A San Jose-based pie company, The Giving Pies, faced a significant setback recently when Tesla abruptly canceled a catering order, resulting in a substantial financial loss. The incident gained widespread attention, prompting Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), to pledge to resolve the issue with the bakery.
Owned and operated by Voahangy Rasetarinera, The Giving Pies is known for its diverse range of sweet and savory pies, catering to several prominent tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Nvidia, Amazon, Google, and Meta.
After ordering 4,000 mini pies from a San Jose bakery, Tesla allegedly canceled the order and did not pay. https://t.co/FiWaJpahR2
— KRON4 News (@kron4news) February 23, 2024
Tesla initially placed an order for 2,000 mini pies on Valentine’s Day, which was a typical business transaction for Rasetarinera. However, concerns arose when the payment process was redirected to a third-party catering software company called City Flavor, and Rasetarinera did not receive payment as expected.
Following a call from her Tesla contact on February 15, apologizing for the payment delay, Tesla requested to double the order to 4,000 mini pies, assuring Rasetarinera that cost was not an issue. Despite this assurance, the following day, Tesla informed Rasetarinera that they no longer required the pies.
The sudden reversal left Rasetarinera reeling, having invested significant time, resources, and effort based on assurances from Tesla. She expressed frustration with Tesla’s corporate culture, which appeared to prioritize convenience over accountability, highlighting the vulnerability of small businesses when dealing with larger corporations.
After sharing her experience on Facebook, Rasetarinera received a call from another representative at Tesla, acknowledging that her previous contact did not have the authority to authorize payment. However, as of now, Rasetarinera has yet to receive payment from Tesla, although the company did offer her a tour of their factory.
Despite the setback, The Giving Pies experienced a surge in demand, with Rasetarinera selling out of pies almost daily and receiving orders from across the country.
Efforts to obtain comments from Rasetarinera, Tesla, and City Flavor were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
