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BC and (new) Referral Program

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If someone wants to try and figure out what the issue is, so you know the most effective next steps to take, it sounds like you might want to start with the Registrar appointed under the Vehicle Sales Authority, since that entity seems to have been delegated the power, via an Administrative Agreement with the Province, to enforce the Motor Dealer Act, and it's the Registrar that has the power to (among other things), "Require compliance with the MDA and its Regulations", and "Investigate consumer complaints involving transactions with licensed motor dealers".

https://mvsabc.com/v1/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/VSA-Fact-Sheet_VSA-Legislative-Authority.pdf
 
I just received another Email from Tesla Refferal program.

Good Afternoon,
I appreciate the additional information and research that you conducted on your end. After reviewing the details with my team it appears that all residents of British Columbia are not eligible for our program regardless if you're the referee or referral purchasing the vehicle. I can understand how this can be frustrating, but the local laws have prevented us from fulfilling this benefit of the program.

We appreciate your understanding, and patience while we looked into this.
 
In BC there are several new car dealers that offer referral programs including gift cards etc for bringing a buyer to the dealership. We all need to put pressure on the NCDA to revoke this pressure on Tesla. With Tesla Vancouvers immense volume of cars sold in the last couple months I am sure it's been causing some jealous franchise dealers with deep pockets putting pressure on the NCDA. I'd recommend emailing the NCDA and cc the premiers office and your local MLA, I know I will.
 
The Vehicle Sales Authority has an eleven-member Board of Directors with six vehicle sales industry appointees, three members of the general public and two government appointees.

The dealer organizations have the majority on the board. And the board appoints the “three members of the general public”.

Talk about the foxes guarding the henhouse.

No wonder they made a decision that harms Tesla and Tesla owners.

https://mvsabc.com/about-the-vsa/vsa-governance/vsa-board/

The minister responsible is Mike Farnworth.

[email protected]
 
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While the people that have said that Tesla is just complying with the law and shouldn't be blamed for this are right, my issue is that my supercharger kms disappeared without any notice.

And on top of this, I sent their referral program an email a week ago asking what happened to my kms, and still haven't received a response.

What makes people mad, I think, is not just that they lost the reward, but that there has been zero messaging on this other than a few people who have received a reply to their specific inquiry and shared it with others on these forums.

Aside from this, after reading old posts, its pretty clear that in the fine print Tesla had known about bc referees not being eligable at last as far back as April 2018. However, the sales people sure promoted the program with me and never mentioned that I was at least not eligable to refer others.

I love my model 3, but this is bad business. The moment they removed those kms, everyone effected should have received notice that they were gone and why.
 
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I think the original intention of the law was good, as it prevents a middle person to persuade someone's decision and collect a reward. In this case for Tesla referrals, I think it's a little different, being that the referrals are from existing owners.

Is there a template floating around that we can use to email MLA's and govt parties involved? I admit my writing is horrible and I wouldn't mind sending something if there is one.
 
Don't new owners who were given the free Supercharger kms as part of a Tesla promo have a legal right on this? I feel they have to square this or face a lawsuit from owners.
If you send it to the government, what do you think will happen? They’ll tell you to pound sand.

If you send it to Tesla, they’ll just point out that they’re complying with the governments dictates, and the suit gets tossed.

Get your government rep on the horn and tell them you want it fixed. Might take a few decades........
 
I think the original intention of the law was good, as it prevents a middle person to persuade someone's decision and collect a reward. In this case for Tesla referrals, I think it's a little different, being that the referrals are from existing owners.

Is there a template floating around that we can use to email MLA's and govt parties involved? I admit my writing is horrible and I wouldn't mind sending something if there is one.

A template to send to our Local MLA's would be great. It probably won't get anywhere but you never know. Would be great if there was enough buzz to hit media but I don't know how that could happen. But you never know I've seen news stories about questioning if peanut butter was racist so there's that.
 
Who's the target of the campaign? Tesla, for continuing a program they knew had legal issues back in 2018 (and who are still showing a "loot box" in my app), or the Vehicle Sales Authority? If the VSA, I'd first make inquiries of the Registrar so you at least know from the "government's" perspective (via delegated authority to the VSA) as to the legal basis for forcing Tesla to remove the KMs from the accounts of buyers (as I assume this is the complaint). That way, you make Bob's Got Your Back's job easier, which will, hopefully, lead him to being more readily willing/able to focus his laserbeam on the right spot.
 
