Tesla gave my car away to someone else

[SMAlset]

the irony of all this, is the car they stole from me WAS ON A LOT. I had them claim it from another service center. They then sold it to someone local after I claimed it and had a delivery date because they saved on not transporting it.

now , against my will, I have a vin of a factory car. I purposely looked on the site and proactively called my center to claim that vin I got screwed on. So you have a higher likelihood of getting screwed if you claim a local vin- they will just give it to someone else if it’s cheaper or convenient

I get your situation and jumping through hoops as you see it to be ready to hold up your end. I will point out that the VIN was assigned internally to you but not officially confirmed as yours and Tesla can and does make changes as needed for them. They didn't "steal" the car from you as it wasn't yours yet. A number of us have had our scheduled delivery date/time slot changed. When we bought our first Tesla we pre-installed out NEMA 14-50 too.

I've been reading through the thread up to a certain point before posting this but don't think I saw you say whether you had your MVPA documents prepared. That usually doesn't happen until a few days before as they need to verify that car's VIN is the one you'll get.

I love my Model 3. Love our Model S. Honestly wouldn't buy any other EV and certainly will never go back to an ICE, our cars are just world's better. All I can say is stuff happens on the pre-delivery and delivery end and people with orders don't always get the car delivered on time. I've read of people unfortunate enough to have their assigned car damaged by transporter or some other vehicle backed up into theirs at the delivery center before their actual delivery was to happen. It would be nice if they operated with more recognition of the buyer's situation, but I get the feeling that apart from any interaction you might have with your delivery contact, it's more handled blindly as a transaction. Currently one of the downsides to their process from a buyer standpoint.

Look at this this way, maybe getting a newer manufactured model will have some plusses. They are always changing up parts as they improve things and do it on the fly unlike traditional automakers that don't make changes until the next model year. I hope your wait isn't as long as your expecting now. Quite honestly it's amazing that they are selling cars as fast as they can produce them. Unfortunately the majority of cars being produced in the early part of Q4 will be dedicated to the overseas sales due to longer transport times. Once Gigafactory 3 starts production in any number that should help speed up times for future buyers here although won't do anything for you.

When it comes down to your actual delivery, stay nice and bring up again what happened in your situation. I'm sure the guys will try to do what they can.

 

[SMAlset]

I’ve been offered some accessories today to compensate for the situation. Doesn’t make me feel much better as there will still be a long wait but it’s something. They even say this to me now “you have a vin assigned. We are PRETTY SURE it won’t change, it’s unlikely, but it’s Possible “
they are covering for what happened last time in case it happens again
I’ll never understand this corporate philosophy of setting customers up with vins and “maybe” (in my case definitely ) changing it. Just don’t show us anything until it’s rock-solid 100% going to happen. False hope and misdirection is way worse than silence

Glad to see they are willing to make the situation better for you.

As for showing you something, they didn't as I understand. You went looking for info that wasn't official yet. I get that people are all excited about getting their cars and in today's electronic instant-this world we want to see every step of the delivery experience (I'm this way with packages with tracking). If we didn't have all this available to us, we'd be in the dark until the day of delivery. So many people stress themselves out waiting for their car and worrying about all the problems they might have. This forum I think makes it worse in many, many cases as the majority of people end up with great deliveries and cars they are very happy with upon delivery.

 

[Luso7]

I get your situation and jumping through hoops as you see it to be ready to hold up your end. I will point out that the VIN was assigned internally to you but not officially confirmed as yours and Tesla can and does make changes as needed for them. They didn't "steal" the car from you as it wasn't yours yet. A number of us have had our scheduled delivery date/time slot changed. When we bought our first Tesla we pre-installed out NEMA 14-50 too.

I've been reading through the thread up to a certain point before posting this but don't think I saw you say whether you had your MVPA documents prepared. That usually doesn't happen until a few days before as they need to verify that car's VIN is the one you'll get.

I love my Model 3. Love our Model S. Honestly wouldn't buy any other EV and certainly will never go back to an ICE, our cars are just world's better. All I can say is stuff happens on the pre-delivery and delivery end and people with orders don't always get the car delivered on time. I've read of people unfortunate enough to have their assigned car damaged by transporter or some other vehicle backed up into theirs at the delivery center before their actual delivery was to happen. It would be nice if they operated with more recognition of the buyer's situation, but I get the feeling that apart from any interaction you might have with your delivery contact, it's more handled blindly as a transaction. Currently one of the downsides to their process.

