tesla anyway.
CarlK
Active Member
It's pretty clear what Tesla's priority is. The single focus is to make the product better. Everything else is noise in Elon's mind. That's how he could beat companies almost 100x the size and came up with products better than they could ever thought possible. I'm sure he welcomes constructive suggestions of how to make the product even better WITHOUT having to sacrifice other aspect of the product or company's chance of survival. None of us here know enough of the company detail to make such suggestions. Pretty much everything you hear are just noises.
Read his Tip#3:
Elon Musk Presents His 5 Secrets of Success To Graduates at USC
All most of the general public knows is what they hear or read in the news. Somebody criticizes Tesla, and Musk refuses to sell a car to that person. The message is that if you want one of their cars, you better not be critical of it. That's the way it will come across. When I defend Tesla, I shouldn't be surprised if people counter with "of course you say that or they will take your car back."
I frankly don't care what was said in the phone conversation. Customers have the right to be upset and everything in the initial post about the way the event was organized, how it was late, how reservation holders didn't even get a chance to see the car was all accurate. And it wan't Tesla's shining moment as a marketing organization. Musk may be brilliant, but his eloquence is more "charming" than slippery. Regardless, I can see Musk refusing to take the guy's phone calls, but that's about it.
What message is Tesla sending? I better not do whatever the person did in the phone call? It can't be that because nobody in the general public knows what that is. Should I stop criticizing the company? I'm a very strong supporter of the company and the car, and a very satisfied owner, but there's still a lot to criticize in what Musk's own kid called "the stupidest car in the world." Did Musk disown his son or take it personally? Should business decisions be dictated by five year olds? Can I criticize my own car for things it does poorly?
Since the time I bought my car, I've read a world of criticism from people who have no clue. They criticize the car for all the wrong things based on misconceptions about range, about charging, about daily use, about people running out of power in the middle of the freeway without noticing, and all sorts of nonsense. So it would seem that Tesla owners are fanboys who do nothing but defend the car. But if people had criticized the lack of lines in the rear view camera display (which were more or less standard on other vehicles) or the lack of display of tire pressures (which I had assumed was standard in this day and age) or the lack of ACC at the time I ordered my car, or the way Homelink works (now partially remedied) or the inability to tie a fob to a profile as I could with a fully equipped minivan from the last century, then I would have agreed that Tesla did leave off many features that were absolutely expected and some of them make it a pain to use the car on a day to day basis.
So should I shut up, lest Musk punish me? Tesla is already gaining a reputation for acting as if they still own our cars after we buy them. They used to tell people that they had to sign up for annual service even though it wasn't legal to require it. They are telling people that they may not honor parts of the warranty if people make aftermarket changes as simple as using different tires. They want to impose all sorts of requirements on owners that no other company would do. And now they want to give the general public the impression that only fanboys need apply and nobody else is welcome to buy the car.
Anybody who has been high up in the business world is familiar with the expression "it's a business decision" and knows not to take things personally. If Musk cancels an active order (yes, the fine print says either party has the right to cancel a reservation) because he doesn't like criticism that the general public is likely to see as restrained and warranted, that's not a very good business decision. Musk will end up looking like Donald Trump. There's nothing in that person's public statements that he needs to apologize for, and it's downright silly for Musk to refuse to sell him a car. If somebody sells him a used one, will Tesla refuse to allow it to communicate with their network?
I frankly don't care what was said in the phone conversation. Customers have the right to be upset and everything in the initial post about the way the event was organized, how it was late, how reservation holders didn't even get a chance to see the car was all accurate. And it wan't Tesla's shining moment as a marketing organization. Musk may be brilliant, but his eloquence is more "charming" than slippery. Regardless, I can see Musk refusing to take the guy's phone calls, but that's about it.
What message is Tesla sending? I better not do whatever the person did in the phone call? It can't be that because nobody in the general public knows what that is. Should I stop criticizing the company? I'm a very strong supporter of the company and the car, and a very satisfied owner, but there's still a lot to criticize in what Musk's own kid called "the stupidest car in the world." Did Musk disown his son or take it personally? Should business decisions be dictated by five year olds? Can I criticize my own car for things it does poorly?
