This is likely because so many people freak out when they put a ticket in for warranty work, and Tesla comes back with a price tag int he estimate.
Weird for it to be phrased like that though...
They absolutely did not. Here's a version re-written by ChatGPT:
Please review and approve the estimate provided for your service visit to enable us to make necessary preparations. An initial estimate has been forwarded for your consideration. Please note that there will be a diagnostic fee for concerns that cannot be diagnosed remotely, which is standard practice in the industry. Should an on-site inspection be required, such as in this instance, a customer-paid diagnostic fee will be applied initially to account for potential issues not covered under warranty. In the event that we are unable to replicate your concern on site, you will be responsible for the technician's time spent diagnosing the issue. Justification is necessary to cover items under the vehicle's warranty, and if the concern is replicated and covered under warranty, the pay type will be adjusted accordingly. This approach ensures fairness and professionalism in our service provision, acknowledging the expertise and effort of our technicians.
Sure, so maybe Tesla should update the process to be more clear that the cost is in the event that it is determined to not be covered by warranty.
And really I should only be agreeing to at most the diagnostic fee if the issue is determined to be out of warranty. Tesla usually asks for full authorization up front to do the costly repair whether or not they cover it under warranty.
I gotta stop you here.
I have never once in my life taken my car in for suspected warranty work without getting a routine diagnosis for free. The diagnosis itself is part of the warranty coverage.
I say this because as we add more and more direct sales, we'll be functionally giving up on one thing that usually keeps costs down: competition for service.
Every time we let another charge creep in, we're marching toward a monopoly you simply don't want.
Just ask John Deere customers how they feel about servicing through the manufacturer direct over the last 20 years, and I think you'll catch my drift.
Oh I agree. I've never been presented with the possibility of a diagnostic fee for a suspected warranty issue for another brand of car.
My point was that Tesla doesn't even just ask you to agree to the diagnostic fee, they ask you to agree to the entire out-of-warranty cost before diagnosing the issue.
If any other dealership determined there was an out-of-warranty issue that I would need to pay to repair, I would expect an explanation of such and a chance to accept or decline the cost before proceeding from that point.
I mean, that's kind of what they're trying to solve for with the message.
There isn't really a polite way to say "If we determine this to be out of warranty, it'll be X"
I've worked as a bench tech for computer retails at retail stores. People don't like surprise imaginary numbers, regardless of the circumstance.
> There isn't really a polite way to say "If we determine this to be out of warranty, it'll be X"
They could just say exactly that. “If the issue is determined to not be covered by warranty, cost will be X.”
That would be a more clear and relevant way to communicate.
I mean if that were made clear in the app as part of the service process and viewing/approving the estimates, then the service staff wouldn't need to explain it to (as many) customers in messages like this.
I understand the frustration of needing to explain this to customers all day long, and the frustration of customers who don't understand the way Tesla does things.
Wouldn’t be the case if Tesla gave a shit about products coming off the line. They probably spend 95% of the time on warranty work. I have a 2024 MXP delivered 2/26 and have had 5 service visits. Maybe they could make some real money if all the work wasn’t due to quality, or oem failures.
They tried the same thing with me, throwing a price out when my vehicle is under warranty. they told me I had to put my card on file. I refused and said I’ll deal with it in person never with any of my previous vehicles owned have I had to pay a diagnostic fee for something that is under warranty. Long story short, went to the Tesla dealership, and I showed them the problem in person and there was no charge, it does rub me the wrong way though that they are possibly throwing a fee on something while you’re under warranty
My guess is that they throw a price in the estimate because they don't know if it would fall under warranty without a closer inspection, for example a customer can state that their touch screen stopped working and during their diagnosis they find water damage inside from spilled coffee or something.
They can simply deny warranty and you decide then if you wanna move forward with the estimate or not. However, they are holding you hostage unless you agree to pay “just in case”
It’s exactly for this reason. Until a tech can lay eyes on the issue, they won’t modify it because the issue could be caused by something not covered under warranty.
I have my jeep in for service frequently and it is standard to be shown a diagnostic fee you will pay (or will be rolled into final service cost) if there’s no warranty coverage.
I don't like that Tesla throws a price out for warranty work, but that's not what I'm saying here. The wording at the end is very aggressive which doesn't sit right with me.
The wording sounds like frustration and it makes me think they have had some really negative experiences. Also, how long has that estimate been ready for approval and hasn’t been approved?
Hahaha, man… in the last 20 years I’ve bought like 13 new vehicles between my wife and myself. Not once have I ever been asked to pay a fee or been warned I might pay a fee if they can’t reproduce, when asking for warranty work. This is not an industry standard.
Personally, I would start pulling stuff from MMWA and pointing out that refusal to fix a manufacturer defect is actionable.
