AmpedRealtor
Well-Known Member
So why not do anything and everything reasonable to inform your customers of the situation, so that they don't wind up in danger or inconvenienced? A simple e-mail, sent on Monday morning, would have gone a long way towards accomplishing this. If Tesla wanted to go even further, they could have started some sort of phone campaign.
I realize that Tesla had good reasons not to do these things, but I don't believe any of them had their customers' best interests at their core. Sending out a mass e-mail alerting their customers to this problem would be bad PR, and could be bad for business. Customers that would never experience the issue would be made aware of it unnecessarily. Even so, I feel Tesla should have taken this approach. The PR could have easily been spun into a positive.
Several P85D owners in the thread about this problem indicate that they were contacted by Tesla regarding this issue.
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Really disappointed in those of you who know and understand software development.
Answer these question ...
- How many times have you had a perfect release?
- How many times have you developed something as complex as a car?
- How many times have you continually added new features to the product after it was already in the field?
- and ... How many times did you have to read about your customers bashing you publicly after you've been working crazy hours?
You ALL know better. Every one of you know there are a myriad of reasons that could lead to the problems you've experienced. But instead, you point fingers at one group. Awesome back seat driving. Just. Awesome. You don't know all the facts, but are ready to pass damning judgment. Wow.
I don't know that we should be excusing Tesla just because what they are trying to do is difficult. If they do not have the correct processes in place to ensure that mission-critical drivetrain software is secure and bug-free, they should not embark upon a journey that requires those processes. That's pretty simple in my mind.
It's the severity of this bug that is causing the reaction, not the expectation of bug-free software. It's one thing when the navigation system freezes or the route line disappears. It's another when the car totally loses power while driving. At its worst, one is an annoyance while the other could be life threatening. There is no excuse for an owner to be put in the latter situation due to a software issue. None whatsoever.
What kind of reputation is Tesla building for itself, and is that reputation earning trust with customers or alienating them? When Autopilot finally comes around, will we be able to trust Tesla to get it right the first time and without throwing someone into a lane of oncoming traffic? Or will that bug only be exposed when someone is killed? Tesla is playing in the big leagues here and needs to step up.
We're not talking about a phone that you can chuck out the window if it doesn't work properly. We are talking about over 4,000 lbs of metal that is charged with carrying our most valuable cargo - our families. Personally, that's where I draw the line. And we're not just talking about one incident... in the last few weeks, Tesla has released software with obvious bugs in the following areas:
- Braking bug that allowed car to be put into gear and driven before boosted/power braking was available.
- Steering bug that caused steering wheel to lock up at full turn while in Sport mode.
- Drivetrain bug that caused reduced power or loss of power when in Range Mode.