I brought up Maslow in another thread here a few weeks ago. Another phenomenon I've noticed about organizations is that when they have a very public leader (common in young companies and also common in many political organizations), the entire organization sort of channels the leader. Enron was corrupt top to bottom because the CEO was a conman.
Tesla has collective ADD because I think Elon is ADD. My SO came to that conclusion when we were watching some documentary thing on him and I think she has a point. Tesla is a very dynamic company, but the only things that work right are the things Elon happens to be paying attention to at that moment. Everything else languishes when he doesn't.
There are lots of logistical things Tesla is awful at (like spare parts) that other car companies have down pat. The problems could be solved easily by hiring someone who has the relevant experience in the industry and empower them to fix the system. A COO like SpaceX's who manages the day to day operations would also be a valuable asset to Tesla.
Apple became what it did in Steve Job's second time as CEO because he had a very competent COO, Tim Cook, managing operations.
Tesla makes amazing products and I really want to see them succeed, but they have problems that could be solved with the right people empowered to fix them. Ironically Tesla excels at the tough part of auto making, but falls down on the easy stuff.
I agree 100%. They are in dire need of customer service people/manager to say the LEAST.
I had so many issues during the ordering process but luckily I got a really great manager to help me and he had my back- as much as he could. Then they laid him off. Ugh.
Not sure where to start but here are just some of the issues I have had and continue to have along the way:
- I was a day 1 reservation holder but it took till November 2018 for me to get my car. It took forever to even get the email to put in my specifications. I knew of so many who had placed orders after me who already had gotten their car before I even picked specifications. And anytime I would write into Tesla asking why it was taking so long no one could give me any answers.
- Eventhough my rep said my referral code was attached to my account, I was still charged for supercharging. The manager I referred to above, fixed the code and asked whatever department you would ask to refund me the charges.
It had been frustrating but at that point, I was just happy to get my car so I didn't complain anywhere about it. I just blew it off and figured it was growing pains. I just wanted to enjoy my car. Which I have. I have even written a few very positive stories on this forum because I love it so much. But then....there was more....
In January I realized that my back light had a weird fogged up defective thing going on. Tesla said no problem, mine was not the only one, and they would replace it free of charge. It took almost 3 months to get the part and I had to keep canceling my appointment because the part wasn't there. But the car was drive able and the light was no biggie so I just let it go and decided to be patient.
Also in January, someone side-swiped me- only two months into having my car. Ugh. I went to a Tesla approved body shop (that I had used before with a different car and loved) back in January.
It took over 4 months and numerous emails/chats by me (when it hit around 3 1/2 months and still nothing) and the body shop to finally get the part last week. I was being patient the first 3 1/2 months but then it got combined with the back light (and having to cancel service appointments) along with the clinchers below.
I saw what I thought were charges from Tesla from April 23rd. When I saw them I didn't have my glasses on- my mistake. I was really baffled since I had no charged anything and I was a bit annoyed. Turns out they were credits that were never credited from the supercharger/referral code debacle back in Nov/Dec. They had never fully credited my account as promised. I was annoyed but glad they at least credited back my account- even if it took 4 months.
When I got the car back in Nov 2018, I gave my SUV to my dad and used his car as a trade in. My dad got a renewal letter in the mail from the state for his tags- for the car that was traded in to Tesla 6 months before. Apparently Tesla never transferred the ownership. My dad contacted the service center we turned it into (and picked up my car) to find out what was wrong. No one seemed to know anything but they told him that he would receive a letter/phone call about it no later than two weeks. He didn't.
After emailing numerous times, trying to get someone on the phone and chatting with someone over the app, I was told that my dad would probably need to go to the DMV and fill out the paperwork again and send it in. My dad is 80 and has cancer (and lives out of state) and they were going to make him do all of that AGAIN after we already did it back in November?
That is when I lost it. Me dealing with all of this was one thing but knowing that my dads car was never transferred out of his name and if anything happened to the car my dad would be liable and/or at the very least have to deal with more crap because Tesla didn't do that one simple thing. I was PISSED. I asked for a manager to call me ASAP or I was going to contact my attorney for breach of contract and/or the media. I was promised that one would call me in a few days.
After a week and a half, I chatted with someone again and they said a manager would get to me when they got to me. They are busy and have other people to contact- they have a list. And there is no specific time when someone will get back to me. It will happen when it happens. I seriously was told that.
It's been 2 1/2 weeks and still no call from a manager. The only thing I got was an email from another representative saying since I contacted my attorney and the media then I needed to talk to their legal department. They couldn't 'help' me anymore- not that they were really helping me in the first place.
In their mind, they have already done everything that was needed:
- The transfer to my dads car 'supposedly' is done after 6 months. The email I got said for my dad to 'not worry about it' anymore and if he gets any other renewals in the mail then to 'ignore them'.
I asked more than once 'does this mean it's out of my dads name' and I got this same weird/vague answer again.
- The final part was finally sent to the body shop after over 4 months
- The credits were finally added to my account after 4 months
They never addressed the other issues I have had that I didn't even list here. AND still no call- just another blow off. I'm just so sick of it all. I really love my car and I just want to enjoy it. I wish they would all just do the BASIC things so I can enjoy it.