Last Second: Tesla Cancels Big Order, Independent Pastry Shop Thousands of Dollars in Debt

Elon Musk-owned Tesla Automobile Company has slammed last week for canceling a huge order of 4,000 tartlets from an independent pastry shop at the last minute… without any compensation.

“My hopes were dashed when I got the text […] I was routinely informed that the plan had changed and that Tesla no longer needed the order. […] I invested time, resources and effort based on Tesla's promises, left high and dry,” The Giving Pies owner Vohangi Raceterinera lamented on Facebook last Thursday, “reported in the New York Post.

The San Jose, Calif.-based pastry chef took to social media on Thursday to decry the big company's irrelevance by the auto giant, which approached her for a large and expensive order last week.

On February 14, the company ordered 2,000 tartlets the following Tuesday, before contacting her again two days later to double the order, worth US$16,000, according to the American newspaper.

At the time, payment was still pending, but with the Tesla employee's guarantee and time running out, the pastry chef mobilized all his employees to work.

That's when she received a text message announcing that plans had changed and that Tesla would no longer do business with the pastry shop, even though she had invested time and money in the ingredients to make it.

“This experience is a stark reminder of the vulnerability small businesses face when dealing with large companies. Despite our best efforts to honor our commitments […] We are often left at their mercy,” the owner continued on Facebook.

Fortunately, the post did not fall on deaf ears, as hundreds of customers flocked to the pastry shop over the weekend to order pies as a sign of support: a gesture that touched the heart of the owner.

“I didn't [la publication] For that. I am very grateful. Unbelievable. People are extraordinary,” she said.

For his part, Tesla's big boss, Elon Musk, tweeted on Friday that he had just been informed of the situation and would look to resolve the situation with the pastry shop, which confirmed on Tuesday that it had received the US payment. $2,000 from him to cover the cost of materials, according to “The Guardian”.

“When you're a big company, $2,000 is pocket money, it's nothing. But for us, it’s too much,” added the owner.