aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
Thank you Carly. But for the record I went to Taco Bell a few hours before the event and finished it off at In and Out Burger afterwards, dining with the Tesla plant employees.:smile:
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Tesla bans Stewart Alsop from buying Model X
- Thread starter Auzie
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Thank you Carly. But for the record I went to Taco Bell a few hours before the event and finished it off at In and Out Burger afterwards, dining with the Tesla plant employees.:smile:
My take is that the original letter is written in an attention grabbing manner. Perhaps there were issues with the event, but an open letter to a CEO is not a professional way to address it. The letter comes across to me as bombastic, self centered and it lacks civil tone.
As some posters noted, a private communication regarding any complaint is more adequate and more adult way to seek resolution. It also has more chance of success.
The fact that the person chose an open letter as a channel of his complaints tells me that he is not after any resolution, he is more likely after publicity and attention, at Tesla's expense.
I agree with some posters that it is usually a good approach to try and fix the differences with disgruntled individuals. Unfortunately some individuals are quite damaging for the business and the business is much better off flicking them out. Also, very legitimate reason to ban some customers is that no one has to put up with the insults some people dish out under the cover of being customers.
Even if this blogger attacked unknown Tesla employee, flicking him off could be justifiable. He chose to attack CEO because that gets him more attention. Elon is part of Tesla's brand, any attack on him personally translates into attack on Tesla. In this case the decision to flick this individual seems to be a sound business decision.
flankspeed8
Member
Some might say you just described Elon Musk perfectly. :tongue:
You could argue that it is indeed the company that could have handled the whole situation better. The burden is always going to be on the company to take the higher road. Just address his concerns and move on. But no, a clash of egos prevents that.
It's a fact of business life. Sometimes you fire the vendor, sometimes you fire the customer.
It's not something you take lightly, or want to do, but on occasion it is the correct path.
<--- Not an FanBoy. Just wonder why folk today assume a business must always placate troublesome potential customers. At least it is still legal to choose your customers, much like customers can choose their supplier. Freedom doesn't suck as bad as some folk think.
It's not something you take lightly, or want to do, but on occasion it is the correct path.
<--- Not an FanBoy. Just wonder why folk today assume a business must always placate troublesome potential customers. At least it is still legal to choose your customers, much like customers can choose their supplier. Freedom doesn't suck as bad as some folk think.
deonb
Active Member
I wasn't at the event, but I had a conversation the next day with one of the guys that were there (won't reveal his name, but he's arguably more connected/influential in the world than even Elon is, and wasting his time is a HUGE deal).
The similarity of what he told me the next day and the article is striking - it may as well have been written by the same person.
Elon simply doesn't respect other people's time - Steward isn't wrong about that.
Yeah Elon, we get it that your time is very valuable and sometimes people need to wait for you. But just think about who it is you're inviting to these events. Just a simple apology on the start would have worked wonders. Just to acknowledge that you respect your audience, and if you don't... just pretend to at least.
The similarity of what he told me the next day and the article is striking - it may as well have been written by the same person.
Elon simply doesn't respect other people's time - Steward isn't wrong about that.
Yeah Elon, we get it that your time is very valuable and sometimes people need to wait for you. But just think about who it is you're inviting to these events. Just a simple apology on the start would have worked wonders. Just to acknowledge that you respect your audience, and if you don't... just pretend to at least.
Canuck
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Early on I decided to fire clients who I didn't like. It was one of the best business decisions I ever made.
There's a reason Elon Musk is where he is and it's not from making bad business decisions. Critics can cry "fanboy!" all they want -- they have to, since that's much easier than trying to argue with the extreme success of Elon Musk.
But to clarify your post, it's only legal to choose your customers if you do so without discrimination. Fortunately, being an @sshole is not a defined class that you are prohibited from discriminating against.
It's called nipping it in the bud. Just wait until this guy got his car, got service for his car, and the list goes on and on.
You can see my prophetic words in other threads about Tesla banning customers -- people said it wouldn't happen and it was a one-off when it first happened. Nope.
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thegruf
Active Member
has to be said that if you buy a Tesla you deal with Tesla.
If you fall out with Tesla ...
if you buy any other car ... from a dealer
... at least you can use another dealer
Tesla's direct sales model is great and has a ton of advantages, but you do need to be aware of this
If you fall out with Tesla ...
if you buy any other car ... from a dealer
... at least you can use another dealer
Tesla's direct sales model is great and has a ton of advantages, but you do need to be aware of this
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I dunno. I seem to remember someone talking about one of the Big Three manufacturers blacklisting customers.
I did a quick search & this post popped up first: I got put on a GM blacklist - NEED HELP PLEASE!!! - Corvette Forum
It's a forum post, so the veracity of the situation isn't proven. But there are enough stories out there like that to cause me to question that a dealership network would prevent a manufacturer from blacklisting a potential buyer.
green1
Active Member
On the bright side, with any other car company you can buy a used one and never deal with the manufacturer or their dealers ever again as any shop is allowed to work on them. With Tesla you have no alternatives for service.
Canuck
Well-Known Member
Not for warranty items, unless you want to pay yourself. Plus, this is just the nature of new technology. It's like saying I can feed and water my horse, and fix my buggy, but those gas motors require a mechanic! I'm certain years from now all shops will be fixing out of warranty electric vehicles.
anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
"The show usually starts around 7
We go on stage around 9
Get on the bus around 11
Sippin' a drink and feeling fine"
That's if Axl decides to show…
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I'm guessing Elon would rather attend a GNR concert than be up on stage. So everyone is in agreement.
islandbayy
Active Member
I'm guessing Elon would rather attend a GNR concert than be up on stage. So everyone is in agreement.
I'd be happy to Fill in for Elon :biggrin: I'm good in front of crowds, as long as I can stay away from bad jokes...
JohnSnowNW
Active Member
Now we have evidence that Tesla is perfectly willing to terminate business relationship because of a bad blog post. Not even a lawsuit, just a blog post!
And with Tesla customers have nowhere else to go. Nothing stops Elon from denying you service or repairs if he thinks that you don't sound enthusiastic enough when talking about Tesla (assuming you don't have extended warranty). Or perhaps for jailbreaking your car's central console.
So I'm now considering the "direct sales" model to be a huge disadvantage compared to regular independent car dealers model (funny enough, I've had no issues with car dealers in the past).
Banned by Tesla
If you only had one Chevy dealer in your city and you did a blog post that gained widespread attention where you blasted the owner of the dealership do you think they'd gladly sell you a car?
If you only had one Chevy dealer in your city and you did a blog post that gained widespread attention where you blasted the owner of the dealership do you think they'd gladly sell you a car?
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