What is your beef with Tesla?

[Kevin Bohacz]

All of the problems sum up with poor communication.

I wish I could vote 1000 times for communication. Every problem I've had from yellow screens to more serious issues would have been nothing if they communicated clearly with me the way they used to do. Their communication is growing worse and worse. I own a Dec 2017 MS 100D and an August 2019 M3 LR. Prior to that, I own an early 2017 MS 100D. The experience of owning these cars would be world-class if their customer service had remained as good as it was in early 2017. Now, at times, it is an exercise in frustration.

 

[Lhshockey24]

The issue around communication seems to be there is not a central system where Tesla reps can see what communication has already occurred. I know the sales advisors use Salesforce, but I'm not sure if the rest of the org is working out of a CRM to house customer records and communications.

 

[DCEV]

They keep making it harder and harder to play music in the car using a USB drive. First and second they changed the way that the media player sorts the music. Had to spend hours appending numbers to the music so that it played in the order it was suppose to. A year or so later, they changed it again and a few more hours were spent correcting that problem too.

Right now I have to open the door, close it again (make sure all the screens go dark) and then open the door a second time before my USB music will play. That method for getting the USB music playing again works probably 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time I have to reinitialize the USB player and remember where it left off.

Problems with the USB music player not resuming music is the biggest issue I have with n otherwise perfect car.

I hope they fix the music player soon so it reliably resumes music.

 

[Chaserr]

Problems with the USB music player not resuming music is the biggest issue I have with n otherwise perfect car.

I hope they fix the music player soon so it reliably resumes music.

We've been hoping for that since 2012. We still hope, but Tesla's internal communications are probably just as bad as their customer facing communications so instead of working on needed fixes like media player, the people who could possibly be working on apps like that are tasked with farts and video games instead. Someone at Tesla has known these problems needed to be fixed all along, but they can't reach any of the people that are capable of making the changes.

 

[PhilDavid]

We've been hoping for that since 2012. We still hope, but Tesla's internal communications are probably just as bad as their customer facing communications so instead of working on needed fixes like media player, the people who could possibly be working on apps like that are tasked with farts and video games instead. Someone at Tesla has known these problems needed to be fixed all along, but they can't reach any of the people that are capable of making the changes.

The thing is it can't be that difficult to fix the music player resuming USB music.

Half the time, I can fix it by closing the door, walking away from the car, and walking back towards the car and opening the door so the car's software is essentially getting in the way of music resuming.

It's a shame they don't realize the music player is the car's most widely used app...

 

[Chaserr]

MCU1 was slow because of a typo that refreshes traffic data every 15 milliseconds instead of every 15 seconds (or whatever the interval they were hoping for). It wasn't that difficult to fix a typo but it took them a year and I don't know if it's been fixed yet - I read that when someone found disabling traffic fixed the slowness but I never read about Tesla fixing the actual problem. Things that aren't that difficult go unfixed long term. They prioritize new over old.

 

[MarcusMaximus]

The issue around communication seems to be there is not a central system where Tesla reps can see what communication has already occurred. I know the sales advisors use Salesforce, but I'm not sure if the rest of the org is working out of a CRM to house customer records and communications.

Agreed. For a while they had really bad reps on the phone banks, then they got rid of them and hold times soared to hours, then they seem to have solved that and have good reps on the phones but no central system for all communications. They’re getting closer, but each step is painful.

Case in point: I ordered solar panels several weeks ago when they launched the new system. I used Apple Pay and it automatically picked up the email tied to that(my work email) and used it as the Tesla account, instead of tying into my actual Tesla account(under my personal email). I’ve now spent that last several weeks trying to get the order moved into my actual Tesla account, which still has not happened, despite two different reps saying they’d move it. Nobody seems aware of what’s going on. If it comes down to it, I’m going to refuse to pay to install the system until they move it over, because it’s unlikely to ever be solved once they have my money.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Problems with the USB music player not resuming music is the biggest issue I have with n otherwise perfect car.

I hope they fix the music player soon so it reliably resumes music.

I'm glad that is the only problem you have. My 2018 MS75D had lots of cosmetic damage at delivery, rattling front suspension, yellow screen MCU, yellow screen Driver IC, MULTIPLE rattles (A-pillar, B-pillar, door panels), popping audio system at power down and now LTE that doesn't resume if you connect then disconnect the car to WiFi. I have also had SOOOOO much damage to my vehicle each time that they "fix" something that they are too numerous to list. I truly believe that the employees there really want to do a good job (like most people inherently do) but they are not provided the right CRM tools, staffing and are so overloaded that they have no chance to do anything right. I also agree that Elon focuses on the WRONG things --- fart mode, games, etc --- release the Teslaratti that will say "those are different engineers" … they are paid staff that could be either reallocated to QA or terminated and their budget used to improve key aspects of the vehicle (i.e. media playback, jumpy AP rendering, etc). I want Tesla to succeed and get better, but I do not see how that is going to happen in the near, short or long term. End of Rant!