Since the time I bought my car, I've read a world of criticism from people who have no clue. They criticize the car for all the wrong things based on misconceptions about range, about charging, about daily use, about people running out of power in the middle of the freeway without noticing, and all sorts of nonsense. So it would seem that Tesla owners are fanboys who do nothing but defend the car. But if people had criticized the lack of lines in the rear view camera display (which were more or less standard on other vehicles) or the lack of display of tire pressures (which I had assumed was standard in this day and age) or the lack of ACC at the time I ordered my car, or the way Homelink works (now partially remedied) or the inability to tie a fob to a profile as I could with a fully equipped minivan from the last century, then I would have agreed that Tesla did leave off many features that were absolutely expected and some of them make it a pain to use the car on a day to day basis.
So should I shut up, lest Musk punish me? Tesla is already gaining a reputation for acting as if they still own our cars after we buy them. They used to tell people that they had to sign up for annual service even though it wasn't legal to require it. They are telling people that they may not honor parts of the warranty if people make aftermarket changes as simple as using different tires. They want to impose all sorts of requirements on owners that no other company would do. And now they want to give the general public the impression that only fanboys need apply and nobody else is welcome to buy the car.
Anybody who has been high up in the business world is familiar with the expression "it's a business decision" and knows not to take things personally. If Musk cancels an active order (yes, the fine print says either party has the right to cancel a reservation) because he doesn't like criticism that the general public is likely to see as restrained and warranted, that's not a very good business decision. Musk will end up looking like Donald Trump. There's nothing in that person's public statements that he needs to apologize for, and it's downright silly for Musk to refuse to sell him a car. If somebody sells him a used one, will Tesla refuse to allow it to communicate with their network?
Nubo
Test Mule
You've got a crowd waiting, full of people who put down deposits in good faith, for a car which is 2 years overdue. To then make them wait for 2 hours is inexcusable, disrespectful and unprofessional and Musk deserved the public criticism. Feel free to ban me, Mr. Musk.
Those who weren't at the event were waiting too, obviously, but what may not be obvious is that the live streaming was screwed up. Instead of seeing a live feed of people standing around doing nothing and listening to loud music, people were getting error messages, and after about 25 minutes, seeing a logo screen. I don't know if it's fair to say that the problem was worse overall because it affected those who weren't there as well as those who were. It could be that the streaming issue was the reason for the delay and that Tesla didn't want to start until most potential viewers could see it. But then it came down to guesswork as to when it would start. I did pick up on a couple of Periscope feeds while I was waiting, and was nonplussed to see that I wasn't missing anything but people standing around.
Perhaps if Tesla had sent somebody to the stage to announce that there would be a delay due to technical problems, then people would have at least known what to expect. Musk didn't start off with any explanation. People don't know if the delay was due to a problem that couldn't have been anticipated or due to Musk wanting to stand around chatting. It's most likely that Musk was well aware of the time and wasn't delaying it just to be arrogant. Something held things up, and I have no way of knowing it it was due to something that Tesla should have reasonably anticipated. It's the lack of communication that was the issue. Tesla might have been justified in delaying the event or might have had no choice, but they also should have recognized that there would be complaints and that ignoring them was a bad idea.
Nubo
Test Mule
Yeah I sat through the livestream mess too, and it may well be that "technical difficulties" were at the root of the delay. Not a good sign from what after all is a technology company. And, this wasn't their first rodeo. I've sat through similar waits on their other events as well. The live audience should take precedence. If the internet thingie is broken, carry on with your presentation and have the video available for later viewing, imho.
They are a technology company but there's a disconnect between the technology focus on the car, on the website, and on the app. If something like Visible Tesla can be done by one person in his spare time, a team of people working full time should be able to come up with a better app, and it doesn't need to be a large team. Those of us with software development experience know better. It seems as if the front end and back end people for the app don't even talk to each other. If the front end people have enough control over getting access, I would have expected a long list of accomplishments by now. Even simple things such as selecting a driver profile, lowering windows, taking over the audio system remotely and threatening the driver, and others of that magnitude should have been doable in days, not years.
Similar threads
