Tesla has been giving some of its most loyal customers the runaround

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Nothing better exemplifies Elon Musk’s haphazard approach to corporate decision-making than Tesla’s treatment of customers who paid thousands of dollars to pre-order the “full self-driving” option. Tesla introduced the option in 2016, and at the time Musk predicted it would be ready in around two years. Today, the technology still seems far from completion.

Last month, Tesla added insult to injury, announcing that existing customers who hadn’t already paid for the full self-driving option could do so at a lower price. That enraged some earlier full self-driving customers who had yet to get anything for their money, yet Tesla refused to offer them partial refunds.

To mollify these early adopters, Tesla promised that they would “receive an invitation to Tesla’s Early Access Program (EAP). EAP members are invited to experience and provide feedback on new features and functionality before they are rolled out to other customers.” The opportunity to beta-test Tesla’s software excited many eligible customers. After all, they had purchased the upgrade precisely because they wanted to be on the cutting edge.