I love Tesla but they still owe me the missing KMs (or $ equivalent) as they promoted this during the transaction. The 'complying with BC law' argument is fair but it does not excuse them from their contractual obligation to the buyer using the ref code. I think Tesla knows this and will offer compensation if they can't get get BC laws changed.
 
I love Tesla but they still owe me the missing KMs (or $ equivalent) as they promoted this during the transaction. The 'complying with BC law' argument is fair but it does not excuse them from their contractual obligation to the buyer using the ref code. I think Tesla knows this and will offer compensation if they can't get get BC laws changed.

I asked them this specific question and they replied with
 

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I love Tesla but they still owe me the missing KMs (or $ equivalent) as they promoted this during the transaction. The 'complying with BC law' argument is fair but it does not excuse them from their contractual obligation to the buyer using the ref code. I think Tesla knows this and will offer compensation if they can't get get BC laws changed.

Historically Tesla does not care about this kind of thing. They told everyone that buying FSD up front would guarantee you the best price, they then turned around and dropped the price. They have even refused to let those that paid up front cancel or get a refund even though they broke the deal about price and have yet to deliver any functionality. They make great cars but they have repeatedly screwed over customers and will only honor what they say when forced to through litigation. They burned me on FSD and I learned my lesson, I knew they were going to burn everyone on the referral. I would not expect them to just do the right thing.

The response above me is exactly what I would expect from Tesla.
 
Who's the target of the campaign? Tesla, for continuing a program they knew had legal issues back in 2018 (and who are still showing a "loot box" in my app), or the Vehicle Sales Authority? If the VSA, I'd first make inquiries of the Registrar so you at least know from the "government's" perspective (via delegated authority to the VSA) as to the legal basis for forcing Tesla to remove the KMs from the accounts of buyers (as I assume this is the complaint). That way, you make Bob's Got Your Back's job easier, which will, hopefully, lead him to being more readily willing/able to focus his laserbeam on the right spot.

If Tesla did this upon the direction or advice of the VSA, I suggest the primary target is the VSA.

The VSA was established in 2004 by the BC Liberal government when it was going through a process of deregulation and divestment of governmental responsibilities in various areas. It delegated its responsibilities for enforcement of the Motor Dealer Act to the industry.

The VSA is dominated by traditional vehicle dealerships. "The VSA has an eleven-member Board of Directors with six vehicle sales industry appointees, three members of the general public and two government appointees." The three "members of the general public" are selected by the Board of Directors... which is dominated by the six industry Board members.

Home - The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC

It would not be surprising if this body, dominated by board members from the traditional dealership model, made decisions that were contrary to Tesla's sales model.

I phoned the VSA this morning. I have left a message and I am awaiting a response.
 
If Tesla did this upon the direction or advice of the VSA, I suggest the primary target is the VSA.

The VSA was established in 2004 by the BC Liberal government when it was going through a process of deregulation and divestment of governmental responsibilities in various areas. It delegated its responsibilities for enforcement of the Motor Dealer Act to the industry.

The VSA is dominated by traditional vehicle dealerships. "The VSA has an eleven-member Board of Directors with six vehicle sales industry appointees, three members of the general public and two government appointees." The three "members of the general public" are selected by the Board of Directors... which is dominated by the six industry Board members.

Home - The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC

It would not be surprising if this body, dominated by board members from the traditional dealership model, made decisions that were contrary to Tesla's sales model.

I phoned the VSA this morning. I have left a message and I am awaiting a response.
You can also file a formal complaint via their website (to complain against the VSA I guess). When the Dealer Is Licensed - The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC
 
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I spoke with someone at VSABC today. I got the telephone number from their website.

Contact Us - The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC

The person said they are familiar with the situation regarding purchasers of Teslas.

The person distinguished that from the VSABC's position regarding referrers receiving an incentive.

I described that I had made my decision to buy a Tesla while I was on vacation. I researched on my own and made the decision to buy independently. I then learned that I could receive 7500 kilometers of charging if I used a referral code. I found a referral code and used it.

I received the 7500 kilometers on the day of delivery. The kilometers disappeared about July 3.

I said I wasn't sure whether this was because Tesla has misunderstood some direction from VSABC or whether VSABC had given them direction to do so and they complied.

The person said they could not provide a conclusive response. The person who makes a determination is the Registrar whom I understand to be Ian Christman.

The person did some investigation and called me back. They said that this is the first they have heard of this aspect of the Tesla referral program, i.e., the denial or revocation of charging hours involving a purchaser.

She said she will have someone from their Consumer Services Team contact me in the next day or two to learn more so that they can investigate further.

(I had the sense that nobody really knows what is going on. :) )