I was a die-hard Tesla fan and supporter until my most recent experience. As a business owner myself, employing over 100 people here in South Florida, and impacting over 10,000 South Florida consumers annually, I feel it is essential to apprise you of what occurred so perhaps you can improve your business practices after seeing this.
I owned a 2016 model S70 until July of 2019 when the car was totaled by my wife in a terrible accident. Fortunately, the vehicle did what it was supposed to do, airbags deployed and it resulted in her being alive and well today.
Immediately after we received our insurance check, we went car shopping for a replacement vehicle. Naturally, we first went to Tesla in order to find a vehicle suitable for our needs. This is when things started to go wrong.
We ended up purchasing a used (CPO) Tesla 2016 Model S90D via Teslas website. The car was advertised as “This vehicle has completed a full 70 point mechanical and cosmetic inspection”. Based on that representation, as well as the photos provided via Tesla, I hit the “purchase” button, remitted my deposit of $2,500, and waited on confirmation for when the car was ready for pickup.
The vehicle was advertised with all the features which were included, which upon many, was free super charging for life. Upon receipt of the first call from Tesla, they informed us that albeit the advertisement said that supercharging was included; Tesla now no longer included it with pre-owned vehicles, the program had recently changed and perhaps the website ad wasn’t updated in time. Not a happy start for us, and apparently, this was just the precursor to what would come next.
Approximately two weeks later, I received notice that the vehicle was in West Palm Beach, FL and was ready for pickup. Excited, I arranged to take a day off from the office, along with my wife and drive the 1 hour north to their pickup location. Upon arrival we were told that the vehicle would be ready in about 30 minutes, so we waited anxiously in the sales center. When the car finally came out, we were shocked to see what Tesla said was “ready for pickup”. Most notably, the front fender was hanging off, it looked as if someone had hit a curb. The rear fender also was bent and protruding off of the vehicle to the point that it hit the tire when driven. (I have detailed pictures of all) We had the original pictures which Tesla had provided us of the actual vehicle, and we noticed that the pictures showed no physical damage; yet the hood, upon arrival, had a HUGE gash in the center, about 1/2’’ wide and 3’’ long, well into the paint to the point where the metal was exposed. This is a huge problem in South Florida, as we live near the ocean and exposed metal will rust quickly. Furthermore, the charger port door was full of water (recall item), and the windshield was delaminating with thousands of small bubbles under the glass which were blatantly evident (supposedly a warranty item). There were countless other lesser issues (skull cap had big dent and scratch in it, seat belt was missing one of the clips!, numerous dings and dents, and missing trim pieces along the wheel areas). Disappointed, we refused delivery of the vehicle, took pictures and videos, and asked to speak with a manager. While the manager was cordial and agreed that this car certainly wasn’t ready for pickup, they said that they would re-inspect the car and see what they could do. We asked them, didn’t someone look at it before telling us to drive up here and pick it up? Her answer was simply “We’ve been so busy lately that things often get overlooked”. We told them that we wanted to find a viable solution for our situation. We proposed that they fix the items noted upon our inspection of the car. After going to their back office, making some calls/emails, about 1 hour later they came out and offered to fix most of the items, but not all.
Their response to the paint and dent repairs was “It’s a used car, take it or leave it. If you don’t like it , you can cancel your order now” While I am a very reasonable consumer, I was shocked at the lack of professionalism at this point. I had just wasted a day at work, as did my wife, we were mislead and deceived by Teslas false advertising of a vehicle, and then , when we ask them to make it right, they tell us to “take it or leave it” (in an email FYI). This isn’t the way to treat any customer, especially a prior Tesla owner. We never once became angry or unruly, we simply asked for them to honor what their website and sales reps represented, nothing more. In the end, Tesla corporate stepped in and agreed to fix most of the noted items except one large scratch on the hood, the one item that pushed me to report this to Tesla corporate in an attempt to remedy.
Today is September 8, 2019. It’s been about a month since we went to pick up the car and refused delivery. Finally, just this past week we received an email from Tesla stating once again that the car was now ready for pickup. When we replied back to them asking to confirm that all repairs were made as agreed to, they replied back with “How would you like to pick up your car on September 11, 2019 at 11 am?”. We once again replied back “Please confirm that the agreed upon repairs were completed so that we don’t waste another day driving to pick it up, only to be disappointed again”. Their reply this time “The car will be ready Wednesday, 11 am”. Now growing even more frustrated due to either 1. language barrier, or 2. lack of communication skills or 3. BOTH, we specified in an email “We don’t want to drive to West Palm Beach only to be disappointed again and find out that the agreed upon repairs aren’t completed. Below is a list of the items that we agreed to via email with Tesla corporate, please confirm that all of these are done so that when we arrive, we can pick up the car in ready to go condition”. Finally, they replied “Those repairs aren’t completed yet.”
And so, now nearly a month later, after a much agonizing experience, my love affair with Tesla is diminishing quickly. What was once such a pleasure to drive and brag about has become a sore spot for me and my family. We want to believe in the company’s mission and their impact on our world; however, the ability to orchestrate simple consumer relations has adversely impacted our view of Tesla.
In a final attempt to remedy our relationship with Tesla, we kindly ask you to review the email correspondences, pictures, calls and any communications that we had with Tesla and their sales staff. We ask you to do the right thing with this extenuating circumstance, and please communicate back to us once a resolution has been reached.
