If you criticize a company online, you normally get an apologetic response via Twitter. But that wasn't the case for one Tesla customer who got his order personally cancelled by chief executive Elon Musk after the company was slammed in a blog post.
U.S. venture capitalist Stewart Alsop wrote an open letter two days ago claiming that after a phone call with Musk, his order for a Tesla Model X was cancelled by the billionaire.
"I also hear that you are not comfortable having me own a Tesla car and have cancelled my order for a Tesla Model X," Alsop said.
It was apparently a response to another blog post that Alsop had written in September at the launch of the Tesla Model X. Alsop complained that the event had started late, the room was stuffed, he didn't get to see the actual car, Musk presented an "amateur" slide show, and there was too much focus on safety. The investor had also put down a $5,000 deposit.
"It would still be nice if you showed some class and apologized to the people who believe in this product," Alsop wrote at the time.
Musk responded via Twitter calling Alsop a "super rude customer" and attempted to play down the dispute.
Alsop explained that he had addressed his open letter to Musk because he was hosting the event, adding that in the past when he had criticized BMW, he didn't have his car recalled.
"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," Alsop wrote.
The Model X was launched last year after initially being unveiled in 2012 and expected to be shipped in 2013. Tesla delivered just 208 Model X cars last year.