A small business owner is calling out Tesla for allegedly ordering 4000 pies and then canceling last minute.
The Giving Pies is located in San Jose California is out thousands of dollars according to the owner Voahangy Rasetarinera.
Rasetarinera told KTVU that Tesla contacted her to make 2,000 mini pies for about $6,000, with half to be delivered on Tuesday and the other half on Thursday.
According to the owner, that’s short notice for the business; but she agreed.
After not hearing back, she reached out again and sent the invoice multiple times to multiple people.
The company apologized for the delayed payment and asked to double the order to 4,000 pies, KRON4 reported.
“So I contacted my staff, and they’re like ‘Yes, we can work on Saturday, on Sunday, on Monday. We can get it done. No problem,’” she said.
Raseterinera said she and her staff got to work. However, after submitting a new invoice, she never received the payment.
The next day, the Tesla representative canceled the order, telling the owner that “it, unfortunately, sounds like we will be changing plans and will not be needing this order.”
Frustrated and angry, she posted about her experience. In an Instagram post, she said she turned down other catering gigs and purchased supplies to prepare.
Tesla saw the post and reached out.
They offered to find a way to still buy pies from her by catering for other events. However, they have yet to approve the request.
On Instagram they wrote:
I have thought about it a lot since this happened to us last week, but I really feel that I need to share my story to get closure.
On February 14, I received a promising inquiry from Laura at Tesla for a sizable order of mini pies (2000 mini pies) to be delivered the following Tuesday & Thursday.
After providing a quote and receiving approval, I anticipated a smooth transaction. However, complications arose when the payment process was redirected through Tesla’s vendor, City Flavor.
Despite this hurdle, I remained optimistic as I awaited payment on Thursday. Yet, when payment failed to materialize, I grew concerned.
Then, on Thursday, February 15, at 9:05 PM, I received a call from Laura, first apologizing for their vendor not paying on time, claiming they were new and then requesting to double the order size, asking for the pies to be packaged in boxes of 2, assuring me that cost was not an issue.
Despite the late hour and short notice, I consulted with my staff, who assured me they could manage the expanded order.
With their reassurance, I promptly sent a revised invoice on Friday, February 16, requesting payment by noon to secure additional resources for production. Laura assured me that she requested approval by 11am (this should have been a major redflag).
However, by the afternoon, payment had still not been received, leaving me in a difficult position. To fulfill the order, I had turned down other Black History Month catering inquiries, purchased supplies, and prepared for a demanding production schedule. I called Laura at 2pm only to get her voicemail.
A few minutes later, my hopes were shattered when I received a text from Laura, CASUALLY informing me that the plan had changed and Tesla would no longer require the order. T
his abrupt reversal left me reeling, realizing the extent of the impact on my small business. I had invested time, resources, and effort based on assurances from Tesla, only to be left high and dry.
In a heartfelt message to Laura, I expressed the profound disappointment and damage inflicted on my business. (continued in comments…) #blackownedbusiness #BlackHistoryMonth #tesla
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