9 ms·

Banned by Tesla

35 points by gcoguiec 11y ago

minimaxir 11y ago
This is an article I thought was legitimately satire (why would Elon Musk call a random person?) until I saw that said person is a VC. The network of Silicon Valley's elite is weird.
- simonebrunozzi 11y ago
  I guess this "VC" guy lives in LA.
sharemywin 11y ago
I thought SV was all about customer feedback and refining your product. In this case your marketing event for your product but still.
Someone1234 11y ago
The article or the proceeding one has an error: > Starting a 7:00pm event at 8:50pm is simply unacceptable . > (even though the invitation insisted that everybody be at the venue by 7:30pm sharp). So did it start at 7:00 pm or 7:30 pm? That error notwithstanding, if this turns out to be true it seems pretty petty to cancel his preorder out of spite. In general I take a negative view of companies that "punish" their customers for writing negative reviews or comments. Makes me wonder if Tesla will let journalists review their vehicles fairly in the future. Instead of this turning into a negative PR event, they could have turned this into a positive. Just call the guy, apologise for the late start, and invite him in to view the vehicle in a private showing. No doubt he would write an article either on the apology OR on the vehicle, and it is a net gain to Tesla's PR (or worst case he writes no article, and you still don't wind up with the negative PR we see here). Instead now we have a company which may punish journalists and critics.
Kurimo 11y ago
I wouldn't want him as a customer (or anything) either. I regret even reading his posts.
- Someone1234 11y ago
  It would be helpful if you explained why? Isn't obvious to me from reading his posts. The event did start 45-60 minutes late and he still never got to view the vehicle.
  - skorecky 11y ago
    The guy left at 9:00, 15 minutes after they started the event. Doesn't sound like he even tried to see it.
    - Someone1234 11y ago
      He arrived 30 minutes before it was due to start and stayed an hour and a half. Not unreasonable. I love how you twist facts to make it sound like the event didn't start an hour and a half late.
      - skorecky 11y ago
        I'm not twisting facts, just stated he didn't even stay after the announcement to checkout the car, that's on him. Also this was a reply to the parent comment talking about seeing the car. I'm also not saying it was right for Tesla to ban him, that was shitty, but getting so angry over a late start and ranting about it in a blog post directed at Elon also wasn't a great choice.
  - Kurimo 11y ago
    Sorry, I did not realize it was hard to tell from his original post but he's extremely entitled, rude, and snobbish. He wrote personal attacks against the founder of a company for being late to an event and then complained about his expensive BMW. I don't really have sympathy for anyone who thinks having to wait a little bit is grounds for someone else to be "ashamed" and to write TWO blog posts complaining about it. He's a VC so he's used to people treating him like a king. He gets mildly inconvenienced one time and suddenly that's everyone else's problem? Nah, screw him. I would have done the same thing in Musk's shoes.
rocky1138 11y ago
First world problems.
scrumper 11y ago
I actually think that's rather magnificent. Mr Whiny can't have his toy anymore. Yeah it's bad PR, probably, but I can't be the only one who thinks these rude blog posts directed at well-known strangers saying variations of 'dear so-and-so you should be ashamed of yourself' are a bit tasteless, crass, and low class. I mean, the VC wrote his original post as a direct personal attack and then distributed it in public on a widely-read platform. That's pretty nuclear. In ascending order of severity he could have: - Contacted Tesla directly - Written to Elon Musk directly, privately - Written a blog post about his crappy experience at the event - Tweeted Elon with a link to his blog post All of which might have made him feel better about wasting his evening and maybe got him some compensation (jumping a few places in the waitlist, or something) while not being actually offensive.
- devopsproject 11y ago
  They both need to grow up
- beau26 11y ago
  The best part is that he wasn't even "banned by Tesla," he cancelled his order out of spite and so he could thrust himself into the spotlight again. Honest to god, some people are insufferable blowhards. Sure, the event started late, sure Elon might have acknowledged that, but if he thinks that (a) any of this matters enough to write TWO articles about and (b) that anyone really cares what he thinks, he's deluding himself. Moreover, he just looks like a complete fool for posting this kind of garbage and expecting a positive response.
  - scrumper 11y ago
    Wait, what? He as in the VC author cancelled his own order? Oh man. I read it as Elon instructed Tesla to cancel his order. Edit: I think I was right. Here's the direct quote from first paragraph: I also hear that you are not comfortable having me own a Tesla car and have cancelled my order for a Tesla Model X. Maybe you read a phantom "I" between 'and' and 'have'?
    - 11y ago
scotty79 11y ago
> I also hear that you are not comfortable having me own a Tesla car and have cancelled my order for a Tesla Model X. Is that even legal?
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > Is that even legal? In general, cancelling and refunding orders is legal; there are cases where it is not legal (e.g., where it is done to implement a policy of discrimination on a legally-protected basis in something which is legally considered a public accommodation), but in general its perfectly legal.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  The Model X reservation agreement stipulates that Tesla can cancel your pre-order at any time if they return your deposit.
_pmf_ 11y ago
Can I please have the last 3 minutes of my life back?

