Why I Cancelled My Model 3 Order and am No Longer a Tesla Fan

[crmatson]

OP isn't wrong, that was a bad customer service move. I think that most of us would agree that we feel like we are in the Soup Nazi line (seinfeld reference). I am scared to even add full self driving to my order because it will be No Soup For You! and back to the end of the line. I've thought about changing my configuration to white seats just so I could get my car; but don't even dare do that because I'd probably not even get the white seat one and back to the end of the line. The soup is so good we are bowing our heads and shuffling forward at the mercy of Tesla. Once the queue clears out more I think things will get better... but until then, you have to pay your dues I guess. I'm willing to wait for whatever it takes to get my car. Which is why I'm on Day 595 of having reserved and Day 50 of having paid 3,500 ordering a maxed out P model with still no contact, word on VIN or delivery date... It would be a joke if it were any other car.

Day #867 since 3/31/2016 reservation for me.
Day #50 since my Performance order.
Still willing to wait for it.

 

[Zythryn]

I don't blame you for canceling your order. Communication has always been Tesla's weakest link.
That said, kudos to Tesla for refunding you in full, which they didn't need to.

Did you try to see if someone else could pick up the car for you while you were out of the country? That may have been a compromise that would have worked for both parties (as long as it was someone you trusted to inspect the vehicle).

I hope you raised this issue with Tesla HQ, I am hoping they can better themselves with your feedback.

 

[Stacks]

I live in Seattle. I have had nothing but great customer service experience at the Bellevue and Seattle stores.

I also test drove the model 3 and no customer service issues will ever keep me from getting this amazing car

 

[Zidarich]

I don’t blame you AT ALL for being upset, and wanting your money back.

That being said, my mom always used to say “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” Years from now, when your anger has subsided, you won’t even remember Noah’s name, but I think you will remember the regret of not getting the car you’ve wanted so long for.

My advice? You deserve this car, and the buck doesn’t stop with Noah. Call the Tesla main line, demand to speak with someone else above him, and see if they will work this out with you after all you’ve been through.

Don’t let one person’s lack of empathy ruin the enjoyment for yourself for years to come.

 

[patrick40363]

Wanted to share my experience with attempting to get a Model 3.

Like many people, on March 31, 2016, I paid a deposit of $1000 for a Model 3.

On April 15, 2018, I received my configuration email. It said that my car would be ready in 3-6 weeks. I completed the configuration and paid the non-refundable $2500 additional deposit.

On June 4, 2018, I received an email from Alvin Lu (Inside Sales Advisor) telling me that my car would be ready for delivery soon and asking me to fill out a few more details (insurance, etc.) in my profile. I was leaving for a business trip in Europe that day so I emailed Alvin back and told him my schedule. He said no problem, I could pick up the vehicle when I returned from my trip.

On June 11, 2018, I received a call and email from Brodie Vogler (another Inside Sales Advisor) letting me know that my car could be picked up anytime on or after June 14. He knew that I was out of the country so he gave me some options for pickup on June 16, the day after I returned. We made an appointment for June 16 at 3pm.

On June 15, 2018, I received a call and email from Marshall Smith (Delivery Advisor) telling me that they received my car in Seattle (pickup location) but there were some "cosmetic issues" that needed to be repaired before I could take delivery. I called and talked to Marshall as soon as I arrived back in the U.S. and he expected that I would receive the car by the end of June. We made an appointment for me to pick up the car on June 30 at 11am.

On June 27, 2018, I emailed Marshall to make sure we were on schedule for the June 30 appointment. Marshall emailed me back the same day and said he checked with the body shop and they were optimistic that the car would be ready for delivery on June 30.

On June 29, 2018, I emailed Marshall to ask for an update. Later the same day he called to tell me that the body shop was waiting on a piece of replacement glass and the car would not be ready for pickup the next day. He agreed to keep me updated.

On July 9, 2018, after not hearing anything from Marshall I once again emailed him to get an update. At this point I'm starting to become impatient.

On July 10 I received a reply from Marshall telling me that the glass had been received, but as the body shop was reassembling everything they discovered more paint damage and more parts that needed to be replaced. He reached out to Brodie Vogler to ask if finding me a new VIN would be a quicker option. I replied that my preference at this point would be a new VIN because I'm concerned about the amount of damage to the original car.

On July 12 my Tesla account was updated with a delivery window of Oct-Dec 2018. I immediately emailed Brodie to find out whether that was correct, and if so I was not happy to have to wait that long due to circumstances outside my control. Brodie called me immediately and assured me that it would not take that long, and thanked me for being so patient.

