Please don't rely on tesla road assistance

[Envchem]

Not heresy, but it's naive to think that it's not about money. A bespoke and trained breakdown service would clearly cost more.



We were talking about the roadside service. Service center capacity is clearly an issue, there are several new ones opening, let hope that improves the availability or service. I'm not sure what other manufacturer would immediately be able to get a broken down car into their workshop, I've certainly waited days for work to start and weeks for parts at other companies. Yes you have to accept that communication will be through text, they've always given my clear and timely messages. I agree it's a minimum level.

Sorry if you feel I'm an apologist, but frankly you are all pointlessly complaining in a third party forum which clearly has no connection to Tesla. and the only purpose it serves is to put off potential purchasers or create an echo chamber of like minded grievances. No one is allowed to be satisfied, just like no one is allowed to be pleased with FSD, or be happy with the build quality of their cars.

I understand that the discussion was about roadside service. The problem with Tesla though is that if the service is so abysmal on their SC how could we even expect to have a decent roadside one?
I had issues in the past with other car brands where I waited for parts but communication was spot on. I was given updates in person. Someone would actually pick up the phone; imagine that. You mentioned texts. I haven't received a single one. When I questioned this I was told that the phone number on my account is wrong. The one that I entered years ago when I pre-ordered the car and was used for communication by Tesla in the past. When I mentioned this the response was: oh ok.
Regarding raising issues and complains in the forum I cant see why we cannot do this. We need to be able to point out the good and the bad. I have posted in the past good experiences with the car. Why cannot I do the same for the bad ones? If people are getting put off by it then it is their choice.
In any case Tesla needs to understand this. If they want to expand their sales and become an established car manufacturer they need to provide at least a basic level of support. More important since people cannot rely on their local garage for fixes. All goes through Tesla so they need to pick up their game.

 

[GRiLLA]

I understand that the discussion was about roadside service. The problem with Tesla though is that if the service is so abysmal on their SC how could we even expect to have a decent roadside one?
I had issues in the past with other car brands where I waited for parts but communication was spot on. I was given updates in person. Someone would actually pick up the phone; imagine that. You mentioned texts. I haven't received a single one. When I questioned this I was told that the phone number on my account is wrong. The one that I entered years ago when I pre-ordered the car and was used for communication by Tesla in the past. When I mentioned this the response was: oh ok.
Regarding raising issues and complains in the forum I cant see why we cannot do this. We need to be able to point out the good and the bad. I have posted in the past good experiences with the car. Why cannot I do the same for the bad ones? If people are getting put off by it then it is their choice.
In any case Tesla needs to understand this. If they want to expand their sales and become an established car manufacturer they need to provide at least a basic level of support. More important since people cannot rely on their local garage for fixes. All goes through Tesla so they need to pick up their game.

You can all post what you like here, the moderation is very well handled and allows disagreement. You do seem to have taken exception to me disagreeing with your closed statements, but I'm just as entitled to do that based on my own experience and opinions.

 

[Envchem]

You can all post what you like here, the moderation is very well handled and allows disagreement. You do seem to have taken exception to me disagreeing with your closed statements, but I'm just as entitled to do that based on my own experience and opinions.

Apologies if it feels that way; certainly it is not my intention to pick on anyone on a personal level. I do appreciate comments based on positive experiences and I am happy that you and hopefully more people are getting good level of support by Tesla. My only hope is that they will improve. Otherwise they will fail and it would be a shame since they opened a new frontier and surely the world of automotive would not have been the same.

 

[Obliter8]

Oh, how it amuses me that people complain about Tesla fanboys, then those self-same people ignore any view that is contrary to their own.

Again, I have had previous cars from large global manufacturers where the car was off the road for weeks whilst they sorted parts, who have made me come back time and again for what I thought was a simple job, who have not had loan cars available when the work was being done. I have had BMW dealership staff be entirely rude and dismissive to my face.

Tesla gets stuff wrong, they all do. I have had the Ranger out 3 times - every time exactly when they said they would be. I had to wait a long time in my mind, but when they finally got around to me, I had text comms and the Ranger guy was beyond friendly and helpful.

As I said previously, I have had times when a car has lost power in the outside lane of the motorway, and when the AA-contracted pickup crew made us wait for 4 hours and refused to tow me home.

I can understand why @Envchem was particularly bitter in the immediate aftermath, and I hope that time has helped give a little perspective (given that you're still without, maybe not!). For the rest of us, perhaps we can consider that others have different experiences, and just because some don't think that Tesla get everything wrong, doesn't mean that they are blind fanboys either. Tesla totally need to get this stuff right more often, and strive for better. Doesn't mean they are any worse than of the others.

Actually - if you're a 'premium executive car driver', you're much better off with a Tesla - the car drivers say so.

 

[Envchem]

Oh, how it amuses me that people complain about Tesla fanboys, then those self-same people ignore any view that is contrary to their own.

Again, I have had previous cars from large global manufacturers where the car was off the road for weeks whilst they sorted parts, who have made me come back time and again for what I thought was a simple job, who have not had loan cars available when the work was being done. I have had BMW dealership staff be entirely rude and dismissive to my face.

Tesla gets stuff wrong, they all do. I have had the Ranger out 3 times - every time exactly when they said they would be. I had to wait a long time in my mind, but when they finally got around to me, I had text comms and the Ranger guy was beyond friendly and helpful.

As I said previously, I have had times when a car has lost power in the outside lane of the motorway, and when the AA-contracted pickup crew made us wait for 4 hours and refused to tow me home.

