[Norm]

Wow! Phew, this sucks........

Tesla can be sloppy and inconsistent in the way it handles returns and refunds, leaving some customers stressed and others stranded with no car and no means to buy another until they get their money back.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, as Tesla exerted itself to achieve profitability, CEO Elon Musk urged people to place their orders before year-end, when a tax credit for electric cars would become a lot less valuable. He touted the company's lenient return policy as part of his sales pitch........

And this flim-flam?

In the most extreme cases, some Tesla customers have waited weeks for refunds of tens of thousands of dollars after returning or rejecting shipment of their cars for allowable reasons.

On Dec. 7, Shawn and Indu Chhabra bought a Model 3 for $61,700 from Tesla in St. Louis. While they had the money to buy it outright, they took out a loan to pay for the vehicle because they wanted to keep cash on hand for expenses at their small business, Laptop Universe.

When they drove the car back to their office, they couldn't turn it off. It sat running in their driveway for hours before Indu Chhabra drove it back to the Tesla store.

Tesla offered a loaner while they serviced the car, but the Chhabras found the issues with it so alarming, they asked to return it and swap it for a fresh one.
When they went to pick up the replacement car a couple weeks later, they say, the sales team asked them to pay for it in full on the spot and assured them a refund for the first car would appear in a day or two. The Chhabras agreed.

As December went by, the refund never materialized. Shawn Chabbra asked what was going on in a series of worried calls and emails to Tesla.
On Dec. 31, employees from the Tesla store visited the Chhabras' office, imploring them to sign a legal document. The agreement said Tesla would refund the money only if the customer returned the car in good condition. Among other things, it asked them to promise not to sue Tesla over poor customer service.

Outraged, Shawn Chhabra began videotaping the interaction. His wife had already returned the car, he said. He wouldn't sign the document. Eventually, Tesla relented and Chhabra signed a modified agreement that promised not to sue Tesla if they refunded his money within 30 days, among other things.


https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/tesl...-detailed.html