Rooster6655
Active Member
there is plenty of new model x inventory available on the website
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Unfortunately had to cancel my order - are Tesla really a business?
- Thread starter pgh69
- Start date
there is plenty of new model x inventory available on the website
pdk42
Active Member
Well, I'm no massive fan of Tesla customer service, but if I'm honest about my own experience, it's been pretty good:
- I had two test drives. Both at Solihull store. Neither took more than a week to arrange and both were conducted professionally and on time without fuss.
- I ordered on Aug 15th and got my car on Sept 30th.
- Comms between order and delivery were crap and I had to work hard to find out what was happening and to get the delivery lined up. But, the collection itself, whilst hurried, went well.
- I had a couple of small issues on delivery which the MK service centre sorted in a single visit. I had to wait about 4 weeks for the appointment. Not ideal, but the problems were minor and I was OK to wait.
So, whilst not a 100% experience, it was far from a disaster; and the car has so far performed faultlessly.
- I had two test drives. Both at Solihull store. Neither took more than a week to arrange and both were conducted professionally and on time without fuss.
- I ordered on Aug 15th and got my car on Sept 30th.
- Comms between order and delivery were crap and I had to work hard to find out what was happening and to get the delivery lined up. But, the collection itself, whilst hurried, went well.
- I had a couple of small issues on delivery which the MK service centre sorted in a single visit. I had to wait about 4 weeks for the appointment. Not ideal, but the problems were minor and I was OK to wait.
So, whilst not a 100% experience, it was far from a disaster; and the car has so far performed faultlessly.
It doesn’t matter if your spending £95K on a Model X or £40K on a Model 3, Tesla have a very different business model to traditional car manufacturers. I’m sure they’d love an extra sale but they simply are not geared to personalised service. Don’t think Tesla sales staff are on commission and therefore they’re not going to lose sleep over one or even a few cancelled orders. There’s plenty of demand for Tesla’s at the moment and just look at the crazy hype around the Cybertruck. The current business model seems to be working.
At least delivery timescales are more realistic now. There were many thousands of folks who pre-ordered the M3 years in advance and have had to endure a massively long wait time. A few months waiting or even 6 months, we’ll its just the way things are at the moment.
There’s so much information out there about Tesla’s customer services, wait times etc that it’s unrealistic to expect you will be treated as an individual or given priority because you are parting with large sums of money.
All that said sure Tesla can improve things and continuous feedback from customers will help with that.
At least delivery timescales are more realistic now. There were many thousands of folks who pre-ordered the M3 years in advance and have had to endure a massively long wait time. A few months waiting or even 6 months, we’ll its just the way things are at the moment.
There’s so much information out there about Tesla’s customer services, wait times etc that it’s unrealistic to expect you will be treated as an individual or given priority because you are parting with large sums of money.
All that said sure Tesla can improve things and continuous feedback from customers will help with that.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Pretty accurate summary, in my view. Right now, Tesla hold all the cards, and have no need to improve their customer communications at all. If they wanted to increase margins they could cut what little resource they do commit to communication until they started to see a drop in orders, as it seems that we are mostly all prepared to put up with shite service they offer, and yet still buy their cars.
No one is going to pretend that ordering and buying a Tesla is a pleasant or stress-free process, I'd guess anyone who does order one knows, or pretty soon finds out, that, as a customer, they will have to put up with far poorer communications than if they were buying a £5 bit of tat from eBay.
Smiddy
Member
This doesnt sound that bad to me, other manufacturers often take longer, have factory shut downs and stop taking orders altogether for some models for weeks / months just for a price refresh.
I waited 4 months for a SEAT Leon Cupra ST a few years ago which you would think they pumping out loads of all the time and should be easy to build / deliver as there is hardly any options for them. Before I ordered my Model 3 in June I was looking to get the new VAG group car but was told they weren't taking orders and even when they called me back weeks later to place an order I would of been waiting until at least Oct, luckily i had ordered the Model 3 by then which i ordered in June and got in August.
With the SEAT the experience wasn't much different, they could only give me rough dates when it might be in the country and often ignored chases.
I guess this comes down to personal circumstances and how quickly you need a car but unless you get something from stock you are probably going to be waiting nearly the same amount of time with another manufacturer.
