Tesla and the Unfulfilled Promise of Free Superchargers

To support its 2024 sales, Tesla has promised one year of free Superchargers for its new customers. With a condition…

“The cuckolds, count yourselves!.” The expression is not ours, but from members of the Tesla Model Y in French forum on Facebook. A caring community where Tesla customers share their experiences, frustrations, and surprises. But it’s also a “watering hole” to find out in real-time what’s malfunctioning at Tesla, especially after each new update.

For the past few days, there has been some panic among those who ordered a Model Y and who were promised free chargers for a year on Tesla’s European Supercharger network. Except there was a condition: not only must the vehicle be purchased before December 31, 2024… but it must be delivered BEFORE December 31, 2024. And that’s where the trick lies!

Unkept promises?

The customers who fell for the bait are those whose delivery date was promised before the end of the year, of course. But since they signed their purchase agreement, and thus formalized their purchase, these customers have been contacted by Tesla salespeople who are misleading them about the actual delivery date. As we did with Simon, who sent us an alert message.

Simon is already assured that Tesla will not make any commercial gesture acknowledging their mistake, leaving the customer at a disadvantage. The American manufacturer wants to avoid setting a legal precedent or opening the door to future “interpretations.” A lack of commercial honesty that, one day, will come back to haunt them like a boomerang.

This is not the first time that Tesla customers report a slow but inexorable decline in customer relations. It resembles the early days of Uber: the cars were shiny, drivers wore suits, opened the door for you, offered a bottle of water. Since then, calls during the ride, tracksuits, cars as dirty as a stable, and basic politeness have all decreased… And Uber has nearly disappeared in favor of competitors.

Customers really annoyed

Med Med shares Simon’s frustration: “It’s always the same story. They offer promotional charging deals to clear out stock. Then once the order is placed, they do everything to avoid honoring the promotion. At some point, they should be sued for their behavior.”

Same for Christophe: “It’s petty of Tesla to do this because I’m sure they know very well whether or not the vehicle will be delivered before the 31st from the moment of purchase. They simply pretend to customers that they will enjoy free Supercharger access for a year, hoping to sell more vehicles. You can even wonder if this practice is legal…” “You’re stuck because you paid, and they know it. You’re eating out of their hand and they take advantage of it“, says Zeynep.

“This trick of offering a promotion based on the delivery date is just despicable,” says Hachiko. And so on.

Beyond these experiences, a question emerges: why does Tesla have so much difficulty delivering its customers, even though its sales plummeted 40% in November? The stocks are there, generous even, but logistics are failing. And so is the gesture of goodwill.

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