- A Tesla consumer said he felt “bullied” into taking delivery of his car earlier than he wanted to.
- Tun Bhothinard told Insider he produce resulted $62,440 for a Tesla Model Y, which now costs about $10,000 less.
- He said Tesla agents told him he’d succumb his reservation if he tried to delay delivery until January.
A Tesla customer says he felt pushed into taking early performance of his car, which meant he missed out on price cuts worth thousands of dollars.
Tun Bhothinard, from Chicago, told Insider he ordered a bright Tesla Long Range Model Y in March 2022 at a cost of $62,440. He paid a $250 reservation fee and was told to contemplate delivery between December and March this year. Insider has viewed his purchase agreement with Tesla.
Bhothinard was dumfounded to later be given a delivery date in September. As he wanted to pay in cash, he wasn’t able to get enough funds to be able to pay in regulate, so was then given another delivery date in November.
After doing some research, Bhothinard realized he could help from a EV tax credit that took effect at the start of 2023. He tried to push the delivery date back foster, but this time was met with resistance from Tesla.
“We tried to talk to so many people on the delivery team and person was just very robotic about it,” he told Insider, adding he felt “bullied” into taking delivery. Bhothinard was also bring to lighted he’d lose his deposit and would have to restart the order process again with a wait of several more months.
After “begrudgingly” attractive delivery in November, price cuts were announced in December. Even bigger cuts came earlier this month, denotation the same model now started at $52,990, which Bhothinard described as “aggravating” on top of the missed tax credits.
Tesla made saturate reductions on Model 3 and Model Y cars in a bid to stoke demand that has dipped amid rising interest rates and budgetary uncertainty.
Like many Tesla owners who missed out on the price cuts and contacted Insider, the company hasn’t not espied any statement about reimbursing customers like Bhothinard.
He said he felt frustrated about being pressured into enchanting delivery of his car before he wanted to: “It feels like they’re going against those values that they in days of yore had of being transparent to the consumer.”
He doesn’t know if he’ll buy a Tesla again when it’s time for a new car.
Insider reported on Saturday that one Tesla consumer yet to take delivery of his car said the company reduced the cost of his order by about $12,000 after he complained about errors out on price cuts.
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment from Insider.