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How to spit in a customer's face
On December 23, upon noticing serious battery problems with the car, I immediately informed both Budapest Service Center and DeliveryEMEA, my only contact during the car purchasing process.
The message to the Budapest Service Center can be read in my post: All my communications with the Budapest Service Center.
Attached below is my email to DeliveryEMEA sent on December 23:
Hello,
I’m contacting you because I’m considering the possibility of returning the car. I called Tesla Customer Service in Spain and they told me that since I purchased the car in Tesla Europe (Netherlands), this case should be handled by the person/team I was in contact with when I purchased the car.
The main reason why I am considering returning the car is because the car was delivered broken. I don’t know whether you are aware of it, but the car was delivered with the cameras not working. Since a lot of functions of the car depend on cameras, many other things are not working. And it was not only that, the navigation system doesn’t work, the OS cannot be updated, music stops after 10 seconds playing, etc. I suspect there are many other things broken in the car which I am not aware of since I never experienced what it is like to drive a Tesla car in good shape. After reporting this problem to technical service, they concluded the embedded car computer needs to be replaced. I understand problems happen, but Tesla has given me an appointment for 28th February and this is Tesla’s choice. So for one month I’ve been driving a broken car and have to remain like that for two more months. This is not a good customer experience.
Despite this immense inconvenience, recently the battery has started to drain at a pace which I find hard to imagine it can be normal. A week ago or so, I charged the battery to 100% for the first time. I left the car parked in a sheltered parking lot for 4 days. When I was back the battery had dropped to 83%. I found this strange and I thought it was due to charging the battery to 100% (I did it because the Tesla inboard app suggested charging the battery to 100% at least once per week). Then, last Saturday around midnight I charged the car to 80%. This morning when I checked the car the battery was at 66%. So in less than 2 days, a 14% drop without driving the car. I think this cannot be normal, even if the temperature outside is 2 degrees Celsius. And if this is normal, then I concluded this car is not for me. I started my Christmas holidays today and I won’t be back until 2nd January. Today when I saw the battery was draining at 8% daily I seriously considered interrupting my holidays and traveling 3000 km to charge the car. It is absolutely insane that thought can even cross my mind. I contacted the Tesla Budapest Technical center today to report this issue. Maybe this insane consumption of battery on standby mode is related to the fact the car is broken, I don’t know (by the way, the Sentry option, which is known for consuming up to 10% battery per day, was not activated (the cameras are not working either)).
Anyway, these are the factors that had motivated me to seriously consider returning the car and getting my money back. I’m open to other solutions like getting a fully functional brand new car. I understand problems happen, and I am willing to cope with some of them, but when after reporting a problem Tesla Technical Service doesn’t get back to me after a week or decides to give me an appointment to fix a known issue for three months after, then this is Tesla’s choice on how to handle customer’s problems. And with this latter part I don’t agree. In my opinion, Tesla can do more: Tesla can prioritize my case, Tesla can give me a brand new car, etc.
Anyway, could you please instruct me what would be the procedure to return the car? In parallel, I’m trying to reach the Sales department of Tesla for Spain. I imagine the process would be similar.
Best regards and Merry Christmats,
This email sent to DeliveryEMEA went unanswered, as did my message about battery leaks sent to the Budapest Service Center.
On January 12, 2025 I called Netherlands Sales Department several times to request the return of the vehicle, but no one picked up the phone on the other end of the line. Finally, I managed to speak with an agent from another department at Tesla Netherlands. I requested the return of the vehicle. Previously, he had explained the serious problems that the car was suffering from. I also informed him that I had already requested the return of the vehicle to DeliveryEMEA in an email sent on December 23. The agent told me that he couldn’t do anything from his department, but that he had notified four different colleagues internally. He swore and swore to me that someone from the Sales Department would call me the next day between 4 and 6 in the afternoon. As I already explained in my first post, I’m still waiting for that call.
The next day, January 13, 2025, there was no call. But there was finally a response from DeliveryEMEA to my email dated December 23. That is, 3 weeks later.
Dear XXX,
Thank you for your email. It is very unfortunate to hear about the inconveniences you have with your Tesla. Here at the delivery department, there is only so much we can do because the car has been delivered for over two months now. The best thing you can do at the moment is contact one of you nearest Tesla Service Centers and schedule an appointment regarding the problems you are experiencing. If they can confirm something is wrong with the car, it is likely they can resolve the problems free of charge as it will fall under the warranty provided when buying a new vehicle.
If there are any questions, please let us know. Please inform if you have scheduled a service appointment as we can try to arrange a quicker appointment.
This email is absolutely inconsiderate. The problems with the car were already reported on December 3, and confirmed by the Budapest Service Center on December 10. That is to say, more than a month had passed since Tesla had confirmed the fault in my car and they had informed me that the on-board computer needed to be replaced. And I also report all this in my email to DeliveryEMEA sent on December 23. Therefore, they didn’t bother to read my email, and instead responded with vague generalities.
The ignominy of this email is even more serious, since Electrek uncovered the case of thousands of damaged Teslas fresh from the factory on December 16. In the article by Frederic Lambert for Electrek it is reported that Tesla had already been managing complaints from multiple customers with defects in their vehicles that had just left the factory for several weeks. Therefore, it is more than likely to think that when DeliveryEMEA received my email from December 23rd it already knew about the fault, but decided not to respond. I quote Frederic Lambert’s article:
Insider sources told Electrek that the problem is quite wide-ranging. It affects vehicles built over the last few months with the new computer.
