Tesla changes its return policy after Elon Musk's contradictory tweets

Tesla has changed its return policy after CEO Elon Musk tweeted contradictory statements about his operation, said the company The edge Wednesday. Buyers will now be able to return a car within seven days (or before 1000 miles) for a full refund, whether or not they have conducted a test drive with the company, contrary to what was stated on the website. of the company before Wednesday.

Musk tweeted on wednesday Customers can return one of the Tesla cars seven days later for a full refund, whether they have received a test or a demonstration from the company. This claim appeared to contradict Tesla's official return policy, which clearly stated that the full seven-day refund policy only applied to customers who "did not drive the car".

It changed Wednesday night, though. Tesla said The edge the language update on the website was delayed. A new return policy was posted on the Tesla website soon after the publication of this article.

Tesla initially updated its return policy on February 28 as part of its efforts to close its stores and move to an online sales model only. Previously, Tesla's "standard return period" was "one (1) calendar day after delivery" for those who tested, or "three (3) calendar days after delivery" for those who did not have one. But the company has also eliminated the driving tests by announcing the new online sales model only. She added another four days to this second possible return scenario. "[W]e understand that you may want more time to get to know your vehicle, "says the company on the website.

Shortly after the Feb. 28 change (the company declined to specify when), Tesla decided to allow seven-day returns (or 1,000 km), whether or not customers had a test drive. It was not until Wednesday night that the official return policy was updated accordingly.

Picture: Tesla

Wednesday was the third time this month, Musk tweeted information that did not seem to align with Tesla's return policy. March 16th, musk m said "To be clear, orders are fully refundable even after you have your Tesla for a week." Later in the day he added "If someone really wants to make the car in good faith on day 8, it's perfect."

The first tweet is ambiguous. The second tweet is accurate, said a spokesman for Tesla, and the new return policy now allows "[e]extenuating circumstances "to be badessed on a case-by-case basis".

The three tweets in question highlight the tension between Musk's use of Twitter and society.

Musk is well known for his liberal use of Twitter. He often responds to fans who have customer feedback and makes immediate changes to Tesla products.

But it also caused him serious problems. Last August, Musk had tweeted that he was "considering privatizing Tesla" if the company's shares reached a price of $ 420 per share, and that he had "secured funding" to carry out this project. He gave up the idea three weeks later.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was a securities fraud because Tesla's share price was in the headlines and Musk's tweet was not accompanied by the proper notification required by the Nasdaq rules. The SEC also discovered that Musk had not reached an agreement at the time of its announcement. In September, he filed charges of civil securities fraud against him.

Musk settled the charges, agreed to resign as president of Tesla, fined $ 20 million and had a company lawyer check all public statements (including tweets) that could affect the share price of Tesla (and its shareholders). But he would not have followed that last part, which is why the SEC recently tried to get him on trial for breaking a tweet's rules posted in February.

Musk's tweets about Tesla's return policy seem to be the most recent proof that he has not changed his way of using Twitter. This seems to be going well with Robyn Denholm, who has replaced Musk as Tesla's president. "From my point of view, he uses [Twitter] wisely, "said Denholm Bloomberg aujourd & # 39; hui. "I do not think it's a problem."

Updated March 27th at 9:14 pm ET: Tesla has updated the language of the return policy on its website after its publication. This article has been updated to reflect this.