So I’m sitting outside at my local Tesla Service Center (Covid safety) waiting for them to perform a quick goodwill screen replacement on the MCU1. I had originally brought the car in 2 days ago for the daughterboard replacement and for them to look into why the rear seatbelts randomly lock up and fail to release until the belt is unbuckled and fully reset before the tension is released (I’ve had them look at this 3X over the last 30K miles and they cannot replicate). I sent them a video of the issue while it was happening...they told me it was a safety feature for kids...I’m not buying that one.
Anyways, I dropped the car off with a perfectly good MCU screen and was hopeful to get the car back within the 7 working hours left in the day. I got messaged that a firmware update would take overnight and that I should be able to get the car the following day. No big deal. The next day I get a message at 9am saying service has begun on the car. 3pm I get another message saying it’ll be another day and that a loaner Tesla could be made available. I decline, still no big deal.
50 hours after dropping the car off it’s finally ready for pick up. Problem is there’s now a 1” bubble in the shape of a pennant flag in the upper right corner of the screen. My wife and I talk to a service rep and after examining the issue he says that their technician did not cause the damage because the daughterboard is serviced from underneath the console and the screen is not removed, and that bubbles like this are normal with older models. I did not tell him that the emmc was soldered to the back of the mid-section of the MCU and that a bunch of molex and wires would obstruct any access from the bottom, nor did I tell him the service order notes suggest that the whole unit and screen were removed for the process.
I told him that he should more careful with his language because he was talking in absolutes without possibly knowing the many different possibilities with what could have damaged the screen, like perhaps the bezel got torqued and pinched the top corner of the screen...he said that was not possible. I told him the screen was not damaged when I dropped it off. I was actually trying to help the guy out because he was about to get “served” by my wife who was infuriating at what she was hearing...coincidentally and unfortunately for him she’s an employment defense lawyer and Tesla happens to be one of her clients. If anyone can understand the likelihood of events, all perspectives, and management systems it would be her (she plans to be a mediator after this partner thing gets old).
He tried to defend himself by saying that he has to look after this technicians and with a screen damage like this it could cost someone their job, that they don’t normally have replacements in stock, and to try to understand where he was coming from. He said he didn’t want to get into hypotheticals about how the screen could have been damaged, yet he assumed there was no way they could have caused the damage. He then went on to say that technicians usually make notes on things that are not right with customer cars before they begin the service to protect themselves from liability. My wife asked if a tech would made note of a bubble during the inspection and he said maybe, but not usually because they are common. My wife told him this system has no credibility if there’s no consistency when making contemporaneous notes like this. He said he was just trying to set our expectations because it’s not likely Tesla will do a goodwill repair for this because again...it’s not possible for the tech to have caused the damage. A technician came by with the photos they take upon receiving the vehicle and the photos showed that the bubble did not exist when I dropped the car off. He quickly apologized and said he can get it fixed in an hour.
So here I am sitting at the Service Center wondering if he learned anything at all from talking to me and my wife. Don’t speak in absolute terms if you simply do not know. I wasn’t even remotely mad, but the whole thing would have been smoother if he just said that this was uncommon and that it’s not probable that they caused the damage. But alas they did.
As for the BS about the daughterboard getting replaced from the bottom without removing the screen...we’ve all seen the photos of how the whole unit has to be removed. Furthermore the service record notes a set of 12 and a set of 4 fasteners (SCR,M5X6 and SCR,M3X4) used in addition to the new 64GB daughterboard. I’m going to guess that SCR means screen.
I really do hope no one loses their job over this, mistakes happen, but I hope they learn to communicate better in the future. The whole thing left me feeling like I spent 30 minutes arguing with a used car salesperson.
So if you feel like you’re being lied to, think I logically and use the facts to support yourself. Don’t let them try to BS you.
Anyways, I dropped the car off with a perfectly good MCU screen and was hopeful to get the car back within the 7 working hours left in the day. I got messaged that a firmware update would take overnight and that I should be able to get the car the following day. No big deal. The next day I get a message at 9am saying service has begun on the car. 3pm I get another message saying it’ll be another day and that a loaner Tesla could be made available. I decline, still no big deal.
50 hours after dropping the car off it’s finally ready for pick up. Problem is there’s now a 1” bubble in the shape of a pennant flag in the upper right corner of the screen. My wife and I talk to a service rep and after examining the issue he says that their technician did not cause the damage because the daughterboard is serviced from underneath the console and the screen is not removed, and that bubbles like this are normal with older models. I did not tell him that the emmc was soldered to the back of the mid-section of the MCU and that a bunch of molex and wires would obstruct any access from the bottom, nor did I tell him the service order notes suggest that the whole unit and screen were removed for the process.
I told him that he should more careful with his language because he was talking in absolutes without possibly knowing the many different possibilities with what could have damaged the screen, like perhaps the bezel got torqued and pinched the top corner of the screen...he said that was not possible. I told him the screen was not damaged when I dropped it off. I was actually trying to help the guy out because he was about to get “served” by my wife who was infuriating at what she was hearing...coincidentally and unfortunately for him she’s an employment defense lawyer and Tesla happens to be one of her clients. If anyone can understand the likelihood of events, all perspectives, and management systems it would be her (she plans to be a mediator after this partner thing gets old).
He tried to defend himself by saying that he has to look after this technicians and with a screen damage like this it could cost someone their job, that they don’t normally have replacements in stock, and to try to understand where he was coming from. He said he didn’t want to get into hypotheticals about how the screen could have been damaged, yet he assumed there was no way they could have caused the damage. He then went on to say that technicians usually make notes on things that are not right with customer cars before they begin the service to protect themselves from liability. My wife asked if a tech would made note of a bubble during the inspection and he said maybe, but not usually because they are common. My wife told him this system has no credibility if there’s no consistency when making contemporaneous notes like this. He said he was just trying to set our expectations because it’s not likely Tesla will do a goodwill repair for this because again...it’s not possible for the tech to have caused the damage. A technician came by with the photos they take upon receiving the vehicle and the photos showed that the bubble did not exist when I dropped the car off. He quickly apologized and said he can get it fixed in an hour.
So here I am sitting at the Service Center wondering if he learned anything at all from talking to me and my wife. Don’t speak in absolute terms if you simply do not know. I wasn’t even remotely mad, but the whole thing would have been smoother if he just said that this was uncommon and that it’s not probable that they caused the damage. But alas they did.
As for the BS about the daughterboard getting replaced from the bottom without removing the screen...we’ve all seen the photos of how the whole unit has to be removed. Furthermore the service record notes a set of 12 and a set of 4 fasteners (SCR,M5X6 and SCR,M3X4) used in addition to the new 64GB daughterboard. I’m going to guess that SCR means screen.
I really do hope no one loses their job over this, mistakes happen, but I hope they learn to communicate better in the future. The whole thing left me feeling like I spent 30 minutes arguing with a used car salesperson.
So if you feel like you’re being lied to, think I logically and use the facts to support yourself. Don’t let them try to BS you.
