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Watch out for the Owings Mills, MD Service Center

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xAgyex

xAgyex

Member
Jan 22, 2018
405
483
Baltimore, MD
#1
9428 Reisterstown Rd, Owings Mills, MD 21117
(410) 415-1411

Just wanted to give anyone else in the MD area a heads up.

I appreciate that the service center takes care of my problems in a timely manner. For the most part.

What I do not appreciate is that almost every other time I get my vehicle back I have a new scratch on it. I reported it once and no one answered me. Unfortunately, had to rush off to work, so didn't have the time to waste. But the worst part and what finally has made me angry is that they disconnected my dash cam (without asking/telling me)...mind you they text me updates as they are working on my car. When I picked up my vehicle saw that it was disconnected. I was pissed but not angry. They told me they do not allow filming inside the shop. It would have been nice to know that beforehand. But ok not a problem. So I plug it back in and find that footage was deleted. That means someone had to remove the SD Card or connect to it, to deliberately do it...footage doesn't just magically get deleted off of it especially when the footage from the day prior is still there but the last 8 hours of footage is missing.

Lastly, my vehicle stopped reporting overnight to the App for some strange reason between (7pm and 7:30am) and I think that is what they were trying to hide, as they racked up 10+ miles on the car...possibly someone at the service center took it home. That's my thought and I could be wrong, but they are shady, to say the least.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: Iceh8r
#3
I would say the best answer is to unplug the dash cam yourself so there’s no wear and tear on the cables from someone that doesn’t have a clue unplugging them. That would also prevent a need for anyone fiddling with the SD card. Never heard of this before and someone must have not noticed the cam before starting work. Not very organized!

The scratches are completely ridiculous. I’d be taking pics before and after every time and escalating that.

Best of luck!
 
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#4
xAgyex said:
Lastly, my vehicle stopped reporting overnight to the App for some strange reason between (7pm and 7:30am) and I think that is what they were trying to hide, as they racked up 10+ miles on the car...possibly someone at the service center took it home. That's my thought and I could be wrong, but they are shady, to say the least.
Click to expand...

They usually disconnect App access while they are working on the car. This prevents the owner from doing things like honking the horn, performing opening/closing of the trunk/frunk, or other operations that could affect the ability for service to work safely and properly on your car. Also, depending on the type of service, they will drive your car for testing purposes. They do this as part of the quality checks or to help diagnose problems with the car. These events, in and of themselves I would not consider suspicious.

I agree that they should have told you about the dashcam policy they have in place when you arrived with your car. One thing I have made a habit of doing is disconnecting my dashcam myself when I drop off the car for service and telling them I have done it. This hopefully avoids them messing around with it at all.

Was the footage deleted? Or was there simply no footage for a period of time when the dashcam was likely disconnected by the service techs?
 
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  • Helpful
Reactions: TicoMcC, MP3Mike and xAgyex
#5
Yes, disconnecting the dash cam has been policy for a number of years. And yes, I'm curious to know how one can tell the difference between footage that is deleted versus footage that wasn't recorded because the dash cam had been disconnected.

As for the scratches, my service center does a walk around with me to verify that there's no body damage prior to accepting the car. This way, if something happens, we all know when it occurred. Unfortunately, this requires that the car be clean when I take it for service, otherwise they'll just note that the car was too dirty to examine it for damage.
 
#7
Just got mine back from Owings Mills overall a good exp. Tesla service towed it there on Tuesday due to a flat tire. While they had it I asked them to look at the AC I was having problems with. Ordered a new HVAC control Module and completed repair on Thursday. Delivered the care back to my house yesterday evening at their cost. I didn't notice any scratches. Only thing I took issue with is they didn't' call me prior to replacing the tire with an estimate. Pretty sure the tire could have been plugged but they replaced it.
 
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#8
jorobsand said:
They usually disconnect App access while they are working on the car. This prevents the owner from doing things like honking the horn, performing opening/closing of the trunk/frunk, or other operations that could affect the ability for service to work safely and properly on your car. Also, depending on the type of service, they will drive your car for testing purposes. They do this as part of the quality checks or to help diagnose problems with the car. These events, in and of themselves I would not consider suspicious.

I agree that they should have told you about the dashcam policy they have in place when you arrived with your car. One thing I have made a habit of doing is disconnecting my dashcam myself when I drop off the car for service and telling them I have done it. This hopefully avoids them messing around with it at all.

Was the footage deleted? Or was there simply no footage for a period of time when the dashcam was likely disconnected by the service techs?
Click to expand...

jorobsand, definitely will be disconnecting it and letting them know beforehand from now on. The footage would be deleted because the car was on at least until they took it from me, thus it would have been recording. There is no footage from before I dropped the car off (while driving to the service center), But there is footage from midnight the night before. Very shady. I am sure they knew if I looked and there was no footage at all then they would be caught red-handed so they left some footage on it, to make it seem as though the camera didn't work for that 1 day period.
 
#9
TampaRich said:
The Tampa service center took pics around my car when I dropped it off last. Came back perfect.
Click to expand...

I think it will be my new practice, to take pictures in plain view of the service team so they see me doing it. I feel bad even talking about this but I was just so ticked off by this. Spending my hard earned cash and someone who is charged with taking even better care of it does the opposite.