I waited 4 months for a SEAT Leon Cupra ST a few years ago which you would think they pumping out loads of all the time and should be easy to build / deliver as there is hardly any options for them. Before I ordered my Model 3 in June I was looking to get the new VAG group car but was told they weren't taking orders and even when they called me back weeks later to place an order I would of been waiting until at least Oct, luckily i had ordered the Model 3 by then which i ordered in June and got in August.
With the SEAT the experience wasn't much different, they could only give me rough dates when it might be in the country and often ignored chases.
I guess this comes down to personal circumstances and how quickly you need a car but unless you get something from stock you are probably going to be waiting nearly the same amount of time with another manufacturer.
JupiterMan
Active Member
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Just to be absolutely clear, I have no problem at all with the delay between ordering and collection. That was pretty much in line with any other new car I've bought.
What sucks is that Tesla are incredibly poor at communicating with customers. We're forced to do things like look in the source code for a web page, just to see whether or not they've received a payment. Pretty much every transaction I've ever made online has resulted in a pretty quick emailed payment notification, yet Tesla seem to think it's OK to just not bother to tell customers that they've received £50k from them. They fail to respond to parts requests (five emails so far, and not a single reply). Getting paint defects that were reported at collection fixed seems to be something that's gone into a black hole, with no communications at all from them, it's now been two weeks since I collected the car and reported these issues.
They finally offered me a test drive (after several requests from me in August) a week after I collected my car. Judging by the number of people here that have had problems communicating with Tesla, it seems pretty clear that my experience of pretty poor communication are far from unique.
What sucks is that Tesla are incredibly poor at communicating with customers. We're forced to do things like look in the source code for a web page, just to see whether or not they've received a payment. Pretty much every transaction I've ever made online has resulted in a pretty quick emailed payment notification, yet Tesla seem to think it's OK to just not bother to tell customers that they've received £50k from them. They fail to respond to parts requests (five emails so far, and not a single reply). Getting paint defects that were reported at collection fixed seems to be something that's gone into a black hole, with no communications at all from them, it's now been two weeks since I collected the car and reported these issues.
They finally offered me a test drive (after several requests from me in August) a week after I collected my car. Judging by the number of people here that have had problems communicating with Tesla, it seems pretty clear that my experience of pretty poor communication are far from unique.
My last car was a BMW and that was over a month late - communication there was terrible as well. it was always "arriving next week" for about 5 weeks (thankfully they gave me a loaner). and then when it did eventually arrive, it wasn't the spec I'd ordered - missed off one of the many many options.. so even the traditional manufacturers get it wrong sometimes.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
By contrast, I've had three new Toyotas. All arrived on the date originally agreed at the time of order. All had been given a proper and thorough PDI, and needed no rectification work done post-delivery. I had a near-instant response to any query, and payment confirmation was immediate. Delivery times were anything from a month to 3 months after ordering. Test drive appointments were pretty much instant, I can't recall ever having to book one and wait several months for a response.
In around 15 years of Toyota ownership, with three cars, I had two issues. The first was the wrong oil being used on the first service for the first car, for which they apologised and changed the oil for the right stuff while I waited (an understandable error, the Prius uses pretty thin oil, and at the time it wasn't commonly available). The second was a failure of part of the engine under tray, where initially the dealer said it wasn't a warranty issue, but immediately changed their view when handed a TSB, from Toyota, highlighting that there was a known manufacturing fault with this part.
The most significant point is that communication was always excellent. I dealt with three different dealerships, and there was nothing to choose between any of them in terms of customer service, all were pretty good. My wife still has a Toyota hybrid, and still gets the same very good service from the local dealer.
These were all cars that cost less than 2/3rds of the price of a Tesla Model 3, so if Toyota can make buying, and responding to customer queries, quick and easy, why can't Tesla?
In around 15 years of Toyota ownership, with three cars, I had two issues. The first was the wrong oil being used on the first service for the first car, for which they apologised and changed the oil for the right stuff while I waited (an understandable error, the Prius uses pretty thin oil, and at the time it wasn't commonly available). The second was a failure of part of the engine under tray, where initially the dealer said it wasn't a warranty issue, but immediately changed their view when handed a TSB, from Toyota, highlighting that there was a known manufacturing fault with this part.
The most significant point is that communication was always excellent. I dealt with three different dealerships, and there was nothing to choose between any of them in terms of customer service, all were pretty good. My wife still has a Toyota hybrid, and still gets the same very good service from the local dealer.
