Tesla threatening my deposit

[alexeiw123]

This is my journey through your post, to the question "Is Tesla being unreasonable?"

I was very excited and paid the $2,500 down payment.

Well known this is non refundable.
No.

3 weeks ago she told me that the car assigned to me was sold and they don't have a car for me.

Wait they sold your car, wtf!?
Absolutely.

so I gave up and purchased another car and asked that my down payment be refunded

Oh you bought a new car before you had finalised your model 3 order, that seems kind of foolish.
Maybe.

Tesla have certainly not handled this sale well but you should definitely have sorted out the refund/delivery before buying a new car, knowing full well that you agreed to pay a non-refundable down payment. My final position is maybe.

 

[Monkey]

It’s highly unlikely that the car was sold to someone else. Usually when a VIN is pulled from an order or disappears, it’s usually because it did not pass final QC at the factory. Someone at Tesla dropped the ball on the order and didn’t get a new VIN assigned when they should have. The Sales/Delivery Assistant, like many of them at this time, are poorly trained and un-experienced. Add to that the SC’s are swamped in many locations and can’t keep up with service and deliveries. The Model 3 is on pace to become one of the top three best selling mid-size sedans here in the USA if Tesla can fill all their pre-orders by mid 2020.

Yes, Tesla goofed up, but I don’t think they’re being unreasonable in terms of expecting you to forfeit your deposit for backing out after the order is placed. All the dates they issue are estimates right up to the point when you sign the bill of sale at delivery and ride off in your new car. Not trying to be overly judgmental here, but knowing there was a car on order, even with the communication difficulties and unknown delivery, I would not have bought something else. I would have escalated the issue with Tesla Corporate and explained the situation. Good chance that once finding the appropriate person, a new VIN could have been matched up in short order. Probably would have even had a good chance of getting them to comp some or even all of the cost of a rental for a few weeks due to their goof up and non-communication.

I think what the OP should do is, if there is still no VIN assigned to the order, is push Tesla to allow him to transfer the reservation and/or let him or that reservation be ordered with a new config when AWD / Performance options are available. Should have no trouble selling that reservation then.

On the flip side of all that, if he’s at over 8 weeks now and they don’t have a car or VIN assigned to him after the screw-up, I don’t think that asking for a full refund of the $3500 is that out of line. ...Not when most people submitting their orders now are getting a VIN in 6 to 10 days.

 

[puzz_k9]

OP here. Yes I wasn't even asking for a full refund as I am happy to go back in line and will get the M3 at a later date when more configurations are available.

The ordering process was a very opaque and I couldn't get a hold of the SA or get a straight answer on the delivery timeline so I gave up.

 

[ponzu]

OP here. Yes I wasn't even asking for a full refund as I am happy to go back in line and will get the M3 at a later date when more configurations are available.

The ordering process was a very opaque and I couldn't get a hold of the SA or get a straight answer on the delivery timeline so I gave up.

I feel for you. I looked for cases like yours with happy or unhappy ending, but could not find any so I started my own Has anyone gotten their $3.5K back?

I guess you provided an answer to my question.

Let's see if any other stories emerge and hopefully, they will end better than yours.

Keep us posted, maybe you'll get your money back. I certainly don't want to go through what you went. I expected (hoped? wished?) Tesla would be more gracious about it -- given the depth of the reservation line.

P.S. As I noted in my thread, Tesla delivery line is not taking any calls today citing "abnormally high volume of calls due to recent exciting announcement". I am sure they don't mean the delay email, but that's what's causing their abnormal volume for sure.

 

[favo]

P.S. As I noted in my thread, Tesla delivery line is not taking any calls today citing "abnormally high volume of calls due to recent exciting announcement". I am sure they don't mean the delay email, but that's what's causing their abnormal volume for sure.

Pretty sure they are referring to the Performance and AWD announcement.

As to the OP's situation, I have sympathy on both sides. The deposit is stated to be non-refundable, so Tesla has a valid claim. At the same time, the purchaser has an expectation of taking delivery in a reasonable timeframe. The 3-6 weeks is an estimate, not a guarantee. Things happen (mother nature, damage during transport, etc.) that might cause delay.

If they told you your car would be delayed one year, that would be unreasonable. If they said one day and you were still trying to get your money back, I would say shame on you. In the middle is the gray area that people can disagree on. I don't know exactly where the cutoff should be, but making a second financial commitment without resolving the first one was probably not a good idea.

