Tesla Reviews 

To Tesla Management / Customer Relations Team,

I am writing to express my extreme disappointment with my recent leasing experience at Tesla, which I would rate 1 star.

On, I placed a $250 non-refundable order deposit and selected a specific vehicle for lease through your website/app. The terms presented were clear at that time.[Date]

However, after proceeding with the application in the Tesla app, I was asked to pay a down payment 3 times higher than what was originally quoted during the initial selection process. This change was not disclosed upfront and only appeared after my $250 deposit was already locked in as non-refundable.

This practice feels deceptive. Customers should not be baited with one payment structure, then forced into a drastically different one after Tesla has secured a non-refundable deposit. The lack of transparency left me with two bad options: accept the inflated down payment or lose my $250.

Issues I experienced:
1. Bait-and-switch pricing: Down payment tripled from the original lease estimate shown before deposit.
2. Non-refundable deposit used as leverage: The $250 fee locked me into a process where Tesla could change terms without consequence.
3. No clear disclosure in app: The final numbers only appeared after multiple steps, making it impossible to make an informed decision upfront.

As a customer, I expect honesty and transparency from a brand like Tesla. This experience has eroded my trust completely. I request a full refund of my $250 deposit due to the material change in lease terms after payment.

I am also filing this complaint with the BBB and my state’s Attorney General’s Office regarding deceptive sales practices.

My order
Model 3
RN128318065
5YJ3E1EA0TF186022

Sincerely,
[Elgendi ]

tried to trade in my 2022 tesla on a 2026. initial appraisal of $17,900 appears to be a bait and switch, because you have to pay the $250 non refundable fee , before you get your actual appraisal. Mine was $4000 less, after powdercoating wheels and buffing the car to look like new. I would imagine keeping everyone's $250 deposit adds up for them.

Overall shocking experience. We ordered our new Tesla in December and have had delay after delay, very bad communication from Tesla directly. It’s been incredible difficult to plan our life, with me being heavily pregnant. I do not recommend anyone to go with Tesla in future, if you are not willing to wait in the dark for a long long time. We have waited 6.5 months so far & it keeps getting pushed back. Mind you we were originally quoted a delivery within 12 weeks.

Absolutely no feed back, ordered a new tesla 3. Arrived before due date and we were out of the country. No help whatsoever on postponing handover , no communication!! Contacted tesla 3 times , received not one phone call, email or text .

Jokers how they think I will accept 8400 euro for my 2019 Jaguar E pace with 75k km is funny do they think the general public are idiots do not I will not be buying from Tesla spain or tesla full stop

This a joker company. I advised people please read reviews before you buy tesla. Don't waste your time. Not about the car about the company customer policy.

Tesla Dealership - 21030 N 19th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85027
This place has the worst Customer Service I have ever experienced. I placed an order and had to put down over $3,200. When it arrived, it was not the vehicle they showed me. They. suggested I look at another higher-priced. I gave it a couple of days and canceled my order altogether. There is no way to call anyone. If you message them, it goes to an AI that can't do anything. I went into the dealership and canceled my order on 5/16. Noah said I would have my money back in 3 to 5 days. When I did not have my money back by 5/23, I went back to the dealership. Noah said it would get worked out. Someone from the dealership emailed me saying I would get my money soon. This person actually reports to Noah. It is now 5/27, and I have not received my money. I guess I need to make another trip to the dealership today.
FOLLOW UP 5/27: They emailed me today, saying it hasn't been processed yet and that I should wait another 7 days. WTF
FOLLOW UP 5/28: Just another day, and I don’t have my money.

Absolutely shocking levels of customer support/service in the South of France. I have truly never experienced anything like this. Forget communicating with these people, they will NOT answer your emails. I have sent 3 to the same person in the South of France. NO reply- So I wrote to another, NO reply. 1 week later, I get a reply, from the first person/manager, informing she was on holiday. Then after sending her another FOUR emails over 2 months... ZERO response....ZERO. Did she lie about being on holiday? So, I wrote to them at a general email address. Again, NO reply after 3 weeks. Now, I try the Tesla app. 5 messages over 1 week, NO REPLY.

