A lawsuit has been filed against Tesla in Pennsylvania after the company jacked up the price of their Solar Roof considerably. The people behind it say many more have had the same experience.
Their complaint states that more than 100 potential class members signed contracts totaling more than $5 million, reports Insider.
Philip Dahlin and Mary Arndtsen signed a contract with Tesla to install a new Solar Roof for their home in New Hope, Pennsylvania. The price they agreed on was $46,084.80. However, Tesla recently informed them that they would actually have to pay $78,352.66.
“Our budget was based on the contract that we had, so it was not something that we had prepared for,” Dahlin told Insider. They will be seeking class-action status as they claim they aren’t the only ones facing this situation.
Jay and Robin Fortin of Weston, Connecticut had a similar experience. Together, they agreed to a roughly $62,000 installation. After a tech visited, the price jumped up to around $68,500. In April, Tesla messaged them to say the price was rising to $91,000.
“I’m not going to pay the new price,” Fortin said on Friday. “We can’t. The whole thing made sense for us because we needed a new roof anyway, and we wanted backup power.”
Although an article in the Uniform Commercial Code does allow for buyers and sellers to modify agreements after they’re signed, the changes have to be agreed to by both parties.
Upon learning of the complaint, Fortin got in contact with Dahlin and said that he’d join the class action lawsuit.
Unfortunately for the people suing, Tesla put an arbitration clause in the contract that works to its advantage.
“Tesla’s arbitration clause almost certainly forestalls this class action under current Supreme Court precedent,” Gregory Klass, associate dean and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said.
The lawyer behind the case says there is a plan to deal with the clause, but whatever comes of the case, these Tesla customers obviously aren’t happy.
“I wish we hadn’t gotten involved with the whole thing, tell you the truth,” said Fortin.