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
Chris, excellent job of documentation! My advice, print that out, spend 50 cents and send a letter to VP of customer relations at Tesla. At a minimum, they ought to know.
I read that, felt bad for you and walked away (I've discovered there be trolls here).
I was talking to the sales guy who gave me the test drive in an S before I ordered the 3, yesterday. I relayed the instance of a guy in TX the other day with a horror story not too dissimilar to yours. He said sometimes on the carrier a strap comes lose and cracks a window and/or damages paint. He said, we fix it. I mentioned the guy in TX was already paying for the first car they sent when they shipped him another car changing his vin. He assured me that wouldn't happen..well perhaps not in MA but apparently did in TX. He said something interesting though, even in a non-showroom state, you don't own the car until AFTER delivery and you sign for it. Well, maybe up north but, apparently, not in TX.
If you never signed for the car (finished the transaction) then it's not your car and you could say, ship me another one as you don't want to purchase a defective car.
Tesla pointed out to me early on, they are not commissioned sales people. What does that mean? It means, among other things, they get paid whether you buy the car or not.
But, more importantly, what happens at a Chevy, Ford, Jeep dealership. They get car carriers in all the time. I am sure they incur occasional damage in shipping. Maybe part of the issue is Tesla tells people when the car will be arriving, not when it's ready for pickup. Relative to the big 3 or 4 or 5, Tesla is rather new to this. People who pick up a Chevy or Ford or... likely don't even realize when the car arrived damaged. If they knew when the car arrived, perhaps there would be more refused delivery angry customers.
Maybe people picking up their cars, armed with their VINs should do a quick carfax before they pick the car up. A 'used car', I believe, is technically a car that has been previously titled. This is how you pay pretty close to full price on a model S or X with 2,000 miles on it. Technically, it's a new car having never been titled. That doesn't mean it hasn't been damaged.
The other thing is, maybe true in all cases, the person on the MVPA has to take delivery of it vs signing the paperwork and having someone else physically take delivery. I think the 'must take delivery within 7 days' is reasonable. If you ordered a Chevy but were out of town or out of state or country when it arrived, at some point, sure, I suspect they'd sell it to someone else. Maybe before they assign one a vin, one should tell them THEIR availability to take delivery such that the designated car can be matched to when the purchaser is available to take deliver. I know this doesn't help you Chris but for others reading this thread.
The sales guy I referred to early said if there was damage upon arrival they would fix it. Sure, everyone wants a 'virgin' car. I wonder how often with any car that happens. So, perhaps, for us readers of this drama, as soon as things start to sound sketchy, ask for another car.
Again, that totally sucks and I share everyone else's support for you.