Has the quality of Tesla service gone into the toilet?

[artsci]

I called my service center (Rockville, MD) two days ago about the total failure of my Nav system (at the time it had me in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and of I'm not mistaken, there are no roads there). Rockville told me they'd pull the logs and get back to me ASAP. I've heard not a word. Called again this afternoon and left a voicemail about the problem and the failure to call me back. Again, no reply.

I have an expensive 4-year service contract which I just renewed. Ordinarily I'm not one to complain and I've cut Tesla a lot of slack in the past, but to be blunt this is dreadful customer service. I'm thinking that maybe the leadership at Rockville has changed and the new service manager doesn't hold his or her team to the same high quality standards I've experienced at Rockville in the past. Ot maybe Tesla corporate is to blame. Hard to know.

Having no nav is a real problem especially since the car can't calculate whether the state of charge is sufficient to reach a destination.

Is there a national number I can call to complain about the poor service a Rockville? Since Erick Pinzon left things there appear to have gone down the tubes.

 

[DillyBop]

yup, Jonathan Hughes is now at Tysons. good for us Virginia people, bad for you MD folks, apparently.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I've had the occasional slow response to emails.
I'm not sure why, perhaps they are getting too busy and are having trouble scaling up their staffing levels.
Always good service once response arrives.

 

[evp]

I don't think the quality has gone down-hill, just the quantity. The number of service centers has not gone up as fast as the number of vehicles on the road. When they can get around to working on your car, they still do a great job. It might take a month to work you into their schedule though.

This issue will hit the crisis point some time between now and late 2018, when they will need about 5 times the number of service centers world-wide to support the half million Model 3s they are planning to deliver by then. To achieve that, they need to be opening a new service center every 3 or 4 days somewhere on the planet for the next 2 years.

 

[Vitold]

I called my service center (Rockville, MD) two days ago about the total failure of my Nav system (at the time it had me in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and of I'm not mistaken, there are no roads there). Rockville told me they'd pull the logs and get back to me ASAP. I've heard not a word. Called again this afternoon and left a voicemail about the problem and the failure to call me back. Again, no reply.

I have an expensive 4-year service contract which I just renewed. Ordinarily I'm not one to complain and I've cut Tesla a lot of slack in the past, but to be blunt this is dreadful customer service. I'm thinking that maybe the leadership at Rockville has changed and the new service manager doesn't hold his or her team to the same high quality standards I've experienced at Rockville in the past. Ot maybe Tesla corporate is to blame. Hard to know.

Having no nav is a real problem especially since the car can't calculate whether the state of charge is sufficient to reach a destination.

Is there a national number I can call to complain about the poor service a Rockville? Since Erick Pinzon left things there appear to have gone down the tubes.

I would wait at least a day after leaving a VM. It is entirely possible that no one checks afternoon messages until next morning.

 

[Logan5]

I'm a new owner and I am experiencing some poor service. My car was delivered with a defect that prevents it from passing the state inspection. It took over a week after delivery for Tesla to schedule the first service at which time I was informed the required part was back ordered for a month. The part came in but did not solve the problem so another part was ordered but took five days to arrive. It also failed to resolve the problem. So another part was ordered and we will see if that fixes the issue. So this points to poor distribution of parts.

But what makes the service poor is that while my car is at the service center I have received in accurate and misleading reports about its progress. I was told that it would be worked on the day I delivered it but I know for a fact that it sat in the lot for three days until it was first seen. This caused the initial delay in the third part ordered. It then sat in the lot for another 4 days waiting for that third part to arrive. I received a call telling me that the car was almost ready but would require another day but once again I know that it had not been worked on until after the call had been made. So poor communication.

I don't know if this is an anomaly but I'm not pleased at all with this situation. Mind you, this is a minor issue. I dread the thought of this being a major problem.

 

[Discoducky]

What was the problem with nav exactly? A reboot will usually solve it as it is just software.

 

[number12]

SC are trying to hit Q3 numbers and CEOs own words cut cuts. Fixing your nav for free is not a money generator.

What I don't understand is tesla gets so much flack for selling direct. Why not allow franchises? Even if I made no money and just broke even and got a discount I would start one here. Small space no inventory.

There's not one for 3 hrs in either direction of me and I am on a state line and a major interstate.

