Gary Zhou 
A Tesla owner is claiming that her 10-month-old infant purchased the company’s Full Self-Driving suite on accident, and she didn’t realize until she checked her monthly bank statement. The woman claims that the child got ahold of her phone and purchased the semi-autonomous driving suite by accessing the Tesla Smartphone application. The purchase is non-refundable after 48 hours, which has already elapsed.
The woman posted her story on the social media outlet TikTok, with the on-screen text stating, “When your 10-month-old purchases the full self-driving package through the Tesla app.” It then says, “And you didn’t know until you checked the bank statement and you find out that this is NON-refundable 48 hours after purchase.”
The woman then provided a screenshot of the receipt on the Tesla application, with concerns as to why there are not extra measures to prevent accidents like this from happening.
Comments on the video were humorous, and many users of the app who chimed in stated they thought it was a far-fetched scenario that a baby could purchase the FSD suite. One of the best comments referred to a potential conversation between the Mother and Father, where they weighed the pros and cons of purchasing the $10,000 Full Self-Driving suite. “He said he heard y’all weighing the pros and cons, but at the end of the day, HE is the decision-maker in this household,” one user said.
Newsweek originally reported the story.
Another user indicated they were skeptical of the story due to the amount of the purchase, which would have initiated a confirmation text or phone call from the bank that the Tesla owner uses. She responded to this claim in a follow-up TikTok, where she said, “The way Tesla works is, when you purchase a car, you will have an account with Tesla. So when you need to take your care to the service center to get anything repaired, they will have it all on file in your account. So you have a card, and bank account hooked up to your Tesla app. I mean, if you have a Tesla app, you can go and see for yourself. But it’s not a lie.”
Unfortunately for her, this is not the first time an accidental purchase has been made for one of the company’s upgrades that increases the performance or functionality of Tesla’s vehicles. For example, several Tesla owners complained of “buttdial” purchases several months ago, where the application was accessed while the owner was sitting on their phone. They would then pull their smartphones out to see that they had purchased any of Tesla’s in-app upgrades.
The complaint was confronted by Tesla in February 2020, when CEO Elon Musk stated that the company would address the issue as it was becoming a more popular shortcoming based on customer testimonies. As a result, Tesla implemented a 48-hour return window, where any of the in-app purchases, including Full Self-Driving, could be refunded in full as long as the request was made within 48 hours of the purchase.
“For upgrades purchased from the Tesla app, you can request a refund from the Tesla app within 48 hours of purchase,” the company notes via its Upgrades page. “All refund conditions are available in your Tesla app.”
It seems far-fetched that someone would not notice a $10,000 purchase, nor would they realize their vehicle was now capable of Full Self-Driving. However, crazier things have happened in the world. Still, it will probably not result in a refund unless Tesla or Musk decides to refund the woman due to extreme circumstances. Regardless, the Model X owner seemed to be having fun with the Smart Summon feature, as it was being used in the TikTok.
The TikTok is available here.
