Tesla Service Getting Worse - Need a senior contact for UK please

[Battpower]

Those who say we should just "bear with it" as Tesla's a startup and deserves our support clearly haven't been owners for very long. The fact is, Tesla service and support used to be excellent (not perfect of course, but still better than traditional dealerships). Now, some 6 years down the line, things have gone down the toilet. Why?

May be because in that time they have sold 6 years worth of cars?

It might be as well to clarify what you regard as 'service'. My view is that 'poor service' covers all engagement with a supplier. If you are more focussed on 'After Sales service' or 'warranty service' or just 'routine servicing' then that would be slightly different.

I have indirect experience of Tesla since the roadster was released in the 'States. The decline in 'service' may track very closely the increase in sales with the M3 and possible decrease in margins that often goes hand-in-hand with higher sales volume products. It is quite likely that an individual M3 customer is less financially interesting as a prospect than an MS customer.

It seems generally accepted that Elon has been under intense pressure to show profit, and that means focus on selling. There is no defense offered here for lousy service, and the idea of 'cutting slack' isn't one I readily subscribe to, but there is no sudden point at which the Roadster building garden shed business can suddenly and irrevocably become a flawless world class EV manufacturer. There will be ebbs and flows in their offering, and right now we can see a monumental lack of structure in the UK. If Brexit ever happens, that may change further. Driving on the wrong side makes us different again.

There must be a conduit for genuine customer experience to feed back into Tesla at a high level to direct their policy if they intend operating in the UK. They are at liberty to enhance UK support, or pull out completely. Their commitment to build in Germany is a clear statement of where they feel there is a more stable environment in which to build.

I don't think we need to bear with Tesla. Sure, make a noise when things go wrong if that makes sense. But we do also need to recongnise the realities at play.

 

[DJP31]

Thanks for the background - I do appreciate this (I'm not a member of that group as I refuse to join Facebook). However, I feel that we shouldn't encourage Tesla to focus its customer relations through a single motor club (which was one of the mistakes I think Georg Ell made, when he was running the show). Surely, all Tesla owners should be able to complain to Tesla when service is bad - and we need to find points of contact within Tesla to make this happen.

I hate FB and only use it for TOG, and I'm certainly not alone. I think it's so big precisely because there isn't any other way to get past the stone wall thrown up by the Service Centre's, they have no UK hierarchy and everything gets pushed back to the US. They get told nothing and I've lost count of the number of times owners are proved to be far better informed/knowledgeable than the staff.

Now, some 6 years down the line, things have gone down the toilet. Why?

It's no different in the US and the "old timers" (just like your goodself ) bemoan the departure of Jon McNeil who was known to post on TMC on occasion. Anecdotally everything flows to and from Elon Musk who whilst arguably a genius in some respects is not well equiped to run a business like Tesla in the way it needs to be run.

We have one of the lowest supercharger densities (per head of population) than anywhere in N.W. Europe.

This has been raised with the UK Supercharger team on many occasion and at the latest meeting was raised again. The Leicester and Fleet South being two prime examples. The problems in the UK, aside from finding big enough sites, are power delivery and wayleaves.

One way of fixing this would be to re-energise the UK operation by appointing a UK country director with enough authority to "get a grip" on the situation. I think that's something we should press Tesla about.

I don't disagree but whether any UK Director would have any clout I'm not so sure. It's of no comfort whatsoever but spending a few minutes on the TMC US section will confirm that these issues are definitely not limited to the UK.

 

[DJP31]

There must be a conduit for genuine customer experience to feed back into Tesla at a high level to direct their policy if they intend operating in the UK.

I'm not sure there is one. You accept what the Service Centre tell you or sue them. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground, and I'm not talking specifically UK either. Take the yellowing Model S centre screen for example. It's clearly a manufacturing defect (the glue not curing properly) and Tesla replaced them under warranty for some time. Then all of a sudden that changed and because it doesn't affect the performance of the unit it's not covered.

The current very hot topic is the capacity capping of the battery, principally of the 85 packs. They are no longer charging up to 4.2v and this has reduced range (it's been likened to your ICE fuel tank suddenly being reduced in size) and performance in affected cars. It was delivered via a software update and soon after another one reduced charging rates. Its not degradation, it was an overnight loss of 30 miles range in some cases. This was back in May and Tesla have steadfastly refused to engage with owners, many of whom are those who bought into the company in the early days. There's now an NHTSA investigation going on and a class action lawsuit.

