Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Tesla threatening to cancel order before 30 days of first attempt

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Wow, you got me feeling sorry for Tesla! They could sell the car and move the order to a different car in a month. You call this customer service? Looks like the "customer is king" is long gone according to you scenario anyway.
I'm with you there... we've been raised with a "customer is always right" mentality, and while I do agree with that sentiment, I think businesses are starting to turn away from that (sadly).

In Tesla's situation, I think it's a little different. I don't mean to sound like a sympathizer for Elon ("aww, poor billionaire")... but I also don't think it's as simple as "They could sell the car and move the order to a different car in a month".

The economics of being an auto manufacturer is *far* over my head - 99% of them having gone out of business. At a glance though, carrying past orders at historic prices into a future with unknown costs is a major liability.

If we apply the argument of "they could give you a different car in a month" at scale, perhaps that too could be enough to put Tesla out of business... or at least at enough of a competitive disadvantage that coupled with another issue (e.g. buying Twitter) and they begin to fall apart.

So... of course we wouldn't expect Tesla to hold an order for 10 years, right? Would we expect them to hold it for 2 years? 1 year? 6 months? How long is reasonable? It's subjective. In their situation, they decided that 2 weeks is the max.

As others have stated, if a person is not ready to buy, they shouldn't place an order. There are many things in life where being punctual is important, and this is one of them. Don't buy a plane ticket and expect the airline to keep opening up new seats on future planes. Don't order a package signature required and expect the delivery company to keep making delivery attempts. Don't order a Tesla and then try to delay, delay your order.
 
Wow, you got me feeling sorry for Tesla! They could sell the car and move the order to a different car in a month. You call this customer service? Looks like the "customer is king" is long gone according to you scenario anyway.

None of this impacts you any longer anyway, since you mentioned you are buying a different electric car (not a tesla), beside being out your $250 because you processed your order for the wrong car:
After having two windows open (Model 3 and Model x) I ordered the wrong car. Yes, How stupid can I be? Well this time it is costing me $250.
I attempted to get it straightened out but to no avail. The answer was cancel the order, forfeit $250 and write a new one.
Well I am as stubborn and Tesla is arrogant. After a couple of phone calls seems it's policy and nothing can be done.
So I am donating my $250 to the one of the richest men and purchasing a different electric car.
 
Customers should "Figure things out" prior to placing their order. People have complicated lives, but Tesla has simple marching orders. Build the car...Deliver the car.
Agree. Build, delivery and keep the process going to maintain the software and R&D for Tesla and owners.

Ideally they should make sure they can afford the vehicle before placing the order in the first place. However, things do change over 6-9+ month of the past wait time - financial positions change, job status or state of residence changes, family size or etc.

IMO - Tesla is NOT in the business to hold ordered vehicles longer than a few days. They're like every other business need to capture the revenue, make room for the next customers order. I believe a lot of people these days are putting their cars on hold as they can't afford the payment with interest rates climbing and/or to see if they can still flip them for more than their contracted price. The latter, those days have almost vanished, similar to real estate prices falling off a cliff.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: parrainx
Wow, you got me feeling sorry for Tesla! They could sell the car and move the order to a different car in a month. You call this customer service? Looks like the "customer is king" is long gone according to you scenario anyway.
King? The customer has been a Joker since at least 2000 or so.

It's not just Tesla. Companies that once took pride in their levels of customer service now see it as a cash sink, and want to minimize costs or eliminate it entirely, and let the customer fend for themselves to the extent the law will allow.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: ord3r
King? The customer has been a Joker since at least 2000 or so.

It's not just Tesla. Companies that once took pride in their levels of customer service now see it as a cash sink, and want to minimize costs or eliminate it entirely, and let the customer fend for themselves to the extent the law will allow.
So true. I've had to deal with TMobile recently and their sales phone number goes to competent, US-based reps... but service goes overseas.

I understand that everyone needs to work and provide for their families regardless of geographic location, but the support reps are still trying to find my account after 20 minutes. I spent 2 hours on the phone last week with non-native English speakers, ultimately to be transferred back to sales who solved my support call in 6 minutes. 😟

Tesla isn't doing anything wrong by not holding cars for people.
 
King? The customer has been a Joker since at least 2000 or so.

It's not just Tesla. Companies that once took pride in their levels of customer service now see it as a cash sink, and want to minimize costs or eliminate it entirely, and let the customer fend for themselves to the extent the law will allow.
Totally agree. The last two years companies didn't need much customer service, as shortages, easy and free money just increased demand artificailly. Thus Customer service for most organizations are not a "profit center:, since they do not booking revenue directly.

However, now that we are in a "r", customer service will become essential for retaining existing customers and aiding potential customers in consideration. The 1st bleeds over to getting new sales without a lot of marketing expense.
 
It not only creates logistical problems to delay orders, it costs Tesla a lot of revenue. I think they should just charge a non-refundable $500 for the first two-week hold, then $1000 for the next two weeks, and so on. Paid upfront.

Especially with wait times as long as they are, it's hard for me to understand "I need more time". For someone to wait 6 months for the vehicle, then finally it's ready and they ask for more time and Tesla gives them 2 weeks, and then they're *still* not willing to take delivery... absolutely Tesla should cancel the order.

I've never heard of anyone asking a traditional dealership to hold a car for a month.
That would be a good strategy to offer a delay for an upfront non-refundable fee. Call it a storage fee, have the customer pay for it in full and store it off-site. Tesla is not in the vehicle storage or lay-away business, they are in the business to book revenue and make more vehicles.

