SHANGHAI— Tesla Inc. faces criticisms from Chinese customers complaining that they ended up paying thousands of dollars more for their new cars because they bought before the company’s recently enacted price cuts.

The backlash comes as the electric-vehicle maker is betting heavily on the country by building a factory in Shanghai. Tesla aims to start mass production of the Model 3 sedan next year, and ultimately wants to make 500,000 cars a year here to capitalize on China’s booming market for electric vehicles.

A Tesla spokeswoman declined to comment. Tesla on Friday said anyone who bought a Tesla car before the price cut would get a 50% discount on the company’s autopilot or full self-driving options.

Some Tesla owners in China this week took to social media to attack the auto maker’s Feb. 28 pledge to lower global prices and its decision to shut most of its physical stores.

One video that went viral showed disgruntled Tesla owners unfurling a banner across the front of a local Tesla store. “Tesla’s prices are dropping unreasonably,” it said in Mandarin. “This is a violation of consumers’ legal rights.”