Overall my experiences at Owings Mills has been good, its just the attention to detail that is killing me. Maybe they are pissed that I bring it there all the time...=/
 
#10
It is common knowledge among the TMC that Tesla service centers disconnect dashcams and mobile access when they work on your car. Nobody likes being recorded while working, and they don't need pesky owners honking horns or flashing lights or locking doors on them while they try to work on your car.

As for the scratch its unfortunate that they would deny such damage. Tesla test drove my car and cracked the windshield, and then told me about it and fixed it and i didn't even notice anything. 10+ miles is not unusual when they take your car on a test run to make sure it works. I highly doubt tesla people are "stealing" your car as they work in a lot full of loaner/demo vehicles they can take anytime. Doubt your particular Tesla is so special.
 
#12
I had a ZTE Mobley OBD2 device go missing after my car was serviced there. It was plugged into the OBD2 port when I took the car in for service, but had disappeared after service when I checked a few days later. I'm ok with them disconnecting these things during service but please return them instead of doing who knows what with them. Otherwise it's tantamount to theft.
 
#14
They have gotten much better. I spend a lot of time in plain view taking pictures before I drop off the car and take off. Overall, I think their service has been good. I am not used to even going to the dealership so I think its a learning curve for me in a new car.
 
#15
I’ve had some similar random issues with them last year but the manager was very responsive after I complained and helped resolve the situation. Now I always take pictures all around the car when I drop it and when I pick it up to document new scratches and whether they happened during the service.
 
#16
Yesterday I had the worst service experience of my life at Tesla!! So Tuesday I dropped of the Tesla Model S for the 3rd service appointment to address a problem with the XM radio. At 4:31 pm I get a text message it is done and ready for pick up, even though the prior text I got (no one calls anymore there, phones don’t even get answered) stated it was in the queue and I would be informed when it would go into service. And they close at 5:00 and are an hour away! So I go to pick it up yesterday and the radio doesn’t work at all, worst than before!! I was told they replaced the radio and my trial was over (same problem we kept having, even though Sirius said it was good and working). Stated problem not fixed. An hour on the phone with Sirius, problem is with the car. Advisor literally argued it wasn’t the car, can’t be. I literally was arguing in the parking lot. After another hour and a half miraculously the service tech got it fixed. He was actually very pleasant to deal with! Had to get a new radio ID and reset the account, another 20 minutes on the phone. No manager to talk to. Literally the advisor said there was no antenna, tech said there are 2, advisor said not a car issue, tech said it was. Complaint was radio wasn’t working! Advisor said the last tech said the radio needed replaced and that is what they did! Wow! Why would they say it is done and the radio is still not working? 3 hours wasted, the 4 hours back and forth were not wasted since it finally got fixed!! All this while I am recovering from surgery, which they were aware of. What if I picked it up the night before since they had it set up so I could? Go back again for a 4th time for the same issue??
When we got the Tesla, we always had a loaner, Russell Moore was always helpful, it really was great service. True Concierge Service that you expect with a car of this Caliber. Now they don’t give a *sugar*!! And we have bought 2 Tesla’s and have talked friends into 2 Tesla’s!!! Elon Musk, you need to know this is happening!!!
 
#17
Jg57sc said:
Yesterday I had the worst service experience of my life at Tesla!! So Tuesday I dropped of the Tesla Model S for the 3rd service appointment to address a problem with the XM radio. At 4:31 pm I get a text message it is done and ready for pick up, even though the prior text I got (no one calls anymore there, phones don’t even get answered) stated it was in the queue and I would be informed when it would go into service. And they close at 5:00 and are an hour away! So I go to pick it up yesterday and the radio doesn’t work at all, worst than before!! I was told they replaced the radio and my trial was over (same problem we kept having, even though Sirius said it was good and working). Stated problem not fixed. An hour on the phone with Sirius, problem is with the car. Advisor literally argued it wasn’t the car, can’t be. I literally was arguing in the parking lot. After another hour and a half miraculously the service tech got it fixed. He was actually very pleasant to deal with! Had to get a new radio ID and reset the account, another 20 minutes on the phone. No manager to talk to. Literally the advisor said there was no antenna, tech said there are 2, advisor said not a car issue, tech said it was. Complaint was radio wasn’t working! Advisor said the last tech said the radio needed replaced and that is what they did! Wow! Why would they say it is done and the radio is still not working? 3 hours wasted, the 4 hours back and forth were not wasted since it finally got fixed!! All this while I am recovering from surgery, which they were aware of. What if I picked it up the night before since they had it set up so I could? Go back again for a 4th time for the same issue??
When we got the Tesla, we always had a loaner, Russell Moore was always helpful, it really was great service. True Concierge Service that you expect with a car of this Caliber. Now they don’t give a *sugar*!! And we have bought 2 Tesla’s and have talked friends into 2 Tesla’s!!! Elon Musk, you need to know this is happening!!!
Click to expand...

Jg57sc, this sounded horrible. But I am glad it is all sorted. Hopefully no more issues. Service really sucks now compared to back in even 2018 when I purchased my CPO. I think it will be their undoing if they don't fix it soon. But as of right now, people are throwing their money at them for the cars, so Tesla can do this to us. Luck for us most of our issues don't completely make kill the car. I also have just given up on loaners now a days and just have my wife come with me to drop off and pick up just in case. I refused to get in a uber during a pandemic.
 
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