Our very unpleasant experience

[dakhlkt22]

Tesla sales process snafus like the ones you had might happen because you're not dealing with an actual specific person. You're dealing with Tesla org. In our case we had multiple specialists responding to specific aspects of our case. It worked smoothly for us, but obviously not all cases.

In NY, they offered to allow us to bring our bank info to Tesla delivery and they said they would execute the transfer right then. Maybe you can ask about that. We just went to the bank and got a bank check.

 

[hydro]

From reading most comments on this thread, I feel like the idea behind this post is lost. The issue is not the car, the issue is the chaos (chaos kā′ŏs″ noun A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.). These customers, like all do, needed someone caring for their need of appointment respect (confirmed email of test drive appointment changed without proper confirmation with the customer), multiple request for VIN # not met, etc. People are treated like merchandise. Does it not happen to anyone to miss some detail in the usual way a business operates and need someone to talk to that will get you back on track? That is called customer service which is needed in any type of business. It's a bit more costly to operate but in the end, you reap many more benefits that supports future expansion of the brand. I love my car but if that is something that makes me think more than twice at renewing with that brand if I ever need to buy a new car.

 

[father_of_6]

My delivery experience was fantastic. Never bought a car so easily ever in my life. 10 minutes to place my order online, 20 minutes to pick up the car at the delivery center. Car was flawless.

And we were so excited to take the delivery tomorrow at 10am and was wondering about the down payment,so we checked on their website yesterday and found out they don't accept credit cards

I wouldn't expect them to accept a credit card for such a big purchase... it's an instant 3% to a middle man.

Please don't take this as a knock... but your situation doesn't sound all that bad to me at all. Some of this was caused by people at Tesla making mistakes, but some of it also seems to be from a lack of preparedness on your end, or even perhaps too high of expectations. Again, please don't take this as an attack, just my personal observation.

Nothing in this world is perfect, but I'll take Tesla's approach to visiting a dealership and being taken advantage of by a car salesman and then a financing salesman (and then eventually a service salesman).

 

[Bouba]

My delivery experience was fantastic. Never bought a car so easily ever in my life. 10 minutes to place my order online, 20 minutes to pick up the car at the delivery center. Car was flawless.



I wouldn't expect them to accept a credit card for such a big purchase... it's an instant 3% to a middle man.

Please don't take this as a knock... but your situation doesn't sound all that bad to me at all. Some of this was caused by people at Tesla making mistakes, but some of it also seems to be from a lack of preparedness on your end, or even perhaps too high of expectations. Again, please don't take this as an attack, just my personal observation.

Nothing in this world is perfect, but I'll take Tesla's approach to visiting a dealership and being taken advantage of by a car salesman and then a financing salesman (and then eventually a service salesman).

I have to agree....you would have to kidnap me off the street to get me into a car dealership

 

[father_of_6]

From reading most comments on this thread, I feel like the idea behind this post is lost. The issue is not the car, the issue is the chaos (chaos kā′ŏs″ noun A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.). These customers, like all do, needed someone caring for their need of appointment respect (confirmed email of test drive appointment changed without proper confirmation with the customer), multiple request for VIN # not met, etc.

You're not wrong, but expectations vary from person to person. Some of us can stand in line at Walmart self-checkout waiting ten minutes to scan their own groceries and still don't throw a fit, while some of us aren't willing to set foot in a grocery store and are willing to oay InstaCart a 30% premium to bring their groceries to their door.

Tesla has grown significantly in a relatively short amount of time. They actually have a pretty fantastic approach (in my opinion), but of course nothing is perfect. They're also busting at the seams and partially a victim of their own success.

The "hold your hand" approach of legacy auto dealers costs you a few thousand dollars added markup, plus binds you to a sales person who is looking out for their own best financial interests.

 

[StrykerFoxx]

The "hold your hand" approach of legacy auto dealers costs you a few thousand dollars added markup, plus binds you to a sales person who is looking out for their own best financial interests.

Exactly! I've bought many cars in my life, both new and used, and a couple of motorcycles, and the Tesla experience is the best I've had. I love not dealing with a salesman, or that person that tries to sell you rust proofing, etc. The problem is, many if not most customers still expect the dealership experience from Tesla (not saying this is the case with the original poster here). When I was picking up my Tesla there was this older couple trying to order a Tesla and the service rep was helping them through the process, apparently some people are not comfortable ordering from a website and need a person to do it for them. There was another guy asking questions about how something worked, why wouldn't he just google it? Some people need a lot of hand holding. My experience wasn't flawless, my car which I ordered in early April didn't arrive until late June despite originally being promised by the end of April, but that could happen with any brand.

