In 20+ years of following the industry, I've seldom seen such more disgusting un-forgiveable anti-customer behavior on the part of one of the companies. This includes the twisted anti-customer attitudes of the established automakers in the 90s as they postured partly-disingenuously that they were interested to know of customers' interest in EVS. As it happens, I do know someone personally whose family was impacted by this. Tesla's behavior in that matter was as bad as in the articles. As it happens, it's the one company that already enjoys the advantage of not having to go through the traditional dealer distribution system, and here they are living down to some of the very worst concerns about their behavior to customers.
It's extremely unlikely to happen, but in the ideal, there would be swift civil penalties and regulatory action against Tesla, sufficient immediately to remedy the situation and to provide for some appropriate payment (such as interest and fees to address financial reputation repair), for all impacted customers. In the ideal, there would also be discussion of possible criminal charges (isn't that what would happen if I took someone's money, discovered that it's a mistake, and then decided not to return it?).
It wouldn't be that big a deal if Tesla simply corrected the matter, but the real problem is their anti-customer attitude once the mistakes are discovered. That's what needs addressing. So, yes, it is very much news, but no, it doesn't have to be a big deal. Tesla could easily remedy the situation.
www.cnbc.com
Tesla double-charged some customers for new cars, leaving them desperate for refund details