Seriously, Tesla, your car sales are down? Surely you are better than this? This is absolutely ridiculous. Tin pot mentality.

I had a very disappointing experience with Tesla Pre-Owned Sales. Over the course of multiple calls, I was given conflicting information repeatedly regarding pricing, trade-in value, and the purchase process. My vehicle’s trade-in offer seemed to fluctuate downward almost daily, and several representatives pressured me to place a “non-refundable” deposit before providing clear and consistent answers.

What concerned me most was the lack of transparency. It felt like there was constant urgency and pressure tactics instead of straightforward communication. As a customer making a major purchase decision, I expected professionalism, honesty, and consistency.

I love Tesla vehicles, but the pre-owned sales process seriously damaged my trust in the customer experience. I would strongly recommend that buyers carefully review every detail, get everything in writing, and avoid rushing into deposits or agreements without full clarity.

My first use of a Tesla supercharger was yesterday. Shortly after the uneventful charging session the car presented a message: "Paid charging unavailable - Check unpaid balance". First I confirmed with my credit card company that the payment for the charging session was processed - indeed it had gone through. Then I went to the Fairmont Tesla service center where they advised me to delete the offending credit card details and re-enter them. I did delete the offending card and re-entered a new card, I am still locked out of supercharging. I am trying to contact Customer Support and have been on hold for an hour and 45 minutes so far - totally frustrating. Customer support at Tesla is a joke

The rates are good, but their safety score is laughably bad, and their customer service is basically non-existent. The things you get dinged for are absurd, and most of the time incorrect. Even if you contact them about any errors they will never remove it from your score, or even respond. A prime example is that the safety score isn’t supposed to ding you for hard braking at a changing light. Yet, they do every single time, or just about every time. Hard braking for them is oftentimes just normal braking for every single driver on the road. They almost require you to rely solely on regen braking or they ding you. Their excessive speeding rule is an utter disgrace and basically a scam to increase your rates. An example would be if a car stops at a traffic light you have to be driving less than 25 within 100 meters or you get dinged for it. So, you have to crawl up to the light if you don’t want to get penalized, and driving somewhere like Tampa you’re going to cause a wreck driving like that, or get cut off non-stop. It dings you for excessive speeding if a slow car suddenly changes into your lane in front of you because guess what you’re going 50 and they’re driving 30 like idiots. Not your fault, but according to Tesla you’re an unsafe driver. I honestly think they ding you if a car turns left and cross the lanes of traffic and you happen to be within 100M even though they’re just cutting across. FSD will force disengage if you’re wearing a hat at night and that’s a huge ding and premium penalty. You’ll get dinged for driving in a parking garage frequently for turning too sharply so you better go 5 or less making those 90 degree turns while people ride your rear bumper. They won’t fix any of these so you’re stuck with it unless you have proof, and that will only happen if you’re sitting there recording your driving with your phone…I could go on and on with examples. Meanwhile the FSD will follow too closely, brake hard, make sharp turns, do excessive speeding, etc and it’s fine. Even if you drive safer than the FSD you’ll still get nailed for stuff daily. Maybe if you live in some rural area where you can just cruise along with very little traffic your safety score will be 100%, but unless you drive like a 100 year old you’ll be lucky to keep your score above a 91 in populated areas. You definitely have to drive slow enough to safely rely on the regen braking 100% of the time since they would apparently rather have you rear end someone, run someone over, or run a red light than actually use your brake pedal. It’s still cheaper than any other insurance I have seen, but you will get very annoyed with the BS penalties. You will also wonder how good their customer service and communication will be if you have an accident since it is non-existent when challenging any improper safety score dings. I guess run red lights to your hearts content you’re score will stay good and don’t you dare tap your brakes or you’re an unsafe driver. Almost, worth paying a $100 more a month to not get annoyed on an almost daily basis by their joke of a scoring system.

I was scheduled to collect my brand-new Model Y from the Manchester Trafford Centre hub on Friday, May 22nd. On paper, everything was flawless. My finance was fully completed and funded 48 hours prior, and my trade-in paperwork was signed first thing that morning. I adjusted my vehicle insurance and drove 50 miles from Leeds to Manchester to collect the vehicle.