I can understand why @Envchem was particularly bitter in the immediate aftermath, and I hope that time has helped give a little perspective (given that you're still without, maybe not!). For the rest of us, perhaps we can consider that others have different experiences, and just because some don't think that Tesla get everything wrong, doesn't mean that they are blind fanboys either. Tesla totally need to get this stuff right more often, and strive for better. Doesn't mean they are any worse than of the others.

Actually - if you're a 'premium executive car driver', you're much better off with a Tesla - the car drivers say so.

Again I do apologize if I haven't been that clear. I am not here to complain about Tesla fanboys per se. In that sense you could count me as one since I pre-ordered the car a month after it was available, bought it with FSD since I love to see the progress of the technology and so on.
What I am trying to point out is how inconsistent Tesla's approach is. Trust me I am really happy that there are customers out there that are having a a good experience. I do get delays and all that. I see it at my line of work. It is the communication that bothers me and the vagueness in everything. Nevermind the blatant lies like the one of me having the wrong number in my account and that's why I am not getting any texts. A number that hasnt been touched since I set up my tesla account ages ago and has been used by Tesla in the past. Not that it made any difference since zero texts since then.
What I am trying to point out is that if they don't try and improve it will get worst and worst for all of us.
I bought my 3 because I was sold on the technology behind it and I knew that the company was weak in some aspects. I was not expecting that though.
Others will not be so forgiving. I know people around me who are keen for their next car to be electric. People who don't really care about the tech benefits and want a good, reliable car and a company that provides a good level of support. Can I recommend them Tesla? Honestly I don't know. Would I recommend them something else? I don't know either.

 

[browellm]

Oh, how it amuses me that people complain about Tesla fanboys, then those self-same people ignore any view that is contrary to their own.

Again, I have had previous cars from large global manufacturers where the car was off the road for weeks whilst they sorted parts, who have made me come back time and again for what I thought was a simple job, who have not had loan cars available when the work was being done. I have had BMW dealership staff be entirely rude and dismissive to my face.

Tesla gets stuff wrong, they all do. I have had the Ranger out 3 times - every time exactly when they said they would be. I had to wait a long time in my mind, but when they finally got around to me, I had text comms and the Ranger guy was beyond friendly and helpful.

As I said previously, I have had times when a car has lost power in the outside lane of the motorway, and when the AA-contracted pickup crew made us wait for 4 hours and refused to tow me home.

I can understand why @Envchem was particularly bitter in the immediate aftermath, and I hope that time has helped give a little perspective (given that you're still without, maybe not!). For the rest of us, perhaps we can consider that others have different experiences, and just because some don't think that Tesla get everything wrong, doesn't mean that they are blind fanboys either. Tesla totally need to get this stuff right more often, and strive for better. Doesn't mean they are any worse than of the others.

Actually - if you're a 'premium executive car driver', you're much better off with a Tesla - the car drivers say so.

It's also very hard to keep people from falling into the whataboutery trap, as with this post and others. This thread is about roadside assistance, the lack of it, and a comparison with other roadside assistance packages from competitive marques.

Using reliability surveys, the Supercharger network(?!), affordability and technical advantage to argue whether Tesla should up their game when it comes to the assistance package they offer and the execution of it, is highly tangential at best. As I said before, there is a perfectly healthy debate to be had over marque x is better than marque y elsewhere, but the discussion in this thread should really pay attention to improving this aspect of their package or not as a way to increase their NPS.

If Tesla want to chase volume, and it's clear that's their intention, then they will find that some service expectations will differ from early adopters, who will typically evangelise a product and put up with the lumps and bumps.

 

[Obliter8]

Using reliability surveys, the Supercharger network(?!), affordability and technical advantage to argue whether Tesla should up their game when it comes to the assistance package they offer and the execution of it, is highly tangential at best. As I said before, there is a perfectly healthy debate to be had over marque x is better than marque y elsewhere, but the discussion in this thread should really pay attention to improving this aspect of their package or not as a way to increase their NPS.

Whilst I agree with the thrust of what you're saying, that info is not tangential at all. Tesla 3s are more reliable than their peers, so need less of a breakdown service. Occasionally, the breakdown will be severe enough that the offering is not sufficient.

 

[browellm]

Whilst I agree with the thrust of what you're saying, that info is not tangential at all. Tesla 3s are more reliable than their peers, so need less of a breakdown service. Occasionally, the breakdown will be severe enough that the offering is not sufficient.

Perhaps where we can both agree is that on the priority list for Tesla's ongoing quality drive, its roadside assistance programme falls somewhere between putting doors on properly and porting the latest version of Stardew Valley to the car.

 

[Envchem]

Regarding reliability one statistics study doesn't prove anything. There is the one mentioned before but on the same time there is this one: Tesla worst for reliability in American driver survey
So take them with a pinch of salt.

 

[Obliter8]

Oh totally. I mean...Toyota and Honda less reliable than Dodge? Even the piece calls out the apparent loading of US brands. But yeah, pinch of salt

 

[Envchem]

Actually that makes it even worst for Tesla (American last time I checked). Statistics can be manipulated in either way.

 

[Peteski]

Now you're being stupid. Nobody asked for them to have their own fleet of breakdown trucks only that they signed a contract with an existing company to offer a better roadside assistance service.

Well that's what I suggested would be a good idea too actually, but in reality I doubt it would make much difference to having your own breakdown cover. But anyway in the overall scheme of things it wouldn't make my top 500 list of things Tesla could do better.

The take-home here is that it is a good idea to have your own breakdown cover as a back-up. Tesla Roadside Assist might actually cope with your issue and friends who have used it tell me it's actually a very good service as far as diagnostics are concerned.