Texas Hold Up!

[likeafox]

Something of interest perhaps. I came home today to a fedex envelope from Tesla with my registration paperwork. However, instead of asking me to send my signed documents back to Tesla in the included return envelope, it asked me to bring them to my delivery appointment.

On a side note, my delivery is scheduled for Wednesday, and the last I heard from the delivery specialist last Thursday was that my car was still in California. I hope that it's here or will be by Tuesday, but I couldn't reach anyone today to confirm. Getting the pre-delivery jitters.

 

[mthomtech]

My delivery date is set for 6/5 (could have been as early as 5/29, but had to work around my vacation schedule).

I will say that my ISA, Chris, was fantastic. I got very fast replies from my emails (never had to call) and even worked through a paperwork change required from my bank, and everything was super fast.

Here's a quick timeline of events for me:
5/10/18 around 8:00am - noticed VIN was assigned in my account
5/10/18 11:10am - Chris emailed me telling me my VIN had been assigned and giving me instructions on trade-in assessment and payment instructions ... as well as some info to prepare for charging at home, etc
5/10/18 12:34pm - sent Chris my pre-approval letter from my bank
5/10/18 6:00pm - completed the trade-in self evaluation in my account
5/11/18 5:20pm - Chris emailed me with the Trade-in, value ... I declined the offer
5/14/18 11:50am - Chris emailed me letting me know that the final purchase agreement was on its way for me to sign. Multiple back and forth emails between my bank, myself, and Chris (with near immediate replies by both Chris and my bank) and we signed (twice)
5/14/18 2:05pm - Sent final executed purchase agreement to my bank
5/14/18 5:14pm - Completed loan docs, and bank cut check to Tesla, but refused to send to Las Vegas address, were more comfortable sending to Fremont. Chris quickly replied that it just adds time, but not a big deal.
5/14/18 5:30pm - Sent copy of check and tracking number to Chris. He said he'd work to get the Model 3 in motion to Texas, and by 6:30pm last night, we had a confirmed delivery appointment.

All in all, a very good customer experience with Chris and my bank ...

 

[Twiglett]

Finally got to the "Your Model 3 is fully paid" message.
Just waiting for the call to get my delivery date.
tick tock

 

[Twiglett]

My delivery date is set for 6/5 (could have been as early as 5/29, but had to work around my vacation schedule).

I will say that my ISA, Chris, was fantastic. I got very fast replies from my emails (never had to call) and even worked through a paperwork change required from my bank, and everything was super fast.

Here's a quick timeline of events for me:
5/10/18 around 8:00am - noticed VIN was assigned in my account
5/10/18 11:10am - Chris emailed me telling me my VIN had been assigned and giving me instructions on trade-in assessment and payment instructions ... as well as some info to prepare for charging at home, etc
5/10/18 12:34pm - sent Chris my pre-approval letter from my bank
5/10/18 6:00pm - completed the trade-in self evaluation in my account
5/11/18 5:20pm - Chris emailed me with the Trade-in, value ... I declined the offer
5/14/18 11:50am - Chris emailed me letting me know that the final purchase agreement was on its way for me to sign. Multiple back and forth emails between my bank, myself, and Chris (with near immediate replies by both Chris and my bank) and we signed (twice)
5/14/18 2:05pm - Sent final executed purchase agreement to my bank
5/14/18 5:14pm - Completed loan docs, and bank cut check to Tesla, but refused to send to Las Vegas address, were more comfortable sending to Fremont. Chris quickly replied that it just adds time, but not a big deal.
5/14/18 5:30pm - Sent copy of check and tracking number to Chris. He said he'd work to get the Model 3 in motion to Texas, and by 6:30pm last night, we had a confirmed delivery appointment.

All in all, a very good customer experience with Chris and my bank ...

This was almost exactly my timeline except I accepted their offer for trade-in.
So that added the extra step of getting the Trade-in papers overnighted both ways (with a weekend in the way) which slowed me down.

 

[mthomtech]

This was almost exactly my timeline except I accepted their offer for trade-in.
So that added the extra step of getting the Trade-in papers overnighted both ways (with a weekend in the way) which slowed me down.

I bet you’ll get delivery date of 29th or 30th. I’m just glad my vacation will distract me from this last phase of waiting!