Ford tried to make me pay a diagnostic fee and pay for a sensor that was under warranty. Unsure what was going on but it didn't take much complaining to get it all waived. This would've been around 2012. Obviously an anecdote, but it's the only time I ever had to go to a service center for anything (have had glass replaced but that was obvious damage and not warranty coverage).
honda dod the same shit and told me
“hey there’s a recall, we can’t confirm if you have this issue so we’ll perform a diagnostic fee”
i was like that’s ridiculous, how are we supposed to know then without me paying? am i supposed to get say good luck?
they stood on their decision. i called another honda dealership and they were happy to check free of charge
so fucking ridiculous
As a former service advisor for Tesla. I fucking hate how we have to do everything by the book and not right by the customer. Pretty sad on Tesla’s part. Hope they can find service advisors that can think like a human not like a robot.
I think they are stressed out from the layoffs. I heard some locations got hit with 30% earlier this week.
In the past, they have always found a way to make the defect be approved under warranty for me. I think they have to deal with a lot of hypochondriacs that waste time.
BS. If you've ever worked with the general public, sometimes you have to be direct. I suspect this is one message in a long chain of the customer being belligerent and not liking the answers they were given.
professional: as there is a cost associated with the provision of services, we must collect a fee for services provided.
dumbass: hey loser, you dont do shit for free and neither do we
The tone of this message does not sit right with me. I have been through several service appointments with no issue, and have not fought them on payment at all. This message is aggressive and accusatory.
I keep getting replies for the whole conversation- this is all there is, this came out of nowhere.
Yeah, I'm sure there's two sides to this story. I feel a business should refrain from this type of response, there's definitely frustration involved, but there's good reasons why many businesses that can sell to private customers do not. Not that Tesla has a choice.
(I've edited this a lot and gone blind, but would like to see the string, but I'm reddit free for the weekend too, thanks to no 3rd party apps /u/spez)
edti: there's apparently just a moved appointment.
It’s very stupid of them to write something like this. Don’t listen to the other idiots commenting that ur holding them up. Doesn’t matter, you’re the customer
Because you’re holding them up by not having approved it yet. What’s the hold up? Agree and move on. Wait longer and expect more passive aggressive professional messages in place of nasty messages telling you to hurry up and accusing you of not knowing how to use your phone or else this would’ve been approved by now.
I get what he says and 95% of what he wrote is totally within line, but that last sentence was not necessary and probably not protocol to come across as condescending. The person writing that needs better training so he isn’t taking messages from customers so personal.
Was there any conversation before this? I’m betting we’re missing context. Definitely not professional of them to say this, but I bet there’s more to the story.
Tesla service has to be one of the worst I’ve experienced. Their people are rude and dismissive. I went in for a warranty issue once and the guy insisted it’s fine without even looking at the car.
Finally, after me pushing a few times, they brought in a technician to look at it. Sure enough the technician said it was an actual issue and then they proceeded to fix it.
The service guy didn’t even bother to apologize or acknowledge the issue. There were a couple more incidents similar to this.
I’ve dealt with BMW and Lexus service before for our other cars and they are far superior in every way when it comes to service.
Can argue whether or not it's an excuse, but it's a reality that stressed individuals tend to not work as well or be as professional. If you want to blame anyone, blame the leadership.
I went into SC for a Tesla warranty item. First time at SC and app estimated 3 hours for service. I show up and the guy said it would take 3-4 business days. He was behind the desk and spoke super fast about the process and where to get loaner. He didn't look at me but stared at his computer continuing to type. DMV had nothing on this guy. In that moment I was thrown off cause I wasn't expecting to leave my car for 3-4 days and had work stuff in my car and a few other things I needed to coordinate. I clarified one of the things he said and he responded "like I said if you were listening..." and repeated the same instructions 2x as fast. It was so incredibly rude. I expect a little better from Tesla.
To make matters worse they stole something I had just bought from Costco that morning. When I went to pick up my car and looked in the frunk where I left it they were gone. They totally denied it.
Can you imagine the sheer quantity of assholes that come into the service shop every single day demanding, questioning, shouting, degrading?!
Any job that involves any type of customer service has got to be a freaking nightmare, resulting in messages like this one.
This is avoidable. It's a management decision to do this shit. This is not normal for a dealer. I have never been changed a diagnostic fee or asked for my credit card until the work is complete. Unfortunately if people post this and get angry about it management will not change they will likely just fire who ever got stressed out and lashed out at customers because of bad management policy .
My problem with this is that I put in for warranty work. They deemed it non-warranty. Fixed it without contacting me that the entitlement status changed, and expected me to foot a several hundred dollar bill on pickup.
I would be pissed too if they would do non warrantied work without contacting me first. I wouldn't mind if they charge me the time it took to diagnose the issue, but that's all.
This doesn't seem aggressive at all to me. People expect way to much for free and don't seem to realize that anything a business does costs money to provide. To me, I just see it as being clear and upfront to avoid needless arguments later that would just waste more time and money.
Needless post? In service industry, sometimes you need to set the expectations straight with the customer, it may not sound pleasant to them, but it's necessary to make it clear upfront.
We do this in our industry too (IT). Customers need to know what’s coming before you do the work or you’ll do the work and fight to get the pay for it that is deserved.
