--- title: "Tesla Screws Small Business by Canceling Order for 2,000 Pies" description: "Tesla suddenly canceled an order for 2,000 pies — allegedly leaving a charitable small business out of a few thousand dollars." date: "2024-02-23" modified: "2024-02-23" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-pies" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "san francisco" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Screws Small Business by Canceling Order for 2,000 Pies ![Tesla suddenly canceled an order for 2,000 pies — allegedly leaving a charitable small business out of a few thousand dollars.]() *Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and the X (formerly Twitter) platform, attends a symposium on fighting antisemitism titled 'Never Again : Lip Service or Deep Conversation' in Krakow, Poland on January 22nd, 2024. Musk, who was invited to Poland by the European Jewish Association (EJA) has visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp earlier that day, ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) \Image: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images\* ## No Pie Zone The electric carmaker Tesla is facing community backlash after the company suddenly canceled an order for 2,000 pies — allegedly leaving a charitable small business out of a few thousand dollars, [local San Francisco outlet *ABC7* reports](). Per *ABC7*, Tesla sought the pies in question from a small San Jose pie shop called The Giving Pies, which donates a portion of its proceeds to local charities. According to shop owner Voahangy Rasetarinera — who [took to Facebook yesterday]() to share her negative experience — Tesla had contacted her shop on February 14 to place its 2,000-pie order. As she and her staff started work, Rasetarinera said, she noticed that Tesla's vendor hadn't yet paid — even though a Tesla representative had approved The Giving Pies' quote. "I'm like, 'Okay, I'm gonna wait, you know," Rasetarinera told *ABC7*, "'they are professional, they are a big company.'" Per the report, Tesla finally got in touch with The Giving Pies late in the evening on February 15. The representative reportedly apologized, explaining that the vendor was new — and then, incredibly, asked to *double the order*. The shop owner organized her staff at the last minute and in the morning sent a revised invoice to the carmaker's rep, explaining that she would need payment to secure extra supplies. (All the while, Rasetarinera told *ABC7*, she was turning down other orders to ensure that she and her small team could complete Tesla's.) That's where things took a turn. The next day, after reassuring Rasetarinera that morning that she'd requested approval for the pie purchase, the Tesla rep — hours later, around 2 pm — canceled the order outright, telling the piemaker that "it unfortunately sounds like we will be changing plans and will not be needing this order." "Thank you so much for your support," the rep added in the unhinged message, "I appreciate it." ## Old Patterns, New Lows All in all, per the report, Rasetarinera calculated that her experience with Tesla put her out of $2,000 — a consequential amount of cash for a small business. It also wasn't until the next day that Tesla gave her a reason for the cancellation, which it chalked up to a "miscommunication" between the rep and upper management. *ABC7* does note that Tesla eventually volunteered to find another way to buy Rasetarinera's pies, but the baker was reportedly hesitant to trust the offer. Understandable! If there's any silver lining, community members reportedly flocked to The Giving Pies to clear out its shelves upon hearing the news. Still, Tesla is a [multibillion-dollar company](), and this isn't [the first time]() that a venture helmed by Elon Musk — who, of course, also happens to be the world's richest person — has [stiffed its vendors](). Backtracking on pie payments is just a new low. **More on Muskian companies not paying for things:** [*Broke Boy Elon Musk Struggling to Pay Bills*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()