It is so very frustrating when the cars themselves are so far ahead of the competition.

 

[Battpower]

It is so very frustrating when the cars themselves are so far ahead of the competition.

And if one has this knowledge ahead of making a purchase, how else can you take it all into account other than part of the cost of purchase / ownership?

The battery capacity capping is a big concern, as they clearly did it for a reason, and it clearly is not a performance benefit - unless you compare it to the battery failing early and just outside wty or your car bursting into flames. The principle that OTA updates are either 'essential for safety' (so can't be rejected) or hidden as part of some kind of net enhancement (if you take the farting upgrade into acount) is laughable and a fundamental flaw of a business model that allows / depends on OTA updates.

All down to pushing the sales and product cycle so far that new products aren't even fully specified at the time of sale / handover. Makes it very hard to modify the design to make allowances for reality without your customers getting upset.

 

[MelT3]

Good customer service is not about ‘not having any problems’ - it’s about how well things are handled when things do go wrong. Any organisation that ignores its complaints/escalation process will eventually suffer from lost sales and people leaving their brand or service, bad press etc. Tesla seems to have no philosophy or approach for its customer service and complaints handling, which is a major mistake for a brand whose customers ‘buy on service’ rather than price.

 

[Durzel]

your wish ...

New electric Jaguar XJ confirmed for production

I'm in the same camp really, as are so many other owners here.
Would love to continue to support Tesla but there is only so much poor service and poor quality that can be accepted.

This more than anything else will damage Tesla long term reputation and success.

Tesla just seems to be the Ryanair of cars
- the product is great but frustrating; and customers are an just irritating way to fund the business.

We all just hope that Tesla grow up and recognise that customers can excuse Ryanair becuase they are at the bottom of the price market, Tesla are not. And much is said about Tesla future success, poor service and poor quality can actually be their undoing as customers switch to maybe slightly less capable cars but with half decent service.

This is a really prescient assessment of it really, I think.

Tesla for the moment seem to have an abundance of super warm customers trying to buy their cars. For the moment - it seems - they can get away with perfunctory (or less) customer service, the logic being for every customer pissed off there will be another 5 or 10 waiting behind them to buy & collect their cars.

But that won't last. As rightly pointed out above people moan incessently about Ryanair, often for good reason, but crucially Ryanair are not trying to position themselves as a luxury or even a middle class brand. There's only so much moaning people can do, or how much you can sympathise with that moaning, when they're paying £10 to fly to Ibiza or whatever. Tesla definitely aren't bargain bucket pricing though, even the Model 3 is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

Porsche will be along soon with the Taycan to eat their lunch in the ~£100k EV bracket and I don't doubt that Mercedes, Audi and others will follow suit before long. And it won't be long before those companies also start focusing their attention on cars that compete with the Model 3.

Tesla's "disruptive" behaviour is cool, different and EV-defining right now, but when these other companies get traction they will very much be relying on goodwill from their customers to get them sales where otherwise those people would go to their competitors. The level of customer service they are providing right now is woeful, and it will bury them if they are not careful.

 

[Jason71]

This is a really prescient assessment of it really, I think.

Tesla for the moment seem to have an abundance of super warm customers trying to buy their cars. For the moment - it seems - they can get away with perfunctory (or less) customer service, the logic being for every customer pissed off there will be another 5 or 10 waiting behind them to buy & collect their cars.

But that won't last. As rightly pointed out above people moan incessently about Ryanair, often for good reason, but crucially Ryanair are not trying to position themselves as a luxury or even a middle class brand. There's only so much moaning people can do, or how much you can sympathise with that moaning, when they're paying £10 to fly to Ibiza or whatever. Tesla definitely aren't bargain bucket pricing though, even the Model 3 is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

Porsche will be along soon with the Taycan to eat their lunch in the ~£100k EV bracket and I don't doubt that Mercedes, Audi and others will follow suit before long. And it won't be long before those companies also start focusing their attention on cars that compete with the Model 3.

