Tesla service - still abysmal "the mailbox is full"

[voip-ninja]

Tesla mobile service worked on my car on Wednesday June 26th and not only didn't properly repair my vehicle, but actually made the original problem worse... something that is a recurring theme with Tesla service for me (my dashboard rattle was originally introduced when Tesla replaced a windshield and at that same appointment they apparently scratched up part of the car which I did not discover until later).

So yesterday when I discovered that my dashboard is coming apart at the seams I spent about 20 minutes in queue until I finally got someone on Tesla chat. This person told me that they would get someone from the local Tesla mobile service to call me back right away and that a technician would be sent out right away to take care of the problem.

HA HA HA.

Well, fast forward 24 hours and no callback.

Yesterday I also submitted a web form complaint about the service on my vehicle as apparently Tesla have removed the "executive escalation" option from their webpage.

Today I've been in chat queue for 45 mins with no answer. I have other things I need to do. I called in and put the option in to check on vehicle service status and got a message that the local SC wasn't picking up, the mailbox was full and there was no option to leave a message and I was then disconnected.

I understand some of you are thrilled with your trouble free Tesla ownership experiences. I get it that some of you are tripping all over yourselves making excuses for how rough things are for Tesla because Elon's huge ego cause problems and Wall Street is mean to them.

This owner though has about had it. As much as I love driving this car when it's not broken I seriously have to consider if it's time to throw the towel in. The fact that you can only get service from Tesla, that Tesla technicians are incompetent and that you can't reach Tesla for service are simply inexcusable.

 

[run-the-joules]

I've said it elsewhere, but:

the cars keep getting generally better. The company and community keep getting worse.

 

[voip-ninja]

I've been on chat hold now for an hour tied to my computer.

If you phone in to try to get service there is literally no way to get a human on the phone unless you are a liar and claim you have a roadside emergency which I'm not going to do since I'm not a scumbag.

You are told to use the app to schedule service or to use the chat feature. If you indicate you have a vehicle in service then you are sent to a full mailbox and dropped.

What a joke.

 

[vickh]

I've said it elsewhere, but:

the cars keep getting generally better. The company and community keep getting worse.

it's like Toyota and lexus, but in reverse...

 

[Boomer543]

I sympathize with the OP's situation. In a perfect world, the after-purchase service would be as outstanding as the car. However, we all need to be mindful that we are all on the "bleeding edge" of technology and that Tesla is growing at an extraordinary rate. There are going to be kinks that need to be worked out that probably aren't being focused on right now. Consider that it is two days before the end of the fiscal quarter. I'm sure the entire focus of the Company is to deliver as many cars as possible before the end of June 30. That's likely why there are more complaints about poor service and shoddy production. Not an excuse, mind you, but an explanation. I suspect that it will get markedly better after the July 4 holiday. At least I am hoping it will.

 

[voip-ninja]

it's like Toyota and lexus, but in reverse...

that is actually an excellent analogy.

 

[fajitamondays]

Yeah, it blows. Is driving to a local service center an option for you? Long story short, I waited 1.5 months for something broken on my car (went through the same cycle of no updates from Tesla), gave up, and just showed up unannounced to a service center. They took care of me right away.

 

[voip-ninja]

Yeah, it blows. Is driving to a local service center an option for you? Long story short, I waited 1.5 months for something broken on my car (went through the same cycle of no updates from Tesla), gave up, and just showed up unannounced to a service center. They took care of me right away.

It's funny you bring that up, but the last two times I've gone to local service for an appointment they actually have a gestapo valet guy now screening everyone who tries to pull up to the service entrance... I assume they will give you the brush off if you don't actually have an appointment or you will have to run a con on them to get into the service bay to get someone to do something.

Will Honda or BMW please buy Tesla already?

 

[fajitamondays]

It's funny you bring that up, but the last two times I've gone to local service for an appointment they actually have a gestapo valet guy now screening everyone who tries to pull up to the service entrance... I assume they will give you the brush off if you don't actually have an appointment or you will have to run a con on them to get into the service bay to get someone to do something.

Will Honda or BMW please buy Tesla already?

That's terrible. My local service center actually has a check in option for "No appointment". Sorry to hear about this location.

 

[voip-ninja]

I sympathize with the OP's situation. In a perfect world, the after-purchase service would be as outstanding as the car. However, we all need to be mindful that we are all on the "bleeding edge" of technology and that Tesla is growing at an extraordinary rate. There are going to be kinks that need to be worked out that probably aren't being focused on right now. Consider that it is two days before the end of the fiscal quarter. I'm sure the entire focus of the Company is to deliver as many cars as possible before the end of June 30. That's likely why there are more complaints about poor service and shoddy production. Not an excuse, mind you, but an explanation. I suspect that it will get markedly better after the July 4 holiday. At least I am hoping it will.

Well it is an excuse of sorts.

Tesla has been building cars now for going on 11 years. Tesla has been building mass manufactured cars for going on now six years. These are the kind of kinks you expect from a company with 100's of geniuses working at it to experience for a year or two, not six years.

Tesla knew from experiences in countries with high adoption rates of their cars like Norway and Finland that if they didn't scale service up they were going to run into these problems. They are actually being investigated I believe in one or more northern european countries for contract breach due to terrible service lead times, etc.

There is nobody to blame here but Tesla management who have prioritized profitable quarters over borrowing the needed money to keep their service operation on track.

I've never had service problems with Amazon and they bled cash for YEARS before ever turning a profit.

 

[vickh]

service email? That way you have a thread/track record for escalations.

