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| The Tesla sales and service center in Paramus, N.J. This company photo shows the outside of the showroom. |
Owners often come last
at a sales-service center
staffed by millennials
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I typed a letter to Tesla's legal department in California, put in an envelope, affixed a stamp and a return-address label, and put it out for the mail carrier.
I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter, but my repeated emails to Tesla Motors have been ignored since last November, when I sold the 2015 Model S 60 I bought new and purchased a used 2016 Model S 75D from Tesla.
The first issue I had was getting a refund for a 2-year extended warranty I bought for $2,100 when the 4-year factory coverage on my 2015 Model S ended last April.
The warranty was in place from last May to last Nov. 14, when I sold that car to Carvana.
I emailed the warranty cancellation and refund-request form provided to the email address on it -- and then to a second email address and to a third provided by a service advisor in Paramus.
All my emails were ignored.
Damage to 2016 Model S
The second issue was getting Tesla to repair minor damage to the bottom of the front bumper of the 2016 Model S I bought in November -- damage that occurred after a company employee emailed me photos that showed no such damage.
I feel that was bait and switch. The damage likely occurred when Tesla employees or agents transported my Model S by truck to Paramus, N.J., from storage in Newburgh, N.Y.
Leaving the Paramus showroom on Thursday, I spoke to a man who said he had flown down from Vermont to pick up the 2016 Model S he was looking over in the parking lot.
He said he bought the car from the Tesla website and photos he was sent showed scratches on the front bumper, below the headlight, but didn't show damage and a hole in the front left fender liner he was inspecting.
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| A dent, mismatched touch-up paint and scrapes on the lower bumper of my 2016 Model S 75D, above and below, that I pointed out to Sean, a Tesla delivery advisor in Paramus, N.J., on Nov. 14, when I picked up the car. He said Tesla wouldn't pay for repairs. |
Go to service center
So, a couple of weeks ago, I drove to the Tesla sales and service center (less than 4 miles from my home), and sat with Andrew, a service advisor, for nearly 30 minutes as he searched for an email address I could send my requests to.
When got home, I composed a detailed email and attached the warranty cancellation/refund form and photos of damage to my 2016 Model S to CustomerSupport@Tesla.com, only to get a response in a few minutes:
"This email address is no longer monitored."
I was urged to log into my Tesla.com account to ask any questions or make any requests -- "this is so we know who we're speaking to and can help you quicker."
That didn't help, either. I got no response.
Then, I called a woman at Tesla Finance who collected my final payments last year on 3 Powerwall storage batteries I had installed on my home, which has more than 60 solar panels.
She gave me two phone numbers, but I could not speak to a human at either one.
Second trip to Paramus
Last week, I read that the electric carmaker's shares soared, pushing Tesla's market cap past $100 billion and officially making it the second-largest automaker by value after Toyota.
Little comfort to me as I set out for my second trip to Paramus, where I made a point to seek out Jose Solis, a service advisor who gave me good customer service in the past.
Solis pored over the extended warranty and found the address for Tesla's legal department.
I went home, wrote and mailed the letter, which invokes Tesla's "dispute-settlement program," and now I'm waiting.
Ageism at Tesla?
Tesla Paramus is staffed by millennials -- in sales and service -- and I'm 75 with salt-and-pepper hair and a goatee.
Is that why I usually get treated like chopped liver?
That's my hunch. What do you think?
Another possibility is that the Paramus service center got a lot busier after the introduction of the Model 3, and that might have resulted in less attention to Model S owners like me.
What others say
Charlotte P. of Manhattan told Yelp:
"Terrible experience- the sales guy gave me his cell phone number telling me I can call him anytime - after selling the car he disappeared and never picked up the phone - terrible customer service as well - kept me on the phone for three hours and still could not tell me how to turn on the emergency Light on the car.
Another woman, from Secaucus, told Yelp:
"Very lukewarm experience at the Paramus Tesla. The staff wasn't very eager to answer questions. The staff was busy on their cell phones or talking to other sales reps. The floor was not busy so I don't understand why we weren't assisted. I'd look at another location for better and actual service."
Craig Cochran told TESLA Owners Worldwide:
"How do you get a human being on the line when you call Tesla service? When I call, I get a circular voicemail menu that doesn't seem to ever direct to a human. I simply need to ask a question and I don't want to schedule a service appointment to do it."
