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Having seriously contemplated getting one of these roofs, the real problem was working with Tesla. Fine, Tesla sells cars with essentially no customer service.
by amluto 4y ago
Having seriously contemplated getting one of these roofs, the real problem was working with Tesla. Fine, Tesla sells cars with essentially no customer service. It’s a thing you order off a menu, and they make it and deliver it.
But a roof is fundamentally a custom installation. You need flashings. You need it to integrate with gutters. You need to make sure the thing is compatible with the roof slope. You may need penetrations. You need to have drawings and specs for the contractor and the structural engineer. You probably need a (correct!) permit drawing. Someone needs to answer the phone when the GC calls. And you need the thing installed, on time, competently, so the building can have a roof when it needs it.
Tesla is terrible at this. Any of a large number of roofers who sell products from various large and small roofing vendors can pull it off — it’s not hard, it’s not rocket science, but it requires an actual human who has volition. Maybe AI or really amazing construction software will do this some day, but not yet.
- m463 4y agoHaving dealt with tesla with a car I would not expect good service from them for something like this. I do not blame the employees, but I think if you have a tesla car you should have a "backup car" for when you have problems - even a flat tire. I would not trust them for a solar project like this, unless I didn't live in the house and I had patience for project delays.
- hw 4y agoI have only experienced good stuff from Tesla service. I like the convenience of being able to request for a service appointment through the app and the response time was within an hour. Their mobile service also means I don’t need to drive to a service center on minor issues. I do live in California so not sure if it is different in other states or countries
- mmh0000 4y agoI have a 2014 Model S, That just went out of warranty this past summer. For the first few years, maybe up to 2018, Tesla's customer service was amazing. After 2018 though getting even minor things fixed under warranty required multiple service center visits (literally took me four visits to get a tire pressure monitor battery replaced and re-paired to the car). I'm dreading the next major thing that goes wrong too, now that the car is out of warranty and for the most part only Tesla can repair them. They've stopped offering mobile service in my area (Northern Utah) and they've stopped offering loaner cars while performing repairs. Meaning dropping the car off and ruining someone else's morning so you can get a ride to work or home. I love electric cars, I will never buy another gas car, but I will also never buy another Tesla.
- amluto 4y agoI like being able to request service through an app, but I would appreciate being able to call or chat with a human too. But I’m currently waiting for a (minor, non-critical) service that has been pending for month. The (friendly! competent!) tech showed up once with the wrong part, because Tesla doesn’t have their mapping from VIN to supported parts done well enough to actually send technicians with the right part. Still waiting for a second try. (As far as I can tell, the part I need is quite basic and works with all Model S versions from inception to 2020. That doesn’t mean that Tesla can find the thing. If the part I needed were a roof shingle or a fancy diode or connector or something, I’d have a real problem.)
- david2ndaccount 4y agoMy parents have had endless problems due to their Tesla roof and regret ever buying it. Tesla’s response to their problems is slow to non-existent.