According to Electrek, Tesla's Robotaxi service is currently embroiled in a reputation crisis in Texas, with a wave of negative feedback primarily emanating from Tesla's most loyal fans and brand ambassadors. On August 22, Reggie Overton, a Tesla brand ambassador, shared his experience on social media, revealing that his destination was a mere 2.3 miles (approximately 3.7 kilometers) from his pickup point. However, the Robotaxi's estimated arrival time was a staggering 1 hour and 6 minutes. After contacting customer service, he was informed that it was a system glitch. Although the estimated time briefly dropped to 16 minutes, the actual route remained unchanged and soon reverted to 57 minutes. The customer service acknowledged the absurdity of the estimate but was unable to dispatch a new vehicle, merely suggesting that he leave a review. Ultimately, the group altered their destination, disembarked mid-journey, and opted for an Uber instead. Overton expressed his dissatisfaction over not receiving a refund. However, after his post garnered over 630,000 views, Tesla officially responded, stating that a refund had been processed and that efforts would be made to enhance the user experience. Another devoted Tesla owner, TexasTSLA, also documented numerous failed orders, including instances where the vehicle dropped them off far from their intended destination, missed the drop-off point entirely, repeatedly passed by without stopping, and even got stuck on the road. In fact, since its launch in Dallas and Houston in April of this year, Tesla's Robotaxi service has been confined to a very limited geographic area and still relies on remote human support for its so-called 'unsupervised' operations. Data indicates that from January to July this year, Tesla's Robotaxi accumulated a mere 380,000 miles of unsupervised travel, averaging approximately 15,000 miles per week. In stark contrast, Waymo already completes over 500,000 fully driverless paid passenger trips per week across more than 10 cities in the United States, without facing such a high volume of complaints. Currently, Tesla is gearing up for its Cybercab event in Austin on September 3. However, the mounting complaints from its loyal fanbase have already cast a pall over its narrative of revolutionizing driverless ride-hailing.
