Yellow screen? Force Tesla to Replace it!

[Barkingcake]

Thanks to this post, I've submitted for arbitration as well.

If I get the same reply that everyone else seems to get quoting Twitter and this forum as "see! It's fine, Bonnie worked fine", I'll be replying with a formal response stating that " I don't believe forum posts should be admissible. That said, since Tesla's lawyer has opened the door on them, here are a bunch that show Tesla is in the wrong here and their UV option doesn't work well"

I'd then attach:

1. OPs post, including his verdict in his favor
2. OPs followup showing that it failed (this is a biggy)
3. The other 3 posts I've seen on this forum from users all saying they have won their arbitration cases also.
4. The earlier poster's copy of an email from the lawyer trying to intimidate him into dropping the case

 

[SeminoleFSU]

I think it may be present on the instrument cluster's screen as well... you just can't see it as easily because the background is dark...

 

[Locash]

Those that have done this and succeeded, can we share claim numbers so that we can establish precedence? I have an arbitration scheduled as well and I have to physically mail pictures and documents. Just want to have enough info to make this an open and shut case for all of us.

 

[testhrowaway]

I think it may be present on the instrument cluster's screen as well... you just can't see it as easily because the background is dark...

It is.
If I look at my instrument cluster I can see it as well.

They performed the UV on that and it didn't work there either. (I threatened with taking them to arbitration over that seperately if they didn't just handle both). I'm expecting they will need to replace that also.

 

[MSVroomVroom]

I don't see it as intimidating, there is nothing saying if you proceed that Tesla will hold it against you, he is just trying to save Tesla time and money, as well as some time for you.

The message to umamahesh9999 was not an outright threat by any means but the lawyer is trying to pressure them into not doing the arbitration. I would say that the language used in the message sent to wildag (post #80) is much closer to intimidation:

He tried to pressure me by saying "Cooperation and patience will go a long way with us in terms of this or other concerns you may have with your Tesla." He later claimed he wasn't saying Tesla would blacklist me - but yes he clearly was trying to make me feel uncomfortable with requesting arbitration.

Not going through arbitration only helps Tesla. Sure, you save some time and don't have the hassle but you are giving Tesla an easy out. It is not just about the cost to Tesla for the arbitration. More arbitration cases help set a precedent which gives all customers more leverage to actually get Tesla to do something. They have made it clear as of late that they aren't going to do anything unless forced into it. Further, a slew of won arbitration cases would make some nice evidence for a class cation lawyer to point to. I imagine the latter is really what the lawyer is trying to protect against here. The cost of arbitration is peanuts to Tesla compared to what might come next if they can't quietly put this to rest.

 

[Mark_T]

Believe the ultimate warranty policy will be...
1. If you have the yellow band, but it does not bother you enough to make the effort to bring it in to a service center, you can just drive it as it is. No functional issue at all, just cosmetic.
2. You can bring it in to have it cooked. If that fixes it to your satisfaction...you are done.
3. If the cooking does not work, they will warranty replace your screen with a new one, but the yellow line might come back again later.

Your belief and Tesla’s actions are rather far apart.

While they continue to assert that this is not a warranty matter everyone should continue to seek arbitration.

If they want that pain to stop they just have to agree that it is a warranty matter and behave accordingly.

 

[trayloader]

Very disappointing lack of customer service from Tesla... this will not end well

Exactly.
The Autist is immune realizing that this forms an impression of a corporate culture customers avoid like the pleague in the future.

 

[CarsCars]

I was hoping that my Model S was new enough (9/18) to avoid the dreaded yellow border problem but after parking the car at work yesterday in 106 degree weather with cabin overheat protection enabled this evening I noticed the yellow border beginning to develop on the center screen. I'll have to read back through this thread for guidance on how to proceed with Tesla.

 

[umamahesh9999]

Here is the update on my case.
The lawyer talked to my service center guys. They called me today and setup an appointment for 6th to repair the issue. They mentioned that their engineers will be here on 6th (not sure what the engineers are for).
Remember, these are the same guys who until last week just shrugged me off saying that I have to wait indefinitely for the repair since they don't have the fix available yet.
So filing an arbitration definitely helps.
I also asked them if the repair will be marked as "under warranty". They said yes.
I don't trust them until they do it. So I said that I will drop the arbitration case after the repair is done satisfactorily and covered by warranty, not a goodwill gesture.

 

[wildag]

Here is the update on my case.
The lawyer talked to my service center guys. They called me today and setup an appointment for 6th to repair the issue...
I don't trust them until they do it. So I said that I will drop the arbitration case after the repair is done satisfactorily and covered by warranty, not a goodwill gesture.

Well done. Thank-you for helping to set this precedence.

 

[re04586]

So I said that I will drop the arbitration case after the repair is done satisfactorily and covered by warranty, not a goodwill gesture.

Wise decision.