On August 8 I received an email from Noah Rymer (Delivery Advisor) that my Model 3 would be available for pickup as soon as August 14. Unfortunately, I had another business trip in Europe from August 8-22. I emailed Noah back to let him know that I would be out of the country and would be back on August 23 and would like to pick up the vehicle on August 25.

On August 13 after receiving NO RESPONSE for 5 DAYS, I emailed him again (this time from Europe) to make sure that I could pick up the vehicle on August 25, as requested. Finally, Noah responded and said that the last day that they could hold the vehicle would be August 18, and since I couldn't pick it up by then they would have to issue me another new VIN which would take an additional 4-6 weeks.

I replied to Noah to let him know that this was not acceptable since I have had to wait so long already. I reminded him of the delays already and that they have my $3500 deposit, and asked that they please reconsider the decision to reassign the VIN.

Noah replied unsympathetically and stated that Delivery Centers can't hold vehicles for more than 7 days.

I replied to Noah, explaining that there are extenuating circumstances in this case and that he please review the history of my account and elevate this matter to his manager. I told him that I needed to receive the car when I returned from my trip and that I was not willing to wait any longer.

On August 14, after receiving no reply to my last email asking to elevate the matter to his manager, I emailed Noah again to make it clear that if my car was not ready to be picked up when I returned to the U.S. next week that I would need my deposit returned in full. It has been exactly 4 months since receiving my configuration email (far longer than the 3-6 weeks originally communicated to me) and I'm out of patience.

Noah replied and stated again that it would not be possible for the delivery center to hold my car until I return. Then he enthusiastically offered to refund my deposit.

So after almost 2 1/2 years of waiting patiently and excitedly for my Model 3, I have cancelled my order and asked for a refund. This was a terrible customer experience, especially at the end with Noah Rymer. I'm so disgusted with Tesla right now that I'm quite sure I will NEVER consider buying (or recommend that anyone else buy) a Tesla for the rest of my life. Shame on you Tesla for not treating your most loyal customers better. Take a tip from your pal Jeff Bezos and learn to DELIGHT your customers at all cost.

Chris Gil - Seattle

That should not be happening. It is a great way to lose customers.

 

[xyeahtony]

@tpham07 @Barklikeadog

haha! I have nothing constructive to add to this thread. 2 posts...haha

That being said, it is quite disappointing and slightly depressing someone would surrender the joy of driving a tesla for 5+ years based on a subpar (non)-delivery experience.

Hope the OP finds a car that meets their needs, both in driving and purchasing experience.

 

[Cyb_]

Everyone here is trying to be constructive and i'm just sitting there thinking, "One less person in front of me..." It sucks that that happened but those were all issues that both sides could have worked together on.

 

[voip-ninja]

In fairness: Tesla uses the same shipping companies as everyone else. A fraction of vehicles (I believe when I looked into it it was about half a percent) develop cosmetic damage at some point during the shipping process. With a dealership, though, when cars arrive they inspect them all for damage, and any with damage go in for repairs before they go out to the lot. Customers never see the damage; it's already fixed and hidden before the car shows up on the lot. With Tesla's lack of "dealership lots", all of the warts of car transport are exposed to the customers. If you're unlucky enough to get a car that gets damaged, you absolutely will know about it. And be stuck waiting.

People need to remember this: dealerships frequently hide shipping damage from you. Usually just paint scratches or the like, but I've even seen some really egregious examples.

Karen, that's exactly why there are laws in my states and others on what $ or % of damage can be repaired and the car still sold as new.

It's also why BMW and others have port facilities to repair cars as they arrive in the US. Cars can be repaired at port and not have to follow this rule.

If you buy a "new" car that had $10,000 of repairs done it is not right to you as the consumer, because you might end up with reduced value or some other problem related to the repairs that were done.

In the bad old days this is exactly the kind of things dealers were notorious for doing, which is why there are laws to protect consumers.

 

[Ahzuz]

Did you try to see if someone else could pick up the car for you while you were out of the country? That may have been a compromise that would have worked for both parties (as long as it was someone you trusted to inspect the vehicle).
.

They won't accept this, I tried for mine and they never agreed, they said it's something Tesla isn't ready to accommodate. Even internet signature via docusign or whatnot got refused... and yet we are in 2018.

 

[GWord]

I suppose you could have scheduled delivery anyway and just made a last minute postponement due to "unforeseen" travel delays or somesuch. Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness...

 

[MXWing]

Shame on you Tesla for not treating your most loyal customers better.