Two sources said that Tesla is currently receiving a high number of complaints about this issue, and it has yet to release a service bulletin about it.
Despite not having released a public bulletin, it is likely that Tesla would have already informed all of its departments internally. In fact, in my December 9 call to Tesla Customer Service, an agent confirmed the fault simply by describing it.
The attitude of disdain with which DeliveryEMEA’s email is written coincides with what Frederic Lambert describes in his article about the instructions given by Tesla on how to handle cases like mine:
One source said that Tesla service is being told to play down any safety concerns related to this problem to avoid people believing their brand-new cars are not drivable.
In short, responding with vague generalities to a client, suffering from a serious problem already confirmed by the company you work for, can be perceived more as an insult than as help. I certainly perceive the email from DeliveryEMEA as a real spit thrown directly into my face, metaphorically speaking. And it gives me the feeling that Tesla, and the people who work for Tesla, care little about their customers.
Finally, I attach my response to the outrageous email from DeliveryEMEA. This email was sent on Monday, January 13, 2025.
Hello,
> Thank you for your email. It is very unfortunate to hear about the inconveniences you have with your Tesla.
I believe you’re contacting me now because I successfully managed to talk to Customer Service in the Netherlands last week and I told them I had contacted you but I never got a reply. In any case, I appreciate your response and I hope you can help me to successfully resolve this case. Please take it seriously, because what is going on is a major issue.
> Here at the delivery department, there is only so much we can do because the car has been delivered for over two months now.
It is true the car was delivered two months ago, but I reported the problems to the Tesla Technical Service at Budapest (my closest Tesla Technical Service), as soon as the car got into my hands. Let’s recap how I got the car.
Tradisa picked up the car at Tilburg and delivered it in Slovakia on 4th November. Since I was not in Slovakia at that time (I spent almost the entire month of November in Spain), Tradisa suggested delivering the car at a car deposit (DriveTesla.sk), in Bratislava. I picked up the car on 29th November, once I was back from Spain. Already when I picked up the car the cameras were not working, the navigation system was not working, the operating system could not be updated, etc Over the weekend I drove the car from Bratislava to XXX, where I live. The more I drove the car, the more I realized many other things were not working, such as the automatic wipers. On 3rd December (Tuesday after the weekend I picked the car) I reported all these problems to the Budapest Technical Service. I waited several days for a response from Budapest. Since they didn’t reply, I called Tesla Customer Service. The person who picked up my call already knew what was the problem as I was describing it. The following day, the Budapest Technical Service got back to me and confirmed the car was indeed broken. So, from my point of view I have acted with dilllenge and quickly informed Tesla about the problems in the car.
> The best thing you can do at the moment is contact one of you nearest Tesla Service Centers and schedule an appointment regarding the problems you are experiencing.
I don’t know how to reply to this statement. Re-reading my previous email, I realized I already informed you I had contacted the Budapest Technical Service and they confirmed the car is broken. I also told you they gave me an appointment for 28th February in early December. I’m attaching a screenshot with the message from Budapest.
Regarding the severe battery drainage, which is still happening, the Budapest Technical Service hasn’t said anything yet. Since 23rd December, I have been sending daily reports to Budapest showing how the battery drains at a pace of 8% daily. The only response I got from them regarding this matter was that I should try to update the OS. But one of the issues that it’s going on with the car is that I cannot upgrade the OS. The upgrade stalls at 50%. Still, I tried again but the upgrades are still failing.
> If they can confirm something is wrong with the car, it is likely they can resolve the problems free of charge as it will fall under the warranty provided when buying a new vehicle.
Yes, the Tesla Technical Service from Budapest confirmed the car is broken on 10th December. They said the car computer needs to be replaced. This is exactly what they said (also see attached screenshot):
“We have already ordered the car computer for your vehicle, however, due to the current high demand, this part is currently out of stock. As soon as the part arrives, we will notify you immediately and proceed with the repair.”
A few days later they gave me an appointment for 28th February. That means, 3 months driving the car in this state. And then, since 23rd December the daily battery drainage of 8%. Perhaps for Tesla standards this is normal, but it is not normal for the rest of the world.
Lastly, I find it surprising that the EMEA delivery team at Tesla is not familiar with the problems I am describing. The press in Spain is already reporting about a failure in the new onboard computer of the Tesla Model 3, the HW4, which is affecting thousands of drivers. The failure makes the cameras in the car useless, but not only the cameras, also the GPS navigation systems, Autopilot, ABS, EPS, etc. Here is one of such articles:
Please translate it to English or Dutch if you care. It describes exactly what ‘s going on in my car (except for the severe battery drainage, which might be a different problem).
At this point, some of the solutions that would work for me are: a) I got a full refund of the car b) you replace my car for a new one.
Considering the current status of my car, plus the other issues stated in the article I sent you, I don’t consider my car to be safe to drive. I have stopped driving it and now I only move it to charge it (since I park it in a garage without a charger). So, whatever solution Tesla chooses, refund or replace, someone will need to come and pick the car.
In case you don’t accept any of these solutions I will contact the press to report about my story. I also plan to start blogging about my experience at www.myteslaexperience.com and www.laexperienciatesla.com, domains I registered today and where I will blog about my experience both in English and Spanish. Surely there are many people out there eager to know about the broken car Tesla sold me and how its battery drains at a pace of 8% daily, while in the meantime Tesla does nothing to solve these problems.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my email, please take this issue seriously since I’m on the verge of losing my patience.
Best regards,