Look at this this way, maybe getting a newer manufactured model will have some plusses. They are always changing up parts as they improve things and do it on the fly unlike traditional automakers that don't make changes until the next model year. I hope your wait isn't as long as your expecting now. Quite honestly it's amazing that they are selling cars as fast as they can produce them. Unfortunately the majority of cars being produced in the early part of Q4 will be dedicated to the overseas sales due to longer transport times. Once Gigafactory 3 starts production in any number that should help speed up times for future buyers here although won't do anything for you.

When it comes down to your actual delivery, stay nice and bring up again what happened in your situation. I'm sure the guys will try to do what they can.

I agree with you completely. As I’ve mentioned my associate has been very communicative and friendly with me. And as I’ve stated, I recognize this is a corporate /algorithm that ruined the situation and not some nefarious individual

I’m not sure how much you read, but I was on the phone with the delivery specialist and they made it clear to me if I did not pick up the car on the exact days they offered, my car would be given to someone else. Again, when your people paint it that way, it now goes beyond a “you weren’t really assigned that vin”. They shouldn’t strong-arm me with veiled threats of losing the vehicle if I don’t rearrange my personal life to accept delivery on THEIR terms, and then pull it from me. That’s where I had beef with this

and , not sure how far you got in the saga, but they’ve now pulled away the 2nd vin from my account altogether.

it just begs the question- what is the point? Why assign a vin to anyone at all if you just have a huge chance of pulling it away? What kind of customer experience does that generate? I am pretty confident the car is going to be amazing and probably erase a lot of this irritation. But it’s still a horrendous business posture to communicate with customers like this and pull bait-and-switches.

wouldn’t it be smarter to just...not show the customer a VIN at all? Why put them through the anger and make your company look bad? Twice it’s happened to me now. It’s at the point where if I do get a delivery day, I feel like i am going to call my specialist once per hour on the hour for the prior 24 hours saying

“are you 100% sure on your life my car is on your lot?”

“yes”

(hour later)

“is my car still on your lot with VIN in my name?”

“yes”

(hour later)

“I’m about to drive an hour and a half to you. Are you absolutely positive you haven’t given my car away to someone ?”

“yes”

——

This unreliability is what is building in my head. It’s just bad business. I’m in sales myself. If I did this to my customers, I would lose them in a second

 

[Luso7]

Glad to see they are willing to make the situation better for you. As for showing you something, they didn't as I understand. You went looking for info that wasn't official yet. I get that people are all excited about getting their cars and in today's electronic instant-this world we want to see every step of the delivery experience (I'm this way with packages with tracking). If we didn't have all this available to us, we'd be in the dark until the day of delivery.

the info was official, vin was on my account. I got a delivery appointment. I asked them to hold the car and they said no, I had to get it that week or I would lose it

not sure how much more “official” it can get? Unless literally setting a delivery date is just an exercise for fun?

 

[SMAlset]

....if you ordered the connector online from home, you would wait two months for the product to ship, and no one would be there to tell you that. You’d be waiting blindly with nothing but an email address to contact that no one answers. I think if I ordered another model 3 today I would get that faster than the wall connector

The fact that they can't keep product in stock says something.

 

[SMAlset]

I think this scenario is bullcrap personally. I'd be pissed too. Its one thing to wait a long time and never get a VIN and completely different to be told you have the car and set up a delivery date and then have it sold out from under you. They should have lied at least and said the car was damaged in transport or something.

The wait between the first car I declined delivery on and the second that I ultimately bought I went over the 1000 miles for the trade in. I told them take it at the original cost or I walk again. They kept the original estimate. They have plenty of fluff in the estimate if your trade in isn't a piece of crap. I wouldn't worry to much there.

