The owner had two other Cybertruck units reserved, which were allegedly cancelled by Tesla.
Tesla's Cybertruck has been gaining a significant amount of attention thanks to its performance on the resale market, which has temped some to sell their polygon-shaped rides for significantly higher than their manufacturer suggested retail price.
Though Tesla has written a "no-resale clause" in the sales contract of the Cybertruck to prevent potential scalping and the practice of "flipping," some owners have defied the commands of the Elon Musk-led automaker and have listed their cars for sale, or sold their cars through third parties like John Clay Wolfe.
However, one owner is claiming to have fallen victim to Tesla's "no-resale clause" and is airing out their grievances online.
A netizen named Dennis, who goes by the name malinecentral over on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum, claims that they have been at the tail end of Tesla's enforcement.
In Dennis' post, which is titled, "Be careful selling your Cybertruck! Tesla found sale listings, canceled my other reservations and I may be blacklisted," the user said that they wanted to "feel out" the resale market after taking delivery of their new Cybertruck.
After listing the vehicle "literally everywhere" on multiple online car listing sites like AutoTrader and CarGurus, Tesla's Loss and Prevention team contacted them via email to let them know that they have cancelled and refunded their two other Cybertruck reservations, in addition to barring them from reserving another Cybertruck.
"Moving forward, any future orders placed by you will be canceled without a refund of the $100 reservation or $250 order fee as official notification has been provided to you regarding this matter," the message from Tesla read in a screenshot of the email shared by Dennis.
In his posts and replies in the thread, malinecentral, or Dennis defended that they didn't sell the truck and didn't do anything wrong.
"Haven’t even sold yet. Just listed it," Dennis wrote in the thread. "[Tesla’s] Loss and Prevention flagged me and Store Leader reached out to let me know they cancelled my other reservations."
"I think they got me on CarGurus but who knows. Yes, VIN was listed. I listed it for a ridiculous number because I thought it was funny. $242,069, [laughing emoji]" they wrote in a later reply.
Tesla's wording when contacting Dennis also suggested that they may be on the company's 'blacklist,' banning them from any future Tesla vehicle purchases.
"Based on the wording, I may be blacklisted. It's unclear to me if that is for a new CT [Cybertruck] only or any Tesla." He added: "They did say I was welcome for service. I have 2 other Teslas."
In the actual "no-resale clause" embedded in sales contracts of Tesla Cybertrucks, it reads that Tesla "may also refuse to sell you any future vehicles" in the event owners "breach this provision, or Tesla has reasonable belief that you are about to breach this provision," meaning that the automaker has the right to refuse future vehicles in the event that a transaction involving the reselling of a Cybertruck has taken place, or they have reasonable belief that an owner is about to make a transaction involving the reselling of a Cybertruck.
Despite the grievances spilled out by the user malinecentral, other users were quick to respond with their own takes on the matter in the replies.
Forum user mark555055c said that they "really applaud Tesla" for following through on their clause, noting that "people have been waiting 4 years for this vehicle, heck, some have died while waiting."
"If Tesla were to just let this stuff go, i could easily see 50% of the first 1-2 years of production being subject to flippers," user mark555055c said.
Another user by the name of CyberTW joked, "I guess I just bumped up two numbers..," while user jerhenderson was more direct with their feelings.
"You deserve that for violating your purchase agreement," the user replied. "I have no sympathy if that's what you're looking for by posting here."
User ÆCIII, questioned the original user's motive for posting the "warning," and asked:
"Don't you think if people can read in these forums, that they can also read and understand a Pre-Order Agreement? Why would you think Tesla is not genuine in their stated terms of the Pre-Order Agreement, while at the same time Tesla is making genuinely awesome products that require a waiting list before we can accept such Pre-Order Agreements in the first place?"
Additionally, ÆCIII posted a screenshot in his reply, which highlighted a section in Tesla's Cybertruck Motor Vehicle Pre-Order Agreement Terms and Conditions that is called "No Resellers; Discontinuation, Cancellation., which reads:
"Tesla and affiliate sell cars directly to end consumers, and we may unilaterally cancel any order that we believe has been made with a view toward resale of the Vehicle or that has been made in bad faith."
TheStreet has contacted Tesla for additional comments.
By: James Ochoa
PUBLISHED MAR 12, 2024 ON THESTREET.COM
Comments (2)
The only "line" that I can imagine would relate to a Tesla truck is the line at the crusher in the local wrecking yard. I cannot think of a more egregious visual "sin" in my lifetime.
I totally get why Tesla is cracking down on reselling the Cybertruck. People have been waiting for years to get their hands on one, and it’s not fair for scalpers to jump the line and make a quick buck. It might seem harsh, but it keeps the process fair for everyone.