Tesla placed a $16K bakery order for Black History Month — then suddenly canceled it, the bakers say, costing them thousands

Mia Jankowicz
Updated ·3 min read
1.2k

  • A Black-owned bakery was angered by Tesla over a large Black History Month pie order.

  • The owner said she scrambled to meet the request, incurring costs before the invoice was paid.

  • But then a Tesla employee abruptly canceled the order by text message, she said.

A San Jose, California, bakery has slammed Tesla after a company employee placed a massive pie order for Black History Month, only to cancel it after the Black-owned business scrambled to meet the request, according to multiple reports.

Voahangy Rasetarinera, the owner of The Giving Pies, wrote on Instagram that Tesla "hurt my small Black women-owned business" through the last-minute cancellation.

Rasetarinera said that on February 14 a Tesla company representative called her and asked for 2,000 minipies to be delivered by the following week.

She said she got worried when the payment for her invoice didn't come through by the next day.

Rasetarinera told ABC7: "I'm like, 'OK, I'm going to wait, you know, and they are professional. They are a big company. So once it's approved, it's approved.'"

But that evening, the representative called back and doubled the order — setting the bakery rushing to ensure it could meet the demand, Rasetarinera wrote.

The order was worth $16,000, she told NBC Bay Area.

"To fulfill the order, I had turned down other Black History Month catering inquiries, purchased supplies, and prepared for a demanding production schedule," she wrote in her post.

After chasing the representative on Friday, she said, she got a text message "CASUALLY informing me" that Tesla had changed its mind.

"This abrupt reversal left me reeling, realizing the extent of the impact on my small business," she wrote. "I had invested time, resources, and effort based on assurances from Tesla, only to be left high and dry."

Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, sent outside business hours.

The change cost The Giving Pies $2,000, ABC7 reported.

While the bakery has a cancellation policy, it could not recoup its costs because Tesla had not paid the invoice, NBC Bay Area reported.

The Giving Pies' website says it frequently caters to major corporates, listing Google, Apple, and Adobe among its clients.

After Rasetarinera spoke with ABC7, she said a Tesla employee reached out to her to say that there had been a miscommunication and the original representative had not been authorized to promise any payment.

Rasetarinera said she'd expressed her disappointment at the situation directly with Tesla.

"As I reflect on this ordeal, I am reminded of the resilience and determination that have propelled me forward as a black woman entrepreneur," she wrote.

Rasetarinera said in a February 2 post celebrating Black History Month that she's of Madagascan heritage. The company says it donates a portion of its annual profits to Esports, a charity supporting inclusion in children's sports.

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