Hi all!
I come bearing news on how to get your yellow screens replaced.
Its surprisingly simple. Tesla participates in a program called NCDS which is binding arbitration for Tesla but NOT for the individual. This is a remediation option prior to true binding arbitration. This means that even if you lose you can still pursue other options later but Tesla has to abide by the ruling. If you follow my points below, you should be able to get your screen replaced using this method.
I went to their website here:
NCDS - Automotive Warranty Disputes and filed a claim. All I wrote was a few short sentences describing my screen and explaining that Tesla refuses to fix it. About 2 days later I received an email confirming the claim is eligible and notifying me I would be assigned an arbitrator and a date for a conference call.
I received an email and a letter via the mail a few days later confirming my arbitration date for 3 weeks away. Shortly after, I received an email with Tesla's response. Their response was quite fascinating, in that they 100% admitted the design flaw, but are trying to place it as both "wear and tear" being caused by "environmental conditions" and just a "cosmetic issue". Their response is here:
Tesla Response . The interesting bits are mainly on pages 4 and 5.
Shortly after I was provided their response, I replied to my claims administrator and sent her a written response providing dates and times I spoke with individuals, with their names, contrary to Tesla's representative's claim that I never contacted them over this issue to seek a repair. I also provided both photos of the issue to show it impacts while the screen is on, and a copy of an invoice (here:
Tesla Repair) showing that they previously claimed it as warranty. This was forwarded to Tesla.
On the day of the call, my husband and I joined with the arbitrator and Tesla's lawyer. The discussion was short, only 30 minutes and had a few interesting notes:
* The discussion partially focused around whether it was a design "characteristic" as opposed to "flaw"
* Tesla claimed it was an environmental issue and provided no proof thereof. The arbitrator dug into this and made it clear he was unimpressed with their claim that had no backing. The lawyer on Tesla's side claimed they had the documents but could not provide them "because of NDAs and such"
* Tesla has _not_ issued a TSB(technical service bulletin) for this issue. That was another sticking point for our arbitrator.
* Tesla's lawyer specifically called out that the flaw impacts every model S/X of that "vintage", but then stated that not every one will exhibit the problem.
* I brought up during the call that I had called the service center that morning and they claimed to have no knowledge on dates for the fix. This was in direct response to Tesla's representative claiming that the fix was actively rolling out to service centers across the country, and had been for 2 weeks.
* interesting note about refresh: Their lawyer admitted that they are now completing final details on their refresh that is around the corner, and this won't be a problem for those vehicles.
Once we ended the call, it took about a week to get the decision in my email:
decision . All told, this took MAYBE 45 minutes worth of my time. I now have a mobile tech scheduled to come out next week, and notes in my account to not cancel the appointment.