A Tesla Model Y owned by a man in California caught fire which led him to reach out to Tesla’s customer service for assistance. But he received a very weird response by the company in which he was instructed to bring the fire-damaged vehicle to a customer service center.
The incident involving Bishal Malla and his Tesla began earlier this month when he finished running errands and began his journey home. As he entered the highway, Malla noticed his white vehicle trembling, as he informed reporters from KCRA 3, an NBC-affiliated news outlet.
Initially, Malla suspected a flat tire had caused the issue, but he soon observed smoke emerging from the underside of the car. The car rapidly eventually escalated into a massive blaze, completely destroying the vehicle with firefighters obviously unable to salvage anything.
“I am speechless at the moment,” he said during an on-the-spot TV interview with KCRA 3.
The situation took an even stranger turn when Malla made several attempts to contact Tesla customer service but struggled to obtain any assistance.
Finally, he managed to make contact with a customer representative who “had an audacity to tell me to take my fully burned Tesla to the Tesla recommended servicing center,” Malla wrote on Reddit.
“My car was fully salvaged and a total loss,” Malla wrote. “How in the world am I going to do that? Phewww.”
Although his insurance will cover the damages, Malla remains deeply angered.
Fortunately, his children were not present in the car at the time, but the outcome could have been different. In light of his harrowing experience, Malla stated to television news reporters that he has no intention of purchasing another electric vehicle.
“I am just stunned that a billion dollar company won’t do a single follow up when their product [was] destroyed like this in the middle of the road,” he told fellow Redditors. “That’s what it hurts the most.”
