Tesla has worst customer service

[Blaze70]

It is truly regrettable that my I will not be getting a Tesla S P90DL or P100D as Tesla's customer service is the worst I have ever seen or dealt with.

I currently own a 2019 Dodge Charger Hellcat with 30k miles on it and was ready to make the move the Tesla after I went one of the show rooms and drove a Tesla S. I went online and requested a trade in value on my car. The value came back 20k which I thought had to be a mistake. So I sent an email and was told they are very firm on those values. I told the guy this is somewhere between 40k and 50k trade in at minimum. He requested I send him the VIN number for the car and he would research it and get back with me. Well, to make this short, never heard from even with 3 follow up emails I sent asking if he found out anything.

So, a month later I decided to try another way and selected a used 2017 Tesla S P100D Ludicrous and clicked the "request call back" link and filled out all my information. A week and a half later I am still waiting with no call back. And with that I guess I am done unfortunately with Tesla. I am a big fan of the work they have done and want them to succeed, but this is how companies die......poor customer service. Worst part is I am already a customer as I was one of many that put money down on a Cybertruck.

Getting ready to get to check into solar power and a Powerwall. I hope that goes better than the car search.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

Sorry you're disappointed. It is pretty widely documented that unless you are trading in another Tesla you won't get a very good price from Tesla. They don't want your trade. They don't want the hassle of turning it around to a wholesaler and they don't sell other used brands. Sell it yourself. In general you will get more money anyway.

Dan

 

[dirkbike1]

and buy your Tesla private party

 

[glide]

It is truly regrettable that my I will not be getting a Tesla S P90DL or P100D as Tesla's customer service is the worst I have ever seen or dealt with.

I currently own a 2019 Dodge Charger Hellcat with 30k miles on it and was ready to make the move the Tesla after I went one of the show rooms and drove a Tesla S. I went online and requested a trade in value on my car. The value came back 20k which I thought had to be a mistake. So I sent an email and was told they are very firm on those values. I told the guy this is somewhere between 40k and 50k trade in at minimum. He requested I send him the VIN number for the car and he would research it and get back with me. Well, to make this short, never heard from even with 3 follow up emails I sent asking if he found out anything.

So, a month later I decided to try another way and selected a used 2017 Tesla S P100D Ludicrous and clicked the "request call back" link and filled out all my information. A week and a half later I am still waiting with no call back. And with that I guess I am done unfortunately with Tesla. I am a big fan of the work they have done and want them to succeed, but this is how companies die......poor customer service. Worst part is I am already a customer as I was one of many that put money down on a Cybertruck.

Getting ready to get to check into solar power and a Powerwall. I hope that goes better than the car search.

I am not excusing the way they operate, but you’re mistaken if you think “being a customer” means putting down a $100 deposit on something.

Wait until you’ve plunked down $100K on a car and see how poorly they still treat you.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

Two years of ownership...0 complaints. Just saying.

Dan

 

[1965Falcon]

When I bought my model 3 I got a trade in price for my Audi Allroad. It was pretty low... they at least took the time to explain that they are not really setup to handle used cars and all they do is send them to auction where they are lucky to get much value for them. I ended up selling it at CarMax. If you have a showroom that you can visit I'm guessing you'll have a better experience than emailing. That said, customer service seems to be pretty hit or miss. My experiences have been nothing but great so far.

 

[bareyb]

I think the customer service is generally very good. They need to up their repair game at the service centers and try to get it right the first time more often, but other than that, I've been happy enough with Tesla that I'll be buying another one when mine turns 8 next year.

 

[mrgoldin]

I've been a model S owner for over five years (on my second one). The trade-in value of the first one was not great, but adequate. Over the years, the local service center has improved, but was pretty disorganized and impersonal for a couple years. Now the SC staff really try to WOW the customer, which I appreciate. Support on line through the "Tesla Account" page has always been disappointing. Although my queries are not emergencies, I don't get a reply, even after multiple efforts. Recently I ordered an accessory to replace a failed lightning cable to charge my iphone. Tesla charged my credit card before the item shipped. AmEx emailed that a label was created but nothing shipped until I complained three times on line. All I have come to expect from Tesla is an impersonal experience. If Tesla thinks all they need to flourish is a superior product, but not great customer service, they should think again.

 

[Rockbus]

I have not had much reason to interface with Tesla since we bought our 3 almost two years ago. The first time was to get the Rear license plate installed No issues. The second time was to fix loose paneling in the trunk. I made an appointment and they fixed it on the spot And answered a few questions, took 10 minutes.

This is the Tesla shop that was in Vista Ca and now in A new building in Carlsbad Ca. They seem to be trying to do a good job.

they are not a polished as the Mercedes Benz or Lexus dealers (no lattes, free car wash) but they did what they should do with out any issues.

 

[secondclaw]

Back when I was still trying to buy Model Y, I did select the trade-in Request Callback option. Never got a call returned either.

 

[Ludalicious]

Put it this way. Atleast you wont have to step foot in another chrysler dealership again. Those places are painful. I love the product but absolutely dislike the customer service..... Next time you step into one of their service centers you will realize..... Just how much you hate yourself

 

[Ostrichsak]

Tesla used sales is the worst and the only thing worse is their terrible customer service. If you get a car though they're amazing and your only hope is that you never need customer service. As good as the cars are the customer service is equally bad.

and buy your Tesla private party

100% this. You'll also get free unlimited supercharging for life (FUSC) and premium data free for life if you buy one private party made before January 2017. These two features are stripped on cars sold by Tesla or 3rd party dealers. In some cases Tesla will add the former as a sales incentive to move stale units but it is a different version of FUSC that doesn't transfer to the next buyer.

