Why I Cancelled My Model 3 Order and am No Longer a Tesla Fan

Amen.

I might have the same situation, as my Model S might be ready in the middle of an out of country trip, they said if you cannot come and get it when we ask you we have to give the car to another customer. I was like, wait, WHAT ? This is ridiculous, i've tweeted to Musk about this, non-sense at all.

 

Sorry to hear. You should have told him to put it in the body shop as they can hold it for months.

 

I’m not so sure about this statement “at all cost” one could argue they go way beyond that already ...as A company that is trying to become profitable this wouldn’t work out...you can’t also say it’s entirely Tesla’s fault ...you yourself had business travel out of the country

 

That is so messed up.

 

That really sucks, and honestly, I don't blame you for cancelling.

 

It cost them nothing.

 

You already made your choice and if your intent is to try to convince others ..about how “horrible” Tesla is ..not much chance of that happening ...if u just needed to “b*tch about something write a letter to Tesla this thread serves zero value... unfortunately you are going to miss out on a great car ...

 

Sure it does ..it’s inventoty turns it’s revenue being recognized etc ...if that was not the case they would mass produce and let these sit on lots versus a made to order model...

 

This guys a short on tesla....dont let him get into your heads...this car is like a super hot chick that has respect for herself and wants to make sure everything is just right...it'll all be worth the wait...oh and look he jousted signed up today...lol

 

OP isn't wrong, that was a bad customer service move. I think that most of us would agree that we feel like we are in the Soup Nazi line (seinfeld reference). I am scared to even add full self driving to my order because it will be No Soup For You! and back to the end of the line. I've thought about changing my configuration to white seats just so I could get my car; but don't even dare do that because I'd probably not even get the white seat one and back to the end of the line. The soup is so good we are bowing our heads and shuffling forward at the mercy of Tesla. Once the queue clears out more I think things will get better... but until then, you have to pay your dues I guess. I'm willing to wait for whatever it takes to get my car. Which is why I'm on Day 595 of having reserved and Day 50 of having paid 3,500 ordering a maxed out P model with still no contact, word on VIN or delivery date... It would be a joke if it were any other car.

 

That kind of customer service face plant is the kind of thing that can take a good company, or even a great company and leave them wondering what the hell happened after things start to fall apart.

1. As soon as Tesla said that there was significant enough body damage that the car needed to go to a body shop, get new parts, and get repainted I would have been pressing them on how they are selling the car as new when it is being repaired. In many states there are laws around what % of repair can be done to a car and still sell it as new. In any event I would not have been comfortable with it.

2. Having worked in the customer service area for a number of years I have found it best to simply bypass hostile or unhelpful employees. When Colin refused to budge on holding your car for one additional week, I think the better option would have been to start leaving voicemail messages, sending emails and sending a couple of certified mail letters to managers and executives at Tesla explaining the situation.

3. What you described will set the hair on fire of anyone who works in customer service, and definitely would be seen as absolutely unacceptable to someone as customer service oriented as Elon Musk. Exceptions to policies CAN and ARE made at large companies on a weekly or daily basis exactly because of situations like this.

4. After what you went through any executive worth their fat paycheck should have made sure you were not only taken care of but delighted at the final stage of delivery. They could have delivered the car to you at your home, on the weekend, with a Tesla flamethrower in the trunk to make up for all the trouble.

 

That's where your mistaken, nearly everyone has a limit to their patience and definitely a limit with being disrespected. The line might be at a different place for different people but very few people will let a company abuse them repeatedly and still do business with them.

 

This is an issue that should have been escalated to management, and it's a shame that this didn't happen. I think any manager looking at that situation would have agreed to extend the deadline. Instead you were stuck with a bottom-rung flunkie who was "just following rules".

 

It’s unfortunate this was the sequence of events, you out of the country, then your car being damaged in transport, they oblige you with a totally new car, but then you’re out of the country again. None of that is anyone’s fault, that’s just life.

On the last situation, the problem is that ‘Noah’ had NO say or power to have the vehicle held for your return. Even if he explains everything to his manager, he has no power. He’s just the messenger as he knows the message, which may or may not have been correct - and even if correct (which seems unreasonable for specific sets of circumstances) he again had NO power to do anything about it except relay the message.

That’s like asking the minimum wage person at a fancy restaurant that fills your water glass and clears your dishes to make you whole because you got food poisoning. Wrong person to be talking to. I’d have gotten on the phone with the head of that delivery center (at minimum and gone as high as I needed) and they’d have held my car for my return - guaranteed.

Always know who you’re talking to at a company when you’re trying to resolve an issue, it’s never the frontline person.

For future this is how you start:

You: ‘Noah, I understand this is out of your control, what is the name and contact information for the person in charge of the delivery center?’

Sorry you ran out of patience, it’s a blow your mind awesome car.

 

Wasn’t any abuse going on. They communicated with him, they stopped first delivery because of damage to the car, they gave him a new VIN as he requested, and then gave him his non-refundable money back. Solid service.

The issue was that the OP was talking to the wrong person when trying to get the last matter resolved.

 

In fairness: Tesla uses the same shipping companies as everyone else. A fraction of vehicles (I believe when I looked into it it was about half a percent) develop cosmetic damage at some point during the shipping process. With a dealership, though, when cars arrive they inspect them all for damage, and any with damage go in for repairs before they go out to the lot. Customers never see the damage; it's already fixed and hidden before the car shows up on the lot. With Tesla's lack of "dealership lots", all of the warts of car transport are exposed to the customers. If you're unlucky enough to get a car that gets damaged, you absolutely will know about it. And be stuck waiting.

People need to remember this: dealerships frequently hide shipping damage from you. Usually just paint scratches or the like, but I've even seen some really egregious examples.

 

Sounds to me like Noah violated #6 of Elon's Rules for Productivity in refusing to budge on their 7-day policy:

6. Follow logic, not rules

"In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a 'company rule' is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change."

 

Sorry this happened to you.

The advisors are swamped, you'd have gotten a better resolution if you'd elevated it to management yourself.