Vendor Tesla Model S Battery Extended Service Plans from 057 Technology

[CrankyGypsy]

Here's an interesting thing that I noted last week: a few years ago, an 057 customer posted a poor review. Justifiably, TMC Admins quickly locked that thread from further discussion once it was deemed unfair. However, well into three months of this mess and they are still "letting us run wild." Just about everything that has been said, right or wrong, has had some merit to it. The discussion has actually been constructive at times, with some truly fruitful discoveries. It's certainly not a "pile on Jason" thread, though I'd jokingly question that he's made an effort to turn it into one.

@MP3Mike As for Hughes vs Reid being the liar: Jason hasn't been forthcoming or fully honest with us. Plain and simple. And granted, Reid only talked to TN DCA bc they practically made him. So now that I know that Reid is out of business, I coooould see him being less likely to tell the full truth to the DCA. You're right, that is possible. However, that certainly doesn't mean that I'm going to believe Jason after he's spent the past three months aggressively destroying my trust.

 

[zoomer0056]

same group could have bought 057 Technologies, and then they sold assets to 057 Companies

Is there another party involved standing between Technology and Companies?

 

[CrankyGypsy]

@MP3Mike earlier I had been way more focused on not getting our cars fixed.

I realize you've started an entirely different mystery. Although I feel I've invested way too much time at this point, I'm totally in! let's do this. Where's this 3td 057 party theory coming from?

 

[MP3Mike]

I realize you've started an entirely different mystery. Although I feel I've invested way too much time at this point, I'm totally in! let's do this. Where's this 3td 057 party theory coming from?

I'm not sure what you are talking about. My theory is the group of investors Jason mentioned bought 057 Technology, then created 057 Companies. (At that point they owned both.) Then they sold some of the 057 Technology assets to 057 Companies. (The same people still owning both LLCs at that point.)

But I don't know that we will ever know exactly what happened, as I don't think that kind of information is publicly available on private companies.

 

[ucmndd]

"Limited Liability" is not "No Liability."

A pessimistic interpretation of events as they've been discussed and discovered here (and really, at this point there's precious little room left for any non-pessimistic interpretation) could suggest that the assets from Old057 were sold to New057 to keep them from being encumbered by the mounting liabilities. Hughes even admits that the principal of New057 was a friend (not putting that in quotes because I don't remember and am not going to search for the exact wording, but he made it clear in posts here that the new owner was at least a fond acquaintance).

IANAL, but LLC shell games to strip out the assets and leave behind all the liabilities (as is claimed by New057 in response to the TN complaint) could certainly amount to fraud, and that's basis for piercing the corporate veil in court and going after shareholders directly.

Additionally, in California the "alter ego doctrine" allows for piercing the corporate veil when there is "a unity of interest and ownership between the corporation and its equitable owner that the separate personalities of the corporation and the shareholder do not in reality exist." Old057 and Jason Hughes would certainly seem to be a potential example of that - it was well understood and documented in countless posts and news stories that 057 was Jason, and Jason was 057. Similar statutes exist in other states.

This is of course all just navel gazing until someone with a documented loss decides to pursue a case against any/all of the parties involved in this train wreck of a transaction (whether the train wreck was deliberate or accidental and who was at the helm of the locomotive would be a matter of discovery). Strikes me as something that could even be looked at as a class action as the class is quite easy to define and the dissolution of the company and sale of its assets clearly leaves anyone who purchased a now-orphaned service plan holding the bag. But it would be a long and expensive fight and we tend to "punish" people for doing stuff like this in the US by electing them President.

 

[zoomer0056]

My theory is the group of investors Jason mentioned bought 057 Technology, then created 057 Companies.

That's a nee twist in the saga. I'm not gonna read through all the posts, but I thought Technologies was sold to a friend. Then former owner said he had a falling out with new owner .... yada yada yada

 

[MP3Mike]

That's a nee twist in the saga. I'm not gonna read through all the posts, but I thought Technologies was sold to a friend. Then former owner said he had a falling out with new owner .... yada yada yada

I don't recall him saying friend, I thought he said a long time customer.