Seems like a win win. And maybe the argument is quality control, but at this point I would like a sub standard quality SC than no SC. And it's not like a franchise owner would not care about his ratings. Any less than the 40k yearly managers and $12/HR OAs working at SCs now. (Yes I am guessing on salary amounts)

 

[AMPUP]

Rick , have you tried pinging Erick directly? I did recently and as usual he was extremely helpful and offered to arrange a call back from the SC. Just a thought as he is still around and is one of the best.

On another note early into my ownership Rockville replaced my entire screen/MCU as my Nav would regularly have me located miles away going across roads and through houses and sometimes the wrong direction.

 

[bhuwan]

Wow. When did did Erick leave!?

 

[aus]

The crappy service center issues are a direct result of not having dealers as a separate entity. There are not service manuals on the car and no other sources for parts or body panels.
Like other's have said, Tesla has no increased the service center capacity after selling so many more cars than 2 years ago.

 

[techmaven]

Erick is now a Tesla Ranger based out of the Tyson's Corner store, serving mostly Virginia. He takes good care of us here in Richmond. They need more like him.

 

[vdiv]

The crappy service center issues are a direct result of not having dealers as a separate entity. There are not service manuals on the car and no other sources for parts or body panels.
Like other's have said, Tesla has no increased the service center capacity after selling so many more cars than 2 years ago.

Nonsense, they have. Just can't keep up.

 

[vdiv]

SC are trying to hit Q3 numbers and CEOs own words cut cuts. Fixing your nav for free is not a money generator.

Not free, he paid a pretty penny for the service, read the whole post.

 

[FlatSix911]

Service appointments in the Bay Area are now being scheduled with a one month wait ... the model 3 will be the last straw next year.

 

[ohmman]

I've always raved about my Service Center. Before the Model X deliveries, they still did valet service, even if it wasn't officially supported. They were responsive and proactive. The service exceeded my experience at Lexus and Acura service centers in the years prior. In the last 6 months or so, everything has changed. I email for an appointment and nobody responds. Weeks later, I follow up and they put me at the back of the queue. Communication is near zero. My X has been in service for 16 days, as of today, and there's no ETA on when it'll be home. A good number of those days it was sitting in the parking lot with the liftgate open. The battery ran down (I'm assuming because of the liftgate being open) and I had to contact them to get them to charge it.

I don't really blame them. I think it's a resource problem. These are the same people who provided excellent service under reasonable load. They're just buried. Something definitely needs to be done because if I bought my S today and wound up in this service environment, I'd be terribly disappointed. New customers are getting a terrible look at what Tesla service could, should, and used to be.

 

[Troy]

Hi everybody. Check out my topic here:
Tesla Service Center Stats

@artsci,
I think you took delivery in late 2013. Let me give you some data about what happened since then.
At the end of Q2 2014, there were 29,148 Teslas and 47 service centers in the USA. That's 620 Teslas per service center.
At the end of Q2 2015, there were 49,322 Teslas and 52 service centers in the USA. That's 949 Teslas per service center.
At the end of Q2 2016, there were 80,172 Teslas and 61 service centers in the USA. That's 1,314 Teslas per service center.
Currently, the USA has 62 service centers. Therefore Q3 numbers will be worse. I will update that topic after each quarter.

Looking at these numbers, you can see where the problem is. The number of service centers is not increasing anywhere near as fast as the number of Teslas. Unfortunately, last few quarters have been worse. For example, in Q2 2016, Tesla sold 14,402 cars worldwide but opened only 5 new service centers. That's 1 service center per 14,402/5= 2,880 Teslas. I think they are trying to be profitable before raising money for Model 3 tooling.

 

[Skipdd]

Artsci, sorry for your frustration. I have also noticed a drop-off in service @Rockville SC. I just posted to another thread that I picked up my car today after it was in for two issues which recurred on my way home from Herndon this evening. Erick was there in June or July (I forget which, sorry) as he did the 24k service on my car. I thought he said he was working there "sometimes?" More importantly what I have noticed is that it depends on who you work with there. I have found a particular SA to be more responsive. PM me and I will share their name; I don't want to malign individuals in this forum or even indirectly by naming someone else.

 

[vdiv]

Also the utilization of the service centers has increased. For example Tyco Rd in VA initially had 2 service advisers, now all four desks are used. Much of the issues are due to initial quality from the factory, esp. now with the Model X.

 

[number12]

Not free, he paid a pretty penny for the service, read the whole post.

The service contract is already paid for. Tesla does not get any new monies for fixing his problem right now. After q3/capital raise maybe they will get around to it?