[HN Gopher] Tesla tells customers it will not honor retroactive ...
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       Tesla tells customers it will not honor retroactive Full Self-
       Driving pricing
        
       Author : baskethead
       Score  : 51 points
       Date   : 2021-12-16 18:45 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.teslarati.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.teslarati.com)
        
       | makerofspoons wrote:
       | When are they going to rip the bandaid off that they aren't going
       | to produce the Cybertruck?
       | https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a37979446/tesla-cybertruck...
        
       | fxtentacle wrote:
       | It's easy to prevent this kind of bad behavior by introducing a
       | law to make it illegal. Reading those stories from the EU, I
       | wonder why consumers in the US so rarely fight for their rights.
       | Even the UK has its Consumer Rights Act [1] which explicitly
       | forbids price increases for pre-orders.
       | 
       | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Rights_Act_2015
        
         | dominotw wrote:
         | > consumers in the US so rarely fight for their rights
         | 
         | we belive in markets weeding out the bad players. Laws are too
         | inflexible and slow moving compared to markets.
        
           | cinntaile wrote:
           | And then at the same time the corporate lobbyists are
           | donating money to politicians so that the markets will sort
           | it out?
        
       | renzo88 wrote:
       | I understand that tesla is trendy, and open about "not having
       | everything figured out", but I get the impression that this is a
       | lot of tesla drivers' first luxury car.
       | 
       | If BMW or Mercedes pulled the things Tesla does at the same
       | cadence, their community would riot.
        
         | fxtentacle wrote:
         | That's the difference between selling to inexperienced hipsters
         | vs. selling to established CEOs and their lawyers.
         | 
         | Also, BMW is quite openly mocking Tesla's build quality by now,
         | which in my impression worked well for their marketing in the
         | EU.
         | 
         | Oliver Zipse, BMW: "Tesla isn't quite part of the premium
         | segment. They are growing very strongly via price reductions.
         | We would not do that since you have got to last the distance.
         | Where we differ is our standard on quality and reliability. We
         | have different aspirations on customer satisfaction."
         | 
         | https://insideevs.com/news/547029/bmw-ceo-tesla-not-premium/
        
       | petree wrote:
       | Sounds like great customer service from Tesla, the most valuable
       | car company in the world... Hopefully people can at least recover
       | their money easily.
        
       | manuelabeledo wrote:
       | And this is why you shouldn't pay for pre-releases.
        
       | nashashmi wrote:
       | Self driving should be pay as you go. Either on demand, daily,
       | monthly or annually. Because the number of frequent updates is
       | far too much and costly.
        
         | ChildOfChaos wrote:
         | Pay as you go sounds stupid.
         | 
         | So you buy a car and then have to pay to use it?
         | 
         | It should be a feature that comes with the car, one off
         | payment, you shouldn't need to pay a subscription just because
         | they didn't have it fully ready before you bought it.
        
           | tartrate wrote:
           | You can still use the car and drive it yourself. This would
           | be paying monthly for the car to be able to drive itself.
           | Just like you have to pay for "premium connectivity" in
           | Teslas, i.e. internet access.
        
             | throwaway946513 wrote:
             | Just like the 'subscription' remote start for physical key
             | fobs from Toyota. Similar to the 'heated seat' subscription
             | from BMW - or the annual subscription for AppleCar play to
             | work with your headunit. Porsche charges for 'dynamic
             | lighting plus' and 'active lane keep assist' as a
             | subscription. Cadillac charges monthly for 'super cruise',
             | Tesla Autopilot clone.
             | 
             | Yes, you can still use the car, and drive it yourself - but
             | the problem is how anti-consumer and rent seeking the
             | behaviors are of these companies. The problem isn't limited
             | to Tesla.
        
         | atoav wrote:
         | So should your toaster, your dishwasher, your smart lock, your
         | light switch, your insulin pump.
         | 
         | Usually it was anarchists who proclaimed that ownership equals
         | theft -- no we go to the other extreme, with corporate slowly
         | trying to turn owners into renters. Instead of selling you
         | something they try to become your landlord.
        
         | ethanwillis wrote:
         | And then the clock strikes and your car crashes.
        
         | toss1 wrote:
         | Self-driving (assuming it was really full Level-5 self driving)
         | is about the ONLY feature that I'd want on-demand, or consider
         | a legitimate use for such an ongoing payment scheme.
         | 
         | * The car is still perfectly useful without it * It genuinely
         | needs ongoing updates * There are good use cases for occasional
         | use - I'd rarely use it, unless I was coming home very late &
         | tired, or really needed to work and not drive.
         | 
         | Other features, like Toyota's recent announcement [0] that they
         | are going to charge $8/month for your key fob to remote start
         | your car, or BMW's attempt [1] to charge for heated seats are
         | merely extractive ploys.
         | 
         | This move of everything to unnecessary connected and
         | subscription models is just an outrage. Sure, some services
         | genuinely need connection, but most can be engineered without
         | it if there is a will to do so. Otherwise, do't do it - it's a
         | trap!
         | 
         | [0] https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/12/22831105/toyota-
         | subscrip...
         | 
         | [1] https://www.thedrive.com/news/34547/bmw-is-planning-to-
         | sell-...
        
         | Imnimo wrote:
         | Just have a taxi-style meter that clicks up every second your
         | hands aren't on the wheel.
        
       | Mountain_Skies wrote:
       | Sounds like some mid level manager looking for a way to boost
       | their numbers without giving consideration to how this change
       | impacts the public perception of the company or even any
       | potential legal complications.
        
         | haliskerbas wrote:
         | Usually you file a ticket with legal / have a 30 minute
         | conversation, get a sign off, and go along your merry way.
        
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       (page generated 2021-12-16 23:02 UTC)