You would actually have to own at least one of a companies products before you count yourself among their "loyal customers".

You've had to deal with some things and I'm sorry about that. Some in Tesla's control, some not.

At the end of the day, it's your money and your choice.

I can tell you it would have been worth it in the end but I guess we'll never find out, will we?

I hope you enjoy your alternative vehicle as much as I enjoy my Tesla's!

For the ones who can point out 1000 ways Tesla could have handled things better:

These type of posts bring out lots of "customer service experts" who know shat about frack. Can't win them all folks. Key fundamental #1 is making stuff people want. I think Tesla achieves that.

Everyone knows there's issues and I'm sure Tesla themselves are aware of them. Just moving from delivering 20,000 cars in a year to doing it in a month creates scaling problems.

 

[gilscales]

Wanted to share my experience with attempting to get a Model 3.

Like many people, on March 31, 2016, I paid a deposit of $1000 for a Model 3.

On April 15, 2018, I received my configuration email. It said that my car would be ready in 3-6 weeks. I completed the configuration and paid the non-refundable $2500 additional deposit.

On June 4, 2018, I received an email from Alvin Lu (Inside Sales Advisor) telling me that my car would be ready for delivery soon and asking me to fill out a few more details (insurance, etc.) in my profile. I was leaving for a business trip in Europe that day so I emailed Alvin back and told him my schedule. He said no problem, I could pick up the vehicle when I returned from my trip.

On June 11, 2018, I received a call and email from Brodie Vogler (another Inside Sales Advisor) letting me know that my car could be picked up anytime on or after June 14. He knew that I was out of the country so he gave me some options for pickup on June 16, the day after I returned. We made an appointment for June 16 at 3pm.

On June 15, 2018, I received a call and email from Marshall Smith (Delivery Advisor) telling me that they received my car in Seattle (pickup location) but there were some "cosmetic issues" that needed to be repaired before I could take delivery. I called and talked to Marshall as soon as I arrived back in the U.S. and he expected that I would receive the car by the end of June. We made an appointment for me to pick up the car on June 30 at 11am.

On June 27, 2018, I emailed Marshall to make sure we were on schedule for the June 30 appointment. Marshall emailed me back the same day and said he checked with the body shop and they were optimistic that the car would be ready for delivery on June 30.

On June 29, 2018, I emailed Marshall to ask for an update. Later the same day he called to tell me that the body shop was waiting on a piece of replacement glass and the car would not be ready for pickup the next day. He agreed to keep me updated.

On July 9, 2018, after not hearing anything from Marshall I once again emailed him to get an update. At this point I'm starting to become impatient.

On July 10 I received a reply from Marshall telling me that the glass had been received, but as the body shop was reassembling everything they discovered more paint damage and more parts that needed to be replaced. He reached out to Brodie Vogler to ask if finding me a new VIN would be a quicker option. I replied that my preference at this point would be a new VIN because I'm concerned about the amount of damage to the original car.

On July 12 my Tesla account was updated with a delivery window of Oct-Dec 2018. I immediately emailed Brodie to find out whether that was correct, and if so I was not happy to have to wait that long due to circumstances outside my control. Brodie called me immediately and assured me that it would not take that long, and thanked me for being so patient.

On August 8 I received an email from Noah Rymer (Delivery Advisor) that my Model 3 would be available for pickup as soon as August 14. Unfortunately, I had another business trip in Europe from August 8-22. I emailed Noah back to let him know that I would be out of the country and would be back on August 23 and would like to pick up the vehicle on August 25.

On August 13 after receiving NO RESPONSE for 5 DAYS, I emailed him again (this time from Europe) to make sure that I could pick up the vehicle on August 25, as requested. Finally, Noah responded and said that the last day that they could hold the vehicle would be August 18, and since I couldn't pick it up by then they would have to issue me another new VIN which would take an additional 4-6 weeks.

I replied to Noah to let him know that this was not acceptable since I have had to wait so long already. I reminded him of the delays already and that they have my $3500 deposit, and asked that they please reconsider the decision to reassign the VIN.

Noah replied unsympathetically and stated that Delivery Centers can't hold vehicles for more than 7 days.

I replied to Noah, explaining that there are extenuating circumstances in this case and that he please review the history of my account and elevate this matter to his manager. I told him that I needed to receive the car when I returned from my trip and that I was not willing to wait any longer.

On August 14, after receiving no reply to my last email asking to elevate the matter to his manager, I emailed Noah again to make it clear that if my car was not ready to be picked up when I returned to the U.S. next week that I would need my deposit returned in full. It has been exactly 4 months since receiving my configuration email (far longer than the 3-6 weeks originally communicated to me) and I'm out of patience.

