Tesla owes Shashank Chitti $1,000.

That’s how much the Bay Area tech consultant paid to reserve a Model 3, the automaker's highly anticipated electric sedan for the masses. Chitti was among tens of thousands of people who waited in line to reserve the car sight unseen, hours before Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed it to the world on March 31, 2016. In the days following the Model 3's debut, hundreds of thousands more people placed deposits, netting the company what amounts to a humongous interest-free loan. How humongous? According to its latest earnings report, Tesla holds $616 million in customer deposits. Most of that money comes from Model 3 reservation holders.

But not all of those reservations (more than half a million, by the latest count) will translate into sales. Placing a $1,000 deposit is one thing. Throwing down for a car that starts at $35,000 is another matter. And while Tesla may have delivered its first 30 Model 3s on Friday, most reservation holders won't receive their cars until 2018 at the earliest, leaving plenty of time for second thoughts and changed circumstances.

Fortunately, Tesla makes it easy to ask for your money back; the company’s website says deposit holders can cancel at any time. Per the company's Model 3 Reservation FAQ, “Refunds can take up to three weeks depending on your country of delivery.”

At least that's how it's supposed to work.

"Every time, they ask for my address and say that a check will be promptly on its way. The check never comes."

Chitti cancelled his reservation on May 17, 2017. He says he was tired of waiting and frustrated by Tesla's lack of transparency. Yet more than two months later, he hasn't received his refund. "Every time I reach out I get the same explanation: They have a lot of cancellations to process, they'll prioritize my request, and that my refund should go out in the next batch," he says.

His experience is not unique. Many deposit holders have taken to Twitter to complain to Musk directly about their late refunds. In a poll posted to the popular Tesla Motors Forum, a majority of respondents reported waiting more than a month to receive their reimbursement. On other message boards, claims of 5-, 6-, and 7-week waits are common, and many say they’ve held out even longer. “It has been three months,” wrote /r/teslamotors user UnDosTresPescao on Reddit on July 3. “I have called/emailed them several times over the last month and a half asking about status. Every time they ask for my address and say that a check will be promptly on its way. The check never comes.”

This seems as good a place as any to disclose that I, too, was once a Model 3 reservation holder. I cancelled my deposit in April, when an honest evaluation of my transportation needs forced me to concede that the last thing I need in life is a new car. Tesla took just shy of three months to refund my deposit, which I received soon after the company caught wind of me reporting this piece.

What’s taking so long? It depends on who you ask.

Pointing Fingers

In email correspondence between Tesla and deposit-holders that WIRED reviewed, customer service representatives supplied a variety of explanations for late refunds. Two blamed a third-party error. Others said Tesla had received more reimbursement requests than it could see to in a timely fashion. Several stated that a "system failure," "IT issue," or "database error" within Tesla had interfered with the company's ability to process payments.

Here's how it went down for me: I called Tesla's customer service twice after cancelling my reservation on April 23. The first time, in mid-May, the sales rep told me the company was working through a backlog of reimbursement requests, but that I'd receive my refund in the mail within 10 business days.