Wait time are 1-3 months for most models, so long wait times are no longer here. MORE TIME is essentially saying you are not ready - reason doesn't matter. If you are on the fence, your situation changed or etc - just cancel your order and wait for a time that works best for your purchase situation - IMO.
 
I ordered an in inventory model 3 on Monday. I paid the $250 and finished the app setup. They then had me pick a pickup date. I picked this Saturday at 11:30 AM. it changed my pickup to today at 11:30. I want to pickup Saturday or later because my state is going to refund my sales tax starting July 1st. I called them and they said I had to take delivery before the end of the quarter. Didn't explain why. They said since I've already been assigned a vin, they had to get me another car with another vin. They confirmed it would be exactly the same and would cost the same. OK. fine. maybe I have to wit a few weeks, but I'm OK with that.

So, this morning I got a text that basically said my appointment was cancelled because I didn't confirm it. And they said they've tried many times for me to confirm. Which as far as I can tell, they never tried to have me confirm. I replied to their text stating I want to pickup this weekend. Haven't heard back. I haven't paid for the car yet.

On the web site for my account for the car, it still has a pickup appointment for 11:30 this morning. They also charged me for my monthly insurance on the car that I haven't received yet and have no idea when and if I'll ever be able to receive it.

I just want to pay for the car and pick it up Saturday. I don't understand why this isn't a simple request to honor. The only thing I can think of is they want to make the current quarter better at the expense of the next quarter. At no point during the entire process did they mention I had to pickup this qtr until after I scheduled the pickup.

So, right now I'm in limbo land. I have a car on order that had it's pickup cancelled and maybe the entire order cancelled. I'm not sure. And I have no idea if and when I can schedule delivery.
 
I just want to pay for the car and pick it up Saturday. I don't understand why this isn't a simple request to honor. The only thing I can think of is they want to make the current quarter better at the expense of the next quarter. At no point during the entire process did they mention I had to pickup this qtr until after I scheduled the pickup.
They did tell you, in the order agreement.

1687964943487.png


You ordered an in-stock vehicle on Monday, so according to the agreement you need to take delivery by Thursday.

But you have 14 days before they get to cancel your order. So they might just need to assign you a different vehicle after the end of the quarter.
 
I read that, it was posted to me after I ordered. Had I known in advance, I would have ordered later. And they allowed me to pick the date I wanted. They automatically changed it on me. Had I known they would do that, I would have delayed scheduling pickup until July 1st. Seems like almost all software would have shown a message that I had to pick an earlier date instead of picking one for me,

Anyway, they sent me a text that my car was ready. Which contradicts the text saying my order was canceled. And they don't respond to texts or answer the phone, so I guess I just need to wait and see what happens. Worst case is they keep my $250 and then I have to order another car once I know what happened.
 
Guess I missed it. My bad. I didn't read any of those. They finally texted me back an asked how they can help. I told them my situation and if I can't pickup Saturday, cancel the order and I'll order another. Saturday is 3 days from now, so I should be good. Assuming I can select Saturday and it doesn't switch days on me.

I bought a model Y a few months and I couldn't schedule. Every time I tried, I got some strange error. I finally got in touch with someone and scheduled over the phone. That was like 5 days after I ordered. So, unless the 3 days was just implemented, they can easily allow breaking the rules on this.
 
So, I was told I could cancel my order and they might refund my $250 deposit. OK, so I placed an order for a new car this morning and maybe I'll have to pay $250. Maybe not. Any way, the order says the est delivery is Jun 29-June 30. Not 3 days. I don't think 3 days is the issue. I think they're forcing everyone to buy in the current qtr. And I read the agreement and it stated take delivery within 3 days. This is getting absurd. I want to just buy a car and get it July 1 so I can get a 2500 state excise tax rebate and they're doing everything they can to stop me. It has no negative effect on them outside of filling in a few lines on a form.
 
They just informed me July 1 delivery is not an option for the car. Which is 3 days from today. Seems like they're in violation of the 3 days to take delivery. I think they should refund my $250 for both orders because my orders cost them nothing. The cars were in inventory, so I didn't order a car be made or delivered. Plus, they clearly have many of the cars I ordered since after I ordered, the exact same car was still listed for sale on their site. They didn't lose any potential sales.
 
I was finally able to speak with someone. The deal is the current pricing is going to go away July 1. That's why I have to take delivery by the 30th. Otherwise I would have to go back to paying MSRP. So, I'm going to go ahead and take delivery by EOD tomorrow. The $2300 off is roughly equal to the $2500 tax credit.
 
So, I was told I could cancel my order and they might refund my $250 deposit. OK, so I placed an order for a new car this morning and maybe I'll have to pay $250. Maybe not. Any way, the order says the est delivery is Jun 29-June 30. Not 3 days. I don't think 3 days is the issue. I think they're forcing everyone to buy in the current qtr. And I read the agreement and it stated take delivery within 3 days. This is getting absurd. I want to just buy a car and get it July 1 so I can get a 2500 state excise tax rebate and they're doing everything they can to stop me. It has no negative effect on them outside of filling in a few lines on a form.
You should have waited until June 30 in the pm to order your car. You would have "locked" in the price and would not be able to take delivery until after.
 
I asked them about that and they said you can only get the price if you take delivery by June 30. What would happen if you ordered at say 9 PM tonight. I don't know. My hunch is you wouldn't be able to schedule delivery and you would be on hold for 2 hours trying to talk to someone.

Tesla refunded me my original $250 and I'm picking up the car today at 3:45. So, I'm happy. If they didn't, I would understand and to be honest, I wouldn't even notice. The net result would just be my kids would end up inheriting a little less when I kick the bucket.