Noah replied and stated again that it would not be possible for the delivery center to hold my car until I return. Then he enthusiastically offered to refund my deposit.

So after almost 2 1/2 years of waiting patiently and excitedly for my Model 3, I have cancelled my order and asked for a refund. This was a terrible customer experience, especially at the end with Noah Rymer. I'm so disgusted with Tesla right now that I'm quite sure I will NEVER consider buying (or recommend that anyone else buy) a Tesla for the rest of my life. Shame on you Tesla for not treating your most loyal customers better. Take a tip from your pal Jeff Bezos and learn to DELIGHT your customers at all cost.

Chris Gil - Seattle

This is awful! I feel very bad that this is your experience with Tesla and even more that you will never be able to enjoy what an amazing car this 3 is, I like many others (especially those who have never owned EV's) go out of my way to find an excuse to drive this car, it really is that good (8,000 miles in the first 3 months)

 

[Boourns]

What happened sucks, and to be honest I probably would have had the same reaction. 100% don't blame you.

I have the privilege of being able to look at the situation from a neutral perspective and I will say this: Every big organization is going to have people who aren't good at their job and/or can't critically reason. (Go read about why Mark Cuban got fired from his first job selling computers). I would encourage you to not let the one crappy person you dealt with at the end taint your opinion of the organization as a whole. Once things have smoothed out and you're in the market for your next car, don't rule out Tesla because of that guy.

 

[MXWing]

I will NEVER consider buying (or recommend that anyone else buy) a Tesla for the rest of my life.

REST OF YOUR LIFE is a little bit hubrisy don't cha think?

I’ll tell you how to solve your problem once you are done seeing red.

1.) Find a 3 month window where you are not leaving the country.

2.) Place a new order at the start of that window.

You will probably have your car in about two weeks. That’s how things tend to work..

 

[bhzmark]

on March 31, 2016, I paid a deposit of $1000 for a Model 3.

I was not willing to wait any longer.

think long term. good grief.

 

[Galve2000]

I don’t blame you AT ALL for being upset, and wanting your money back.

That being said, my mom always used to say “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” Years from now, when your anger has subsided, you won’t even remember Noah’s name, but I think you will remember the regret of not getting the car you’ve wanted so long for.

My advice? You deserve this car, and the buck doesn’t stop with Noah. Call the Tesla main line, demand to speak with someone else above him, and see if they will work this out with you after all you’ve been through.

Don’t let one person’s lack of empathy ruin the enjoyment for yourself for years to come.

+1000

 

[TexasEV]

They won't accept this, I tried for mine and they never agreed, they said it's something Tesla isn't ready to accommodate. Even internet signature via docusign or whatnot got refused... and yet we are in 2018.

It must depend on who you talk to. I picked up a car last month for a friend who was out of the country. He knew his Model X would be ready for delivery while he was overseas, he completed the paperwork and payment ahead of time, and arranged with the salesperson for me to pick it up. I got the call to schedule the delivery time and when I arrived they were ready for me to sign for the car.

 

[SeaDoc]

Now that you've aired your comedy of errors as to this delivery - I would take a deep breath and really reassess your decision. I would reconsider as I did something similar and reordered on August 1, having cancelled my reservation a month earlier, when the free supercharging was offered on the P3D models, and am now picking up my car today - within 15 days - not bad - and very happy with this decision. Good luck.

 

[jbcarioca]

We all must know by now that Tesla has not been properly prepared for the volumes they are achieving. Norway was the first place to have major widespread service and support failures. Right now nearly all US and Canadian facilities are seriously overloaded. Nobody, established customer or first time buyer of a used car, should need to go though this disarray.

Personally I have half a decade as a Tesla shareholder, and have dealt with Tesla service for three Tesla Model S and one Model X.
Until the last few months everything has been stellar. I am confident we'll soon get there again.
In the meantime it is very unpleasant dealing with Tesla, while employees are struggling to do everything they can to be wonderful.
I am being patient, but I completely understand those who will not be...

 

[Electric700]

Noah replied unsympathetically and stated that Delivery Centers can't hold vehicles for more than 7 days.
...

This policy needs to change to accommodate customers who may not be able to pick up their cars right away. I would contact [email protected] about it. If they want to keep the 7 day policy, then they should be able to make exceptions for cases such as yours.

Hopefully you will change your mind and get the car. Don't miss out. After all, you waited all this time right?