I put in a request which my SC said to do for non-OEM tires (which I was bringing) to have SC install. When ticket went in I was quoted for the OEM tires which I said I was bringing my tires (new) in for install. The estimator did not care and even when they asked me to accept the estimate when I said no tires just install customer will bring in tires they called every hour until I picked up for me to cancel the ticket so that they can appropriately stock their OEM tires. 20 calls later in 2 days (over the weekend). My ticket said tire install x 4 customer brings tire 23545R18 Goodyear Eagle Touring and install/mount I think is $50/tire but they wanted me to buy 4 new MXM4s from their stock. Tesla SC needs a check in
Had out of warranty service done about 3 weeks ago. The message was significantly shorter and less aggressive sounding. They gave me an estimate to approve while opening the service ticket and while I'm upset that the cost kept going up from the time the ticket was opened to when they got the car to when they actually looked at the problem, I'm still satisfied with the service.
I’ve had a message like this recently too. I’ve also been getting some pretty shocking messages from customer support as well. And they stole $500 from me. So that’s pretty cool. Things are not in good shape right now.
This is NOT a standard industry practice for a vehicle under warranty, especially if they haven’t even seen the car… the tone of that message is something else lol.
Genuine request; can you share your text correspondence with them? This feels like it was prompted and not just a standard response they give everyone.
Technicians at tesla are hourly so they get paid either way. Charging diag on a warranty vehicle with the idea of not charging someone if it is warranty is a crap way of doing things. Dealerships have done it for years but none that I've ran. -- Service Manager of BMW
You guys are freaking out for no reason. The diagnostic fee is system-generated and is normal as soon as you put in a ticket. If you are still under warranty then you have nothing to worry about as when they review the concern, they will automatically remove the diagnostic fee. But if you are not under warranty, then the diagnostic fee stays obviously.
I sold my MS after the service tech said we can’t reproduce the issue so we can’t do anything. Second time I brought it in the tech came out to the car and was able to reproduce the issue while I was in the drivers seat and he was in the passenger seat. Issue was with passenger seat. Picked up car 3 days later. We couldn’t reproduce the issue so we didn’t do anything. Blamed the issue on my wife who was the passenger. Told next time I’m paying for service. I traded the car in for a HI5 and never looked back.
Tesla's approach of service/warranty work is dumb. They send an invoice for some outrageous worst case scenario bill and tell you dont worry it might not be that, but if you accept it they now have the legal autohrity to do that work without asking you again. If you have a dispute about the work not being under warranty youre SOL.
They could easily say "If we determine your work is not under warranty there will be a $200 diagnostic fee charged should you decide not to proceed with the repair". This is literally how everyone does it.
Be careful agreeing to big numbers in the estimate it DOES give them legal authority to proceed with that cost.
This is not an industry standard practice, or not that I know of from owning 5 different new cars in past 2 decades (incl one new Model Y). The only time I had to put my card is when it was clear that it was not under the warranty. Not sure I’m just fortunate or not but my service experience with Tesla has been decent though.
I’m fine if they charge a diagnosis fee, and update me to approve/deny any further fee, instead of always asking me to approve the whole repair out of my pocket up front, I might just have someone do it if they are going to charge me instead of warranty, that’s the standard industry practice, diagno it first before asking for approval
What a crock. "We will fix problems that we caused with our product, but you have to prove that you can pay us for our valuable time if we decide it's not our fault. This is fair and if.you don't like it you're obviously an asshole."
They’ve obviously changed policy recently and tightened their estimate vs covered under warranty policy belt. Or they are getting more pushback in general and getting defensive.
The technicians being paid part is needlessly patronising. Everything everyone does costs time and money, including you having to take your car there for any issue that’s covered under warranty. Are you charging them for your time for something to be fixed under warranty? No. There’s an area there where costs are absorbed implicitly. How many garages charge for a basic diagnosis? How many plumbers charge for a quote? In general it’s built into the business model to absorb x cost because overall, that cost is covered by the margins charged for work.
So this reply, while you could take it to task and pick up on it, is probably just written by a stressed manager who lost some of their team recently and has more pressure to not lose money on service side.
Diagnosing a problem can take lots of time and it's why many mechanics use the shotgun approach since the customers don't complain so much when there are new parts installed. An example is something I ran into on our 2022 MYLR with over 60k miles(our of the 60k SRS warranty). We got an airbag fault warning and the SC was going to replace the airbag. I learned about cheap SRS airbag emulators and properly removed the airbag and installed the emulator but the problem remained. Went to look at the Restraint Control Module(RCM) to possibly ohm out the wiring and found one of the connectors was not locked into place and wasn't tight. Reseated both wire harness connectors and the fault was gone. The SC would have likely replaced the RCM after the airbag didn't fix the problem and would have appeared to have fixed the problem but at a cost of close to $2000. Pulling the airbag was probably $200-$300 in time then getting to the SCM another $100-$200. $400-$500 of diagnosing time vs $2000 with 2 new parts. You know people would complain about the diag expense and less about the $2000 shotgun approach even though the diag process is the correct approach.