These were all cars that cost less than 2/3rds of the price of a Tesla Model 3, so if Toyota can make buying, and responding to customer queries, quick and easy, why can't Tesla?
Try popping into the dealer to buy a Hyundai Kona EV or a Kia E-Niro. See what waiting time they give you.
pdk42
Active Member
The key problem with Tesla is that compared to BMW, Audi, Merc (brands that they are directly competing with), they just don't seem able to offer a comparable level of ease of access to support services - whether that be pre-sales or post-sales. Try finding out where your order is, or booking a service appointment, or fixing loot-box issues, or changing details on your mobile account, or ... I really think this could be relatively easily fixed though - it just needs a little money and some strong management to systematically address how to handle customer service.
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
Tesla does not do chit chat.
Cars are in super high demand, and they are not currently able to fill that demand.
No reason to do demo rides until they can meet current demand.
They simply do not have enough manpower to deal with the usual pleasantries.
When German factory comes on line in a year or so, Europe will more than likely have sufficient vehicles to make more timely deliveries (of course unless Brexit becomes an issue.)
Currently Mercedes, Jaguar Audi and BMW will all gladly provide lots of hand holding and test drives, as their sales are significantly slowing. Lots of those cars in stock at dealerships for immediate delivery, however all those burn either gas or diesel.
Cars are in super high demand, and they are not currently able to fill that demand.
No reason to do demo rides until they can meet current demand.
They simply do not have enough manpower to deal with the usual pleasantries.
When German factory comes on line in a year or so, Europe will more than likely have sufficient vehicles to make more timely deliveries (of course unless Brexit becomes an issue.)
Currently Mercedes, Jaguar Audi and BMW will all gladly provide lots of hand holding and test drives, as their sales are significantly slowing. Lots of those cars in stock at dealerships for immediate delivery, however all those burn either gas or diesel.
It was the same story when iPhones first launched - setting my alarm for 6 am every morning to go online and try and get that day’s new stock, searching all the local branches, delivery times online several weeks ahead, but lucky people who timed it right or willing to have any spec and colour just walking into a shop and getting a phone, and long queues outside shops each day just to get in to look at one. Staff weren’t able to tell you anything apart from ‘keep checking back’ or ‘we don’t know any more than you because apple don’t tell us’. The feeling of frustration was huge, but so was the smug satisfaction when yours finally arrived! It almost seems a planned part of their marketing strategy... you’re so desperate to get your hands on the product you put up with their back-to-front way of doing things.
yes you are quite correct, and bought 2 stock M3P+ on Friday and will transfer them to a lease company this week (2-4 weeks until I receive them - hopefully)
I came to realise that the cost of Tesla can't be measured in currency alone, but also in frustration, confusion and annoyance. You need to have the cash and emotional endurance to be a Tesla owner. If you aren't prepared to pay both bills then you can't have one.
It applies to Tesla more than most. Where other companies have slow order processes they generally have far better communication which is where the confusion/frustration/annoyance creeps in.
They are supply-constrained. Simple as that.
They are on commission, mostly at a group level, rather than individual. But incentives/notivation is not the problem, supply is the problem. A sale today actually wont be closed months down the road. A car that is earmarked for a location next week, will already have found a buyer. Theres nothing they can do today, to get you in a car by tomorrow, so they can get a commission check at the end of the month.
Different scenario altogether. Those were day-0 orders, made over 1 year ahead of actual production promise. Today, customers are buying cars 2+ years into production. Someone who wants an iPhone X-whatever neednt consider camping in front of an apple store like the folks on launch day.
At this point I think it's absolutely clear what the problem is: they can't produce quickly enough.
That's a mischaracterization of the traditional manufacturers. They have always had time for test drives and, by and large, had cars available for purchase. It was like that 1 year ago, and 3 years ago, and 5 years ago. They outsell and outsold Tesla by multiple times. Its just that, even at 5x the volume, they were not production-constrained.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
That is a problem. For Tesla, But some would argue that the bigger problem, for the customers is, that Tesla can produce and ship more cars than they have the infrastructure to cope with either in terms of backup staff, delivery centres, service centres or (in some cases ) superchargers.
Delivery times are well within industry norms for cars ordered in Europe let alone from another continent, The other things not so much.
We are rapidly approaching the point where if I ordered a car tomorrow and booked a service on my current Tesla the same day that I would get the new car before the service appointment on the current one ( February BTW for my nearest service centre at present).
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