Granted 5,000 supercharging miles from referral - revoked due to "error"

[mcorf]

My neighbor in Ohio has a S and X and has free supercharging for life on both his cars. How is this different ?

 

[idealdreams]

Again, it’s very clearly stated in the disclaimers that Ohio is not eligible. Yeah, it sucks they showed up in your loot box then disappeared, but if you had looked into it before your purchase you would have known you weren’t eligible.

You also didn’t answer if you had planned to use the miles in the next 3 months. I’m genuinely curious because then I can understand your frustration a bit better. Otherwise you’re complaining about losing something you were never going to use anyway, so I don’t understand how you’re in a worse position.

It’s clearly stated in the disclaimers NOW, but this law isn’t new. I can’t confirm if the disclaimer was there two months ago at the time of purchase, but it shouldn’t be in small print on a different page anyways. If you’re in Ohio and you try to use a referral code to purchase your Tesla, you should see an immediate warning informing you that this is not possible due to state laws.

I should not have been allowed to use the referral code from the beginning, much less actually see the miles available for use in my account, if it is illegal to reward referrals in Ohio. Furthermore, no one at Tesla that I spoke to knew this, nor did the associates at my local Tesla store know this. It wasn’t until I spoke to a manager that has been fielding calls for the same issue that I learned of the specific law preventing Tesla from doing this.

Regardless of whether or not I was or am planning to use the miles any time within the 6 months before their expiration adds nothing to this discussion as it’s irrelevant. The topic here is that Tesla failed to obey a state law, rewarded free miles to people in Ohio anyways, received a court order to cease and desist and remove rewards from those already in receipt, and failed to notify any of the recipients of the rewards of this news.

I don’t care if the miles are worth $1,000 or $10, the money isn’t the point. It’s Tesla’s failure to 1) be informed of state laws, 2) obey state laws, 3) prevent the use of referral codes in states where doing so is illegal, 4) prevent the issuance of referral rewards to Ohio residents, and 5) notify affected consumers originally rewarded that their miles are now gone, instead of leading them down a goose chase trying to locate someone within their entire organization who even knows what the hell they’re talking about.

The first two people ASSURED me that this was a glitch and that the miles were still in my account. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing and I’m getting tired of it. Their vehicles are great, but lacking in every other area is only going to get them so far.

 

[OCR1]

@idealdreams,

Agree completely. Tesla communication is horrible. For sales reps in Ohio to not know that bonus miles are not available to Ohio residents is ridiculous. Some day another car manufacturer will come out with a product that competes with the Model 3. When that happens people will no longer tolerate Teslas’s incompetence. Until then we are pretty much stuck choosing between a crappy car or crappy service.

 

[mnevar]

Why should they stop you from using a referral code? Your referrer may not be from Ohio/Virginia and they will get the perks.

 

[golfpilot]

So you bought a $40K-$50K+ car based upon a referral reward worth approximately $330 (based on Tesla's calculation on their website)?

I know someone that refused to take delivery on a 100D because Tesla magically raised the price $100 on the final paperwork... Tesla actually ended up fixing it and he took delivery, but it took a couple of days. Tesla doesn't negotiate, but they have a tendency to accidentally change pricing and promises on a whim

 

[diamond.g]

It’s clearly stated in the disclaimers NOW, but this law isn’t new. I can’t confirm if the disclaimer was there two months ago at the time of purchase, but it shouldn’t be in small print on a different page anyways. If you’re in Ohio and you try to use a referral code to purchase your Tesla, you should see an immediate warning informing you that this is not possible due to state laws.

I should not have been allowed to use the referral code from the beginning, much less actually see the miles available for use in my account, if it is illegal to reward referrals in Ohio. Furthermore, no one at Tesla that I spoke to knew this, nor did the associates at my local Tesla store know this. It wasn’t until I spoke to a manager that has been fielding calls for the same issue that I learned of the specific law preventing Tesla from doing this.

Regardless of whether or not I was or am planning to use the miles any time within the 6 months before their expiration adds nothing to this discussion as it’s irrelevant. The topic here is that Tesla failed to obey a state law, rewarded free miles to people in Ohio anyways, received a court order to cease and desist and remove rewards from those already in receipt, and failed to notify any of the recipients of the rewards of this news.

I don’t care if the miles are worth $1,000 or $10, the money isn’t the point. It’s Tesla’s failure to 1) be informed of state laws, 2) obey state laws, 3) prevent the use of referral codes in states where doing so is illegal, 4) prevent the issuance of referral rewards to Ohio residents, and 5) notify affected consumers originally rewarded that their miles are now gone, instead of leading them down a goose chase trying to locate someone within their entire organization who even knows what the hell they’re talking about.

The first two people ASSURED me that this was a glitch and that the miles were still in my account. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing and I’m getting tired of it. Their vehicles are great, but lacking in every other area is only going to get them so far.

To be fair, that disclaimer has been on the site since at least 03 Sept 2016, and it likely existed when the site was teslamotors.com as well.

Referral Program

 

[MountainJedi]

I know someone that refused to take delivery on a 100D because Tesla magically raised the price $100 on the final paperwork... Tesla actually ended up fixing it and he took delivery, but it took a couple of days. Tesla doesn't negotiate, but they have a tendency to accidentally change pricing and promises on a whim

A price increase from when you put down a deposit to receiving your final paperwork is totally different than not receiving a referral bonus you didn't pay or do anything for due to a state law.

 

[golfpilot]

A price increase from when you put down a deposit to receiving your final paperwork is totally different than not receiving a referral bonus you didn't pay or do anything for due to a state law.

You did do something. You used the referral code when you bought the car. If you use the referral code you will get X amount of miles. No different than a dealership having a "If you test drive one of our cars we will give you a $100 gift card to X store". If someone could decline delivery because the price changed $100 they can decline delivery because Tesla refused to honor a promotion they offered.

 

[diamond.g]

You did do something. You used the referral code when you bought the car. If you use the referral code you will get X amount of miles. No different than a dealership having a "If you test drive one of our cars we will give you a $100 gift card to X store". If someone could decline delivery because the price changed $100 they can decline delivery because Tesla refused to honor a promotion they offered.

Legally they can’t honor it though. And they said as much on the website since at least 2016 ( back when the rewards were better).

 

[golfpilot]

Legally they can’t honor it though. And they said as much on the website since at least 2016 ( back when the rewards were better).

It isn't my battle but I'm sure there are a couple virginia/ohio attorneys chomping at the bit to start a class-action. Tesla sold cars with a credit and later took them away on the basis of some antiquated law. No chance that is legal. Bait and switch. I think in the long run it will have been cheaper for Tesla to fight Ohio than to settle a lawsuit with 10's of thousands of unhappy customers.