Why is Tesla asking for payment for SC'ing when I have free SC miles left?

[Beej4]

So after a long while, I made a long distance trip today. I stopped at the new SC station at Rugby services (very nice by the way!) and after my charging was complete, I was presented with a message on screen telling me SC was unavailable and to add a payment method.

I checked my Tesla account as I had 1000 SC miles when I got the car last September and as you can see from the attached image, I've only charged the car once last September and and I have 336kWh left of my free 'miles'. I was able to charge up today twice (as per image), even as Tesla sent me an email asking for payment.

I don't understand why I'm being asked to pay since I have these unused 'miles' left.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so, how did you resolve it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[NewbieT]

Free miles expire after 6 months.

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[Beej4]

Oh...
That's a shafting, especially as we've all been stuck at home!

Oh well, I'm guessing Tesla doesn't want to extend this, even as a good will gesture.

 

[Puzuk]

Should show the expiry date of your SC miles in the loot box. Mine expire in Nov. Picked up the car yesterday.

 

[speedyranger74]

if nothing is changed from March 2020, even you have free miles, is required a card for payment. your card will be used after you finish/expiry your free miles.

 

[Rice&Curry]

you need a C Card on the account. if you rack up idle time $ then I believe it will bill it to your card

 

[AndrewGR]

I rushed out to my nearest SuC to use some of my free miles on the last day of the 6 months but got billed for them. Tried to get refunded by Tesla, got promises, but never got my money back. Wasn’t worth the effort of pursuing any further- better use of time than struggling to communicate with Tesla’s non- Customer Service system.

 

[Akikiki]

Oh ye of little faith. Just give them the CC that they need and see what happens.

What's the worse that can happen? Are you thinking you would never pay for SC miles in the future ANYWAY?

 

[SR-Plus]

I rushed out to my nearest SuC to use some of my free miles on the last day of the 6 months but got billed for them. Tried to get refunded by Tesla, got promises, but never got my money back. Wasn’t worth the effort of pursuing any further- better use of time than struggling to communicate with Tesla’s non- Customer Service system.

I’ll be in a similar situation in a few days time when my free miles expire. But sounds like it’s not worth the hassle. Easier to plug it in at home overnight on my cheap rate.

 

[Fly.guy]

you need a C Card on the account. if you rack up idle time $ then I believe it will bill it to your card

I have a 2016 with ‘unlimited free supercharging’ and have never been asked for cc details against which to bill idle time fees.

Maybe I have unlimited free idle time as well

 

[Beej4]

Thanks for all the replies. I've added my cc details now.
I was completely ignorant to the fact that these free SC miles only lasted 6 months.
I assumed they had no 'use-by' date!
Oh well, my home charging takes care of 95%+ of usage, SC for long trips only.

 

[HenryT]

I have a 2016 with ‘unlimited free supercharging’ and have never been asked for cc details against which to bill idle time fees.

Maybe I have unlimited free idle time as well

If you do happen to run into an idle time period, they will (probably) waive the first offence, but ask for payment details on pain of switching off your supercharging. Happened to me recently, ironically while I was test driving a M3 and got stuck in traffic coming back to the SC.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

I rushed out to my nearest SuC to use some of my free miles on the last day of the 6 months but got billed for them.

Several people have been caught out by this. The last day is the day before the expiry date.. they expire at 0:01 on the expiry date not 23:59 as would be the normal reading.

 

[AndrewGR]

Several people have been caught out by this. The last day is the day before the expiry date.. they expire at 0:01 on the expiry date not 23:59 as would be the normal reading.

That’s weird. Would that apply to Tesla car insurance too?

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

The other thing to note if you get the message because of an unpaid bill, just adding a credit card doesn’t cure the problem, you have to go into the unpaid sessions and manually approve payment to clear the block.

 

[Beej4]

The other thing to note if you get the message because of an unpaid bill, just adding a credit card doesn’t cure the problem, you have to go into the unpaid sessions and manually approve payment to clear the block.

Yes, I realized I had to do that extra step.

 

[Traguar]

Oh...
That's a shafting, especially as we've all been stuck at home!

Oh well, I'm guessing Tesla doesn't want to extend this, even as a good will gesture.

They did extend for a few months in the beginning/middle of last year

 

[roadcred]

I really dont understand the 6 months. When I look in my loot box the date they expire is after 12 months? Mine was a 24/9/20 purchase.

 

[jimbo_hippo]

I really dont understand the 6 months. When I look in my loot box the date they expire is after 12 months? Mine was a 24/9/20 purchase.

As Traguar says above, some folk got an extension when the first lockdown was announced. Guess you fell into that bracket.

 

[Sparkeur]

Several people have been caught out by this. The last day is the day before the expiry date.. they expire at 0:01 on the expiry date not 23:59 as would be the normal reading.

Yes, I was caught out on that as well. Can you by any chance point to where Tesla state the time of expiry on the last day because I've looked and can't find it?