 

[testhrowaway]

Here is the update on my case.
The lawyer talked to my service center guys. They called me today and setup an appointment for 6th to repair the issue. They mentioned that their engineers will be here on 6th (not sure what the engineers are for).
Remember, these are the same guys who until last week just shrugged me off saying that I have to wait indefinitely for the repair since they don't have the fix available yet.
So filing an arbitration definitely helps.
I also asked them if the repair will be marked as "under warranty". They said yes.
I don't trust them until they do it. So I said that I will drop the arbitration case after the repair is done satisfactorily and covered by warranty, not a goodwill gesture.

Smart move. If it works for you, that's great.
Make sure to inspect the screen in both sketchpad mode and screen cleaning mode to see it with a white background and a dark one.

 

[rjdoc74]

My arbitration is Monday. Wish me luck.

 

[testhrowaway]

Update:

The MCU screen has officially been replaced(Revision C). It looks much better now. I noticed some scratches on the chrome trim that are new around where they replaced it, so I need to contact them on that as well soon. I am unsure if these are from the UV treatment or the replacement activities.

Tesla ultimately spent quite a bit of money fighting replacing the screen. This would have been quite a bit cheaper for them to have just replaced the screen to begin with. Instead, as a result of the 2 weeks they kept my car:

• Uber credits (just under $2,000, as my commute is 35 miles each way)
• initial rental days (at $100/day as well)
• Arbitration fees (they pay these 100%)

they spent somewhere in the realm of $3K. This doesn't even include the actual replacement cost.

For the main screen, I had to fight them again with the invoice to state that it was a warranty repair and NOT goodwill. I was also insistent that they put the fact they tried the UV twice. (I actually think they attempted this three times, as the extra length they kept my car before this replacement is suspicious, plus a service writer told me they tried it a third time, while the manager said they did not)

That portion of my invoice is here:View media item 120120. You will notice that mine is surprisingly "a resistant screen" that this did not work with (despite the fact it did not work on the IC either), which I find awfully suspicious. My assumptions are that the UV doesn't 100% remove for anyone.


NOTE: the ICU they only did the UV and it didn't work there either. I have not yet decided if I care enough to file another claim for that screen. They would not touch it without that, and claimed the UV they did there was "goodwill" as well.

 

[re04586]

testhrowaway - thank you again for sharing. This was informative as it seems the UV light may not be the miracle we had hoped, it seems as though results will vary case by case. Hopefully this new screen will not yellow again, but at the very worse, you should now be protected from future repair costs as long as you are in warranty stage.

 

[re04586]

Tesla ultimately spent quite a bit of money fighting replacing the screen. This would have been quite a bit cheaper for them to have just replaced the screen to begin with. Instead, as a result of the 2 weeks they kept my car:

• Uber credits (just under $2,000, as my commute is 35 miles each way)
• initial rental days (at $100/day as well)
• Arbitration fees (they pay these 100%)

they spent somewhere in the realm of $3K. This doesn't even include the actual replacement cost.

On a separate note, I don't take any pleasure in Tesla pissing money away, a bankrupt Tesla doesn't benefit any of us, but I hope these cases open their eyes to the fact that not all consumers are just going to accept the bs response of "not a warranty item." Maybe it's just a numbers game for them, where they gamble not enough of us will spend the time to go through arbitration and force their hand, but this can't be a successful long term strategy to run a business.

 

[umamahesh9999]

On a separate note, I don't take any pleasure in Tesla pissing money away, a bankrupt Tesla doesn't benefit any of us, but I hope these cases open their eyes to the fact that not all consumers are just going to accept the bs response of "not a warranty item." Maybe it's just a numbers game for them, where they gamble not enough of us will spend the time to go through arbitration and force their hand, but this can't be a successful long term strategy to run a business.

will the UV treatment take so many days? I thought I can drop my car in the morning and pick it up in the evening.

 

[testhrowaway]

will the UV treatment take so many days? I thought I can drop my car in the morning and pick it up in the evening.

As far as I know it only takes a few hours. This location only has the machine on Thursdays. So they would do it on a Thursday, then I checked on a Friday, then they held it for another week to try again.

 

[dannycamps]

I would definitely think it's a YMMV kind of thing with the UV repair - maybe tied to how long the screen has been yellowed or the amount of yellowing.

 

[MSVroomVroom]

Tesla ultimately spent quite a bit of money fighting replacing the screen. This would have been quite a bit cheaper for them to have just replaced the screen to begin with. Instead, as a result of the 2 weeks they kept my car:

• Uber credits (just under $2,000, as my commute is 35 miles each way)
• initial rental days (at $100/day as well)
• Arbitration fees (they pay these 100%)

they spent somewhere in the realm of $3K. This doesn't even include the actual replacement cost.

Wow, Tesla spent a lot of time and money to try to get out of just replacing the screen. This is an example of why going through arbitration is worth it though. Without doing so you would probably have never gotten them to replace the screen let alone so quickly.

It is sad to see a company that once had such great customer service flip their model on its head. Instead of going out of their way to help us owners they now go out of their way to do all they can to weasel out of their obligations.