So I am a big fan of Tesla. But not of the delivery people. Please, please double, triple check your order and financing. They only care about the super wealthy, rich people here. If you are not one of them, they literally throw you to the gutter.
I was the first owner of a Model S P85D in NJ.Then Model S P100D and then Model X. A Model 3 RWD and recently Model 3 AWD. The cars, the man, the legend. David vs Goliath. I love these things about Tesla. So does everyone. Clearly 5 cars. Obvious.
My first car experience was at Springfield. That's where I got my P85D. It was such a nice experience and everyone there was welcoming. They informed me every step of the way, and let me know what I would be responsible for and what I needed to bring with me. I received my car, my dog even came. They took pictures of us both, was a great experience and brought me closer to thinking Elon was a God. The car was amazing and I was so happy to be driving it and contributing to add miles of knowledge for future updates and improvements.
Fast forward 4 years and I wanted the Model 3, but in AWD. This time, in Paramus was the worst service ever. I was sent the documents via email which I didn't read, as was the case with the last 4 cars because I trusted the company, but during the process they told me 3-4 thousand in addition to my initial deposit. This time the delivery specialist came to my parent's house. I had my old Model 3 and he and I discussed um.... nothing. Delivery team prior said, hey your a veteran right, you dont need us to tell you anything. I was taken aback, but I said okay. Famous last words. Instead of the down payment being 3,500. Which is exactly what the delivery specialist had told me. They ended up taking 34,500 out 3 days later. Yes it was in my email. But who puts 34,500 or half down on a car. And they had told me the loan would be 3-5k. It was my fault for not looking thoroughly at the emails. The rest of the amount 22k was financed through US Bank. How ridiculous, who would put down 40k, for a 60k car. You might as well pay the whole thing. But I trusted these fools. When I put in the amount with the delivery specialist on mytesla.com it was for 3,450. And he looked it over and said cool. Cool. Yup. Thats right. On Friday. Beginning of May.
When my bank account went negative 3 days later, I obviously put a stop payment on it on Monday. When it ended up being 34,500. And I called Aleks, the delivery specialist. He messaged me that he was off Monday and to call the Paramus center. I called and told them what was going on. They said they would do research and get back to me. I waited 3 days, nothing. Messaged Aleks again. Nothing. He said 2 days after they were looking into it with corporate. I messaged him a 3rd time a week later, and he said the same thing.
Now it is the 22nd June Saturday morning and I get an email from Tesla Paramus and they said, can you pay the balance. I responded and said I think I owe 3450. They (Shane at Paramus) said, sure if thats what you think you owe. I found this very odd, since there would not even be a receipt? or Bill? So I called and spoke with Shane who did some "research" and called me back and said I owed Tesla the 34,500 and I should have looked at my emails. This never happens, your a first time case. Blaming me over and over and over again. Threatened me... Told me they would not do registration and impound the car. A 5-Time Tesla car buyer. With zero issues with the company. He also yelled at me and basically said I was poor when I told him, why would anyone put down 60% for a car, when you are financing it, especially when you have no negative equity. He went on to tell me there are people who pay for the car in full. I said, they must be rich and he said a lot of people do.
When I told him I am not one of those rich people he said well, a lot of people put down half. Basically insinuating I was not the "type" of person that would buy a Tesla. Even though he knew it was my fifth car. And not once did he apologize for the confusion or share some empathy with the experience I had. No, Shane was right. You be quiet child. You should be lucky, I'm even talkin' to you.
I asked if I could restructure the loan, to which he said, call US Bank, I have other people waiting for me. Let us know when you want to pay it. And hung up.
I decided to use a LOC I had available and pay the car. I called Tesla today 6/24 and asked for Shane. The guy who picked up (Sean) said he was off, and said to wait while he spoke to a manager. He gets back on the line. So... do you want to do an ACH payment now or you coming in to give us the check. No sorry, for the inconvenience or the fact that I typed in 3,450 with specialist looking and was charged 34,500. Sure.. when someone calls and says sorry. He (Sean) then threatened me that we will not register your car. And it will be repossessed & impounded.
Gee Golly Tesla. Thanks read more