Having said that, if I were Tesla, I would just refund the OP's deposit or at least offer to defer for a different config, which s/he seems amenable to. Given that they are production limited for a long time, they don't lose anything. My advice to the OP it to keep pursuing it, trying to stay very calm and reasonable the whole time. Escalate as needed. Ask they if there's any way they can work with you to resolve the situation. This will usually work if you are persistent and stay calm. Best of luck.

 

[SageBrush]

Yes I wasn't even asking for a full refund as I am happy to go back in line and will get the M3 at a later date when more configurations are available.

Escalate your case to Tesla Corporate and relay your request.

If they agree with your version of events and you have not burned bridges, I'd be optimistic that they will agree.

 

[gambit48]

Man, that sucks.

Legally, Tesla probably has the upper hand on my brief read of things.

In terms of unreasonableness, Tesla has been much more unreasonable. That said, not renting and just buying another car when the $2500 is clearly unrefundable was unreasonable too IMHO. Makes my answer a maybe.

For now, I'd be a pest on the phone and contact my credit card company. They sold your car and went radio silent. If you have any written proof, I'd show that to the CC company to explain why you went and got another car.

I'd file in small claims if no success with contact Tesla or CC co rules against you. Keep an eye on how long you have to file in small claims.

 

[whitex]

Their first sentence started as "I am an existing Tesla owner and.." so one would assume they are current owner. I can't fathom how they could sell a car that has been assigned to you to someone else. Makes no sense. It's not like a traditional dealer where car is sitting on a lot and someone else can just buy it.

First, traditional dealers can cancel the transaction at any time before delivery without any penalty - something NADA lobbyists won (at least in WA state). I went through this once with a Toyota dealer, put a deposit down on a car in transit, they found someone who would pay more, they offered it to me at a higher price than what we negotiated, i said no, they refunded the deposit, all done. I even spoke with a lawyer about it, nothing can be done. Toyota corporate also said there is nothing they can do about third party dealer, but at least they gave me $500 towards any Toyota (over any above any deal I would make).

In this case "sold to someone else" could also mean "failed final QA", "damaged beyond repair in transit". Regardless, the $2,500 deposit was tied to a VIN which Tesla cannot deliver, hence they owe the OP at least a refund. Plane and simple.

 

[whitex]

At the end of the day, Tesla has full rights to the deposit as said in the terms.
So you have to be the one to convince them for a refund. You can throw your email exchanges as proof of bad customer services...etc.
If you went through the phone then ... good luck to your money.
Oh, if you nag them enough they might give you back the money too.

If the VIN was assigned, the terms are for that VIN. It's Tesla that terminated the transaction in this case, which they have the right to do, but they can't keep the deposit in such a case.

 

[gambit48]

In this case "sold to someone else" could also mean "failed final QA", "damaged beyond repair in transit". Regardless, the $2,500 deposit was tied to a VIN which Tesla cannot deliver, hence they owe the OP at least a refund. Plane and simple.

How is it tied to a VIN? It's for the cost of matching up a VIN to your specs. If one VIN doesn't work out, they have to find another VIN that does. More "cost" to them. Of course none of us believe it costs $2500 to "match" a VIN, but that's Tesla's wording.

 

[whitex]

How is it tied to a VIN? It's for the cost of matching up a VIN to your specs. If one VIN doesn't work out, they have to find another VIN that does. More "cost" to them. Of course none of us believe it costs $2500 to "match" a VIN, but that's Tesla's wording.

In that case look at it this way - they mached it to a VIN which they cannot deliver, therefore entitling you the customer to a full refund for a failed match. If you hire someone for a service, there is no "we get to indefinitely try over and over until we succeed and customer has no choice" - this is not FSD which Tesla has unlimited time to deliver according to the fine print.

 

[SageBrush]

To all the pontificators and adjudicators: you are hearing one side of the story.

 

[whitex]

To all the pontificators and adjudicators: you are hearing one side of the story.

Therefore any opinions given here are assuming the facts provided, no more and no less. If there fact which are are incorrect, or there are missing pertinent facts, then of course the opinions, advice, pontificates and adjudications are invalid.

 

[SageBrush]

If there fact which are are incorrect, or there are missing pertinent facts,

That should be a given, so I counsel restraint.

 

[puzz_k9]

To all the pontificators and adjudicators: you are hearing one side of the story.

OP here. Few of the posters have said something similar. What do you guys think is the other side?

I paid $100k+ for a Tesla, paid a $1000 deposit and waited almost a year THEN paid a $2500 down payment on a second car, waited 2 months and simply had a change of heart?

Basically this is very bad customer service by Tesla but I think/hope is limited to the M3 sales team.

 

[SageBrush]

OP here. Few of the posters have said something similar. What do you guys think is the other side?

Tesla
I don't presume to guess what they would say.