Unlimited Free Supercharging MS Locked Out of Supercharger Network

[SurferJD]

I received an email from Tesla stating “Supercharger Access Unavailable” with respect to my 2016 Model S that has free unlimited supercharging (see attached screenshots). I went on my account and see that there was a $6.20 balance for a 20 kWh charge session @ $0.31/kWh added to my account and that I no longer have access to supercharging until this is paid. However, as you’ll see from my other screenshot, my car has free supercharging so it’s not clear to me why I was charged and locked out (this was not for an idle fee per the screenshot showing the calculation of the fee and I am careful not to idle out of consideration of others; also, this is at a supercharger I’ve gone to before without being charged and it’s not like it’s international or something—I’m not sure if there are certain SCs not covered by “unlimited free supercharging” but will definitely avoid those if people on this site know how I can find out if such locations exist—sorry, not very good at this stuff). I messaged Tesla Support through their website and via email but no response so far.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how else I should proceed to get this resolved? It’s only six bucks so obviously no problem just paying it but I don’t want this to open the possibility for additional charges to continue and will just keep steering clear of SCs for now I guess—I don’t often use SCs anyways but this seems wrong and wanted to see if the community has any suggestions here. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[SO16]

Try stopping by a service center.

 

[SurferJD]

Good suggestion! I’ll see if there are any open around me given COVID and report back. Please let me know if anyone else has any other suggestions in the interim.

 

[TigerNinety]

Definitely post back, since I have a similar configuration (bought with UFSC). I'd be surprised if you can find an open brick-and-mortar store today; earliest (and probably easiest) resolution will probably be a call to Tesla tomorrow morning. Keep us posted!

 

[gaswalla]

No need for in person discussion. Call Tesla now, and get this resolved

 

[SO16]

No need for in person discussion. Call Tesla now, and get this resolved

The problem is that you often cannot get a person when calling Tesla.

The service centers are open during COVID In USA. I had some maintenance done on my car last month.

Since my service center is a couple hour drive away, I’d just use the app to schedule a service appointment if time wasn’t an issue. They would review it eventually. It all depends on how fast he wants this resolved.

 

[SurferJD]

Thanks! I logged into my account online and clicked “Contact” at the bottom of the page and it doesn’t look like there’s a general phone number (maybe I’m missing it!). I assume calling the service center closest to me on the list of service centers makes the most sense but let me know if anyone knows of another number I should call.

 

[gaswalla]

877-798-3752

 

[SurferJD]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! Just tried that number but there was a recording that said it was closed—I will try again Monday morning.

And, of course, my app is not connecting to my car now for some reason and it looks like it needs to connect to schedule a service appointment. It just says “Connecting” with a circle spinning for the past 5 mins and now says “Network Timeout”. I tried restarting my phone and uninstalling/reinstalling my app. My car is parked in my building’s garage a few floors below ground so maybe it is due to bad connectivity issues (but never been a problem before—was able to start and stop charging while my car was parked in the same spot via the app previously). Will pull the car out later today and try scheduling an appointment through the app as well. Thanks again!

 

[OPRCE]

Mine has shown a charge of €16.50 on console since one unremarkable supercharging event (among several) in Italy in Sept.2019, which I have never paid and free supercharging has never been interrupted.

Certainly I wouldn't recommend paying it but would sooner send Tesla a registered letter (via attorney) to rectify the matter & desist from their tortious breach of contract/fraud before you file suit to recover damages 21 days later.

 

[SurferJD]

Glad (but also sorry to hear) that I’m not the only one with this issue. Happy that you didn’t get your access cut-off though! Since it’s only $6 for me, I don’t think I can justify hiring an attorney, etc. even though that might be the “right” thing to do. Appreciate the seriousness you’re taking this though and the feedback of course!

 

[SurferJD]

I actually haven’t tried supercharging again since I received the email so maybe it’s not actually cutoff either and it was just a mean email. I’ll try to stop by an SC today as well and report back.

 

[OPRCE]

Glad (but also sorry to hear) that I’m not the only one with this issue. Happy that you didn’t get your access cut-off though! Since it’s only $6 for me, I don’t think I can justify hiring an attorney, etc. even though that might be the “right” thing to do. Appreciate the seriousness you’re taking this though and the feedback of course!

Even without the attorney, a sternly-worded registered letter threatening legal action in default of satisfaction will have better effect and creates a paper-trail. It is more likely to be escalated for resolution than a phone-call to some service-desk where you must suffer as they work through the standard fob-off script and forget about it just as soon as you hang up.

 

[SurferJD]

That’s a good point! I’ll write a response to their nasty-gram with my own as a last resort.

I assume it makes sense to just send the letter to the main office (and also a digital copy through the tesla support website where I first requested help with this issue). Let me know if anyone is aware of any other contact point (other than my closest service center) that would make sense here. Thanks again!

 

[jmaddr]

An old saying is you can catch more flies with honey.....
At least try the nice ways first. Try calling (I know, I know) and try the service center if it's close. Perhaps they will clean it up quickly for you.

 

[treowx]

Did you possibly get hit with a Supercharge Idle Fee?

Supercharger Idle Fee

 

[SurferJD]

An old saying is you can catch more flies with honey.....
At least try the nice ways first. Try calling (I know, I know) and try the service center if it's close. Perhaps they will clean it up quickly for you.

Oh I agree completely. That’s definitely what I’m hoping and will exhaust this week first. I really don’t like to write mean messages anyways so really don’t want to resort to that!

 

[SurferJD]

Did you possibly get hit with a Supercharge Idle Fee?

Supercharger Idle Fee

I’m 99.9% positive that it isn’t an idle fee because the screenshot showing the calculation of the fee from my first post seems to multiply the amount of energy charged (i.e., 20 kWh) with the $0.31/kWh rate to get to this balance amount owed (and I am careful not to idle out of consideration of others).

 

[Doanster1]

Call roadside assistance.

 

[Hank42]

From experience, if you're stuck and _need_ to supercharge _now_, pay the bill, and resolve it later with an email to Tesla customer service.
Not the quickest route, but they are good at chasing down the logs and paper trail and sorting things out with a refund.