 

[zoomer0056]

I don't recall him saying friend, I thought he said a long time customer.

Found it, post #482:

"I sold 100% of 057 Tech early in 2023 to a partnership lead by a long time customer who supported the vision and, frankly, has deeper pockets"

 

[SO16]

Jason is still active on X.

https://twitter.com/wk057/with_replies

 

[ucmndd]

I don't recall him saying friend, I thought he said a long time customer.

Post 522:

Vendor - Tesla Model S Battery Extended Service Plans from 057 Technology

This is how I feel with everyone backing the way wk057 went out. The sale of a company does not happen overnight. There could have been things done prior to the sale to make sure customers were taken care of. For the people responding that we feel some type of entitlement, in a way we should...

teslamotorsclub.com

“The main buyer was a long time customer, and eventual friend.”

 

[CrankyGypsy]

Found it, post #482:

"I sold 100% of 057 Tech early in 2023 to a partnership lead by a long time customer who supported the vision and, frankly, has deeper pockets"

Oh! I just read that as Jason having "early 2023" and June 2023 mixed up and the "partnership" being whoever formed 057 Companies. I'm pretty sure it was said somewhere that 057 Companies was three people, right?

I mean, this really doesn't change the big picture much (no one taking responsibility), but I'm certainly interested in figuring the whole story out. Good find @zoomer0056 and @MP3Mike.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

“The main buyer was a long time customer, and eventual friend.”

Really appreciate your input upthread!

So, the main buyer likely wasn't Keith Baker?

 

[ucmndd]

Really appreciate your input upthread!

So, the main buyer likely wasn't Keith Baker?

I don’t know who the “friend” is. Hard to say that definitively based on what we know.

 

[NV Ray]

What specific grievance(s) do you any parties have with any contractual agreement with this vendor?

 

[CrankyGypsy]

@ucmndd I read that post #522 several times and I can see where my confusion stems from. Jason was not clear at establishing time-frames nor explicit regarding 057 Companies' involvement. Without being previously cognisant of this alleged third party (back in Jan), I of course mistakenly assumed the chain of events was simply Tech to Comp in June 2023. I think a lot of us did. I do feel bad for maintaining the wrong conclusion, as Jason and I were butting heads. I know things were heated and he felt attacked, but instead of giving a concise chain of events, he chose a different path. Jason's smarter than me, and he didn't dumb it down concisely. There were a lot of cryptic and defensive answers that followed, which forced us to speculate. It still doesn't change why we're all ended up here or a lot of the convo, but my sincere apologies to @wk057 if I was unable to read between the lines, so to speak.I do feel guilty for things that have been said.


Going forward, in an attempt to lay out a rough time frame with all parties:

Early 2023: A specific month could've alleviated a lot of confusion, but Jason sold literally everything to "Party X." Party X being a customer with EV experience, now becomes 057 Technology. Jason is now operating in an employee-only capacity. He's training others and working on ancillary projects, enjoying a regular paycheck with minimal administrative duties. So apologies to @MP3Mike, you are correct: Jason does not always equal 057 Technology. I think a lot of us were confused this way, and I can still retroactively understand why.
June 2023: 057 Companies forms. From the impression I'm getting, Party X (now 057 Tech) sells unknown assets to 057 Companies. According to Jason, he and 057 Technology were still plugging away with service plans in a physical shop.
Sept 8, 2023: 057 Companies goes out of business. This has zero effect on 057 Technology and battery service plans.
Summer 2023: again, a specific month could've been very helpful for earlier conjecture. This is when Jason says he left 057 Technology. It seems he believes everything is still functioning normally. However...
Late Aug to mid Sept: Jason is posting short updates that mention server issues. I recall him saying somewhere he might've been moving physical server hardware. This would explain...
Sept 18, 2023: 057 Technology's physical location is listed on MLS. Is this relocation the issue Jason has with 057 Technology (Party X)?