 

[richyrich]

I bough two teslas in the last 8 months and both times things were flawless.

This isn't to argue with OP, but rather to balance opinions since as we all know - most usage of forums like this is to voice complaints.
Also, two of my friends own Porsches, and since day one, they are frequent visitor to service centers for various reasons.
Last oil change was $800.00 ( that's eight hundred). He was told any oil change outside of Porsche dealership would void the warranty.

Similar experiences here. The fact is that the Tesla problem is variability. People expect an Apple-like identical experience everywhere but they just aren’t there, maybe won’t ever be. Tesla isn’t as bureaucratic and rigid as Apple, so the quality of staff at each location determines the experience. They’re like regular dealers in this respect - where I am I I’ve worked with VW and Audi, both of whom tend to employ arseholes with attitudes; I’ve also worked with GM who are fantastic. I’m not even sure it’s a brand thing, just locations, leadership and staff. Tesla is the same.

@TinkerBrad if you really are trying to help “future buyer”, which location was this, specifically?

 

[TinkerBrad]

Similar experiences here. The fact is that the Tesla problem is variability. People expect an Apple-like identical experience everywhere but they just aren’t there, maybe won’t ever be. Tesla isn’t as bureaucratic and rigid as Apple, so the quality of staff at each location determines the experience. They’re like regular dealers in this respect - where I am I I’ve worked with VW and Audi, both of whom tend to employ arseholes with attitudes; I’ve also worked with GM who are fantastic. I’m not even sure it’s a brand thing, just locations, leadership and staff. Tesla is the same.

@TinkerBrad if you really are trying to help “future buyer”, which location was this, specifically?

I did mentioned in one of the comments it's in Calgary,Canada

 

[TinkerBrad]

Well the point is,in the end the confirmed the delivery date with us and on the app which asked for a insurance proof and needed to upload it on the app at least 24 he prior to the delivery, first of all they don't provide us a VIN which they were trying not to check for us until u tell them the delivery is next week.

2nd we were told no more delivery and has to be postponed to 10 days later, insurance already kicked in which it was on the weekend, hopefully Aviva see my email and able to postpone the date so we don't have to pay for nothing

Weird to see people don't feel anything wrong about rescheduling the test drives,I mean if they are not available those dates and time slots,why we can book and get confirmation email?and after a day they just rescheduled u to another time slot without discussing with the customer (weekday 430,which it's during our work time) oh well

Not try to be a mean customer,but I think they can do better, especially a hi-tech company,take off some unavailable timeslots from the web is not hard,also,we have been dealing with different dealerships during the years, Chrysler,BMW, Mercedes,all of them had a very smooth experience but honestly tesla is the worst,maybe bc they are not getting commissions?maybe they need to hire more people.

Again we like their car,we have no doubts about it and that's why we are getting one, especially for the range,no one can beat them,or else I would just get an E-tron but can't compare

 

[hydro]

Similar experiences here. The fact is that the Tesla problem is variability. People expect an Apple-like identical experience everywhere but they just aren’t there, maybe won’t ever be. Tesla isn’t as bureaucratic and rigid as Apple, so the quality of staff at each location determines the experience. They’re like regular dealers in this respect - where I am I I’ve worked with VW and Audi, both of whom tend to employ arseholes with attitudes; I’ve also worked with GM who are fantastic. I’m not even sure it’s a brand thing, just locations, leadership and staff. Tesla is the same.

@TinkerBrad if you really are trying to help “future buyer”, which location was this, specifically?

Best comment ever!

Summarizes what I was trying to express. I'm was not trying to imply that there is a need to add a few thousand of dollars of overhead per vehicle sold. Maybe, have a customer relation department like there was sort of in the early days and which many larger companies usually have that could help out vent these mishaps that happen and eventually hopefully corrects the system so that appointments on July 1st in Canada at 18:30 do not repeat themselves. The way I read what happened to the original poster is that this will probably reoccur as nobody but the original poster and the Tesla employee who told them there is no appointments on July 1st especially at 18:30. Maybe there is an internal process that the employee used to alert of that scheduling error but maybe not. I tend to thing not as that employee would most probably have told the original poster that he put a request for this not to happen again.

Empathy is a good characteristic of valued members in a team. Like you pointed out, not all team members have that. A customer relation department, especially in a company like Tesla where employment at all sales/service locations is made by one employer only and not thousands like in the franchised dealer world would very efficiently (low cost) weed out the team members that lack empathy.

Peace out. That will be my last comment. Very good thread and thanks again to the original poster for letting us know.

