A brief chronology:
On Christmas morning, my wife and I configured our Model 3. Gave Tesla the $2,500.
On Tuesday, I promptly submitted all the on-line paperwork (driver licenses, proof of insurance, pictures of the trade in, etc.)
On Friday, December 29, the Las Vegas center contacted me via telephone and said that we could pick our car up Fremont on Friday, January 5. I asked the representative if we could arrange for delivery to our home because we lived ~160 miles away, and fighting Bay Area traffic going to and from late in the day (I had a client meeting scheduled for the morning) was not acceptable. She put me on hold, and a few minutes later told us we would be receiving the car today, Friday, January 12, 2018, at 9:45 AM. This was also confirmed to me via email.
Yesterday afternoon I wired the balance due to Tesla. They have our money. I received a confirmation email.
No car today. No call today. No email today. I called the switchboard to speak to a representative. This situation was clearly beyond her ken. After an interminable hold, she said that she would have to speak to a delivery manager, but they were all busy (really?), so I would be getting a return call. Nearly one hour later, a delivery manager telephoned and said that there was no information about our delivery today. Geez. He also asked why we had not returned the DMV paperwork. (This was news to me.)
He said that there would need to be arrangements made for delivery; he did not know when until he spoke with the delivery company. He thought it would be some time next week, but could not say for sure. He promised to call me back by the end of the day with more information. Meanwhile, he is sending via FedEx the DMV paperwork. I corretly pointed out that Tesla has our money, and therefore given their past history of feckless inaction, Tesla has zero incentive to deliver our vehicle promptly. He had no answer other than Tesla does not refund money unless an order is canceled.
He did send an email to me thanking me for my "patients." A younger version of myself would have replied stating that I am not a doctor.
It appears to me that a lot of Tesla's woes stem from the fact that the company is exceptionally decentralized--too much for my tastes. It also appears to me that Tesla relies almost exclusively on computer programs to transfer information around the various departments.
I submit that Tesla does not have sophisticated systems of internal controls for all non-cash operations. I think that they have internal software that is supposed to do things automatically without any form of human oversight or verification. No testing is done to confirm that these systems are working properly. There is no department that reconciles orders to deliveries. Anywhere along the line there could be a colossal failure if someone makes an error because there are no records that are available for independent review. To compound these situations is the fact that there are no employees with a junior management level status that are visible to us to ride herd over the ineptitude of others.
Tesla must improve their internal controls over production, sales, and delivery. The general public will quickly lose patience and look elsewhere for electric vehicles. That day is arriving quickly.
On Christmas morning, my wife and I configured our Model 3. Gave Tesla the $2,500.
On Tuesday, I promptly submitted all the on-line paperwork (driver licenses, proof of insurance, pictures of the trade in, etc.)
On Friday, December 29, the Las Vegas center contacted me via telephone and said that we could pick our car up Fremont on Friday, January 5. I asked the representative if we could arrange for delivery to our home because we lived ~160 miles away, and fighting Bay Area traffic going to and from late in the day (I had a client meeting scheduled for the morning) was not acceptable. She put me on hold, and a few minutes later told us we would be receiving the car today, Friday, January 12, 2018, at 9:45 AM. This was also confirmed to me via email.
Yesterday afternoon I wired the balance due to Tesla. They have our money. I received a confirmation email.
No car today. No call today. No email today. I called the switchboard to speak to a representative. This situation was clearly beyond her ken. After an interminable hold, she said that she would have to speak to a delivery manager, but they were all busy (really?), so I would be getting a return call. Nearly one hour later, a delivery manager telephoned and said that there was no information about our delivery today. Geez. He also asked why we had not returned the DMV paperwork. (This was news to me.)
He said that there would need to be arrangements made for delivery; he did not know when until he spoke with the delivery company. He thought it would be some time next week, but could not say for sure. He promised to call me back by the end of the day with more information. Meanwhile, he is sending via FedEx the DMV paperwork. I corretly pointed out that Tesla has our money, and therefore given their past history of feckless inaction, Tesla has zero incentive to deliver our vehicle promptly. He had no answer other than Tesla does not refund money unless an order is canceled.
He did send an email to me thanking me for my "patients." A younger version of myself would have replied stating that I am not a doctor.
It appears to me that a lot of Tesla's woes stem from the fact that the company is exceptionally decentralized--too much for my tastes. It also appears to me that Tesla relies almost exclusively on computer programs to transfer information around the various departments.
I submit that Tesla does not have sophisticated systems of internal controls for all non-cash operations. I think that they have internal software that is supposed to do things automatically without any form of human oversight or verification. No testing is done to confirm that these systems are working properly. There is no department that reconciles orders to deliveries. Anywhere along the line there could be a colossal failure if someone makes an error because there are no records that are available for independent review. To compound these situations is the fact that there are no employees with a junior management level status that are visible to us to ride herd over the ineptitude of others.
Tesla must improve their internal controls over production, sales, and delivery. The general public will quickly lose patience and look elsewhere for electric vehicles. That day is arriving quickly.