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Last week, a bakery owner in San Jose, Calif., slammed<\/a> the electric-vehicle maker for ordering $16,000 of pies and then canceling the order on short notice, leaving her out thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n As news of the incident spread, Tesla CEO Musk took notice, posting<\/a> on X: \u201cJust hearing about this. Will make things good with the bakery. People should always be able to count on Tesla trying its best.\u201d Much media attention focused on the fact this occurred in February, which is Black History Month, and that the bakery\u2019s owner, Voahangy Rasetarinera, is Black.<\/p>\n Tesla then paid Rasetarinera $2,000 to cover the costs of the canceled order. It also offered her additional business\u2014which she turned down because she was too busy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, business is now booming. After the tiff with Tesla, the Giving Pies bakery has been receiving 200 or so daily customers, compared to 30 or 40 on a typical day, Rasetarinera told<\/a> Fox<\/a> Business.\u00a0<\/p>\n She believes the incident over the order \u201cwould not have blown up this way\u201d if it happened with another company.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTesla is associated in people\u2019s mind with Elon Musk,\u201d she said, \u201cand you either love him or hate him\u2026so when people saw that it was Tesla, I think it stirred strong emotions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rasetarinera had written in a Facebook<\/a> post<\/a> about how the carmaker\u2019s order reversal \u201cleft me reeling, realizing the extent of the impact on my small business. I had invested time, resources, and effort based on assurances from Tesla, only to be left high and dry.\u201d<\/p>\n The post went viral, and soon new customers were pouring into her bakery to support it\u2014and since it\u2019s off the beaten path, she noted, many of them had to go out of their way to visit. The mayor of San Jose dropped in, as did some Tesla employees offering their apologies.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the comments below her Facebook post, a Google<\/a> employee, Pamela Salazar, wrote: \u201cGoogle loves you! We love ordering your pies (only wish I could order them more frequently)\u2026please know that we got your back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rasetarinera said one Tesla employee told her that an hourly worker had placed the ill-fated order despite being unauthorized to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Giving Pies had never had problems with corporate orders before, Rasetarinera told local channel ABC 7.<\/p>\n \u201cThey request a quote, I send the quote, they approve, I send the invoice\u2014I\u2019m paid immediately,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a big corporation, $2,000 is pocket money, it\u2019s nothing. But for us, it\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nReeling and left high and dry<\/h2>\n
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