​It was only after I physically arrived on-site that I received a text message from a delivery advisor stating my appointment was cancelled.

​When I spoke to the on-site Delivery Hub Manager, I was told that a widespread system glitch/IT integration failure between Tesla and the DVLA meant they could not process the automated first registration batches that morning. Over 60 customers on-site were left stranded. While technical glitches happen, Tesla’s high-wire policy of waiting until the literal morning of delivery to push DVLA handshakes creates a massive single point of failure for customers.

​Worse still was the lack of support. The on-site team offered zero material compensation or travel solutions, completely disrupting a pre-planned family religious commitment we had scheduled that afternoon. I had to pay out of pocket to refuel my trade-in car (which was left on empty per their trade-in drop-off instructions) and sit in a grueling 3-hour gridlock on the M62 just to get back home to Leeds empty-handed.

​Wasting a customer's time, fuel, and holiday leave because of an unhedged IT failure is completely unacceptable for a company that prides itself on software. If you are collecting from Manchester, do not leave your house until you independently verify your new plate is live on the GOV.UK database, because Tesla’s automated communication will let you drive across the country for absolutely nothing.

Last week we drove our Tesla Model S half way across the country. Our Tesla support specialist was able to get my car connected to my account within 20 minutes of our call. He was so helpful and professional. Very grateful for him. If it were not for him we’d still be stuck on Ohio

The plan was to pick up a new tesla today. There is an issue.
Currently waiting for a call back option after being on hold for 20minutes. sent 2 emails to contacts I have delt with and text message to their messaging stream. I love the car (it'll be our 3rd) but communication is diabolical. Hardest way to spend £50k I have ever experienced

I rarely write negative reviews, but my experience ordering a Tesla has been nothing short of appalling.

From the outset, the delivery date was delayed multiple times. When the vehicle was finally supposedly ready for collection, the finance documents from Tesla Finance never arrived. I chased this well in advance and was repeatedly assured everything was in hand.

Eventually, I was told to contact the finance company directly. I attempted this on three separate occasions, each time being left on hold for over an hour. Multiple emails went unanswered. It was only after escalating the matter by emailing the CEO of Santander that the issue was finally resolved.

Once the finance was approved, Tesla then cancelled my collection date and rearranged it without any consultation. Shortly afterwards, they changed it back again.

Then today — on the very day I was due to collect the car — I received a call informing me that delivery had once again been cancelled for “unknown reasons”, with no indication whatsoever as to when I might actually receive the vehicle.

To make matters worse, all the complaint history and chat correspondence within the Tesla app mysteriously disappeared afterwards.

At this point, it genuinely feels as though complaining simply results in further inconvenience.

Would I recommend Tesla based on this experience? Absolutely not. The customer service has been chaotic, unresponsive, and incredibly frustrating throughout. My advice: steer well clear.

Tesla is a joke powerful company

I am in love with my car even 5 years later BUT the customer service is absolutely horrible. The time I have spent on hold is crazy! And then being hung up on multiple times after waiting and waiting and waiting.
Warning! Tesla credits (you get if you refer someone to buy a tesla) can not be used at the chargers if you travel to the states from Canada. How ridiculous! There is NOTHING in the fine print to say "they cant convert the currency". I had an unexpected $600 charging bill that I thought my credits were covering as it was set as my default payment.
A company like tesla, I expected such better customer service and am so disappointing I would honestly not recommend to even take the chance.
Could you imagine if it was actually an emergency and having to wait an hour to talk to someone, to then only be put on hold again and then hung up on?! No thank you. Totally disappointed.

"Great" experience, thanks

Tesla is not for me, their customer service is inward looking, I.e. they operate to optimise their own processes rather then finding a balance to meet customer needs.
I have always preferred Audi but occasionally trial other vehicles for our second car at home. Unfortunately, so far, nothing has topped Audi customer service and overall vehicle performance.
Won't be returning to Tesla any time soon.