
Take your $85,000 car into service and they destroy it - c1yd3i
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/tesla-consumers-beware
======
ethanwillis
Tesla is very very shady when it comes to vehicle damage, repairs, and
treating their customers right. If none of you have heard of him, you should
go watch RichRebuilds on Youtube.

He specializes in rebuilding and salvaging Teslas and is pretty big in that
community. He has a few videos on the shady behavior Tesla engages in.

For example:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl2UjK6fJ1w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl2UjK6fJ1w)

Tesla refused to do recall work on defective airbags in an owners car as
mandated by the NHTSA until the NHTSA got involved directly in the case.
They're literally willing to kill you to save a few bucks.

------
Confiks
I was viewing the video this comment [1] mentioned, and found _another_ video
which shows what happens to the circuit boards inside the motor when when you
submerge a Tesla, like the case in TFA:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOZ_FvfnN6k&t=13m48s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOZ_FvfnN6k&t=13m48s)

(oh, and the on-board system still boots even after additional high-pressure
cleaning:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_J5h2UFiY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_J5h2UFiY))

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17403127](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17403127)

~~~
ethanwillis
Yea, so Rich got popular by doing a rebuild from scratch essentially of a
flooded tesla he bought for cheap. All in he completely restored a tesla from
"totaled" to fully functional for about $6500

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pascalxus
I've heard at least 1 other story where a Tesla was being serviced (the owner
was a VC, i think) and they guy didn't get it back for like half a year or
more, it was also on hacker news. really makes me think twice about buying a
tesla.

~~~
compcoffee
> _I 've heard at least 1 other story where a Tesla was being serviced_

Follow some the Elon Musk mentions on Twitter. There are many cases of people
not being able to contact their service centre, or people being told it will
be _months_ for basic repairs (like a new windshield) that are resorting to
pleading to him on Twitter. I've never seen anything like it.

------
staunch
> _" My numerous calls to Management were never returned."_

> _" They completely disregarded that I am a CONSUMER and deserve answers."_

This is where I start suspecting there's more to the story than the author
indicates. This kind of entitled "the customer is always right" attitude is
exactly how you get treated in a legalistic way.

Of course Tesla should apologize for their mistake and make it right, but if
the customer was threatening or rude to their employees they have every reason
to give a cool response.

Worse than a bad customer is the companies that enable their shitty behavior.
I hope Tesla sides with its good employees over bad customers, if that is the
case here.

~~~
mikestew
_but if the customer was threatening or rude to their employees they have
every reason to give a cool response._

After said employees trashed an $85K car through neglect? Yeah, you better be
biting your tongue while giving your biggest smile while you try to explain to
the customer how your trashed a car worth more than some houses in the U. S.,
and how you're not in any particular hurry to correct that. And if the
customer yells at you a little bit, or says rude things, be glad that's the
worst of it.

------
RickJWagner
Wow. Sorry for this guy.

I hope Tesla makes it, but things are looking pretty grim these days.

------
taylodl
As a commenter pointed out, these things are always handled by insurance
companies. Tesla's insurance company isn't going to do anything until your
insurance company, or an attorney, calls. It's not about customer service,
it's about the color of money. That's how things work here in the U.S. You
would think someone able to afford a Tesla would have learned that by now.

~~~
bufferoverflow
> _these things are always handled by insurance companies_

Well Tesla could change that. There's zero reason for the owner's insurance
company to be involved. They should admit to the f--k up, replace the car, and
give some bonus for the mess.

~~~
csomar
That's not how the real world work and that's what insurance are there for.
Technicians who make mistakes can't dispense $85k. Their companies also might
not be able to. That's why they should get insurance.

In most of the parking spot, if you read the terms it'll say they don't assume
any responsibility for the car. That is the parking is not insured and thus
you have to rely on your insurance policy.

~~~
JumpCrisscross
> _That 's not how the real world work_

Friend’s BMW was getting serviced when Hurricane Sandy hit. Not only did BMW
assign someone to help him with his insurance paperwork, as well as make them
available to directly answer the adjuster’s questions, they also comped the
service, cut him a cheque for the deductible and threw in a bunch of free
tires and time on their racing track.

~~~
csomar
It's niceties that attract people to brands or certain dealers. I'm not saying
Tesla couldn't have handled it better but you just have to be ready in case it
doesn't.

~~~
JumpCrisscross
> _It 's niceties that attract people to brands or certain dealers_

And it's the lack thereof that (a) scare away customers while (b) attracting
negative attention from regulator, the press and from lawyers. If you break
someone's stuff while it's in your custody, the least that you do is act super
nice and sympathetic about it. That's sound customer service as well as legal
advice.