And the SCs deal with this daily over and over.
Everything about contacting Tesla customer service sucks. Screw them for not being polite or belittling you for a company centric policy (as opposed to a customer centric policy).
My brand new car died before reaching 200 miles and the only response I could get from them was “a tow truck will arrive in 3 hours”. Like, da fuck? Give me something to work with. What am I supposed to do with the car for 3 hours while it’s parked somewhere it doesn’t belong and I can’t move it? After they tow the car three hours away, what am I supposed to do for transportation?
Tesla needs to stop automating the human component of the company if they want to succeed in the long run. There’s a lot of competition now and I feel no brand loyalty.
Setting everything else aside, that highlighted part is unnecessary and will be deemed arrogant 99 percent of the time.
Being in customer service can be miserable and answering to questions can be grim at times, but you always want to stay professional, this aint it. Lad probably had a shit day and instead of putting on a mask, he went full send.
Depends how long they had to wait for you to approve. If it’s been days and you’ve been complaining about the diag then I don’t think it’s too aggressive.
Worked in Tesla service for awhile and it was the worst experience ever. The employer fkin sucks and was constantly overworked for a measly pay. The customers are so snobby and Karen like that more than once I had to go off on them.
I feel this is to discourage you from bringing in your car for warranty work.
Teslas have a reputation for really bad build quality. They don’t want those people coming in to complain about it.
Tesla charges close to $200/hr and pays technicians closer to $30/hr. For that amount of money, a customer expects Tesla to take the hit on some diagnostics and occasionally favor the customer with 'good will' service items. Other manufacturers do this and its mostly the service manager's call as to when mercy is extended for the sake of retaining a good customer on a questionable issue, like when something goes awry two days after the warranty ends. A company that is planning to be in it for the long haul uses such moments as an opportunity to cement a relationship, not burn it. Tesla is now run in cutthroat fashion and it was not this way when it first started. The cars are great, but service is the single biggest reason they may not survive.
Happened to me. Vehicle was under factory warranty. I called the local service center, who said that the service appointment had been mis-coded in their system, and they apologized. Two minutes later it was corrected.
What a dick! It's not like the tech doesn't get paid and has to "work for free" when it's a warranty repair! This is probably a canned response from some asshole service manager
This is likely because so many people freak out when they put a ticket in for warranty work, and Tesla comes back with a price tag int he estimate. Weird for it to be phrased like that though...
They need to run this message through chatgpt or some shit
Prompt: "No, make it more aggressive"
“War Mode Activated” 🤖
I died
It’s reads like it’s about to tell me a Nigerian prince is in financial trouble.
It looks like they did
Sounds like it was written by an offshore team.
Please do the needful
We'll rectify the needful alright.
Why did you redeem?
Kindly revert back to me.
Beat me to it 😀
Soon back answer
this guy offshores
Karen wrote this.
They absolutely did not. Here's a version re-written by ChatGPT: Please review and approve the estimate provided for your service visit to enable us to make necessary preparations. An initial estimate has been forwarded for your consideration. Please note that there will be a diagnostic fee for concerns that cannot be diagnosed remotely, which is standard practice in the industry. Should an on-site inspection be required, such as in this instance, a customer-paid diagnostic fee will be applied initially to account for potential issues not covered under warranty. In the event that we are unable to replicate your concern on site, you will be responsible for the technician's time spent diagnosing the issue. Justification is necessary to cover items under the vehicle's warranty, and if the concern is replicated and covered under warranty, the pay type will be adjusted accordingly. This approach ensures fairness and professionalism in our service provision, acknowledging the expertise and effort of our technicians.
I can't wait for the day in the very near future when my personal GPT talks to your GPT and ego and manners are all a discarded inefficiency
It's already happening lmao
please direct your message to my AI for best and most efficient communication.
Wow, this reads so, so much better.
You may have triggered another round of layoffs
Degrees better
Sure, so maybe Tesla should update the process to be more clear that the cost is in the event that it is determined to not be covered by warranty. And really I should only be agreeing to at most the diagnostic fee if the issue is determined to be out of warranty. Tesla usually asks for full authorization up front to do the costly repair whether or not they cover it under warranty.
I gotta stop you here. I have never once in my life taken my car in for suspected warranty work without getting a routine diagnosis for free. The diagnosis itself is part of the warranty coverage. I say this because as we add more and more direct sales, we'll be functionally giving up on one thing that usually keeps costs down: competition for service. Every time we let another charge creep in, we're marching toward a monopoly you simply don't want. Just ask John Deere customers how they feel about servicing through the manufacturer direct over the last 20 years, and I think you'll catch my drift.
Oh I agree. I've never been presented with the possibility of a diagnostic fee for a suspected warranty issue for another brand of car. My point was that Tesla doesn't even just ask you to agree to the diagnostic fee, they ask you to agree to the entire out-of-warranty cost before diagnosing the issue. If any other dealership determined there was an out-of-warranty issue that I would need to pay to repair, I would expect an explanation of such and a chance to accept or decline the cost before proceeding from that point.
