Phones4U billionaire John Caudwell's epic rant after 90k Tesla breaks down

The 72-year-old, who is originally from Staffordshire and made his fortune by starting Phones4U, which he sold in 2006 for £1.5b, took to LinkedIn to share his frustration with the vehicle manufactured by Elon Musk's company. 

In a post, which has racked up more than 300 reactions and comments, he wrote:  "'Tesla really needs to up their game to survive, let alone prosper. What kind of appalling customer service is this? My Tesla Model X broke down the day the four-year warranty expired. Or possibly just before. 

"While still under warranty, we charged it overnight, and by morning - despite being fully charged - it wouldn't move. 

"You'd think this would be straightforward to resolve, but not with Tesla." 

However, he claims he could not speak to a person for help and instead had to go through the app.

"Frustrated, my security drove (in another car) over an hour to the nearest Tesla dealership, only to be told the earliest available appointment was three weeks away," he added. 

"Otherwise, I'd have to arrange a costly, specialised transport to get the car there because the Model X requires a specific loading method."

He also said that the main high-voltage battery, which powers the car, has its own eight-year warranty, so if the problem was with that, the repair would be covered. But if it was the 12-volt auxiliary battery, that's part of the expired four-year overall warranty and he would have to pay.

"Up to now, I've generally loved my Tesla and its many innovations. It's a pleasure to drive – despite autonomous control's occasionally dangerous brake-slamming – and I love that it's environmentally-friendly," John, who  currently lives in a 45,000 square foot home in Mayfair, continued.

"But all of this has really disgusted me and soured my experience of the brand. In light of the lack of customer service, we worked on the car ourselves and found, as suspected, the critical 12-volt battery discharged

"After externally charging it, all was good, though we still have no idea why this catastrophic failure occurred. Given their recent reduction in sales and the Chinese onslaught in the EV market, Tesla really need to up their game to survive, let alone prosper."

Tesla have been contacted for a comment.