Tesla orders 4,000 pies, cancels order, and Elon Musk steps in: “I just found out about this”

Most small businesses dream of landing a big client that could usher in a period of success.

It’s an opportunity for growth, increased revenue, and entry into a previously untapped market. That’s exactly what happened to a small artisanal bakery in San Jose, California, in 2024.

This small business received the order it had been hoping for—a massive request for pastries from Tesla, owned by Elon Musk. To celebrate a major event, Tesla placed an order for an impressive 2,000 mini pies from the bakery. Giving Pies is a Black-owned business, owned by Voahangy Rasetarinera, suddenly found itself facing the biggest opportunity of its existence.

Rasetarinera had never received an order of that magnitude before. It was an incredible chance, but also a significant challenge. Their business structure wasn’t designed to handle such a large order, but quickly made the necessary purchases and brought in reinforcements to ensure they would be able to deliver the order on time.

Tesla failed to pay the bakery

However, what started as a dream quickly turned into a nightmare. The bakery fulfilled its commitment—the order was to be delivered in two phases the following week. They kept their promise and delivered as agreed. But Tesla did not.

Tesla had outsourced payment to an external provider, City Flavor, which failed to process the payment after receiving the first batch of pies. At first, the bakery didn’t worry too much, as they did not believe they had a reason to think that one of the most recognizable companies in the country would leave them high and dry. But as time went on, Rasetarinera grew nervous.

The owner called Tesla to find out what was happening, the company apologized a representative said they would look into it, and placed another order for another 4,000 mini pies. At this point, Tesla’s bill had grown to $16,000.

Having already delivered the first 2,000 pies, Tesla owed them $8,000. The bakery debated whether to accept the second order given the circumstances but ultimately decided to go ahead. Once again, they arranged overtime for their employees and restocked ingredients, even turning down other orders due to the size of Tesla’s request.

Cancellation without notice

The bakery was banking on the $16,000 payment—by far the largest invoice they had ever issued. However, as they prepared the second batch, they urged Tesla to ensure their provider made the payment.

Reaching out to the company Rasetarinera said that she was “sorry to bother them” but that she ran “a small business” and could not afford to not be paid for the pies she had delivered.

Just a week before the second batch was due, Tesla canceled the order without warning. All the money the bakery had spent, all the pastries they had prepared—gone to waste, was how Rasetarinera explained it to local outlet KRON4. The message, according to the business owner read: “‘Hey, so sorry, I don’t think we’re going to need this order anymore.‘”

“There was no explanation. Just a message saying, ‘I’m so sorry, I think we won’t be needing the order anymore,’” Giving Pies wrote on its Instagram account.

In an interview with The Guardian, the bakery owner shared her distress—money lost, pastries wasted, and hours of hard work for nothing. The story went viral, gaining massive attention. It spread so widely that it eventually reached Elon Musk himself. The Tesla CEO stepped in, tweeting, “Just found out about this.”

Musk steps in after the story goes viral

From his X account, Musk apologized for the situation and promised to resolve it immediately. He offered Giving Pies the chance to make as many pastries as they could, and he would personally pay for them. The pastries would be donated to charitable organizations.

Thanks to this intervention, Giving Pies ended up with a happy ending. Not only did they recover their losses, but they also gained massive public support and positive publicity. As a result, as stated on their website, the small bakery now caters to some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley. Who would have thought?

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Original article written by Rafael Escobar, translated with the assistance of AI and edited by Maite Knorr-Evans.