Tesla Valet service goes POOF!!!

[bart513]

I called my local SC about dropping off a loaner and taking my car back to the SC as my schedule is crazy. I start work before the SC opens and finish when it's done. This was their reply:

"[FONT=Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I do want to form you that Tesla is now charging for pickup and delivery service. The charge is $100 plus $3.00 per mile outside of a 15 mile radius from the service center. The East Hampton address is 79.3 miles from the Syosset Service Center. So you would be looking at $100 for the first 15 miles and $192 for the remainder (64 miles x $3.00=$192.00). Total for pick up and delivery would be $292.00. "

It is very disappointing as many owners have mentioned. BMW doesn't charge and my car cost half the price. I understand that there are growing pains, decisions to be made. The philosophy has certainly changed over the past couple of years, and not to the consumers benefit.

I love my Roadster and my new MS. I have had a wonderful relationship with Tesla employees and upper management who have been incredibly accessible, helpful and generous. I do hope that they listen to the customers about this issue.
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[AmpedRealtor]

I called my local SC about dropping off a loaner and taking my car back to the SC as my schedule is crazy. I start work before the SC opens and finish when it's done. This was their reply:

"I do want to form you that Tesla is now charging for pickup and delivery service. The charge is $100 plus $3.00 per mile outside of a 15 mile radius from the service center. The East Hampton address is 79.3 miles from the Syosset Service Center. So you would be looking at $100 for the first 15 miles and $192 for the remainder (64 miles x $3.00=$192.00). Total for pick up and delivery would be $292.00. "

It is very disappointing as many owners have mentioned. BMW doesn't charge and my car cost half the price. I understand that there are growing pains, decisions to be made. The philosophy has certainly changed over the past couple of years, and not to the consumers benefit.

I love my Roadster and my new MS. I have had a wonderful relationship with Tesla employees and upper management who have been incredibly accessible, helpful and generous. I do hope that they listen to the customers about this issue.

I wouldn't hold my breath. The new head of worldwide sales & service is not interactive with customers like Jerome was, I'm told he is the polar opposite of Jerome. :crying:

 

[jaguar36]

I wouldn't hold my breath. The new head of worldwide sales & service is not interactive with customers like Jerome was, I'm told he is the polar opposite of Jerome. :crying:

That's awesome, maybe we will see some more reasonable rates for the annual service then!

 

[Andyw2100]

I wouldn't hold my breath. The new head of worldwide sales & service is not interactive with customers like Jerome was, I'm told he is the polar opposite of Jerome. :crying:

That's awesome, maybe we will see some more reasonable rates for the annual service then!

From everything I've heard, and everything I've seen, Jerome was a strong advocate for customers. If the new head of worldwide sales & service really is "the polar opposite of Jerome" I would not expect to see lower annual service rates any time soon.

 

[santana338]

Can you give us a quick list of such parts? Thanks.

Here is the list of repairs. Some of this I hadn't even realized had been done until I went over it for this post.

Replaced 12V battery and jump post
Replaced UMC and replaced charge port trident cable (charge port acted funny, multiple clunks when plugging in, etc)
Replaced both side repeater lights (they were rusting)
Replaced steering rack bolts and retorqued suspension components (from notchy steering problem)
Replaced pano roof applique (1st gen applique started causing lots of wind noise)
Friction tape added to B pillar (to stop seat belt rattle)
Addressed air leak at fixed glass door windows (to prevent water leaks in the touchless car wash)
Added an acoustic cover to the AC compressor to reduce compressor noise
Replaced sway bar links (clunk when wheel full left backing up)
Replaced rear upper control arms (proactive - they found this when inspecting)
Replaced brake calipers and pads (proactive - the report says there were seized)
Replaced all 20 lug nuts
Replaced active louvers/shutter (don't even know what that is)
Replaced power switches and replaced HV fuse (SI 14-16-003)

I think that was worth $600. That said, I may skip next year's service and take it in after 2 years while keeping a list of issues that come up.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Great list, thanks. I'm taking my car in for its annual in Feb, so I may ask about some of these. My lug nuts are totally messed up (the chrome covers are bent/warped), I didn't know that's something they'd replace.

 

[santana338]

Great list, thanks. I'm taking my car in for its annual in Feb, so I may ask about some of these. My lug nuts are totally messed up (the chrome covers are bent/warped), I didn't know that's something they'd replace.