Tesla doesn't keep the cars to resell themselves. They immediately get turned over to a wholesale auction company and the prices on that model, year, condition, mileage, trim all change week from week and area of the country it's being sold. I doubt Tesla makes much money off these cars. More of a convenience to the owner trading in (and they will suggest to you to take it to CarMaxx for a comparison quote as they do a pretty thorough inspection of the cars). Tesla's situation is unlike a dealership representing the same manufacturers cars whereas they can make a couple thousand off a trade-in (happened with my dad's car after he died and my mom sold it back to the place they bought it from--used stock they can keep on lot or trade with other dealerships with little overhead).

 

[SMAlset]

the info was official, vin was on my account. I got a delivery appointment. I asked them to hold the car and they said no, I had to get it that week or I would lose it

not sure how much more “official” it can get? Unless literally setting a delivery date is just an exercise for fun?

As to "take it or lose it", that is the way I've seen it work BTW not just something you solely have been told. So no sales tactic on their part. A few people have posted that they were going to be out of town/country on business and couldn't make the delivery date and the cars were assigned to waiting buyers also looking for the same version who could take delivery then.

Tesla simply doesn't have long term storage for cars waiting to be picked up nor is it their business model, which some people might not realize, and explains why this happens. They simply don't have huge parking lots like traditional dealerships that rent them and fill up with hundreds of cars sitting waiting to be bought. That cost is currently hurting a lot of dealerships from what I've read in the press as they not only have last year's models sitting there unsold, but are obligated to take delivery from the manufacturer of new models, while paying for the parking lot space and having to offer big discounts on those older year models while trying to still sell the newer ones where they make more money from. Those "storage costs" get factored into the price dealerships have as a cost to them and effect their profit or loss on a car. So no, Tesla is smart in that way trying to manage produced cars and getting them in the hands of buyers as soon as possible. Again kind of sucks from the buyer standpoint but with Tesla trying to maintain a positive cash flow and profit margin important for them to do.

 

[SMAlset]

the info was official, vin was on my account. I got a delivery appointment. I asked them to hold the car and they said no, I had to get it that week or I would lose it

not sure how much more “official” it can get? Unless literally setting a delivery date is just an exercise for fun?

Official is on the MVPA you sign. Did you get to that point? It's also not a contract between the two parties until they sign it at delivery, just like any other dealership. This also works in your favor if the car is damaged prior to delivery for example. It's their problem not yours with insurance.

I do get the disappointment, frustration and some of the anger when this happens and don't necessarily agree with cars being pulled in cases so close to delivery date unless the car is damaged or simply can't make it to the delivery center in time.

 

[dandrewk]

I would say that if anyone tried to hold their Tesla for even a day near the end of a quarter, chances of success are about zero.

 

[Luso7]

As to "take it or lose it", that is the way I've seen it work BTW not just something you solely have been told. So no sales tactic on their part. A few people have posted that they were going to be out of town/country on business and couldn't make the delivery date and the cars were assigned to waiting buyers also looking for the same version who could take delivery then.

Tesla simply doesn't have long term storage for cars waiting to be picked up nor is it their business model, which some people might not realize, and explains why this happens. They simply don't have huge parking lots like traditional dealerships that rent them and fill up with hundreds of cars sitting waiting to be bought. That cost is currently hurting a lot of dealerships from what I've read in the press as they not only have last year's models sitting there unsold, but are obligated to take delivery from the manufacturer of new models, while paying for the parking lot space and having to offer big discounts on those older year models while trying to still sell the newer ones where they make more money from. Those "storage costs" get factored into the price dealerships have as a cost to them and effect their profit or loss on a car. So no, Tesla is smart in that way trying to manage produced cars and getting them in the hands of buyers as soon as possible. Again kind of sucks from the buyer standpoint but with Tesla trying to maintain a positive cash flow and profit margin important for them to do.

right , I understand completely what you’re describing, but I think we are talking passed each other. I was justifying myself in believing they weren’t lying to me about the delivery being concrete and real- I’d they are willing to tell me “if you don’t come get the car next week, we are giving it away to someone else” — that “seriousness” is what spurred me to change my personal life and hop into high gear to get everything situated. That’s all I’m saying. For them to then pull it on me, after phrasing it’s that dramatically, is what I’m complaining about

I totally get their model. I was ready to comply with their model. They told me to jump, So I did. And then they cancelled.

