Did the Service Centre break my screen? I have proof they did!

[M3noob]

Devil's Advocate....

I can conceive of a scenario where pressing on the back of the screen, or pressing on something that is attached to the back of the screen, when the screen itself is fixed in place, is a force that could conceivably do damage. The edges of the screen are arguably the places you'd be most likely to do damage by pressing too hard, because the screen is only supported in the middle, the edges are free to bend and flex (and crack) depending on forces imparted on them.

Is it possible that damage was slowly being done over the course of 2 years, even microscopic twisting/bending forces, from pressing on the back of the screen in that area (i.e. pressing the button)? It's conceivable in my opinion. No one knows how hard you've been pressing on that button, or how hard the button needs to be pressed to function, including Tesla. Obviously any affected owner facing this kind of repair is just going to say that they only ever touched it with the faintest amount of force, whilst wearing soft padded gloves, etc. Few people are going to admit to doing this damage as they have a vested interest in getting the repair done under warranty.

I tend to agree that Tesla can simply say that repeatedly pressing on the back of the screen has - over time - cause internal damage that has ultimately caused this failure. The dispute over when the crack occured is a bit academic, I think, and would appear to be impossible to prove definitively.

I agree with @MrMoonUK in so much as that it is a lesson not to attach things to the back of the screen. This is a good rule of thumb generally for mods. They might not cause any damage, but if they do it's something Tesla can easily point to as being the cause - even if it isn't - and the reason they're not honouring the warranty on it. Sticking these buttons to inert, cheap bits of trim would be the sensible thing to do.

I hope you get it sorted but I think that your only hope in terms of small claims is if Tesla don't respond, which there is a good chance of to be honest.

You'll always be my favourite devil's advocate - says Satan himself ;-)

FYI the offending clicker that can be actuated by pinkie pressure

 

[Cardo]

I’ve read various articles and posts that said Tesla didn’t bother turning up to court. It appears they tend to ignore court procedures, even bigger ones brought by some states. The plaintiff then wins by default on a summary judgment. I’m curious about what might happen with this one. Following with interest.

Being half Spanish and having been raised in Spain, I’m sadly all too aware of how dodgy and dishonest Spaniards can be. I can very well imagine the tech breaking the screen and then denying it to their deaths just because they won’t want to admit their screw up. It’s why I don’t trust anyone.

 

[candida]

Who will you sue? It's not Tesla UK for failure to honour the warranty as this was damage by a Spanish Tesla employee (or at least might have been). Your relationship with Barcelona SC was almost certainly stated to be under Spanish law, which is usually determinative. And even if not you cant sue a foreign entity that doesn't have a UK presence (and Tesla Spain will not have a UK presence) in the small claims court. And post Brexit you cant use the European small claims procedure.
There are real complexities here. How much is your time worth?

 

[M3noob]

Who will you sue? It's not Tesla UK for failure to honour the warranty as this was damage by a Spanish Tesla employee (or at least might have been). Your relationship with Barcelona SC was almost certainly stated to be under Spanish law, which is usually determinative. And even if not you cant sue a foreign entity that doesn't have a UK presence (and Tesla Spain will not have a UK presence) in the small claims court. And post Brexit you cant use the European small claims procedure.
There are real complexities here. How much is your time worth

It's a UK car with a UK warranty. If I win, by default or on the merits, I'm confident Tesla UK will sort it out with their brothers (or actually don't care). I'm a retired US lawyer. Everyone needs a hobby.

 

[MrMoonUK]

Small claims fees are well within my budget ;-) I have two UK Tesla service techs that said "duff screen" when they saw the video. The video was dated prior to the service appointment being made. Wife and I will swear on a stack of Bibles about our visual examination of the screen before we left the car.

The crack is immaterial as the screen was demonstrated as defective by phantom touch. I don't want to get into a who/how exchange about how it got cracked though it was obviously "sometime" after we left the car. The size of the button and the pressure required to click the door openner is miniscule. It was located at what is the strongest part of the screen.

The problem isn’t the small claims fee, it will be well over a year to even get to a hearing, then Tesla will produce a statement from their own tech who is adequately trained, to say the button was a factor. You would have to pay ££££ for an independent expert to counter that and who can’t inspect the vehicle. Then you will be liable for teslas costs and their lawyer will be charging £400ph.

Then there is the jurisdiction issue as it occurred outside England and Wales. So good luck with that, any district judge is going to kick this out.