Why Tesla Will Fail

[Jerry Dunton]

Maybe your part of this crazy chain of events....I have had the finest level of Servive for the last 4 years on my Model S and now my
Model 3 too. It is just not that difficult....these folks care about Good service.

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

I have had nothing but

 

[swsunshine41]

FWIW: Tesla Ranger service here in Naples has been outstanding....I have to call Jax center and then they determine a dispatch (either Ranger or Dania Beach).

I 2nd the praise for the Naples, FL Ranger Team. Buddy Hager, now with Supercharger responsibility, has been very responsive to the few issues I've had with my 2015 85-D. I would like to see a Naples Service Center, but the ranger system works. The West Palm Beach Service Center gets a high mark from me as well.

Dan Hopkins

 

[ucityglass]

Sorry to hear about the problems.

The St Louis service center is absolutely top notch. Customer service is excellent, repairs have been prompt and well done. Tesla, here, provides the best auto service experienced in my long lifetime. Hope other service centers can emulate this one.

 

[SOULPEDL]

It's on their Pareto chart somewhere I'm sure. Did you see how many people they are hiring? Basically, Musk is running fast as he can and that's a big pill for change to occur smoothly in his wake. All companies call it Change Management. Can you image what it's like to work in that group?

I have faith because of his core values, and it's not money. Unlike Samsung who sells me a shaky Washer, tells me it's "Normal" on a service visit, then mails me a pricey service contract to "solve my problem." That's what money hungry companies do and it appears intentional without sympathy. However, how well his Sympathy runs through Tesla is the change part, and bound to trip up somewhere. It's all good!

 

[Stasla]

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience. Coincidentally I had the same problem with my Model X. Last night the driver side Falcon Wind Door wouldn't open and the car saw that it was open already - so it wouldn't lock and beep constantly while driven. Latch failure.

I called the 800 support line and got a live person to talk to fairly quickly. They tried a few remote resets with no luck. Offered to have Roadside tow it to nearest Service center or bring it in myself. I'm lucky to have 2 centers within 15 mile radius: Brooklyn and Springfield, NJ. Opted to take the car to Brooklyn this AM. They diagnosed the issue, noted a couple more issues I reported and put me in a X90DL loaner and I was on my way- all within about 1 hr.

While it was an inconvenience for sure to have that kind of problem with a car that's 1.5 years old - basically new, I'm completely satisfied with the service experience, considering it was really the 1st "serious" issue since I got the X and I have a pretty low VIN to boot- in the low 6100 range.

 

[xenodata]

Ranger service in Denver was great with my recent call. No complaints.

 

[nowtleft]

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

I tend to agree with most of your points. The referral scheme is not badly managed - it is NOT managed at all which whilst a small thing has currently put me off ever upgrading to a newer Tesla - I have had three referrals and each one I had to threaten Trading Standards before the reward was honoured after 4-6 months - that is simply not good enough and as you say in a few years (2!) the older car companies will equal Tesla and provide us/me with much more choice of car all with small or better range - the bad experience I have had (not with service to be fair who have been excellent in Stockport UK) will be Tesla's undoing. It is the top brass who spend their time making Christmas themes for our cars rather than making sure the customer service is second to none who are to blame but by the time Elon etc realise the damage will have been done:-(

The fact that currently an S75D is about £40000 over priced will not help but that is another lesson to be learned by this fledgling car company.

Such a shame!

 

[Tribaltech]

Yup!!! Sounds exactly like my recent experience. We had a flat tire mid road trip. Of course Tesla chooses not to give a spare tire so my only option is to call the 24 hour roadside assistance. The 24 hour call center guy sound so painfully arrogant that I cannot even begin to describe. I ask him I need help with the situation. He cuts me off mid sentence and says I’m not close to a service center so the only thing “he’ll do for me” is to send a tow truck once they have available. This is night and day difference from my prior experiences. This was my first major red flag that some policy changes have taken place and this place is not going to treat its old Model S or X customers like it used to. I hate the thought of going back to an Audi or Mercedes but this I do not like one bit.

