Tesla To Pay Customers 100 Dollars Back For Service Delays, Under Certain Circumstances

Tesla workshops are in the middle of a changing process to become a top technical service, one that basically uses F-1 techniques; that's the way Elon Musk wants it to happen, and for that purpose he is introducing changes that may force the service workshops to eventually pay the customers back.

Elon Musk has gone so far as to say that Tesla workshops should pay $100 to their clients in the event that they were forced to accept the rescheduling of an appointment, with less than 24 hours notice. The changes that Tesla CEO wants to make in order to offer a high-tech technical service "at the level of Formula-1", have led him to make this statement after protests that some of his clients have made on social media.

A couple of months ago, Musk promised to apply "F-1" techniques to get a complete overhaul of the electric car in just one hour. The idea was basically that going through an official service workshop should be a good, even magnificent experience, instead of some kind of torture for the client as it allegedly is for some customers. A month earlier, the CEO assured that the strategy was to make larger and more specialized workshops with a greater number of specialized workers. After receiving thousands of complaints from all over the world, he and the Tesla team got busy working to improve customer service.

The commitment was to review and service each electric car in record time; for this purpose, in addition to larger official facilities for service, much more specialized personnel are needed for specific tasks. For instance, while the car goes up on the lift, several of these technicians will be examining it in parallel, carrying out the appropriate operations in the shortest time possible. Musk assured that the intention is to get that "express service" time, as many times as possible; although he acknowledges that it will not always be the case.

To make sure this happened Musk promised that he would personally oversee the entire process, getting involved when necessary. The truth is that things have not changed significantly since that statement was made, and the owners have not attested to any major improvements. What Tesla did do was to introduce a fee or fine of 100 dollars for customers who changed an appointment in the workshop with less than 24 in advance. Thus, Tesla made sure to reduce cancellations by reducing free attention time-slots and thus reducing the wait for other EV owners.

This rescheduling fee has clearly met opposition on social media, although some customers have claimed that despite being told about the eventual charge, it was ultimately not included in their bill. However, a Missouri customer complained via Twitter that Tesla Service rescheduled an appointment less than 24 hours in advance, for free. However, this customer says that if he had done it himself Tesla would have charged him $100, arguing publicly against this injustice.

Elon Musk read this message on Twitter and replied that the customer was right, also affirming that this fee "should be reciprocal". The CEO stated that the company should pay back its customers those 100 dollars if the service center rescheduled the appointments in less than 24 hours. He also added that he would spend a lot of personal time improving Tesla's service "to make it amazing". Tesla was tagged in Musk's Twitter post, which could mean a change is coming soon, as usually when the CEO makes a public statement, management wastes no time making it actually happen.

It is not yet clear how the manufacturer is going to implement this measure so that it positively affects the customers; although it is most than likely that a credit will be generated in customer´s accounts to spend on brand products or services (fast-charging credit, accessories, etc.).

Source: hibridosyelectricos

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.