The e in email stands for evidence

 

[voip-ninja]

I entered Tesla chat queue at 930AM mountain time, it's now 11:01. Seeing as its my wife's birthday I guess I need to give up on the chat option they shove down your throat so I can go take her to lunch in my busted car that rattles and has the dashboard coming apart.

 

[voip-ninja]

service email? That way you have a thread/track record for escalations.

The e in email stands for evidence

I have a youtube video of the condition their tech left my car in, that's my evidence.

 

[voip-ninja]

Well it is an excuse of sorts.

Tesla has been building cars now for going on 11 years. Tesla has been building mass manufactured cars for going on now six years. These are the kind of kinks you expect from a company with 100's of geniuses working at it to experience for a year or two, not six years.

Tesla knew from experiences in countries with high adoption rates of their cars like Norway and Finland that if they didn't scale service up they were going to run into these problems. They are actually being investigated I believe in one or more northern european countries for contract breach due to terrible service lead times, etc.

There is nobody to blame here but Tesla management who have prioritized profitable quarters over borrowing the needed money to keep their service operation on track.

I've never had service problems with Amazon and they bled cash for YEARS before ever turning a profit.

I will also point out that nobody held a gun to Tesla's head and forced them to do their service this way. Even Apple uses 3rd party servicers for their products.

Other auto manufacturers once upon a time tried the direct service route and realized it's idiotic and hellish and they gave it up. Not Elon though, he knows better.

 

[m3supra]

I've been emailing as well as taking screenshots of my chats in order to document my issues with service as they seem to not have any real standard operating procedure in place. It's amateur hour clusterfuck every time that requires me to do a ton of legwork. I've wasted way too much time to get things addressed that should have never passed QC. I've had 5 separate service appointments in 3 months, and have 2 more already to go in the bay area... what.. the.. fuuuck..

Like voip-ninja, my car gets WORSE every time it gets serviced because of negligence. At this point, I really hope the internal service manual gets leaked so I can fix some things myself.

I'm guessing the technicians are not paid enough, not skilled enough, or not have enough accountability. Probably mix of all.

They're either trying not to get everything documented to cover their asses or they just really really really suck at this.

 

[SaddleSC]

I will also point out that nobody held a gun to Tesla's head and forced them to do their service this way. Even Apple uses 3rd party servicers for their products.

Other auto manufacturers once upon a time tried the direct service route and realized it's idiotic and hellish and they gave it up. Not Elon though, he knows better.

Your experience sounds frustrating and I would be pretty upset about the way you are being treated also. However, you knew when you purchased the car that Tesla was a smaller company with a very limited history and it would be likely to experience significant growing pains as it scales up its operations.

I tried to temper my expectations and was willing to accept many more issues from Tesla than I would be willing to accept from BMW, Lexus, etc. IMO, it would be unreasonable to hold them to the same standards as a well-established company producing millions of cars per year. You say that "nobody held a gun to Tesla's head to force them to do their service this way," but the other side of the coin is that nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to own a car that is not living up to your expectations.

It sounds like you would be much happier in the short term with a different brand and perhaps come back to Tesla if and when they get their act fully together.

 

[voip-ninja]

Your experience sounds frustrating and I would be pretty upset about the way you are being treated also. However, you knew when you purchased the car that Tesla was a smaller company with a very limited history and it would be likely to experience significant growing pains as it scales up its operations.

I tried to temper my expectations and was willing to accept many more issues from Tesla than I would be willing to accept from BMW, Lexus, etc. IMO, it would be unreasonable to hold them to the same standards as a well-established company producing millions of cars per year. You say that "nobody held a gun to Tesla's head to force them to do their service this way," but the other side of the coin is that nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to own a car that is not living up to your expectations.

It sounds like you would be much happier in the short term with a different brand and perhaps come back to Tesla if and when they get their act fully together.

I think that's a fair point and honestly the #1 thing that was potentially holding me back from owning a Tesla was reading about some of the service issues, assembly quality, fit/finish, etc... with these cars.

On the other hand I naively believed that selling 100's of thousands of cars would force them to get their act together sooner rather than later.

Ha ha, joke's on me.

 

[voip-ninja]

Okay, so I left the "We're connecting you with a Tesla expert..." chat dialogue up, went and had a very long celebratory birthday lunch for my wife.

Got back over 2.5 hours later and it's still sitting on the connection request box.

Hmm... I guess I know now why Tesla doesn't put anything in that shows how long you've been waiting, your queue position, etc.

I cancelled, closed my browser, kicked it off again and now another 30 mins of being on "hold" for a Tesla "expert".

 

[75Shappyt]

I don't know why Tesla owners are having problems with service, I live in the Kansas City area, and have had my car for over 2 years now, Never had a problem with service, or the Body shop Tesla sent me to. Always got some one on the phone. I have talked with a lot of Tesla owners, around Kansas City and never heard anything bad about the service, I'm sure it has happen, It can't be perfect. My guess is some parts of the country, Tesla has problems with service. I feel bad about owners having problems with getting good service, some stories I have read on TMC, have made me sick, I would hate for that to happen to me. Not even sure what I would do, If I didn't have my 2017 MS 75 to drive.

 

[MountainJedi]

It's funny you bring that up, but the last two times I've gone to local service for an appointment they actually have a gestapo valet guy now screening everyone who tries to pull up to the service entrance... I assume they will give you the brush off if you don't actually have an appointment or you will have to run a con on them to get into the service bay to get someone to do something.

Will Honda or BMW please buy Tesla already?

Dude, that sucks. Quick question though, which service center have you been going to? The Littleton-Broadway or the Denver-Evans one? I drove by the one on Evans today and they had a ton of cars stacked up, but no one outside that could turn you away. Maybe try dropping in there?