 

[geoffreak]

The 29th or 30th is the date I really need.

Can has VIN, Tesla?

 

[Twiglett]

The 29th or 30th is the date I really need.

Can has VIN, Tesla?

Sadly, even if you get your VIN now I'm not sure you would be able to make 29th or 30th now.
I don't understand what your holdup could be.
Did you check that they had all your contact info correct? When I called in after seeing the Vin on the site and not getting the email/call, I found they had the primary/alternate contact backwards - even though the site showed it was correct.
Luckily I had access to the alternate contact email.
Good luck

 

[geoffreak]

Sadly, even if you get your VIN now I'm not sure you would be able to make 29th or 30th now.
I don't understand what your holdup could be.
Did you check that they had all your contact info correct? When I called in after seeing the Vin on the site and not getting the email/call, I found they had the primary/alternate contact backwards - even though the site showed it was correct.
Luckily I had access to the alternate contact email.
Good luck

I've talked with another person here in Texas that is also waiting on MSM+Aero VIN over on M3OC, so I'm not alone in this wait.

My alternate contact info is my wife's contact info, so she'd let me know anything they send right away. Of course, none of the contact info seems to matter until you have a VIN. I will absolutely be hounding them on the support line as soon as the VIN appears. I won't let my trip get ruined if there's a chance I can prevent any delays.

 

[likeafox]

Delivery confirmed for tomorrow! But I swear to Elon, if we get a late spring hail with the thunderstorm going on right now I might have a mental break.

 

[ryanakata]

I've talked with another person here in Texas that is also waiting on MSM+Aero VIN over on M3OC, so I'm not alone in this wait.

My alternate contact info is my wife's contact info, so she'd let me know anything they send right away. Of course, none of the contact info seems to matter until you have a VIN. I will absolutely be hounding them on the support line as soon as the VIN appears. I won't let my trip get ruined if there's a chance I can prevent any delays.

I can almost promise you that the alternate contact will get the email and you will not. Despite being listed as the primary contact on the Tesla site my wife was the one who got the you are ready to configure email.

I called Tesla to confirm and they did say that in their system they were flipped and they corrected it and then my ISA then started shooting me emails after I configured. It's worth a shot just to have them checking on their end just to make things go smoothly.

 

[Twiglett]

I can almost promise you that the alternate contact will get the email and you will not. Despite being listed as the primary contact on the Tesla site my wife was the one who got the you are ready to configure email.

I called Tesla to confirm and they did say that in their system they were flipped and they corrected it and then my ISA then started shooting me emails after I configured. It's worth a shot just to have them checking on their end just to make things go smoothly.

That was exactly the same issue for me.
After that the entire process has been smooth sailing.
Got my delivery date last night, now counting the days to 5/26

 

[mthomtech]

That was exactly the same issue for me.
After that the entire process has been smooth sailing.
Got my delivery date last night, now counting the days to 5/26

Nice! So you got 5/26? Let us know how it goes. Waiting (patiently?) for 6/5

 

[Twiglett]

Nice! So you got 5/26? Let us know how it goes. Waiting (patiently?) for 6/5

Just to echo your comment about the bank check.
I didn't get a delivery appointment until I called the bank and got the UPS tracking number.
As soon as I sent that to my awesome ISA (Patrick), he released the car for delivery and gave me a list of date/times to choose from.
I just chose the earliest offered
But it was literally send email, wait 10 minutes for him to reply, send response type of thing.
Super smooth. I've been very impressed.

 

[mthomtech]

Just to echo your comment about the bank check.
I didn't get a delivery appointment until I called the bank and got the UPS tracking number.
As soon as I sent that to my awesome ISA (Patrick), he released the car for delivery and gave me a list of date/times to choose from.
I just chose the earliest offered
But it was literally send email, wait 10 minutes for him to reply, send response type of thing.
Super smooth. I've been very impressed.

It definitely seems like email communication is the most efficient for the process. Can’t imagine how they could manage taking and returning calls as timely. But I agree ... great customer service experience so far. It would take a lot of delays at this point to even drop down to the average dealership (4 hour) experience!