Tesla's "disruptive" behaviour is cool, different and EV-defining right now, but when these other companies get traction they will very much be relying on goodwill from their customers to get them sales where otherwise those people would go to their competitors. The level of customer service they are providing right now is woeful, and it will bury them if they are not careful.

I am wondering what will happen when a new class of owners kicks in volume next year with the 0% BIK on company cars. They will be coming from BMW and Mercedes etc, have no desire to be early adopters (or even realise that they are) and will just want a car that works to get them to work (and a £6000-£8000 saving in tax of course). I don't think they will be as understanding of Teslas shortcomings as the people who signed up in the early days or waited 2 years for an M3.

 

[DJP31]

I don't think they will be as understanding of Teslas shortcomings as the people who signed up in the early days or waited 2 years for an M3.

Absolutely they won't, and even those who have waited with great patience have had that sorely tested around delivery/handover. Even among this group of owners who have had a long time to read up on the differences between an EV and an ICE, many are posting about "why is the range not what it says in the blurb" or "I parked with 15 miles left and came back two hours later and only 2 left" etc etc

The 0% BIK hunters could put EV ownership back rather than further it if education is made available, and it certainly isn't given at handover time at the moment.

 

[Rooster6655]

am wondering what will happen when a new class of owners kicks in volume next year with the 0% BIK on company cars.

Probably disappointment and not being able to contact Tesla then if it annoys them enough people won't reorder the cars

 

[Jason71]

Probably disappointment and not being able to contact Tesla then if it annoys them enough people won't reorder the cars

Or, more importantly, tell many other people not to buy them. Correct me if I am wrong though but from what I am reading on forums etc. serious faults that actually stop the car from functioning and thus prevent people getting to work or doing their work etc seem pretty rare which is something. model 3s lined up along the hard shoulder really would be a PR disaster. And Elon forbid if one catches fire that's still a headline everytime.

 

[tess19]

Looking at the quality of the paintwork, its more likely to rust first than to catch fire.

 

[MrBadger]

I suppose I should thank owners for being so honest about their issues, it's definitely been helpful

Thankfully the fanboy police don't seem to patrol here (UK and Ireland) much so we can say it like it is.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Thankfully the fanboy police don't seem to patrol here (UK and Ireland) much so we can say it like it is.

That's one of the most useful aspects of this forum. When I was first interested in buying a Tesla, the extreme devotion of some of the "Tesla Fanboys" was one of the things that put me off the idea. As someone looking to buy a radically different type of car, what I wanted were honest, no-frills, opinions. I'm really glad to have been able to pick up so much more useful information here. Just a pity that it isn't as easy for a new buyer to get as much useful information from Tesla themselves.

 

[Rooster6655]

That's one of the most useful aspects of this forum. When I was first interested in buying a Tesla, the extreme devotion of some of the "Tesla Fanboys" was one of the things that put me off the idea. As someone looking to buy a radically different type of car, what I wanted were honest, no-frills, opinions. I'm really glad to have been able to pick up so much more useful information here. Just a pity that it isn't as easy for a new buyer to get as much useful information from Tesla themselves.

Yes I find places like twitter for example if anyone posts something slightly negative they are literally accused of being short the stock, get blocked or get ignored and the fans just constantly only post the positive sides which can often seem very naive. I don't even want to get started on the stock price debates that they have going on, its out of control for both the buy and sell sides or maybe that is just twitter!

If you own the stock its best to stay away from twitter for unbiased views IMO

I wonder if Milton Keynes might be a better option than Heathrow, which probably has the lowest reputation of all the service centres for service.

Can't be worse than Heathrow, many of their staff have been reported as behaving very deceitful getting people to sign nothing like the staff further North in my experience.

Or, more importantly, tell many other people not to buy them. Correct me if I am wrong though but from what I am reading on forums etc. serious faults that actually stop the car from functioning and thus prevent people getting to work or doing their work etc seem pretty rare which is something. model 3s lined up along the hard shoulder really would be a PR disaster. And Elon forbid if one catches fire that's still a headline everytime.

Yes thankfully serious faults are rare and this is something they likely spent all their time designing so the failure rate for the main purpose of the car is going to be low as its their mass market car it needs to be, thankfully very few fire issues been reported with the model 3 and those are ones involved in accidents.

 

[MrBadger]

The 0% BIK hunters could put EV ownership back rather than further it ifunless education is made available

^this^