Is Tesla service trying to rip me off?

[jickks]

On 11/12 my 2021 ModelY stopped responding and did not wake up. It behaved like it just died on me. Later I was able to open the passenger side doors but the car did not wake up. Next day early morning I got a notification saying the passenger side door is left open. I checked and the car was up with a bunch of errors on the screen. From the errors, it looked like there was an issue with the low voltage battery.
11/15: Took it to the nearest Tesla Dealership. The service tech checks the car and confirms it has possibly a bad low voltage battery and replacing should resolve the issue. I get my Uber credits and I'm off to work.
11/16: Radio silence from Tesla
11/17: Tesla service tech updates me saying there's rodent damage to the Main Harness and needs to be replaced including the low voltage battery. Gives me an estimate of $2100. I called them and tried to understand the extent of damage and tried to get them repair it instead of replace (I had no idea how main harness works). They constantly said there's multiple rodent damage in the harness and replacing it is the ONLY way.
I started an Insurance Claim, hoping I had comprehensive coverage and just have to pay the $250 deductible.
11/20: Insurance adjuster inspects the car at Tesla dealership and asks for pictures of rodent damage to the Main Harness. Tesla says the main technician is not available and they'll provide the evidence once he's back. Meanwhile the adjuster approves the estimate and tells them to provide pics once they start working on it.
11/21: Tesla Service Tech calls me and says, it's a big mess now. And they do not see any rodent damage. They 'Assumed' it seeing few tree leaves inside and thought with the outdoor temp going down, rodents usually nest inside the car. Also, after replacing the low voltage battery, everything seems to work perfectly fine. Although, they'll do extended testing to figure out the reason why it went for a deep sleep. And, they'll not charge me anything for the maintenance done on the car. They have offered me to speak to the Service manager tomorrow morning.

What should me my next step, folks. I have no clue how to go ahead with this.
Was Tesla service trying to rip me off here? If the insurance agent hadn't asked for pictures I would never have come to know about the 'no damage' to the Main Harness.
Or there's something really wrong coz of which the car went for a deep sleep?

Attached the error pics.
Spec: 2021 MYLR with FSD - 65k miles in ~3yrs

 

[Tam]

On 11/12 my 2021 ModelY stopped responding and did not wake up. It behaved like it just died on me. Later I was able to open the passenger side doors but the car did not wake up. Next day early morning I got a notification saying the passenger side door is left open. I checked and the car was up with a bunch of errors on the screen. From the errors, it looked like there was an issue with the low voltage battery.
11/15: Took it to the nearest Tesla Dealership. The service tech checks the car and confirms it has possibly a bad low voltage battery and replacing should resolve the issue. I get my Uber credits and I'm off to work.
11/16: Radio silence from Tesla
11/17: Tesla service tech updates me saying there's rodent damage to the Main Harness and needs to be replaced including the low voltage battery. Gives me an estimate of $2100. I called them and tried to understand the extent of damage and tried to get them repair it instead of replace (I had no idea how main harness works). They constantly said there's multiple rodent damage in the harness and replacing it is the ONLY way.
I started an Insurance Claim, hoping I had comprehensive coverage and just have to pay the $250 deductible.
11/20: Insurance adjuster inspects the car at Tesla dealership and asks for pictures of rodent damage to the Main Harness. Tesla says the main technician is not available and they'll provide the evidence once he's back. Meanwhile the adjuster approves the estimate and tells them to provide pics once they start working on it.
11/21: Tesla Service Tech calls me and says, it's a big mess now. And they do not see any rodent damage. They 'Assumed' it seeing few tree leaves inside and thought with the outdoor temp going down, rodents usually nest inside the car. Also, after replacing the low voltage battery, everything seems to work perfectly fine. Although, they'll do extended testing to figure out the reason why it went for a deep sleep. And, they'll not charge me anything for the maintenance done on the car. They have offered me to speak to the Service manager tomorrow morning.

What should me my next step, folks. I have no clue how to go ahead with this.
Was Tesla service trying to rip me off here? If the insurance agent hadn't asked for pictures I would never have come to know about the 'no damage' to the Main Harness.
Or there's something really wrong coz of which the car went for a deep sleep?

Attached the error pics.
Spec: 2021 MYLR with FSD - 65k miles in ~3yrs

They didn't disclose that it was an assumption about the rat damage until they found none.

I would leave it alone since the low-voltage battery has cleared up all errors.

If you are bothered about the deep sleep, you can turn on Sentry Mode to keep it awake and consume lots of battery.

Since they didn't charge you anything, that's not a rip off. It's an attempt.

 

[ATPMSD]

Was Tesla service trying to rip me off here?

Sounds more like incompetence. So in the future always ask for proof.

 

[jickks]

They didn't disclose that it was an assumption about the rat damage until they found none.

I would leave it alone since the low-voltage battery has cleared up all errors.

If you are bothered about the deep sleep, you can turn on Sentry Mode to keep it awake and consume lots of battery.

Since they didn't charge you anything, that's not a rip off. It's an attempt.

The issue is they never had any evidence of rodent damage and the initial diagnostic exactly said this:
"The technician has completed the diagnostic and has confirmed there is short in front main harness. Further inspection found evidence of rodent damage to the wiring harness."
And if insurance had not asked for photo evidence Tesla service wouldn't have come clean about it.
I'm a little bit worried about the deep sleep, but most of the symptoms I saw points towards a failed low voltage battery. So hopefully no further issues there.
That's right, they definitely tried to rip me off. If not, there was no reason to waive off the battery replacement.

 

[jickks]

Sounds more like incompetence. So in the future always ask for proof.

I'm not sure if it's incompetence but, asking for proof should be the right thing to do.

 

[richrootes]

Good lord

Have you never made a mistake in your life before? They fixed it - enjoy the car now it’s working again

 

[jickks]

Good lord

Have you never made a mistake in your life before? They fixed it - enjoy the car now it’s working again

Of course. Mistakes makes us human and I totally understand if they honestly made one.
Imagine if they are doing this knowingly to even 10% of vehicles coming in for service/repair (out of the millions on road). If this happens to a low income uber driver. Coz, we usually never ask for evidence of damages and trust the experts in Auto Service.

 

[shahryaran]

Just go to a different service center

 

[jmaddr]

Sounds like you are getting worked up in a hypothetical and pessimistically think they wouldn’t have owned up. While that is certainly possible… I think there is a good chance they would have. Tesla engineers don’t get comped on big repairs nor do they get commission AFAIK. I don’t really see a reason for them to not have come clean.

Still, hope is not a strategy, so thank you for posting. I’m taking away to always get at least a pic if not go in for an inspect myself. I had rodents make a nest in my bumper taking out my radar. I asked for pics and it was obvious but my repair was less than $300.

 

[jickks]

Sounds like you are getting worked up in a hypothetical and pessimistically think they wouldn’t have owned up. While that is certainly possible… I think there is a good chance they would have. Tesla engineers don’t get comped on big repairs nor do they get commission AFAIK. I don’t really see a reason for them to not have come clean.

Still, hope is not a strategy, so thank you for posting. I’m taking away to always get at least a pic if not go in for an inspect myself. I had rodents make a nest in my bumper taking out my radar. I asked for pics and it was obvious but my repair was less than $300.

Yeah, it definitely made me think otherwise once they backtracked on their diagnosis. I too hope they are not trying to make money like this.
Good news is I got my car back today, after 2 weeks and everything looks good.