Asian Tech Press (Sep 17) -- A Chinese consumer announced on his social media platform Friday that he won the case against Tesla for sales fraud after 755 days of defending his rights.
Previously, after being sold a major accidental car by Tesla Automobile Sales and Service (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Tesla Inc's subsidiary in China (Tesla China), and following Tesla's refusal to return it, Chinese consumerer Han Chao took Tesla to court.
On December 4, 2020, the Beijing Daxing district court ruled that Tesla had committed fraud and should return the consumer's payment for the vehicle as well as compensate the consumer for three times the damages, requiring a total of 1518,800 yuan (approximately $235,396) to be paid to Han.
Tesla appealed against the initial judgment. And now, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled to reject Tesla's appeal and affirm the original ruling.
Han said his experience in defending his rights originated from the purchase of a used Tesla vehicle with accidents.
In May 2019, Han had planned to purchase a used Model S P85 sedan on Tesla's official website. Before the purchase, a salesperson informed him that there were no major accidents, no structural damage, no fires, no flooding in officially Tesla-certified used cars.
At the end of August 2019, when Han was driving the vehicle, suddenly the vehicle's brakes and electric doors completely stopped running. After testing, it was found that there were cutting and welding marks on the rear side panel of the used car, and it was identified as an accidental vehicle.
Subsequently, the Chinese consumer requested Tesla to return faulty vehicle but was refused. So, Han sued Tesla for the first time in December 2019.
For Han's complaint, Tesla China officially responded that the vehicle sold by Tesla, although cut C-pillar, is not a major accidental vehicle because of the repair process. And the company also said that it would file an appeal.
Han said that even though the third-party vehicle certification agency approved by the court, said that it already belonged to a major accidental vehicle, Tesla still argued that the agencyy was "unprofessional."
Moreover, Han said, in the process of claims, he felt that Tesla gave him responses in a particularly negative way. For example, when he went to negotiate about the fault vehicle, Tesla staff told him that they had to wait for communication emails from their superiors, etc. But after he waited for months, they never made any action.
In addition, for the vehicle that has cut the C-pillar, Tesla's response was as bold as ever. Han said Tesla thought there was nothing wrong with the vehicle, and that if the car was returned, he would have to pay 100,000 yuan ($15,490) for damages.
Even though the court had put the certification report in front of Tesla, it still believed there was no problem, arguing that it was the restoration of the exterior parts of its aluminum body.
Now, the result of the second trial is released, and Tesla was ruled as sales fraud and was ordered to refund the consumer's payment for the vehicle as well as compensate him for three times the damages.
The consumer said in a post on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo today, "As the first winner in a case against Tesla for a refund and triple compensation, I do not want to be a milestone, but more like a book of revelation."
(US$1 = 6.4521 yuan)