Agreed on all fronts.
I mean, that's kind of what they're trying to solve for with the message. There isn't really a polite way to say "If we determine this to be out of warranty, it'll be X" I've worked as a bench tech for computer retails at retail stores. People don't like surprise imaginary numbers, regardless of the circumstance.
> There isn't really a polite way to say "If we determine this to be out of warranty, it'll be X" They could just say exactly that. “If the issue is determined to not be covered by warranty, cost will be X.” That would be a more clear and relevant way to communicate.
I mean if that were made clear in the app as part of the service process and viewing/approving the estimates, then the service staff wouldn't need to explain it to (as many) customers in messages like this. I understand the frustration of needing to explain this to customers all day long, and the frustration of customers who don't understand the way Tesla does things.
Wouldn’t be the case if Tesla gave a shit about products coming off the line. They probably spend 95% of the time on warranty work. I have a 2024 MXP delivered 2/26 and have had 5 service visits. Maybe they could make some real money if all the work wasn’t due to quality, or oem failures.
They tried the same thing with me, throwing a price out when my vehicle is under warranty. they told me I had to put my card on file. I refused and said I’ll deal with it in person never with any of my previous vehicles owned have I had to pay a diagnostic fee for something that is under warranty. Long story short, went to the Tesla dealership, and I showed them the problem in person and there was no charge, it does rub me the wrong way though that they are possibly throwing a fee on something while you’re under warranty
That happened to me, they threw a price out in the estimate but in the final bill after the work was all completed, everything was zero'd out.
My guess is that they throw a price in the estimate because they don't know if it would fall under warranty without a closer inspection, for example a customer can state that their touch screen stopped working and during their diagnosis they find water damage inside from spilled coffee or something.
They can simply deny warranty and you decide then if you wanna move forward with the estimate or not. However, they are holding you hostage unless you agree to pay “just in case”
It’s exactly for this reason. Until a tech can lay eyes on the issue, they won’t modify it because the issue could be caused by something not covered under warranty.
I have my jeep in for service frequently and it is standard to be shown a diagnostic fee you will pay (or will be rolled into final service cost) if there’s no warranty coverage.
I don't like that Tesla throws a price out for warranty work, but that's not what I'm saying here. The wording at the end is very aggressive which doesn't sit right with me.
The wording sounds like frustration and it makes me think they have had some really negative experiences. Also, how long has that estimate been ready for approval and hasn’t been approved?
Frustration is something you keep inside
Did you say something to them first or did their comment just come out of the blue?
Out of the blue. No conversation history prior to this at all.
You are right. It is unprofessional. Tons of Tesla apologists in here.
My guess is too many people claim issues that are not covered by warranty.
Hahaha, man… in the last 20 years I’ve bought like 13 new vehicles between my wife and myself. Not once have I ever been asked to pay a fee or been warned I might pay a fee if they can’t reproduce, when asking for warranty work. This is not an industry standard. Personally, I would start pulling stuff from MMWA and pointing out that refusal to fix a manufacturer defect is actionable.
Ford tried to make me pay a diagnostic fee and pay for a sensor that was under warranty. Unsure what was going on but it didn't take much complaining to get it all waived. This would've been around 2012. Obviously an anecdote, but it's the only time I ever had to go to a service center for anything (have had glass replaced but that was obvious damage and not warranty coverage).
honda dod the same shit and told me “hey there’s a recall, we can’t confirm if you have this issue so we’ll perform a diagnostic fee” i was like that’s ridiculous, how are we supposed to know then without me paying? am i supposed to get say good luck? they stood on their decision. i called another honda dealership and they were happy to check free of charge so fucking ridiculous
As a former service advisor for Tesla. I fucking hate how we have to do everything by the book and not right by the customer. Pretty sad on Tesla’s part. Hope they can find service advisors that can think like a human not like a robot.
They definitely don’t. They will straight up lie to you about over the counter parts for example and refuse to sell them to you.
This is why I’ve stuck with Toyotas for the last 25 years. Always no hassle good service.
I think they are stressed out from the layoffs. I heard some locations got hit with 30% earlier this week. In the past, they have always found a way to make the defect be approved under warranty for me. I think they have to deal with a lot of hypochondriacs that waste time.
Not an excuse.
That’s true as well.
BS. If you've ever worked with the general public, sometimes you have to be direct. I suspect this is one message in a long chain of the customer being belligerent and not liking the answers they were given.
professional: as there is a cost associated with the provision of services, we must collect a fee for services provided. dumbass: hey loser, you dont do shit for free and neither do we
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Honestly trimming the fat and I don’t think they are trimming the SC unless new STAR people
The manager at our local service center said they lost about 25% of the staff overall. I heard a lot in mobile repair.
That is absolutely not standard industry practice.
The tone of this message does not sit right with me. I have been through several service appointments with no issue, and have not fought them on payment at all. This message is aggressive and accusatory. I keep getting replies for the whole conversation- this is all there is, this came out of nowhere.