 

[Luso7]

Official is on the MVPA you sign. Did you get to that point? It's also not a contract between the two parties until they sign it at delivery, just like any other dealership. This also works in your favor if the car is damaged prior to delivery for example. It's their problem not yours with insurance.

I do get the disappointment, frustration and some of the anger when this happens and don't necessarily agree with cars being pulled in cases so close to delivery date unless the car is damaged or simply can't make it to the delivery center in time.

assume the answer is no because I haven’t signed anything. I thought you only signed docs in person right before you take delivery at the service center. Can you explain further if that is something else?

if it’s indeed the docs you sign at the service center, that to me doesn’t absolve them or their behavior. They still shouldn’t have told me I had to come or else I lose it. It’s deceitful. They should have said “hey, there is a chance this car gets moved to another customer - right now we have a tentative delivery date of X. If it does indeed deliver, you’ll then have 7 days to pick it up or we give it away.”

that’s an acceptable way to explain the situation to the customer. Of course I’m not expecting to deserve ownership until I sign docs in person

 

[SMAlset]

You will get a MVPA in your account for you to review, and accept as I recall, before delivery. . VIN, price, features all spelled out. Check it over for any errors or omissions and do this again at delivery. You'll also be asked to complete the insurance, any finance and accept trade-in value assigned if applicable. Paperwork gets drawn up kind of at the last minute in case anything changes. You sign documents at delivery.

I seriously doubt your delivery team knew the car was going to be pulled from your account. They probably were trying to make sure you got the car picked up and in your hands before some other group got them to match it to their buyer instead. Couldn't say if they've ever had assigned cars pulled from their orders as what happened to you to know this could happen so to couch what they said to you to make it more realistic to what happened. This really doesn't happen that often from all the years of posts I've read on here. Anyway that's my guess. Just don't think it was deceitful on their end really. And I'm not arguing with you that how it went down was the best way to handle it, just can't saw what they knew or expected to happen. I'm sure there was a lot of groaning when they realized the VIN was pulled and then knew they had to call you with the news. You never want to disappoint or anger a new customer and clearly happened.

 

[Phlier]

Tesla has so much demand they literally don’t give two shits

I'm a self professed Tesla "Fanboi," but even as such, we need to call our beloved company out on their shortcomings and get them fixed.

The part I quoted of your post is one of Tesla's major shortcomings; once the demand of us "fanbois" has been met, Tesla is going to have to meet the customer service expectations of the rest of the market. The internet is rife with stories of how they are not even close to having the level of customer service that will be needed for them to remain an ongoing concern, and it has me genuinely worried.

What they did to you was inexcusable, and unfortunately, not an isolated case.

I love the car so much that I'd be willing to go through what you're going through right now, but the fact remains that the majority of Tesla's potential market base simply isn't willing (nor should they have to be) to go through such a purchasing experience.

I wouldn't blame you for canceling the whole thing. But keep in mind.... the many years that you will own and enjoy the vehicle far outweighs the relatively short period of time that you're exposed to the completely unacceptable customer service that you'll get during the purchasing experience. And most vehicles are so reliable that you won't have to worry about dealing with such customer service during service visits, as you simply won't have to take your car in for service... at least, that's what the majority of owners are reporting. But if you decide that you're simply not willing to support a company that has such poor customer service regardless of how good their products are, I don't think anyone could possibly blame you for it.

Eventually, they will have to give far more bits of fecal matter than two.

Let us know how everything works out for you?

 

[SMAlset]

I recall @Phlier had some of his own pre-delivery issues and to hear him describe himself as a self-professed fanboi says a lot. Few owners on here would buy anything else.

 

[dandrewk]

I am a Tesla Energy customer since May, solar panels and Powerwall. The same issues apply to that side of the business - poor communications, reps being clueless, bad CS all around. And like Tesla Auto, not everyone had issues. For many, the opposite is true.

That said, the product is still outstanding and is cheaper than the competition. The installers for the batteries and solar were awesome - on time, competent, friendly, patient and fast.

So I went into ordering the Model 3 with no illusions, and from reading many of the posts it seems the low expectations have been met. However, like their Solar products, the end result made it all worthwhile. I totally expect the same result with the Model 3.

I'm not a fanboi by any means. I just hope that when Tesla is showing profitable results in the months ahead, they will be able to improve their ordering process/infrastructure and hire more people. It's the one blemish on an otherwise remarkable company.