 

[JRP3]

I live near neroden and this concerns me. Central NY is a service wasteland in desperate need of at least one centrally located service center. I think Cortland would be ideal, small city so lower property costs, close to rt 81, about halfway between Syracuse and Binghamton, both of which would also be good locations.

 

[jconn501]

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

While I know everyone can have a bad service experience, I have to say that I've had nothing but stellar support either on the phone, at the service centers and with the mobile service team. I too am in upstate NY and while I'd love to see a local service center open here, I've gone 2 1/2 hours away to Mt Kisko Ny and the team there treats me as if I were the only customer there that day. Just last week, my 12v battery alert came on....I called and within 24 hours, heard back from Stan on the mobile team and they scheduled a mobile appt at my house within the next few days. The tech that came here was friendly, knew what he was doing....and couldn't say more how much he loved working for Tesla. So again, while I know not every service experience is a great one, I do think it's important to balance all the views....and call out a great experience when it happens as well. I love my Model S...and unless things change for the worse, I'm a Tesla guy for life!

 

[glgador007]

I've been harping this for a very long time. Confusion, question and other problems between a customer and a company could easily be solved or cleared by having not only by phone but most importantly a direct email address provided by the company to a customer. The phone alone does not work because of so many people involved in the process and there is no concrete way of knowing when the conversation occurred, who was at the other end of the line, what information has transpired and finally, who is telling the truth. Thus, an email between the parties involved will solve most if not all of the misunderstanding or any problem.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Yelling is a poor form of communication. Based on your appraisal of Tesla management you would fit right in.

 

[mattjs33]

Don't you remember? Teslas won't need service.

Will electric vehicles put parts/repair shops out of business?

I'm an old-timer here, but I've been away for years. But what I said to people back in 2014 or earlier, was that there was no way down the road that Tesla was going to be able to handle servicing all their cars by sending rangers out to everyone. If Tesla does somehow manage to build 500,000 Model 3's a year, just who exactly is going to manage all these service calls?

This is why every other automaker has franchised dealers. Let another businessman carry the burden of investments in service equipment and staff, and scheduling. I'm no fan of franchise laws but there's a reason the dealer system has worked for a century. Tesla insisted long ago on doing this all themselves and quite frankly they haven't got the captial to build enough service points to accomdate the entire country with a reasonable expectation of customer service.

I don't think Tesla will fail (someone would buy them before that would happen), but the current servicing arrangement is untenable. Forget it if the Model 3 ever hits in true volume. They'll have to change strategies or there will be massive fallout.

Btw, electronic door handles are just about the worst automotive idea on earth, save for falcon wing doors on an SUV.

 

[Stratusbill]

Dump your Tesla and buy a Stone Age ice beater. Service here in Tempe is perfect.

 

[narayan]

Worst brand IMO? Nissan.

I used to own a Datsun 510 (bullet proof) and now a 2011 Leaf and waiting for the M3. The Leaf has had nothing break for a first year model. Amazing. Maybe their gasoline cars suck, but then all my Nissan rentals have been exceptional. Much better driving experience than any GM product.

 

[Peter Thomas]

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

 

[Lavaljim]

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

I totally agree, I am in Atlanta and had a problem with my new Model S 100D air suspension. The compressor would constantly run, then there would be a relaeas of air. Due to the configuration of my home, we could hear this happening all night long. We call TESLA and they would not let us bring it in for service as their analysis did not show an error code. This was in December. I finally get the error code in January, call back. TESLA Rep#1 is on the phone with me and I say its doing it now (typically about a 30 second cycle), we continue to talk and he takes more information and out start a second time while he is on the phone. I run over to the garage an put the phone up to the front tire. He can hear it and says he can see the occurrence. Next I get passed off to TESLA Rep#2. Rep # 2 ask we a few of the same questions I have just answered and then he tells me he needs to check with the Technician to see if I need to bring the car in? I protested and wonder why I paid $127,000 for a car that has problems and now I have to beg the damn company to fix it. Finally they agree to let me bring it in. I entertain clients so I need a nice vehicle, I was rather surprised when I show up for service and the loaner car, that is part of my $127,000 purchase is a Chevy Malibu. They could at least tell you we have no TESLA, I cant show up in the Chevy to try to close my business deal. I wonder if Audi uses Pontiacs and Porsche used Dodges? The whole experience is extremely bad for a car that is supposed to be a luxury vehicle.

