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Haha we may never know the real reason but I think it's a combo of cost savings and pushing the cars out before the quarter end. In any case, I'm going to aim for a professional upholstery company to replace it at the Tesla service if they let me (considering the service advisor told me he can't change it out with his staff). Going to try to go for black. Keep the thread updated please as I want to see what each center will offer. Thanks!
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
Grand theft in the state of CA is defined as theft of property with aggregate value greater than $950. It changed a few years ago. Sorry, no grand theft here.
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It does kind of sound like they ran out of Alcantara and somebody made the decision to keep the production line running anyway. Makes sense for their Q1 push, but a shame it happened. All's well that ends well.
can't believe I got multiple negative rep for being a realist and stating the facts for this commit. usually it's due to sarcastic humor that some people don't get and thats ok, I get that, but this is the plain ol' truth. oh well. I guess some people live in fantasy land too blind to the real world and the things that go on around them.
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I agree. Although I am not a lawyer, I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express once.
To claim theft, one must have taken possession in the first place as what one doesn't have can't be stolen. You can't claim they stole your money, because you willingly handed it to them as part of a contractual agreement. So therefore, your claim falls to contract law. You could claim breach of contract, but you'd likely have a hard time proving that since there is no contractual language guaranteeing you an alcantara headliner. The closest thing to that, as posted, was the bulletin board post that expounded on the value of the headliner compared to the Panamera, and some were quick to point at that and say "see! documentation! proof!" Yet, at the same time, there is contractual language that notes that some minor items not covered by the data sheet are subject to change, and the company made a decision to change them. Arguing the definition of "replete" will also be difficult in arbitration / court. So, you're unlikely to get anywhere based on breach of contract claims, either.
Let's get this clear: Tesla miscalculated the impact of their decision, or if they had already had this plan in their minds, they're guilty of the same communication problems that plagues this company on a regular basis. On this forum alone, I've seen at least 3 cases of complaints about staining on the headliners, and the inability to get them clean; I can understand where their heads were, if that's the reason. They have since made a decision to change the package. They are (in good faith) addressing the issues with customers who were caught in the middle of the transition, likely based upon some of the more productive feedback from this thread -- and despite the quite unproductive feedback.
The supplier for the headliners is local to me, and I happened to meet some of the staff there. It doesn't sound like a supply issue, as it sounds as if Tesla has made the decision going forward, and I didn't get the sense that there were any supply constraints when I mentioned the furor here.
I would offer that it wasn't the threats of bringing them up on grand theft or larceny charges, or blasting this story on every news wire service that one can find that brought them to this decision; it was the reasoned feedback - the simple statement of "the alcantara headliner was an important part of the performance package for me" - that allows them to make it right.
I've learned over many years that the quickest way to lose ground in a negotiation or conversation is to threaten nuclear options (like going to court)... if you want to send a legal letter, you'd best be DAMNED sure you're going to win and have the opinion of a lawyer -- even if you are one -- who can help you take your emotions out of it. I once watched as a colleague of mine in a high stakes negotiation (capital purchase over a million dollars) just hint at taking the supplier to court for a relatively minor scheduling issue, and the supplier immediately stopped the conversation and walked away.
Bottom line: have some respect. Those working for Tesla are not out to screw you. Work with them, you might find they'll work with you. Know when and how to work the chain and escalate effectively. An e-mail to George B. 2 hours after you e-mail ownership@ for the first time is probably inappropriate. An e-mail to George B. after 4 different answers from 4 different ownership@ representatives over the course of a month is more appropriate.
I've found simple negotiations and appropriate escalation at the right times will win over anything.
well I probably wouldn't do it if I was in that position (I have the alcantara), I would just complain a lot. people voiced their opinions here, myself included, and those who were affected emailed ownership. like you said this was just another communication failure on Tesla's part. But in the end they did the right thing. that's all that really matters. I hope they finally learn their lesson though that their customer base is just too smart to pull one over on like this. Communication is vital or they risk having misunderstandings and fired up customers.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
I'm not a lawyer or law enforcement officer so I have no clue how to classify it. I guess theft wouldn't apply here, and fraud would probably be more applicable, simply because the 'act was hidden' and no public or private statement was made beforehand. http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-fraud-and-theft/ theft would probably be more like if someone dropped their car off for service and personal items were stolen. but I agree with what other's have said that while there may be enough to justify some sort of action, I doubt it would ever win anyway due to their disclaimers about some things may change before delivery.
Fraud requires a knowing intent to deceive, meaning that you would need to prove that Tesla intentionally removed alcantara headliners to keep your money. You'd have the same problems as you would with breach of contract, because not only would you have to prove intent to defraud, you'd have to prove that the contract language that gave them permission to change minor specifications of the car isn't a valid defense.
Every time an *advertised* feature of the car is changed. This means that the engineering and design people have to pay attention to *what has been marketed*, and if they are considering changing something, they have to warn the marketing people.
This is, in some sense, an interdepartmental coordination problem.
I believe I have seen such writing regarding the Signatures, but you're right, I can't remember seeing such a statement about the Performance. The text was so similar for the two that I think people made some assumptions... (Edit: I see Pete found the explicit statement by Tesla about the headliner.)
Yeah. Smart online retailers have been making special efforts to provide extremely accurate information about their products so that buying online can be as reliable as buying in person. But that's hard. (It's nightmarishly hard in clothing, where you have to have extremely accurate sizing information, far more accurate than most brick-and-mortar companies ever have.) And Tesla hasn't quite managed that high, high standard.
Anyway, very thoughtful comment, ElSupreme, I felt inspired to respond.
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I was wondering about this too. Luckily I do have fog lights (managed to activate them and verify).
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Glad to hear that Tesla has "made it right", of course.
The internal communication problems at the company seem to continue...
For those with cloth who wanted Alcantara who are considering doing their own headliner replacement with a different shop, I was told by Tesla that they would consider this to void the warranty, due to the presence of airbags. So watch out. It is probably better to go with Tesla's headliner replacement because it'll be under warranty.
quick update. just got back from the service center (driving an enterprise prius - what a crazy downgrade =/) and i asked about the alcantara headliner. my service guy said they were low on the parts required so i may not be able to get it done this time around. he did mention that it is a pretty time consuming fix. on my service paperwork he put it down as a "due bill" item even though it isn't technically on the due bill i signed on delivery. frankly i didn't mind not having it all that much but it is really nice that Tesla is doing the right thing and retrofitting the cars that want it. big ups to the Tesla service department. definitely top-notch from what i've seen so far.
I was promised the alcantara retrofit earlier in the week also by my delivery specialist and the Ownership Team and kept waiting for service to contact me to schedule, which they never did. This morning I received an apologetic call from Ownership saying that the attempted retrofits this week were not going well and too hard to do, so they are not going to be able to offer this after all. As consolation, Peter initially offered me Tesla apparel, which I promptly declined. His 2nd offer was first year of service free ($600 credit applied to my pre-paid 4yr service plan). I'm still deciding and may see if I can get 2 or 3yrs. Has anyone else due for the alcantara retrofit been contacted or been offered anything different?
Ouch. I am not in this situation, and don't want to seem to be influencing anyone, but if it were my car, I don't think I could accept that.
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