From this point on, I'm going to have to assume this is the end of "summer" and Jason is no longer an employee of any 057. 057 Companies is gone and 057 Technology is, according to Jason, so operating normally. However, this is also about the time we start seeing customers claiming they aren't getting replies. Likely due to the server move, but it continues. Jason is a ghost until January 2024.

Is this correct?

 

[CrankyGypsy]

What specific grievance(s) do you any parties have with any contractual agreement with this vendor?

That's the current confusion here. It appears Jason sold all of the liability (responsibility for the service plans) to this unknown person, who is not 057 Companies.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

Going forward, in an attempt to lay out a rough time frame with all parties:

Early 2023: A specific month could've alleviated a lot of confusion, but Jason sold literally everything to "Party X." Party X being a customer with EV experience, now becomes 057 Technology. Jason is now operating in an employee-only capacity. He's training others and working on ancillary projects, enjoying a regular paycheck with minimal administrative duties. So apologies to @MP3Mike, you are correct: Jason does not always equal 057 Technology. I think a lot of us were confused this way, and I can still retroactively understand why.
June 2023: 057 Companies forms. From the impression I'm getting, Party X (now 057 Tech) sells unknown assets to 057 Companies. According to Jason, he and 057 Technology were still plugging away with service plans in a physical shop.
Sept 8, 2023: 057 Companies goes out of business. This has zero effect on 057 Technology and battery service plans.
Summer 2023: again, a specific month could've been very helpful for earlier conjecture. This is when Jason says he left 057 Technology. It seems he believes everything is still functioning normally. However...
Late Aug to mid Sept: Jason is posting short updates that mention server issues. I recall him saying somewhere he might've been moving physical server hardware. This would explain...
Sept 18, 2023: 057 Technology's physical location is listed on MLS. Is this relocation the issue Jason has with 057 Technology (Party X)?

From this point on, I'm going to have to assume this is the end of "summer" and Jason is no longer an employee of any 057. 057 Companies is gone and 057 Technology is, according to Jason, so operating normally. However, this is also about the time we start seeing customers claiming they aren't getting replies. Likely due to the server move, but it continues. Jason is a ghost until January 2024.

Is this correct?

Potential errors in the above timeline with post as reference:
a) Jason/057Tech linkage. The employment agreement snippet provided shows he was an employee of 057 Companies.
b) The status of 057Tech. The wording "057 Technology is long gone" was used.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

Ugh. I forgot that new service plans were billed under "057 Companies'"

Someone please make it make sense!

 

[ccalahan]

Ugh. I forgot that new service plans were billed under "057 Companies'"

Someone please make it make sense!

Sadly none of it makes any sense !!

 

[CrankyGypsy]

We need to establish some certainties.

Jason did recently seem to imply that someone MIGHT'VE been willing to ensure we would be taken care of. I still feel he was just saying this to push the blame onto the vocal few here (including myself), despite showing no desire to remedy any of this in January. If that could even happen, was he referring to Party X (the second owner(s) of 057 Technology) even though the Service Plan purchases were going through 057 Companies?

In any case, it appears that Party X and 057 Companies are/were very intertwined - there's simply no denying the invoice letterhead. I've been looking at this giant picture through a pinhole...

@MP3Mike is right, Reid is "lying" (legally, he's not, rather simply representing 057 Companies and playing dumb) and he formed 057 Companies to separate the "assets" (likely the ancillary projects Jason was working on - the stuff that could be worth big money, minimal hassle) from the not-so-lucrative service plan hassles...

Post #904
"[Mike's] theory is the group of investors Jason mentioned bought 057 Technology, then created 057 Companies. (At that point they owned both.) Then they sold some of the 057 Technology assets to 057 Companies. (The same people still owning both LLCs at that point.)"

This would likely be the disagreement that led to Jason leaving. By the action of the various separations, this could be interpreted as neither new 057 Technology or 057 Companies truly wanting to continue with Jason's battery refurb vision. The assets would be safety netted if/when the battery work ended.