Why do they make change order complicated?

[Mrwatchdawg]

i ordered a 75D mid may and last week i decided that I wanted to change it to th 100d since I plan on keeping the car for a while.

The DS ends up telling me that car is going into production in a few days (on my tesla page it says order is confirmed) so now I can't change Battery unless I let go of my 2500.

No one notified me what change process would be like? It was more so said that pay $500 and you can chnahget anything you want.

Is it always like that or is it because Its coming to end of the quarter.

P.s. Now my car is out for delivery, so he wasn't lying. Just wish they were more clear about change orders.

 

[Lex]

Well, you are special ordering a revolutionary advanced premium piece of technology that is custom built to order and you decided to change your order at the last minute. Not a small change either, from smallest to largest pack.

From a customer service perspective I understand that you feel you should be given a break since you want something more expensive, but they're a big company that has to at least start with policy / process. I'd try to escalate and take a "what if I want this instead" approach instead of being demanding and upset and see where it gets you.

 

[brkaus]

There is just a time window that changes are allowed and it depends on the factory loading. They need time before starting production to source parts.

If they called everyone saying the it was the last day to make changes, people would complain about the upsell.

When I ordered, I asked for a rough date that the order would be locked. We did make a change on that date and it went through fine.

 

[Mrwatchdawg]

Although I appreciate the replies and letting me know how revolutionary it is doesnt really answer my original question.

Again, what I was told was that I could make a change basically until delivery for nominal charge and that was not the case.

Clearly, their is a policy that isn't relayed to all employees the same.

Another point would be that my sales person said that I would have someone come inspect my trade at the house and than DS told me that I had to drop it off at the service center.

Trust me I'm the least demanding person and I understand marketing, I do it for a living but sometimes it's just better practice to be a little more transparent across the board

 

[xyeahtony]

You could make a change and if it was possible to accommodate you they would, i remember seeing that fine print. I dont recall any "any changes will be accepted" promise online.

If its any consolation you'll be more than happy with a 75 unless you drive 120+ miles a day. the supercharger network is spaced enough that even a 60 could go anywhere in america.

 

[Lloyd]

I believe they are pretty clear when you can make changes, and you were told!!

Order Stage: We will submit your order to the Tesla Factory for production three (3) calendar days after the Order Date. During this three (3) day period, you may cancel your order or make any changes to your Vehicle Configuration without charge. Your Order Payment will be refundable if you cancel within this three (3) day period.

Factory Stage: When we submit your order for production (3 days after your order date), your Order Payment becomes earned and non-refundable. Because production of your Vehicle is already underway, changes to your Vehicle Configuration during this time will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to accommodate. If you want to make changes to your Vehicle Configuration, we will try to accommodate your request. If we accept your request, you will be subject to a non-refundable $500 change fee and
potential price increases for any pricing adjustments made since your original order date. Any changes made to your Vehicle Configuration, including changes to the purchase price, will be reflected in a subsequent Vehicle Configuration that will form part of this Agreement.


Source: https://www.tesla.com/order/download-order-agreement?country=US

 

[Mrwatchdawg]

I get it. I went though and read everything after the fact. Simply taking the sales guys word was not enough.

That's all I'm saying. If they would have been transparent about policies in person as they are online with the documents would make it less confusing.

Regardless going to take delivery but having a 100d would have some more piece of mind

 

[stopcrazypp]

I get it. I went though and read everything after the fact. Simply taking the sales guys word was not enough.

That's all I'm saying. If they would have been transparent about policies in person as they are online with the documents would make it less confusing.

Regardless going to take delivery but having a 100d would have some more piece of mind

Unfortunately some of those sales people may not have read through everything, and they can't possibly bring everything up in conversation. They probably just say from experience that it seems like changes can be made, but that may only be for the cases they handled. That's why reading through the paperwork is important.

That said, you may want to double check with a different rep (maybe directly with HQ) to make sure that your car is really at the state that a change is not possible, if it is very important to you.

 

[SMAlset]

OP we have a 75D and love the car and charging has been fine (although we don't do long-distance driving)--combo of home charging, work charging and superchargering on occasion--although as you said piece of mind for a larger battery is something and we still think about it ourselves. We kind of balked at the price difference when we purchased our car end of last year, like do we really need this for the extra cost? That is the only decision we still question in our minds on the car and like I said we haven't really found the need yet for a larger capacity. Was your concern based mostly on range to next supercharger if traveling long-distance or time spent charging in between? With the increase in superchargers this year and the next two years I think long-distance worries will be mitigated.

When we ordered the timeframe was 7 days not 3. With the extra shift added they really have been able to decrease the time from order to ship.

 

[SMSMD]

It really sucks..I recommend you meet in person to the Manager of the store and discuss your issue...TESLA is pretty good in going an extra mile if they can accommodate your request...there may a Lucky person who would like to buy your Spec, Tesla without wait period..you never know unless you try it.

 

[whitex]

Again, what I was told was that I could make a change basically until delivery for nominal charge and that was not the case.
Clearly, their is a policy that isn't relayed to all employees the same.