 

[AdamVIP]

thanks - that’s a great nugget of information

I brought that up and they said after thirty days it would have to be reassessed and if it went over 1000 miles it would be reassessed regardless. I know my car has easily 2 grand more in value. I will know to press on that when the time comes

Yeah they still "reassessed" it the day of the pickup but it came in at the exact same number.

 

[Luso7]

You will get a MVPA in your account for you to review, and accept as I recall, before delivery. . VIN, price, features all spelled out. Check it over for any errors or omissions and do this again at delivery. You'll also be asked to complete the insurance, any finance and accept trade-in value assigned if applicable. Paperwork gets drawn up kind of at the last minute in case anything changes. You sign documents at delivery.

I seriously doubt your delivery team knew the car was going to be pulled from your account. They probably were trying to make sure you got the car picked up and in your hands before some other group got them to match it to their buyer instead. Couldn't say if they've ever had assigned cars pulled from their orders as what happened to you to know this could happen so to couch what they said to you to make it more realistic to what happened. This really doesn't happen that often from all the years of posts I've read on here. Anyway that's my guess. Just don't think it was deceitful on their end really. And I'm not arguing with you that how it went down was the best way to handle it, just can't saw what they knew or expected to happen. I'm sure there was a lot of groaning when they realized the VIN was pulled and then knew they had to call you with the news. You never want to disappoint or anger a new customer and clearly happened.

to answer, yes, all my boxes were checked. That was part of the rush. The money was set. The insurance docs were set and uploaded. Trade in approved. There was a document I was able to view that laid out the vehicle parameters but it wasn’t something I had to sign per se. Everything I could have possibly done on that account was checked off.

and also- I agree it was not the local people. It was their corporate algorithm finding a way to save a little cash.

 

[Luso7]

I'm a self professed Tesla "Fanboi," but even as such, we need to call our beloved company out on their shortcomings and get them fixed.

The part I quoted of your post is one of Tesla's major shortcomings; once the demand of us "fanbois" has been met, Tesla is going to have to meet the customer service expectations of the rest of the market. The internet is rife with stories of how they are not even close to having the level of customer service that will be needed for them to remain an ongoing concern, and it has me genuinely worried.

What they did to you was inexcusable, and unfortunately, not an isolated case.

I love the car so much that I'd be willing to go through what you're going through right now, but the fact remains that the majority of Tesla's potential market base simply isn't willing (nor should they have to be) to go through such a purchasing experience.

I wouldn't blame you for canceling the whole thing. But keep in mind.... the many years that you will own and enjoy the vehicle far outweighs the relatively short period of time that you're exposed to the completely unacceptable customer service that you'll get during the purchasing experience. And most vehicles are so reliable that you won't have to worry about dealing with such customer service during service visits, as you simply won't have to take your car in for service... at least, that's what the majority of owners are reporting. But if you decide that you're simply not willing to support a company that has such poor customer service regardless of how good their products are, I don't think anyone could possibly blame you for it.

Eventually, they will have to give far more bits of fecal matter than two.

Let us know how everything works out for you?

100% agree and I probably too will forget about all of this If I wait It out - and I think I mentioned it in the post you quoted. But yes, the younger -ish consumers want this product for what it is and because of what it can do. The average joe middle aged car buyer will not tolerate this. If you tell him he has to wait 2 months for a car and he needs to Shuttle kids to soccer practice and get to work, he’s going to move on to some other car or another electric option when they flood the market eventually

it’s funny - the $100 fee to reserve will initially bottleneck production for a few months, but when they start to deliver , it Should assuage the demand as people drop their purchases and others swoop in to match like or Identical vehicles. Unfortunately we won’t get the benefit of that for a while

 

[Luso7]

Yeah they still "reassessed" it the day of the pickup but it came in at the exact same number.

I’ll just have to play chicken the day off. I’ve already gone 1000 over in this short period. It’s sort of the reason we are in the market for this car. We put on seriously mileage on our cars. The gas savings estimate they put on the Tesla site is literally 1/3rd of what I’ll save annually with my home electricity rates

 

[dchobo]

Is your 2nd VIN also a "source code" VIN?