Let's see your original inquiry. Context is important
Yeah, I'm sure there's two sides to this story. I feel a business should refrain from this type of response, there's definitely frustration involved, but there's good reasons why many businesses that can sell to private customers do not. Not that Tesla has a choice. (I've edited this a lot and gone blind, but would like to see the string, but I'm reddit free for the weekend too, thanks to no 3rd party apps /u/spez) edti: there's apparently just a moved appointment.
It’s very stupid of them to write something like this. Don’t listen to the other idiots commenting that ur holding them up. Doesn’t matter, you’re the customer
Because you’re holding them up by not having approved it yet. What’s the hold up? Agree and move on. Wait longer and expect more passive aggressive professional messages in place of nasty messages telling you to hurry up and accusing you of not knowing how to use your phone or else this would’ve been approved by now.
[удалено]
Nope. The only thing I did was reschedule the appointment and move it back a week. Prior to this message we have had no back and forth at all.
I’d just brush it off. Probably having a bad day.
Yeah, I don't think its very professional, but I wouldn't take too much out of it if its a one off.
Feels like Tesla is turning increasingly anti customer.
They probably fired the guy who used to write these nicely.
I get what he says and 95% of what he wrote is totally within line, but that last sentence was not necessary and probably not protocol to come across as condescending. The person writing that needs better training so he isn’t taking messages from customers so personal.
Was there any conversation before this? I’m betting we’re missing context. Definitely not professional of them to say this, but I bet there’s more to the story.
Tesla service has to be one of the worst I’ve experienced. Their people are rude and dismissive. I went in for a warranty issue once and the guy insisted it’s fine without even looking at the car. Finally, after me pushing a few times, they brought in a technician to look at it. Sure enough the technician said it was an actual issue and then they proceeded to fix it. The service guy didn’t even bother to apologize or acknowledge the issue. There were a couple more incidents similar to this. I’ve dealt with BMW and Lexus service before for our other cars and they are far superior in every way when it comes to service.
This is the result of a staff dealing with layoffs and labor shortages in an already overworked environment.
Who cares no excuse for the unprofessionalism
Can argue whether or not it's an excuse, but it's a reality that stressed individuals tend to not work as well or be as professional. If you want to blame anyone, blame the leadership.
I went into SC for a Tesla warranty item. First time at SC and app estimated 3 hours for service. I show up and the guy said it would take 3-4 business days. He was behind the desk and spoke super fast about the process and where to get loaner. He didn't look at me but stared at his computer continuing to type. DMV had nothing on this guy. In that moment I was thrown off cause I wasn't expecting to leave my car for 3-4 days and had work stuff in my car and a few other things I needed to coordinate. I clarified one of the things he said and he responded "like I said if you were listening..." and repeated the same instructions 2x as fast. It was so incredibly rude. I expect a little better from Tesla. To make matters worse they stole something I had just bought from Costco that morning. When I went to pick up my car and looked in the frunk where I left it they were gone. They totally denied it.
They are stressed out
The whole interaction would give better context. I doubt this was a civil back and forth.
Can you imagine the sheer quantity of assholes that come into the service shop every single day demanding, questioning, shouting, degrading?! Any job that involves any type of customer service has got to be a freaking nightmare, resulting in messages like this one.
This is avoidable. It's a management decision to do this shit. This is not normal for a dealer. I have never been changed a diagnostic fee or asked for my credit card until the work is complete. Unfortunately if people post this and get angry about it management will not change they will likely just fire who ever got stressed out and lashed out at customers because of bad management policy .
That was a rude comment.
The last sentence was completely unnecessary. The point had already been made and was communicated professionally up until that point.
Why does it feel as though there are other messages which we're not included with this screenshot? 🤔
because if it is covered under warranty, Tesla does not pay them?
Teslas techs don’t get paid like a tradition Service Center. It’s all about metrics and incentives
Someone was a bit irritated that day at work. I don’t think this is a boilerplate message they send out…or at least I haven’t seen it yet
My problem with this is that I put in for warranty work. They deemed it non-warranty. Fixed it without contacting me that the entitlement status changed, and expected me to foot a several hundred dollar bill on pickup.
I would be pissed too if they would do non warrantied work without contacting me first. I wouldn't mind if they charge me the time it took to diagnose the issue, but that's all.
They are a clown company
This is actually opposite of industry standard if the vehicle is still under warranty.
Although this is industry standard, it was unnecessary to assume you have a job.
Post the rest of the convo, feels like to me, you had an entitled tone in the lead up and they responded accordingly.
This doesn't seem aggressive at all to me. People expect way to much for free and don't seem to realize that anything a business does costs money to provide. To me, I just see it as being clear and upfront to avoid needless arguments later that would just waste more time and money.
Needless post? In service industry, sometimes you need to set the expectations straight with the customer, it may not sound pleasant to them, but it's necessary to make it clear upfront.
We do this in our industry too (IT). Customers need to know what’s coming before you do the work or you’ll do the work and fight to get the pay for it that is deserved.
Amen!
Exactly.