I think any reasonable person would realize that it cannot be literally true. Did you think you could order a multi-coat red car, then just before they are handing you the keys you change your mind and ask them to paint it black and add sub-zero weather package at no charge ($500 order change fee + $1000 subzero - $1,500 paint downgrade = $0)?

I understand marketing, I do it for a living but sometimes it's just better practice to be a little more transparent across the board

This is not marketing, this is production reality. Does it not make sense to you that once the parts have been purchased and delivered, production about to start, the changes can be costly to Tesla? Note that 75 battery is completely different than 100 battery (75 and 90 just differed by number of modules, 100 is a new design) so your change would now require them to store your parts somewhere while they source the new battery - all custom work as they are Just-In-Time production model (all parts arrive only shortly before production). Once the parts are in, that is the point-of-no-return - the car will be manufactured no matter what as it would be prohibitively expensive not to.

By the way, I've order custom from Porsche before, and you should consider yourself lucky. Once the car is past the point-of-no-return a the factory, and you choose to not take it (whether you build another one or not), you don't just lose your deposit (which is more than $2,500), but also are on the hook to the dealer for the price difference between what you were going to pay and what they manage to sell it for instead (minus the deposit). This is why when you order, they counsel you what options you should or should not get so in case you change your mind 6-9 months later, once the car arrives from Germany, you could minimize your losses. I remember how hard they tried to convince me not to pay to remove the sunroof

 

[brkaus]

Sorry they were not more clear. It is clear in the documents, but if they hint otherwise it can be confusing.

You will be happy with the 75D and the money saved over a 100D.

 

[chillaban]

All blessings are curses and vice-versa

Some of us waited months in the production queue, during which time indeed we could make changes for $500. But during that time we all wished that we could get our cars built faster. It's too late now, and it's unfortunate your salesperson made a promise based off a speculative assumption about the length of the production queue.

 

[whitex]

OP, if it makes you feel any better 75D has a higher rated range than P85D which was the flagship car two years ago.

 

[Cricket88]

I say eat the $2,500 and get the car you want. Otherwise you will always have this looming over your head and you will always wonder about the "should haves and could haves". Otherwise you're gonna end up trading up anyways and your loss will be greater at that time.

The 100d could be the difference between needing to charge to get through the weekend, and being able to drive the entire weekend without charging....

Since the price difference from 75 to 100 is substantial, I'm assuming the $2,500 loss is more of a matter of principal vs the money itself.

 

[whitex]

I say eat the $2,500 and get the car you want. Otherwise you will always have this looming over your head and you will always wonder about the "should haves and could haves". Otherwise you're gonna end up trading up anyways and your loss will be greater at that time.

The 100d could be the difference between needing to charge to get through the weekend, and being able to drive the entire weekend without charging....

Since the price difference from 75 to 100 is substantial, I'm assuming the $2,500 loss is more of a matter of principal vs the money itself.

Actually it's only $2,000 since the OP the was wanting to pay $500 change fee anyways. That is less that 10% of the 75-to-100 price differential. The biggest hit is time, unless there is a local inventory car that fits the bill, or if the OP is lucky, the inventory car may be discounted (could be from another customer who gave it up to upgrade to P).

 

[Mrwatchdawg]

Good idea. I actually texted my sales person earlier to see if they had inventory car matching my spec.

If not, I'll keep this and order another one later. I can always title it under my corporation as a fleet vehicle (it's time we upgrade one of office cars) and order another one later through the year. Maybe all this change speculation everyone says will be right.

 

[Mediocrates]

Let this be a cautionary tale to other pending purchasers: sort out your purchase decision before you make it. There's no need to rush into the purchase, unless the cost of the vehicle (and changes to it at any point of the manufacturing process) are trivial.

 

[croman]

75D will be more than enough. I go regularly on 1600 mile round trips to visit my in-laws. S is perfect for long distance travel (comfortable, 4G streaming music, glass roof and Autopilot!). 60D required 4 stops per leg (just to be comfortable, each SC stop was ~20min). 75D can do it with 3. 100D could do it with 1 unless it was not 55F-75F. If outside ideal temps, 2 stops. Bigger batteries actually charge faster, so 100D will save you time on long trips (anything >250 miles) but <250miles and you'll notice little difference. 75D is the best value and few will actually benefit enough to justify the price premium for the larger battery. Also the pack design of the 100kwh battery is fairly new and I am curious as to how it holds up whereas the 75D relies on the tried and true design.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Believe you will enjoy the 75. If the need arises for longer range, you can rent a longer distance vehicle, or take one from your corporate fleet. The initial cost savings is significantly more than you might ever spend on rentals.

Sorry an employee mis-spoke, but Tesla is growing at a rapid rate, and not all employees will get the correct marching orders, and perhaps give you wrong advise.

These things can be super annoying, but the written agreement will always be stronger than an employees opinion.

I love my X75. Only time I have trouble with range is when I try to cheap out and not charge it enough at home. Tiny savings, and I am the cause of most of my own anxiety.

Standard battery is more than enough performance for most owners. Bigger battery especially useful for impressing your friends with how powerful the car is, but little use in normal driving.

With so many superchargers, and more to come, the range benefits of a larger battery become less and less.