 

[RCardona68]

This is why Tesla will fail -- not this year, not next year, but in a few years. It's just one story, but unfortunately it's representative.

Mid-december, the latch fails shut on my rear right door. I call up the service center I've been using to tell them that the latch is stuck shut (can't be opened from the inside or outside). They tell me that top management at Tesla (aka idiots) have told them they can't service my area any more and that I have to be directed to the "New York Mobile Service Team".

Now, there's no upstate NY service center. This is because Tesla top management (aka idiots) have *chosen* not to build one. It is legal for them to build one -- there is a limit on the number of stores, but no limit on the number of service centers. They are lying about this to their technicians, incidentally.

So, the service center I've been using refuses to make an appointment and says the NY mobile service team will call me. They refuse to give me the phone number for the NY mobile service team. They say they'll report my problem and order the part to be delivered to the NY mobile service team. I emphasize that it's the *latch*.

The NY mobile service team doesn't call me back after several weeks. I call the service center again and yell at them. This time I manage to get a phone number for the NY mobile service team. I call them. They say "our computer system says we tried to call you". They never tried to call me -- their computer system is lying. They say the parts came in a week ago (but they never bothered to call me....) I tell them *again* (since it's different people) that the problem is that the *latch* is stuck and ask them to make sure they have ordered the parts for the latch. "Omar" assures me that they have the parts for the latch. At this point, about four weeks after I first called, I am finally able to make an appointment. There is then a further delay because my schedule doesn't allow for an appointment in the next week (but would have in the earlier weeks which Tesla wasted).

Come today, the service tech shows up. He doesn't have the parts for the latch, because nobody ever wrote down that they were supposed to get the parts for the latch. Complete waste of time. I yell at the NY mobile service team guy (Omar), who lied to me, who now claims that the order regarding the stuck latch was never entered in his computer. I ask and he won't give me his manager's number. Or the number of the idiot in top management who ordered that we get all our mobile service through this idiot division. He says he'll talk to his manager -- we'll see.

This is par for the course with Tesla service. I have been dealing with this crap for five years, and it gets worse and worse every time. Meanwhile, the software team breaks basic functionality in updates (such as USB music playback).

This is going to kill the company. Not now, but as soon as there are other decent electric cars on the market -- ones where you can go to *independent service shops*.

They've had five years to fix this sort of crap and they've only made it worse. My advice to investors at this point is to hold on now, but dump the stock before 2020 if they don't fix the chronic and ever-worsening service problems.

It's not the bottom-line technicians. They're all fine. It's top management failure. There's no internal communications: information does not get passed from one person to another, and any one person who screws up the information ruins everything. The only way to get good service is to talk directly to the service tech who is going to do the work on your car. The only way to get a software bug fixed is to find the programmer who is responsible for fixing it. And Tesla does their best to *prevent* you from talking to the people you need to talk to.

Well, I am wondering why you still drive a Tesla! Not surprisingly, a few other S/X owners have had serious issues with their cars as well. But failure of the company? Hardly. Sorry about your issues and I hope they are resolved soon. Good luck.

 

[ebmcs03]

Had similar experience in So.Cal (in Telsa-land)... unless Tesla takes these issues seriously and gets moving on improvements, I reluctantly have to agree with OP

Really? But you actually have service centers and you go there and see the techs.

 

[ebmcs03]

View attachment 277847
They could at least tell you we have no TESLA, I cant show up in the Chevy to try to close my business deal. I wonder if Audi uses Pontiacs and Porsche used Dodges? The whole experience is extremely bad for a car that is supposed to be a luxury vehicle.

Other companies do! They all don’t guarantee loaners anymore. Claims whatever is available. If not they will send you to the local enterprise or call you an Uber! It’s more cost cuttting measures.