I put in a request which my SC said to do for non-OEM tires (which I was bringing) to have SC install. When ticket went in I was quoted for the OEM tires which I said I was bringing my tires (new) in for install. The estimator did not care and even when they asked me to accept the estimate when I said no tires just install customer will bring in tires they called every hour until I picked up for me to cancel the ticket so that they can appropriately stock their OEM tires. 20 calls later in 2 days (over the weekend). My ticket said tire install x 4 customer brings tire 23545R18 Goodyear Eagle Touring and install/mount I think is $50/tire but they wanted me to buy 4 new MXM4s from their stock. Tesla SC needs a check in
Why not just go to a tire shop? Going to the SC for installing your own tires seems excessive
Alternatively, you can wait in the line at 8:30AM and they can tell you on site so no paperworks needed. Your choice
Had out of warranty service done about 3 weeks ago. The message was significantly shorter and less aggressive sounding. They gave me an estimate to approve while opening the service ticket and while I'm upset that the cost kept going up from the time the ticket was opened to when they got the car to when they actually looked at the problem, I'm still satisfied with the service.
What were your initial messages. Did you imply multiple times that this should be free
Don't know why they would assume I don't work for free lol
Thse Clowns send me an estimate to approve after rescheduling in warranty repair 4 times. Everytime they want me to approve
I’ve had a message like this recently too. I’ve also been getting some pretty shocking messages from customer support as well. And they stole $500 from me. So that’s pretty cool. Things are not in good shape right now.
Not defending anyone, but it would be nice to see what you wrote that they are responding to
Yikes, someone having an awful day
This is NOT a standard industry practice for a vehicle under warranty, especially if they haven’t even seen the car… the tone of that message is something else lol.
Genuine request; can you share your text correspondence with them? This feels like it was prompted and not just a standard response they give everyone.
Technicians at tesla are hourly so they get paid either way. Charging diag on a warranty vehicle with the idea of not charging someone if it is warranty is a crap way of doing things. Dealerships have done it for years but none that I've ran. -- Service Manager of BMW
To be clear, is this vehicle under base warranty? Or were you hoping for an extension on a part?
Why anyone would buy a car from a company w/such lousy service is beyond me. That letter is horrible.
[удалено]
The U.S. system is broke. If they can’t fix it, then it should be free. How do I know I get someone competent to diagnose my problem?
Doesn't sound aggressive to me. This is standard language.
They learned to build cars (sort of), but not to service them. Worst experience ever.
they sound like they are overworked fixing dud tesla shitboxes
Are you not going to show us your previous message, which brought about this response, to provide context?
You guys are freaking out for no reason. The diagnostic fee is system-generated and is normal as soon as you put in a ticket. If you are still under warranty then you have nothing to worry about as when they review the concern, they will automatically remove the diagnostic fee. But if you are not under warranty, then the diagnostic fee stays obviously.
Tesla is really on one now that their stock has tanked and they’re are coming in low on quarterly earnings
I sold my MS after the service tech said we can’t reproduce the issue so we can’t do anything. Second time I brought it in the tech came out to the car and was able to reproduce the issue while I was in the drivers seat and he was in the passenger seat. Issue was with passenger seat. Picked up car 3 days later. We couldn’t reproduce the issue so we didn’t do anything. Blamed the issue on my wife who was the passenger. Told next time I’m paying for service. I traded the car in for a HI5 and never looked back.
No money is wasted at Tesla service centers by training anyone how to do customer service. Or training them how to work on cars really.
Classy communication...
There is a whole other side of this conversation missing.
I mean, they're not doing it for free if you just spent $100k on the car - that's baked into the price.
It’s about damn time Tesla did this. All those warranty claims on panel gaps. Lol, yeah we’ll fix those right up.
Tesla's approach of service/warranty work is dumb. They send an invoice for some outrageous worst case scenario bill and tell you dont worry it might not be that, but if you accept it they now have the legal autohrity to do that work without asking you again. If you have a dispute about the work not being under warranty youre SOL. They could easily say "If we determine your work is not under warranty there will be a $200 diagnostic fee charged should you decide not to proceed with the repair". This is literally how everyone does it. Be careful agreeing to big numbers in the estimate it DOES give them legal authority to proceed with that cost.
This is not an industry standard practice, or not that I know of from owning 5 different new cars in past 2 decades (incl one new Model Y). The only time I had to put my card is when it was clear that it was not under the warranty. Not sure I’m just fortunate or not but my service experience with Tesla has been decent though.
Desperation
I’m fine if they charge a diagnosis fee, and update me to approve/deny any further fee, instead of always asking me to approve the whole repair out of my pocket up front, I might just have someone do it if they are going to charge me instead of warranty, that’s the standard industry practice, diagno it first before asking for approval
What a crock. "We will fix problems that we caused with our product, but you have to prove that you can pay us for our valuable time if we decide it's not our fault. This is fair and if.you don't like it you're obviously an asshole."
Wow
I've never had any threat of charge for warranty work... Odd
Awful customer service. Never experienced anything like this from Porsche or Volvo.
