Had a fender bender in Los Angeles.. No injuries.
The real story is what happened afterwards. The car looked in driving order to me. Took off and a tow truck driver claimed sparks were coming from under my car. Pulled over while talking to insurance company, they offered to send a tow truck. Refused the tow operator that pulled me over. A few minutes later, another tow truck operator pulled up stating he was dispatched by Tesla Roadside service and would take me to the nearest Tesla certified repair station. I seemed surprised since I hadn't called them yet, as I was still on the phone with the insurance company. She was surprised as well. The tow guy started to back up his regular tow truck and I refused to let him tow me that way. He quickly ordered a flat bed. I am still on the phone with insurance company when another call comes in that I didn't answer. As I finish, the flat bed arrives. I call voice mail and get Dmitri stating that they were called to take car of me and my car and the tow operator will bring me there safely. Once seated in the moving tow truck, I decide to finally call Tesla and thank them for doing this service for me. They seem confused when I call and state my situation. They claim that no one from Tesla contacted anyone on my behalf. They ask where I am headed and then state that that is not a Tesla Model S certified repair shop. Now I am confused. I call Dmitri back and ask where he got my phone number from, some vague answer about the front desk called him. I asked was it Tesla. He put me on hold and then came back stating that they were Tesla certified. In the meantime, Tesla Roadside assistance had called me back and was concerned about where they were taking me. I had already started to feel that something odd was going on. As we arrived at the repair shop, Tesla informed me not to leave my car there. At this point I had absolutely no intenion of leaving my car at this shady place. The tow operator insisted that we had to talk with Dmitri before we could leave. I walked in requested Dmitri, he shook my hand and asked me to sit down. I stated "I am not sure what just happened, but I was informed by the Tesla factory not to leave my car here. We are going to their repair shop."
As if this wasn't enough, the tow operator started heading in a different direction then the repair shop. I inquired as to what was up and was informed that we had to pick up the other tow operator that we had left almost an hour ago. We pull up behind some shady gas sation in Los Angeles and the tow operator hops out and a new one hops in. I'm thinking of getting the phone ready to call 911 at this point. We take off in the direction I expect amd then the new tow operator starts heading in a different direction. I again inquire what is up. Oh, we need diesel now. Heading to Hollywood and Wilton. Tesla calls back and wants to talk to the tow operator, he fumbles around and then says he will call the boss to get the contact info. I give Tesla the info as the towing ticket is lying on the floor. I inform Tesla that I am feeling extremely uncomfortable in this situation and they concur with me. I told them if we made one more turn that was not in the direction of the repair shop that I would immediately call 911. I'm sure the tow operator heard that, because I had no problems from that point on.
Please be careful of shiesty tow operators in the Hollywood area, although I am sure it is not localised to that area. And thanks again to Tesla for being there when I really needed them!!
The real story is what happened afterwards. The car looked in driving order to me. Took off and a tow truck driver claimed sparks were coming from under my car. Pulled over while talking to insurance company, they offered to send a tow truck. Refused the tow operator that pulled me over. A few minutes later, another tow truck operator pulled up stating he was dispatched by Tesla Roadside service and would take me to the nearest Tesla certified repair station. I seemed surprised since I hadn't called them yet, as I was still on the phone with the insurance company. She was surprised as well. The tow guy started to back up his regular tow truck and I refused to let him tow me that way. He quickly ordered a flat bed. I am still on the phone with insurance company when another call comes in that I didn't answer. As I finish, the flat bed arrives. I call voice mail and get Dmitri stating that they were called to take car of me and my car and the tow operator will bring me there safely. Once seated in the moving tow truck, I decide to finally call Tesla and thank them for doing this service for me. They seem confused when I call and state my situation. They claim that no one from Tesla contacted anyone on my behalf. They ask where I am headed and then state that that is not a Tesla Model S certified repair shop. Now I am confused. I call Dmitri back and ask where he got my phone number from, some vague answer about the front desk called him. I asked was it Tesla. He put me on hold and then came back stating that they were Tesla certified. In the meantime, Tesla Roadside assistance had called me back and was concerned about where they were taking me. I had already started to feel that something odd was going on. As we arrived at the repair shop, Tesla informed me not to leave my car there. At this point I had absolutely no intenion of leaving my car at this shady place. The tow operator insisted that we had to talk with Dmitri before we could leave. I walked in requested Dmitri, he shook my hand and asked me to sit down. I stated "I am not sure what just happened, but I was informed by the Tesla factory not to leave my car here. We are going to their repair shop."
As if this wasn't enough, the tow operator started heading in a different direction then the repair shop. I inquired as to what was up and was informed that we had to pick up the other tow operator that we had left almost an hour ago. We pull up behind some shady gas sation in Los Angeles and the tow operator hops out and a new one hops in. I'm thinking of getting the phone ready to call 911 at this point. We take off in the direction I expect amd then the new tow operator starts heading in a different direction. I again inquire what is up. Oh, we need diesel now. Heading to Hollywood and Wilton. Tesla calls back and wants to talk to the tow operator, he fumbles around and then says he will call the boss to get the contact info. I give Tesla the info as the towing ticket is lying on the floor. I inform Tesla that I am feeling extremely uncomfortable in this situation and they concur with me. I told them if we made one more turn that was not in the direction of the repair shop that I would immediately call 911. I'm sure the tow operator heard that, because I had no problems from that point on.
Please be careful of shiesty tow operators in the Hollywood area, although I am sure it is not localised to that area. And thanks again to Tesla for being there when I really needed them!!
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