35 points by gcoguiec 11y ago

This is an article I thought was legitimately satire (why would Elon Musk call a random person?) until I saw that said person is a VC. The network of Silicon Valley's elite is weird.

simonebrunozzi 11y ago
I guess this "VC" guy lives in LA.

sharemywin 11y ago

I thought SV was all about customer feedback and refining your product. In this case your marketing event for your product but still.

Someone1234 11y ago

The article or the proceeding one has an error: > Starting a 7:00pm event at 8:50pm is simply unacceptable . > (even though the invitation insisted that everybody be at the venue by 7:30pm sharp). So did it start at 7:00 pm or 7:30 pm? That error notwithstanding, if this turns out to be true it seems pretty petty to cancel his preorder out of spite. In general I take a negative view of companies that "punish" their customers for writing negative reviews or comments. Makes me wonder if Tesla will let journalists review their vehicles fairly in the future. Instead of this turning into a negative PR event, they could have turned this into a positive. Just call the guy, apologise for the late start, and invite him in to view the vehicle in a private showing. No doubt he would write an article either on the apology OR on the vehicle, and it is a net gain to Tesla's PR (or worst case he writes no article, and you still don't wind up with the negative PR we see here). Instead now we have a company which may punish journalists and critics.

Kurimo 11y ago

I wouldn't want him as a customer (or anything) either. I regret even reading his posts.

Someone1234 11y ago
It would be helpful if you explained why? Isn't obvious to me from reading his posts. The event did start 45-60 minutes late and he still never got to view the vehicle.
- skorecky 11y ago
  The guy left at 9:00, 15 minutes after they started the event. Doesn't sound like he even tried to see it.
  - Someone1234 11y ago
    He arrived 30 minutes before it was due to start and stayed an hour and a half. Not unreasonable. I love how you twist facts to make it sound like the event didn't start an hour and a half late.
    - skorecky 11y ago
      I'm not twisting facts, just stated he didn't even stay after the announcement to checkout the car, that's on him. Also this was a reply to the parent comment talking about seeing the car. I'm also not saying it was right for Tesla to ban him, that was shitty, but getting so angry over a late start and ranting about it in a blog post directed at Elon also wasn't a great choice.
- Kurimo 11y ago
  Sorry, I did not realize it was hard to tell from his original post but he's extremely entitled, rude, and snobbish. He wrote personal attacks against the founder of a company for being late to an event and then complained about his expensive BMW. I don't really have sympathy for anyone who thinks having to wait a little bit is grounds for someone else to be "ashamed" and to write TWO blog posts complaining about it. He's a VC so he's used to people treating him like a king. He gets mildly inconvenienced one time and suddenly that's everyone else's problem? Nah, screw him. I would have done the same thing in Musk's shoes.

rocky1138 11y ago

First world problems.

scrumper 11y ago

I actually think that's rather magnificent. Mr Whiny can't have his toy anymore. Yeah it's bad PR, probably, but I can't be the only one who thinks these rude blog posts directed at well-known strangers saying variations of 'dear so-and-so you should be ashamed of yourself' are a bit tasteless, crass, and low class. I mean, the VC wrote his original post as a direct personal attack and then distributed it in public on a widely-read platform. That's pretty nuclear. In ascending order of severity he could have: - Contacted Tesla directly - Written to Elon Musk directly, privately - Written a blog post about his crappy experience at the event - Tweeted Elon with a link to his blog post All of which might have made him feel better about wasting his evening and maybe got him some compensation (jumping a few places in the waitlist, or something) while not being actually offensive.

devopsproject 11y ago
They both need to grow up
beau26 11y ago
The best part is that he wasn't even "banned by Tesla," he cancelled his order out of spite and so he could thrust himself into the spotlight again. Honest to god, some people are insufferable blowhards. Sure, the event started late, sure Elon might have acknowledged that, but if he thinks that (a) any of this matters enough to write TWO articles about and (b) that anyone really cares what he thinks, he's deluding himself. Moreover, he just looks like a complete fool for posting this kind of garbage and expecting a positive response.
- scrumper 11y ago
  Wait, what? He as in the VC author cancelled his own order? Oh man. I read it as Elon instructed Tesla to cancel his order. Edit: I think I was right. Here's the direct quote from first paragraph: I also hear that you are not comfortable having me own a Tesla car and have cancelled my order for a Tesla Model X. Maybe you read a phantom "I" between 'and' and 'have'?
  - 11y ago

scotty79 11y ago

> I also hear that you are not comfortable having me own a Tesla car and have cancelled my order for a Tesla Model X. Is that even legal?

dragonwriter 11y ago
> Is that even legal? In general, cancelling and refunding orders is legal; there are cases where it is not legal (e.g., where it is done to implement a policy of discrimination on a legally-protected basis in something which is legally considered a public accommodation), but in general its perfectly legal.
toomuchtodo 11y ago
The Model X reservation agreement stipulates that Tesla can cancel your pre-order at any time if they return your deposit.

_pmf_ 11y ago

Can I please have the last 3 minutes of my life back?