I didn't think they would replace the lug nuts either. I had noticed they had dinged them up before during my first service. I had been very careful to keep them pristine when I had changed over the my snow tires prior to the first annual service. I was bummed that they got all dinged up. I didn't say anything about it though. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to put my snow tires on this year after my service and saw that the lug nuts looked nice and shiny! It wasn't until I looked at the invoice that I knew they had been replaced. I also used my electric impact gun for the first time on the new lug nuts. I didn't like it (the socket got stuck). But it does seem the new lug nuts are harder than the old ones since the stuck socket didn't really ding up the lug nut too bad. Maybe they changed suppliers and are quietly rolling new ones out?

I don't know if they were just being especially nice to me, but man, they really took care of me at the SC.

 

[brkaus]

That's awesome, maybe we will see some more reasonable rates for the annual service then!

This would be a good approach for them to take. Lower the annual service price tied with this change. And grandfather in the people that prepaid service.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

That's awesome, maybe we will see some more reasonable rates for the annual service then!

I understand that you were being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I want to point out that Jerome was a strong advocate for the owner. He almost always made exceptions to Tesla policies to make owners happy. He fixed a lot of problems that were not his making. Plenty of screw-ups in manufacturing flowed down to service and ownership, so he had to clean up messes that he didn't create. He is the VP responsible for creating this world-class service network. It wasn't until his departure that Tesla's service policies started to change.

It's likely that Jerome's successor is just as focused on the customer as Jerome was, albeit with a different style. I don't know. Jerome's ability to respond to individual owner emails was not exactly a sustainable approach.

 

[wk057]

I understand that you were being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I want to point out that Jerome was a strong advocate for the owner. He almost always made exceptions to Tesla policies to make owners happy. He fixed a lot of problems that were not his making. Plenty of screw-ups in manufacturing flowed down to service and ownership, so he had to clean up messes that he didn't create. He is the VP responsible for creating this world-class service network. It wasn't until his departure that Tesla's service policies started to change.

It's likely that Jerome's successor is just as focused on the customer as Jerome was, albeit with a different style. I don't know. Jerome's ability to respond to individual owner emails was not exactly a sustainable approach.

Yep, I agree that Jerome was indeed pretty awesome. Sad to see his position filled by another.

Not public knowledge, until now, but I had the pleasure of a brief phone conversation with Jerome earlier in the summer. Genuinely a well intentioned individual who sincerely did his best to be a customer advocate. I can only hope that his successor is able to do half as much good as Jerome had.

 

[silverp85+]

Here is the list of repairs. Some of this I hadn't even realized had been done until I went over it for this post.

Replaced 12V battery and jump post
Replaced UMC and replaced charge port trident cable (charge port acted funny, multiple clunks when plugging in, etc)
Replaced both side repeater lights (they were rusting)
Replaced steering rack bolts and retorqued suspension components (from notchy steering problem)
Replaced pano roof applique (1st gen applique started causing lots of wind noise)
Friction tape added to B pillar (to stop seat belt rattle)
Addressed air leak at fixed glass door windows (to prevent water leaks in the touchless car wash)
Added an acoustic cover to the AC compressor to reduce compressor noise
Replaced sway bar links (clunk when wheel full left backing up)
Replaced rear upper control arms (proactive - they found this when inspecting)
Replaced brake calipers and pads (proactive - the report says there were seized)
Replaced all 20 lug nuts
Replaced active louvers/shutter (don't even know what that is)
Replaced power switches and replaced HV fuse (SI 14-16-003)

I think that was worth $600. That said, I may skip next year's service and take it in after 2 years while keeping a list of issues that come up.

I thought all that stuff is covered under the bumper to bumper warrantee? why would they charge a service fee?

the calipers are a powertrain repair also. are you out of warrantee?

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just to be clear, if my handles don't come out and it cannot be fixed over the air, I would have to pay the mileage fee? that would be seriously insane if I am unable to drive the car and live 240 miles away.

I don't even understand the fee to be honest. Gas prices have tanked and we are now looking at a fee? I could have understood this fee with high gas prices though..

 

[MP3Mike]

I don't even understand the fee to be honest. Gas prices have tanked and we are now looking at a fee? I could have understood this fee with high gas prices though..

I doubt it has much to do with gas prices, it has to do with lost billable hours/productivity while the ranger is in-transit.

 

[silverp85+]

I doubt it has much to do with gas prices, it has to do with lost billable hours/productivity while the ranger is in-transit.

I understand the issue but it's odd "when" they actually added the mileage price.
When transportation costs went down.