The customer ISN'T always right: Elon Musk takes exception to Tesla buyer's letter of complaint and cancels his $130k car

Tesla buyer who'd paid a $5k deposit for a Model X is banned by the CEO

Customer had written an open letter of complaint about a launch event 

Don't mess with Musk: Tesla boss tells buyer his order has been cancelled 

By Rob Hull For Thisismoney.co.uk

Published: 07:49 EST, 3 February 2016 | Updated: 09:54 EST, 3 February 2016

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Don't get on the wrong side of Elon Musk if you want a Tesla; if you do, he could leave you without a car.

That's what's happened to one Tesla buyer, who, after penning an open letter to the American carmaker's CEO to complain about a customer event, had his purchase of a $130,000 Model X barred by the vehicle boss.

Stewart Alsop, a venture capital investor in the US, had originally grumbled about the matter in September and confirmed on Monday that Musk had banned him from owning the car, despite paying a $5,000 deposit for one of the brand's new all-electric vehicles.

Elon Musk, pictured left, couldn't see what all the fuss was about when news broke that he'd cancelled the order of a 'super rude' customer Stewart Alsop, pictured right

Pictured above an extract from Alsop's September letter complains about the event being too focused on safety and not giving 3,000 deposit payers the chance to drive one of the Model X vehicles as promised

Another extract from the letter where Alsop takes issue with the event starting late

Headlined 'Dear @ElonMusk: you should be ashamed of yourself', Alsop's September letter raised issue with the launch event starting late, being too focused on safety and not giving 3,000 deposit payers the chance to drive one of the Model X vehicles as promised.

He also also protested about there not being any food offered at the event, stating: 'Not to mention I was hungry, since you didn't even provide real food during dinner time!' 

But instead of receiving an apology from the Tesla CEO, as requested at the end of the 480-word rant, Musk opted to strike Alsop's purchase from the order books.

In his most recent open letter, titled 'Banned by Tesla', the disgruntled former customer confirmed he had received a call from the carmaker boss. 

He said: 'I must also admit that I am a little taken aback to be banned by Tesla.

'When I wrote a blog post about my BMW X1 called 'My Car Makes Me Feel Stoopid', the CEO of BMW didn't take the car back.'

In his most recent open letter, titled 'Banned by Tesla', the disgruntled former customer confirmed he had received a call from the carmaker boss. Alsop is pictured above

In this 1998 photo Alsop in his capacity as New Enterprise Associates Venture Partner is pictured with Microsoft President Bill Gates before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on anticompetitive issues and technology. Gates left and Alsop far right

After voicing his disap pointment about begrudgingly not being able to own one of the new Tesla Model X's, Alsop concluded his latest letter with a final dig at Mr Tesla.

'I have plenty of other comments to make about how to run your company, but I imagine that if you don't want me to own one of your cars, you probably also aren't interested in what I have to say about your company,' he added. 

'I guess this means I probably won't be allowed to buy a SpaceX Dragon, either.'

Must be a slow news day if denying service to a super rude customer gets this much attention

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2016

Musk publicly responded to the reports on Wednesday, though seemed baffled to why the situation should attract so much coverage. 

He tweeted: 'Must be a slow news day if denying service to a super rude customer gets this much attention.' 

Among one of the first people who did receive a Model X order was Karate Kid star Jaden Smith, actor and son of Will Smith.

Jaden Smith, actor and son of Will Smith, must have kept on the good side of Elon Musk - the Karate Kid star is one of the first to receive a Model X order

It's not the first time this year Musk has been targeted by an angry customer.

Another American buyer in Florida accused the Tesla CEO of stealing his car in January, after the dealer he'd ordered a refurbished Model S from confirmed that Musk had personally taken the man's car t o test an updated version of the AutoPilot driverless car system.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CAR ALSOP IS MISSING OUT ON

The Tesla Model X has a $130,000 asking price (£90,000)

250 miles range (EPA est.)

0-60mph in 3.8 seconds

259hp front, 503 rear motor power

155mph top speed

Falcon Wing rear doors with built-in sensors for opening in garages

Air filtration with 'bioweapon defence mode' to protect against biological attack

17in touchscreen for control of in-car/driving systems 

Automatically deploying rear spoiler

Maps and navigation with real-time traffic updates

Daytime running lights 

Radar and sonar to enable partial driving 

Front trunk with room for luggage, strollers or two golf bags 

Free long-distance travel on Tesla's expanding Supercharger network

8 year, infinite mile battery and drive unit warranty

Automatic keyless entry

GPS enabled Homelink

Parking sensors, blind spot and side collision warnings

Automatic eme rgency braking

Seating for six or seven adults depending on interior configuration

Four LATCH child seat attachments, two in each passenger row

 

Source: The customer ISN'T always right: Elon Musk takes exception to Tesla buyer's letter of complaint and cancels his $130k car