Got charged for supercharger usages at a location that I have never been to

[chaoyxa]

I found out there are two supercharger charges on my account for charging at Lowell,AR. However, I have never driven my MY out of Texas. I contacted the Tesla support through the web chat as I was concerned abt the account security. Shockingly, the support did not think there was anything wrong with the system and all charges are valid. Basically, she accused me lying about it and saying family member might have driven the car to AR or used my account. I am the sole driver of the car and living alone with no family member living close enough to take the car out of my sight. I also told her that ‘It is 600 miles drive that there were no other chargers used along the way. Is it odd?’ . Then she replied saying “ I might have used destination charger and it couldn’t show up on charging history.” I am speechless. I am not expecting a 20 bucks refund but want to know why it could happen and if there are any security issue with my account.

I am posting her to see if anyone else had similar experience. Also, Is there a way to retrieve car location/travel log that I can use to prove myself? I could get my credit card bill to show transactions happened in TX during those two days but they would still think the car was driven by someone else to AR. I love my Model Y and have a Cyber Truck in order but I don't appreciate the way they treated a loyal customer.

 

[cpa]

Welcome to the exciting world of Tesla Motors. I would dispute your credit card charges with your credit card company and tell them exactly what happened. They can give you a tentative credit to your account while they send off the complaint to be investigated on Tesla's end. Credit card company policies vary, but generally the merchant has 60 days to respond to your complaint. Then you get the last crack at rebutting their reply before the charges reappear or go away. I wonder if Tesla has the manpower in the accounting or Supercharging department to respond to a $20 dispute.

Such is the corporate attitude at Tesla. The clerks and representatives just follow the company script, and they do not waver, nor do they have much discretion in exercising judgment.

It would be worthwhile if you could find your odometer readings for the days in question to show that there were no trips using destination chargers, or a relative took your car to Arkansas or any other sophistry that the person can insinuate in order to get you to go away. I wish you luck in your endeavor.

 

[srs5694]

Is there a way to retrieve car location/travel log that I can use to prove myself?

I don't know about retroactively, but some third-party Tesla apps and Web sites track enrolled Teslas' locations. I use TeslaFi, for instance, and it does this. With TeslaFi's logs in hand you'd have pretty solid evidence that your car was 600 miles away from the Supercharger in question at the time in question. I don't believe that TeslaFi can retrieve these logs retroactively, though, so this approach won't help you with this dispute unless you already use TeslaFi (or something else with this capability); but it might be helpful if the problem crops up again.

My own inclination would be to do as @cpa suggests and dispute the charge with your credit card company; however, there is a risk to this: If Tesla decides that you're trying to defraud them, they might deny you Supercharger access in the future, perhaps at an inconvenient time (like when you are on a road trip). Personally, I think I'd take the risk -- but I own Tesla's CHAdeMO adapter and Setec's CCS adapter, so I'd be able to limp home on CHAdeMO and/or CCS chargers. If you don't have at least one of these adapters, then disputing the charge any time near when you might be on a road trip could be risky.

Another approach might be to escalate the issue with Tesla. I don't know how long they keep GPS data on customers' cars, but if they log it for long enough, the GPS data proving you weren't at that Supercharger should be in their own servers, and the trick will be to contact somebody who can access it and apply the information to your account.

 

[chaoyxa]

I don't know about retroactively, but some third-party Tesla apps and Web sites track enrolled Teslas' locations. I use TeslaFi, for instance, and it does this. With TeslaFi's logs in hand you'd have pretty solid evidence that your car was 600 miles away from the Supercharger in question at the time in question. I don't believe that TeslaFi can retrieve these logs retroactively, though, so this approach won't help you with this dispute unless you already use TeslaFi (or something else with this capability); but it might be helpful if the problem crops up again.

My own inclination would be to do as @cpa suggests and dispute the charge with your credit card company; however, there is a risk to this: If Tesla decides that you're trying to defraud them, they might deny you Supercharger access in the future, perhaps at an inconvenient time (like when you are on a road trip). Personally, I think I'd take the risk -- but I own Tesla's CHAdeMO adapter and Setec's CCS adapter, so I'd be able to limp home on CHAdeMO and/or CCS chargers. If you don't have at least one of these adapters, then disputing the charge any time near when you might be on a road trip could be risky.

Another approach might be to escalate the issue with Tesla. I don't know how long they keep GPS data on customers' cars, but if they log it for long enough, the GPS data proving you weren't at that Supercharger should be in their own servers, and the trick will be to contact somebody who can access it and apply the information to your account.

I did ask the support to check the GPS log of my car and she said they don't monitor GPS location. I am going to try to reach out the support again this week and will dispute the charge with my bank if it does not work out. I do have a CHAdeMo adapter. Thanks for the advice.