 

[geoffreak]

As of tomorrow, I will be exactly 6 weeks without a VIN. I have gotten confirmation from the rep I spoke with yesterday on the phone line that they are extremely backed up in Texas (no reason specified) and that delivery is 3-4 weeks from VIN. The Texas hold up is real, and getting worse. Even Canada is getting their cars sooner than we are.

So yeah, it's official. My road trip is ruined. Not only that, but my loan expires in a week. I never imagined that would be even remotely near a problem. Guess I've been giving Tesla credit where it wasn't due.

This whole experience so far has really soured my view on Tesla and left me pretty jaded. It's starting to reach the point where there is no car in the world that is worth the hassle, waiting, and frustration that this whole process involves. Honestly, if I truly understood what would end up happening, I might have reconsidered ordering.

If anyone is on the fence for ordering here in Texas and doesn't have saint-like patience and nearly infinite flexibility, I would encourage you to pass on any Tesla. I could never imagine myself saying this even just a few weeks ago, but Tesla has betrayed my trust and offered me no avenues to make it right.

 

[GoneCrazy]

If anyone is on the fence for ordering here in Texas and doesn't have saint-like patience and nearly infinite flexibility, I would encourage you to pass on any Tesla. I could never imagine myself saying this even just a few weeks ago, but Tesla has betrayed my trust and offered me no avenues to make it right.

This tone is exactly how I started to feel when things went rocky for my delivery and after watching people in line after me get their config invites. For you, it's a much worse scenario, because you still don't even have a VIN six weeks later and it is greatly impacting your life come the beginning of June, but the emotions are the same. Began to sour very quickly on Tesla and thought about going on an anti-Tesla crusade. Was still determined to get the vehicle, but was not happy/excited any longer. That all changed when I was about a half mile away from the service center.

The biggest take away from it, is that I'm more willing to listen to the arguments being made on the short-sell side of the aisle. Feeling the frustration gave a sense of thinking "how can they survive this?" I still highly support Tesla, but that support is much more susceptible to negative views. Hope they do come out of this positively, and that orders and deliveries are handled in a more stream-lined manner when production is ramped up.

The reason I stuck with Tesla in the end was mostly because if I caved and didn't continue with my purchase, then the dealership lobby would have won. I would have been forced to purchase another vehicle from a dealer, and not what I really wanted.

Hopefully when your car arrives, driving it will absolve much of the pain as it has done for many others.

 

[geoffreak]

Yeah, I'm not saying that I won't get the car after all this. My motivations haven't changed for why I decided to get the car.

The problem lies in that I believed this would be a true mass-market car that I could recommend to friends in family, to further the EV revolution. After this though, I cannot do that in good faith. I do not wish for anyone I care about to go through this lack of communication and frustration that is caused by Tesla's poor behavior.

I was originally thinking I would reserve a Model Y for my wife when orders open later this year or early next. I figured 2-3 years would be enough time for when we could consider a new car for her, and by then she might want to be driving a Tesla too. Having been through this though has changed my plans and I will not be reserving a Model Y. It's going to be a long time before I can forgive Tesla, and only after they have gotten their act together.

If they manage to make it right before my trip, I might reconsider my feelings on the matter, but all of this could have been easily avoided on their part with proper communication and giving me some way to contact them such that I could actually get help with my issue in time.

 

[GoneCrazy]

If they manage to make it right before my trip, I might reconsider my feelings on the matter, but all of this could have been easily avoided on their part with proper communication and giving me some way to contact them such that I could actually get help with my issue in time.

This right here! Working with Tesla has been like working with my employer. Didn't think anyone could be worse with professional communication practices.

 

[bollar]

Doesn't it feel like Tesla is managing deliveries to stay under 200K delivered by the end of this quarter?

I imagine large fields of 3s ready to be delivered on July 1.

 

[Twiglett]

I took the other view.
I assumed that thing were in flux and constantly changing.
I didn’t get my loan authorization until just before I clicked the order button, so I’d have 90 days from that time.
I also planned on using my wife’s ICE for two trips that needed decent range.
Basically I planned for not having my Model 3 because Tesla have never given me a solid delivery date until now, so I’ve had no basis on which to make plans that are dependent on the Model 3.
The delivery estimate was just an estimate.
Happily I won’t need to use the ICE and can do the trips in an EV now.
Planning like this has meant I’m not annoyed for delays and can enjoy things.