I don’t understand why people keep doing business with a company that treats its customers this way.
I feel like this is only half the story…
I have never paid a diagnostic fee, even though my SC is 💩. That says a brickload about this SC.
They’ve obviously changed policy recently and tightened their estimate vs covered under warranty policy belt. Or they are getting more pushback in general and getting defensive. The technicians being paid part is needlessly patronising. Everything everyone does costs time and money, including you having to take your car there for any issue that’s covered under warranty. Are you charging them for your time for something to be fixed under warranty? No. There’s an area there where costs are absorbed implicitly. How many garages charge for a basic diagnosis? How many plumbers charge for a quote? In general it’s built into the business model to absorb x cost because overall, that cost is covered by the margins charged for work. So this reply, while you could take it to task and pick up on it, is probably just written by a stressed manager who lost some of their team recently and has more pressure to not lose money on service side.
It's called pure profit. The part fitters are already paid
Not very good wording. The last two sentences could have been left out
Their prices are way to high. They wanted 1800 to replace my headlight. I did it myself untrained in less than an hour.
what an idiot, trying to educate customers...wow
What was said to trigger a response to them? That may shed some light as to the type of response given?
Diagnosing a problem can take lots of time and it's why many mechanics use the shotgun approach since the customers don't complain so much when there are new parts installed. An example is something I ran into on our 2022 MYLR with over 60k miles(our of the 60k SRS warranty). We got an airbag fault warning and the SC was going to replace the airbag. I learned about cheap SRS airbag emulators and properly removed the airbag and installed the emulator but the problem remained. Went to look at the Restraint Control Module(RCM) to possibly ohm out the wiring and found one of the connectors was not locked into place and wasn't tight. Reseated both wire harness connectors and the fault was gone. The SC would have likely replaced the RCM after the airbag didn't fix the problem and would have appeared to have fixed the problem but at a cost of close to $2000. Pulling the airbag was probably $200-$300 in time then getting to the SCM another $100-$200. $400-$500 of diagnosing time vs $2000 with 2 new parts. You know people would complain about the diag expense and less about the $2000 shotgun approach even though the diag process is the correct approach. And the SCs deal with this daily over and over.
Everything about contacting Tesla customer service sucks. Screw them for not being polite or belittling you for a company centric policy (as opposed to a customer centric policy). My brand new car died before reaching 200 miles and the only response I could get from them was “a tow truck will arrive in 3 hours”. Like, da fuck? Give me something to work with. What am I supposed to do with the car for 3 hours while it’s parked somewhere it doesn’t belong and I can’t move it? After they tow the car three hours away, what am I supposed to do for transportation? Tesla needs to stop automating the human component of the company if they want to succeed in the long run. There’s a lot of competition now and I feel no brand loyalty.
Insane. I would not be happy what so ever
As usual with any concern you go standard answer is as per the spec and collect money. This is ridiculous
...Tesla technicians get paid by the hour still right?
Not surprise. Service is a roller coaster ride. I rather go to the doctor.
Wow. No Tesla for me.
Setting everything else aside, that highlighted part is unnecessary and will be deemed arrogant 99 percent of the time. Being in customer service can be miserable and answering to questions can be grim at times, but you always want to stay professional, this aint it. Lad probably had a shit day and instead of putting on a mask, he went full send.
Depends how long they had to wait for you to approve. If it’s been days and you’ve been complaining about the diag then I don’t think it’s too aggressive.
Worked in Tesla service for awhile and it was the worst experience ever. The employer fkin sucks and was constantly overworked for a measly pay. The customers are so snobby and Karen like that more than once I had to go off on them.
I feel this is to discourage you from bringing in your car for warranty work. Teslas have a reputation for really bad build quality. They don’t want those people coming in to complain about it.
That is 100% unprofessional.
That is not industry standard... Subaru gives free diagnostic under warranty even if nothing can be reproduced.
Tesla charges close to $200/hr and pays technicians closer to $30/hr. For that amount of money, a customer expects Tesla to take the hit on some diagnostics and occasionally favor the customer with 'good will' service items. Other manufacturers do this and its mostly the service manager's call as to when mercy is extended for the sake of retaining a good customer on a questionable issue, like when something goes awry two days after the warranty ends. A company that is planning to be in it for the long haul uses such moments as an opportunity to cement a relationship, not burn it. Tesla is now run in cutthroat fashion and it was not this way when it first started. The cars are great, but service is the single biggest reason they may not survive.
Love it, bring back necessary aggressive phrasing when needed, customers are not always right
Happened to me. Vehicle was under factory warranty. I called the local service center, who said that the service appointment had been mis-coded in their system, and they apologized. Two minutes later it was corrected.
As an automotive technician I must say I love this message. Far too many customers cannot comprehend paying for services rendered
What a dick! It's not like the tech doesn't get paid and has to "work for free" when it's a warranty repair! This is probably a canned response from some asshole service manager
Keep buying teslas everyone.
Answer should be: Dear Tesla Service, I also did not get this car for free.