 

[mvotb]

V9 should add it

 

[Lhshockey24]

Agreed. For a while they had really bad reps on the phone banks, then they got rid of them and hold times soared to hours, then they seem to have solved that and have good reps on the phones but no central system for all communications. They’re getting closer, but each step is painful.

Case in point: I ordered solar panels several weeks ago when they launched the new system. I used Apple Pay and it automatically picked up the email tied to that(my work email) and used it as the Tesla account, instead of tying into my actual Tesla account(under my personal email). I’ve now spent that last several weeks trying to get the order moved into my actual Tesla account, which still has not happened, despite two different reps saying they’d move it. Nobody seems aware of what’s going on. If it comes down to it, I’m going to refuse to pay to install the system until they move it over, because it’s unlikely to ever be solved once they have my money.

None of this surprises me at all. We were not happy with their financing options for Powerwall and requested that the order be cancelled and refunded. It was not yet even in the design phase so no issues with ease of canceling.

However, 4 months later...FOUR... I received a text asking me why I wanted to cancel my order. After explaining, it was like the original conversation never happened. They again confirmed cancellation but the money is not yet back on the credit card after a few weeks.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

None of this surprises me at all. We were not happy with their financing options for Powerwall and requested that the order be cancelled and refunded. It was not yet even in the design phase so no issues with ease of canceling.

However, 4 months later...FOUR... I received a text asking me why I wanted to cancel my order. After explaining, it was like the original conversation never happened. They again confirmed cancellation but the money is not yet back on the credit card after a few weeks.

Report this to your Credit Card company. They will work to reverse for you.

 

[DCEV]

The thing is it can't be that difficult to fix the music player resuming USB music.

Half the time, I can fix it by closing the door, walking away from the car, and walking back towards the car and opening the door so the car's software is essentially getting in the way of music resuming.

It's a shame they don't realize the music player is the car's most widely used app...

Hopefully they'll fix the music player in V10. With all the new features they are announcing for V10, I wish they'd say there will be an improved music player that can reliably resume USB music so we can all look forward to that.

 

[Big Toys]

The thread is dominated with CS issues. These are real issues. And still there are one or two defenders of the company casually accepting this as the price of "disruption". If Amazon Prime shipped your items 3 months late and you couldn't reach anyone by phone, there is no one on this thread, or any Tesla owner, that would continue to do business with Amazon.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Hopefully they'll fix the music player in V10. With all the new features they are announcing for V10, I wish they'd say there will be an improved music player that can reliably resume USB music so we can all look forward to that.

Don't hold your breath. Tesla will focus on adding the unnecessary (Fart Mode 2.0?) and break lots of other core vehicle functionality. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that the cars can be OTA upgraded and new features are being added. But these come at a cost of a buggy experience and customer support frustration.

 

[tstafford]

I've said my piece elsewhere. Suffice it to say that Tesla gets away with nonsense that no other car company would ever get away with. The willingness of the fanboys (me included) to put up with it seems endless.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I've said my piece elsewhere. Suffice it to say that Tesla gets away with nonsense that no other car company would ever get away with. The willingness of the fanboys (me included) to put up with it seems endless.

I'd agree, but for me the novelty is wearing off, I just want a vehicle that works and is not temperamental. Case in point, got in my car to leave work last night, turned on AC, tapped the screen again to start navigation and crash. Black screens, the car shut off, mirrors folded in. Had to open, close doors, press brake pedal, and wait for the car to reboot. What are these things running on, Windows 3.1? I would gladly sacrifice Fart Mode for system stability!

 

[Chaserr]

I've said my piece elsewhere. Suffice it to say that Tesla gets away with nonsense that no other car company would ever get away with. The willingness of the fanboys (me included) to put up with it seems endless.

They don't just put up with it, they attack other owners for not putting up with it. Head over to the OTA range & performance downgrade thread where we're discussing tesla turning our 85kwh cars into slower 65kwh cars (and less for some unlucky folks) and prepare yourself. It's pure and simple theft and there are people literally scolding us for not kissing Tesla's feet for leaving us with more than nothing.