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Butt-Dialing a Tesla Upgrade Still Possible, Still Very Expensive

The proverbial buyer’s remorse gets a whole new dimension and an entirely different meaning when Tesla is concerned and butt-dialing is still possible in the Tesla app.
Tesla Model 3 owner is still waiting for a refund after butt-dialing a $4,000 Autopilot upgrade 1 photo
Photo: Tesla
Reports of in-app purchases made by simply sitting on the phone (butt-dialing), because they don’t require any sort of authentication or another click, have been increasing since January this year. In turn, Tesla has made some changes to older policies, to placate customers in this situation, like offering refunds if they’re requested within 48 hours from the purchase and sending a confirmation email to customers after each purchase.

It’s not a magic bullet.

In this one case, a Tesla Model 3 owner is still waiting for a refund to his September 24 accidental purchase of an Autopilot upgrade worth $4,280. Dr. Ali Vaziri tells CNBC he never purchased anything in the Tesla app and had no intention to get the upgrade, but he did link his credit card for the monthly feel for “premium connectivity.” The upgrade was charged to that account.

He only realized he’d butt-dialed the upgrade when he received the confirmation email. He immediately contacted his local Tesla store and service center, but was sent to the customer service hotline. There, he was told he should use the refund button in the Tesla app, a button that doesn’t exist.

Vaziri then went to the Tesla support site, and from there was redirected to his local service center. Long frustrated by now, he processed a stop payment request on his credit card. Tesla support is yet to get back to him with anything, let alone a refund.

As you can imagine, he’s not happy. It’s not that the experience has turned him against Tesla, but he could think of at least a few ways in which their customer service could be improved.

“The car has been great since I’ve had it. But this has been a nightmare. The customer service is horrendous,” Vaziri tells the media outlet.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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