 

[dakhlkt22]

There can be unplanned reasons for why a test drive has to be rescheduled. I actually kept my test drive for too long (sudden personal stuff came up on my end) and I felt bad about it. It would have impacted any test drives others had scheduled and Tesla was totally not at fault.

Once your purchase closes, pretty sure they will ask for proof of purchase and will date your insurance to the actual purchase date.

 

[Dhankx]

Potential buyer should read this.

We had a test drive on a model y last year and the whole experience was pleasant until this year

Ya my 82 year old parents went to drive a Y 2 hours away. Would have paid in cash on the spot if they liked it. The guy told them nothing, just said there's the car and went on to do something else. Well, the heat was set to MAX and it was 90 outside. They couldn't figure out how to change it and left.

 

[MarkCR]

Seems like you’re getting your car about a month after order. seems pretty quick

 

[lensovet]

They never email us about anything after the order confirmation documents so now lesson learned,even tho u don't own a Tesla yet,keep checking the app for updates

Seems to me this was the crux of all your problems. An email or text might come through, but at the end of the day the entire process once the order has been placed is done in the app. The VIN is in the app. The insurance and payment details are all in the app. You should have also had a text message thread created shortly after the order was placed, where you could have asked all these questions. I was going to do a trade-in, then after Tesla offered a really low price, sold the car elsewhere and just texted my advisor to remove the trade-in. Took about 10 minutes and a lot less frustration than in your post.

Hopefully you've been enjoying the car.

 

[archanfel]

$5K rebate? Damn, I should have waited for that. They have those in Ontairo?

 

[Struja]

I echo a lot of the sentiment found within this thread and what I would simply say to the OP is that you have to either love the car enough to endure the BS or find a different car. I have had some of the WORST customer service experiences with Tesla (on par with Rogers and Bell kind of bad - and that is saying a lot). However, even though I know how AWFUL I think Tesla is as a company, I just ordered a brand new Model S (still hasn't arrived). How do I reconcile the two opinions...

For me it's simple... I LOVE the car. Like, I really love the car. I get into my 7 year old Model S 90D and it still brings a smile to my face (especially on the days its not broken).

Having said that... I did simultaneously buy my wife a Porsche Taycan 4S and although I don't miss having to do the dealership thing, the level of customer service we received (thus far) at Porsche, has been outstanding. They have this knack of actually treating us like human beings. So strange. LOL

 

[father_of_6]

the level of customer service we received (thus far) at Porsche, has been outstanding. They have this knack of actually treating us like human beings. So strange. LOL

Not so strange. Those are salespeople... you paid them $30,000 for that treatment.

 

[Struja]

Not so strange. Those are salespeople... you paid them $30,000 for that treatment.

I paid almost the same for my first Model S as I did for the Porsche and the last time I was in for service I had some concerns and a service manager wouldn’t even come out to talk to me after I asked for him, so I’m hoping it’s not connected to any monetary amount.

 

[father_of_6]

I paid almost the same for my first Model S as I did for the Porsche and the last time I was in for service I had some concerns and a service manager wouldn’t even come out to talk to me after I asked for him, so I’m hoping it’s not connected to any monetary amount.

But today the Model S is $30k less then the Taycan 4S. This was only possible because Tesla is driving costs down.

Tesla is aiming at mass market vehicles, while Porsche is aiming at the top of the market.

Porsche will have a gentleman in the dealership restroom with a silver platter of mints, colognes, razors, and hot towels.

Tesla will leave your new car in a casino parking lot on Native land and send you an automated email with instructions of how to unlock it.

Someone has to pay for the difference (or somebody's daddy).

 

[Struja]

But today the Model S is $30k less then the Taycan 4S. This was only possible because Tesla is driving costs down.

Tesla is aiming at mass market vehicles, while Porsche is aiming at the top of the market.

Porsche will have a gentleman in the dealership restroom with a silver platter of mints, colognes, razors, and hot towels.

Tesla will leave your new car in a casino parking lot on Native land and send you an automated email with instructions of how to unlock it.

Someone has to pay for the difference (or somebody's daddy).

Ok, my mother-in-law just purchased a Lexus NX in Michigan (of all places). I think it was around 50k usd for the purchase. I was there for the purchase. Level of customer service was off the chart. English isn’t her first language so they arranged to have someone that spoke her language around for the pickup so that she could understand the process (since we wouldn’t be around). That’s pretty darn good and for a bargain basement price.

I can tell you in 2017 Tesla customer service was very different than what it is today. I think most legacy owners would tell you the same. Having said that…I did just order a brand new Model S, so it is something I am willing to tolerate but it doesn’t make it right.