Given what we’ve experienced, at the very least, they can finish making all of the repairs which are needed and weren’t disclosed via the car advertisement in photos or in description. And so, in my final words to Tesla, I beg you to step up and do the right thing, please.
I owned a 2016 model S70 until July of 2019 when the car was totaled by my wife in a terrible accident. Fortunately, the vehicle did what it was supposed to do, airbags deployed and it resulted in her being alive and well today.
Immediately after we received our insurance check, we went car shopping for a replacement vehicle. Naturally, we first went to Tesla in order to find a vehicle suitable for our needs. This is when things started to go wrong.
We ended up purchasing a used (CPO) Tesla 2016 Model S90D via Teslas website. The car was advertised as “This vehicle has completed a full 70 point mechanical and cosmetic inspection”. Based on that representation, as well as the photos provided via Tesla, I hit the “purchase” button, remitted my deposit of $2,500, and waited on confirmation for when the car was ready for pickup.
The vehicle was advertised with all the features which were included, which upon many, was free super charging for life. Upon receipt of the first call from Tesla, they informed us that albeit the advertisement said that supercharging was included; Tesla now no longer included it with pre-owned vehicles, the program had recently changed and perhaps the website ad wasn’t updated in time. Not a happy start for us, and apparently, this was just the precursor to what would come next.
Approximately two weeks later, I received notice that the vehicle was in West Palm Beach, FL and was ready for pickup. Excited, I arranged to take a day off from the office, along with my wife and drive the 1 hour north to their pickup location. Upon arrival we were told that the vehicle would be ready in about 30 minutes, so we waited anxiously in the sales center. When the car finally came out, we were shocked to see what Tesla said was “ready for pickup”. Most notably, the front fender was hanging off, it looked as if someone had hit a curb. The rear fender also was bent and protruding off of the vehicle to the point that it hit the tire when driven. (I have detailed pictures of all) We had the original pictures which Tesla had provided us of the actual vehicle, and we noticed that the pictures showed no physical damage; yet the hood, upon arrival, had a HUGE gash in the center, about 1/2’’ wide and 3’’ long, well into the paint to the point where the metal was exposed. This is a huge problem in South Florida, as we live near the ocean and exposed metal will rust quickly. Furthermore, the charger port door was full of water (recall item), and the windshield was delaminating with thousands of small bubbles under the glass which were blatantly evident (supposedly a warranty item). There were countless other lesser issues (skull cap had big dent and scratch in it, seat belt was missing one of the clips!, numerous dings and dents, and missing trim pieces along the wheel areas). Disappointed, we refused delivery of the vehicle, took pictures and videos, and asked to speak with a manager. While the manager was cordial and agreed that this car certainly wasn’t ready for pickup, they said that they would re-inspect the car and see what they could do. We asked them, didn’t someone look at it before telling us to drive up here and pick it up? Her answer was simply “We’ve been so busy lately that things often get overlooked”. We told them that we wanted to find a viable solution for our situation. We proposed that they fix the items noted upon our inspection of the car. After going to their back office, making some calls/emails, about 1 hour later they came out and offered to fix most of the items, but not all.
Their response to the paint and dent repairs was “It’s a used car, take it or leave it. If you don’t like it , you can cancel your order now” While I am a very reasonable consumer, I was shocked at the lack of professionalism at this point. I had just wasted a day at work, as did my wife, we were mislead and deceived by Teslas false advertising of a vehicle, and then , when we ask them to make it right, they tell us to “take it or leave it” (in an email FYI). This isn’t the way to treat any customer, especially a prior Tesla owner. We never once became angry or unruly, we simply asked for them to honor what their website and sales reps represented, nothing more. In the end, Tesla corporate stepped in and agreed to fix most of the noted items except one large scratch on the hood, the one item that pushed me to report this to Tesla corporate in an attempt to remedy.
Today is September 8, 2019. It’s been about a month since we went to pick up the car and refused delivery. Finally, just this past week we received an email from Tesla stating once again that the car was now ready for pickup. When we replied back to them asking to confirm that all repairs were made as agreed to, they replied back with “How would you like to pick up your car on September 11, 2019 at 11 am?”. We once again replied back “Please confirm that the agreed upon repairs were completed so that we don’t waste another day driving to pick it up, only to be disappointed again”. Their reply this time “The car will be ready Wednesday, 11 am”. Now growing even more frustrated due to either 1. language barrier, or 2. lack of communication skills or 3. BOTH, we specified in an email “We don’t want to drive to West Palm Beach only to be disappointed again and find out that the agreed upon repairs aren’t completed. Below is a list of the items that we agreed to via email with Tesla corporate, please confirm that all of these are done so that when we arrive, we can pick up the car in ready to go condition”. Finally, they replied “Those repairs aren’t completed yet.”
And so, now nearly a month later, after a much agonizing experience, my love affair with Tesla is diminishing quickly. What was once such a pleasure to drive and brag about has become a sore spot for me and my family. We want to believe in the company’s mission and their impact on our world; however, the ability to orchestrate simple consumer relations has adversely impacted our view of Tesla.
In a final attempt to remedy our relationship with Tesla, we kindly ask you to review the email correspondences, pictures, calls and any communications that we had with Tesla and their sales staff. We ask you to do the right thing with this extenuating circumstance, and please communicate back to us once a resolution has been reached.
Given what we’ve experienced, at the very least, they can finish making all of the repairs which are needed and weren’t disclosed via the car advertisement in photos or in description. And so, in my final words to Tesla, I beg you to step up and do the right thing, please.