Sell your car outright and buy via private party is the best advice I can give you based on personal experience x5.

 

[rah7777]

Two years of ownership...0 complaints. Just saying.

Dan

Same here. Exactly two years no issue. Now 3 year old Kia Sorento had several issues along with three recalls.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Same here. Exactly two years no issue. Now 3 year old Kia Sorento had several issues along with three recalls.

Our previous new car was a 2011 Kia Optima turbo. First year of the all-new car & no issues. Well, the volume wheel on the steering wheel started squeaking @ 40k miles & they fixed it immediately. None of this BS we get from Tesla trying to weasel out of obvious warranty work. 100k miles & no issues. The few times we contacted customer service we were treated like royalty. Way more than we expected for a $35k car.

Tesla could learn a thing or two about customer service from Kia. That's not good.

 

[clydeiii]

Nothing is more satisfying to me as a customer than being able to a) request service via mobile app b) interact with technician via text messages c) have the mobile tech guy come out to my house and not even need me to be there to unlock the car d) have them email me an invoice which I Apple Pay through the mobile app when the work is finished. That's some absolutely brilliant customer service there.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Nothing is more satisfying to me as a customer than being able to a) request service via mobile app b) interact with technician via text messages c) have the mobile tech guy come out to my house and not even need me to be there to unlock the car d) have them email me an invoice which I Apple Pay through the mobile app when the work is finished. That's some absolutely brilliant customer service there.

Sure, if that was the experience 100% of the time. It's not. It's the experience for common and easy to fix problems and is often times also not problems that render the car inoperable and are just slightly annoying. I agree 100% that if you're able to use this method for your particular problem it's ideal and the best possible way to handle common and easy to fix problems. Other manufacturers could take a lesson from this. It is the wave of the future and I only wish ALL problems could be handled in this manner. The simple fact, however, is that they can't and too many people on this forum and elsewhere lose sight of this fact when praising Tesla "customer service" support due to a minuscule sample size of one experience that wasn't even a sampling of the actual problem since it was Mobile Service.

This post though ignores the nightmare factory that is the actual physical Tesla Service Center. This is the only recourse if you have a big problem that's either unique, not easy to fix or in some rare cases all of the above. This is the time you WANT a more hands-on approach to make sure your catastrophic issue that has likely rendered your car inoperable or close to it is dealt with in as efficient and expedient way as possible. With Tesla, this is where the opposite of this desired support happens. Trust when I say that you don't see the issue as being an issue... until you need it. Then you will see and you will wish you hadn't overlooked other's stated first-hand experience.

The sooner that other owners stop assuming that these two experiences are one in the same & defend them equally is the sooner we can address the real problem and get real resolution. Tesla either needs to offer ALL repairs as a mobile experience or they need to improve their Service Center experience exponentially as a band-aid until the former can be done efficiently. This idea that mobile will be there "someday" so why waste resources on the Service Center experience is absolutely annihilating their reputation with existing customers. Anyone who genuinely cares about the future of Tesla should want this problem exposed so it's fixed rather than continuing to sweep it under the rug by defending it as a non-issue. I don't understand the blind defense of Tesla to "help" them when it's just going to hurt long-term.

 

[SSonnentag]

Three years of ownership, two Teslas. No complaints with service. If you're impatient, want stuff for free, or think you should get a retail price for your trade-in, you'll be disappointed.

 

[clydeiii]

So you're right, I've never had a "catastrophic" issue and I hope that most other owners never do either. What % of service is for "catastrophic" issues? 1? 10%? No idea.

And you're right, I do hope that if I ever have one, all of the horrible issues I've read about will be gone by the time it's my turn.

The OP makes people reflexively defensive though when they categorically state that "Telsa has the worst customer experience." That's simply not true. Yeah, maybe it sucks 1% or 10% of the time, and if so, yeah that sucks big time. But for all of my experiences, and those include both mobile service and taking it into the service center, the customer service experience far exceeds any other repair experience I've ever had. Bar none. Just the act of paying via mobile app makes things way better. When I've had work done at SC during pandemic, it's been a touchless experience both times and it's amazing. I pay via app, they leave keycard in trunk and I swing by after they've closed and use my phone to unlock trunk then keycard to take the car out of service mode. So seamless. No in person interaction with a human at all. That's incredible.

And I say this as someone who's also had to deal with Honda service center work in the last 3 months too. The Tesla experience is better at every possible step.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Three years of ownership, two Teslas. No complaints with service. If you're impatient, want stuff for free, or think you should get a retail price for your trade-in, you'll be disappointed.

Wrong. I'm not impatient, I don't want anything for free (unless it's a manufacturer's defect covered under terms of the warranty in which case it's "free" but I paid for it on the price tag premium initially) nor do I expect retail price for my trade-in. I've got many nightmare stories that don't involve any of the things you just listed so you can't keep defending Tesla by saying we're just "needy" customers.

 

[SSonnentag]

Wrong. I'm not impatient, I don't want anything for free (unless it's a manufacturer's defect covered under terms of the warranty in which case it's "free" but I paid for it on the price tag premium initially) nor do I expect retail price for my trade-in. I've got many nightmare stories that don't involve any of the things you just listed so you can't keep defending Tesla by saying we're just "needy" customers.

I can only relate my experience, not someone else's. Three years and 106,000 miles with ZERO issues.