I wanted to share with you the disaster that the Polestar 2 launch is looking like here in the U.S. I'm a Tesla owner who has been considering the move to Polestar, because new and sexy. I've been on the preorder list for over a year, and we've finally hit the point where we are being asked to confirm our orders. Only problem is that their systems are clearly not up to the task.
I've now received 10 emails asking me to confirm my order, even though it was confirmed on the day that the first email inviting me to finalize came in.
More than that, the system has created 4 orders for my car, so when I go into my polestar account I've got 3 pending cars in the queue, with the order actually confirmed deleted. Effectively I've been put in the back of the queue for delivery because of some hiccups with their order management system.
I've contacted polestar support three times and each time they've said that it's a system-wide issue and one that they will be resolving in "a couple of days." Four weeks later the issue still exists.
Even better, when I go to look up my order, I get a "request failed with status code 400: Invalid configuration data" message.
Even more worryingly, when I look up my pricing breakdown, for some reason, the car is now listed at $83,665 versus the actual price of $71,400 and a total obligation of $91,139.04 including $9194.04 in interest expense, in spite of the emails clearly offering 0% interest. In addition I'm being asked to pay a $720 registration fee and a $995 acquisition fee, both of which are separate from the $1300 destination charge.
This is bringing my monthly to a frankly insane $1112.96, versus a lease price that they promise of $649 a month
In addition, the only places I can pick up the car are in California, even though I live in Oregon, which is a no sales tax state.
"While reserving your Polestar 2, you will need to select the Polestar Space nearest you and confirm your preferred payment method. There will be a Polestar Space in Los Angeles, New York City, and two in the Bay Area this year, with additional Spaces expected to open in Boston, Denver, Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida in the first half of 2021. For anyone who wants to order a Polestar 2 and doesn’t live near one of our launch cities, please select the closest retailer to you and that Polestar Space will work with you to provide the most convenient solution."
Having purchased a car in California before, if you drive a car off the lot in California you're liable for sales tax in the state unless you ship it out of state by a common carrier.
Finally, the amount of information we have about the car that we are expected to purchase is laughably limited. No information about home charging systems, no information about any away from home charging services that come with the car, and perhaps most importantly, test drives will only be available in the fall, while deliveries are scheduled for the late summer.
It's not a good look for a new car company to be this weak at this important customer service task.
I've now received 10 emails asking me to confirm my order, even though it was confirmed on the day that the first email inviting me to finalize came in.
More than that, the system has created 4 orders for my car, so when I go into my polestar account I've got 3 pending cars in the queue, with the order actually confirmed deleted. Effectively I've been put in the back of the queue for delivery because of some hiccups with their order management system.
I've contacted polestar support three times and each time they've said that it's a system-wide issue and one that they will be resolving in "a couple of days." Four weeks later the issue still exists.
Even better, when I go to look up my order, I get a "request failed with status code 400: Invalid configuration data" message.
Even more worryingly, when I look up my pricing breakdown, for some reason, the car is now listed at $83,665 versus the actual price of $71,400 and a total obligation of $91,139.04 including $9194.04 in interest expense, in spite of the emails clearly offering 0% interest. In addition I'm being asked to pay a $720 registration fee and a $995 acquisition fee, both of which are separate from the $1300 destination charge.
This is bringing my monthly to a frankly insane $1112.96, versus a lease price that they promise of $649 a month
In addition, the only places I can pick up the car are in California, even though I live in Oregon, which is a no sales tax state.
"While reserving your Polestar 2, you will need to select the Polestar Space nearest you and confirm your preferred payment method. There will be a Polestar Space in Los Angeles, New York City, and two in the Bay Area this year, with additional Spaces expected to open in Boston, Denver, Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida in the first half of 2021. For anyone who wants to order a Polestar 2 and doesn’t live near one of our launch cities, please select the closest retailer to you and that Polestar Space will work with you to provide the most convenient solution."
Having purchased a car in California before, if you drive a car off the lot in California you're liable for sales tax in the state unless you ship it out of state by a common carrier.
Finally, the amount of information we have about the car that we are expected to purchase is laughably limited. No information about home charging systems, no information about any away from home charging services that come with the car, and perhaps most importantly, test drives will only be available in the fall, while deliveries are scheduled for the late summer.
It's not a good look for a new car company to be this weak at this important customer service task.