? RJ's Letter -- Making it Right -- REVERSING THE PRICE CHANGE FOR PREORDER HOLDERS

[epradox]

I must say, I have read the letter from RJ.... A few times....

While I'm not saying it isn't genuine, it very well could be. But am I the only one that feels like it's more of a lip service?

My source says they had in the area of 12000 cancellations in 24 hours. And let's say the average of all those orders was in the area $80,000. Now my math may be off, but 80000x12000=$960 million dollars. I think some one saw the numbers, had a little poo ? come out... And here we are...

The letter feels more like this to me...

I think the issue arises from realizing they undervalued their product compared to the market. How do they balance the pre-orders with trying to remain competitive with the market? A tesla model x long range went from $85k last year to $105k this year. While that rough estimate of a billion dollars seems high, they have to balance that with now most likely eating the cost of some probably 100k reservations. Compared to people who put their res in now, there's a 12-20k price increase so if they ate that cost for the 100k prior res, that's 1.2-2billion in lost revenue. It was some bean counter in the finance department that made this move figuring out the best revenue path without factoring in the human aspect of the response to it. Everything has gotten more expensive to manufacture since they figured out those prices so I don't blame them for doing what they did. Their response though was something I wasn't expecting, but I am delighted that it happened.

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[Deleted member 5294]

I think the issue arises from realizing they undervalued their product compared to the market. How do they balance the pre-orders with trying to remain competitive with the market? A tesla model x long range went from $85k last year to $105k this year. While that rough estimate of a billion dollars seems high, they have to balance that with now most likely eating the cost of some probably 100k reservations. Compared to people who put their res in now, there's a 12-20k price increase so if they ate that cost for the 100k prior res, that's 1.2-2billion in lost revenue. It was some bean counter in the finance department that made this move figuring out the best revenue path without factoring in the human aspect of the response to it. Everything has gotten more expensive to manufacture since they figured out those prices so I don't blame them for doing what they did. Their response though was something I wasn't expecting, but I am delighted that it happened.

IMHO, here is what they don’t realize, trust is brittle. Once broken it can be fixed. It needs to be rebuilt. I didn’t cancel my order but I pre-ordered an another EV.
What that means ?
There is only 10% chance that I will look back.
what is that 10% hook point ?
I am curious on how the real vehicular would be becoz I haven’t seen one.

 

[sk00pie]

Fail to understand how their email is confusing

For anyone with a Rivian preorder as of the March 1 pricing announcement, your original configured price will be honored.

Some other companies differentiate reservation from pre-order. Have a lightning on reservation however did not yet had opportunity to preorder. Sounds like Rivian reservation = preorder.

 

[tx_rivian]

I would have told those who cancelled to bug off ?

And now here come the cry babies running back to how great the car is.

Well, the people who cancelled are the ones that really set this reversal in to motion. I'd give them props.

 

[Lmirafuente]

I thought this was interesting going into the configurator regarding delivery times….

I did not log into my account, I was on the configurator and clicked the link on delivery times on the first page of configuring your R1.

 

[rraj2k81]

I just got home from a trip out of the country for the last three days. Did I miss anything?

You missed the great Rivian Revolution!

 

[eggpaul]

The activity on this forum has been nuts over the past couple of days. I’m sure someone has already mentioned this, but the one extremely small positive out of all of this is I wanted the front tow hooks but didn’t want the extra underbody protection. Purely from an aesthetic perspective as this will be an on pavement only vehicle for us. Glad those are now included for free with the Launch Edition!

Yes! I have asked CS about the underbody protection so many times with no answers. I'm sure others did and rivian figured it out on the eve of March deliveries. Since it's listed as adventure gear now I will most likely drop the underbody protection. I had heard changing adventure gear won't delay delivery ,unless I'm wrong.

 

[cc84]

Holy smokes - reading through this thread i am trying to figure out how some folks were able to land jobs that paid enough they could afford these vehicles but didn't require basic comprehension and/or reasoning skills.

Speaking for myself, in my former line of business, I knew the only way I could afford anything was by relying on the intelligence of others surrounding me. That's the only thing I was good for, being able to identify those people. I'm grateful for that ability. It served me well.

 

[ex0de]

Holy smokes - reading through this thread i am trying to figure out how some folks were able to land jobs that paid enough they could afford these vehicles but didn't require basic comprehension and/or reasoning skills.

Same, forget comprehension or reasoning, some struggle with basic reading skills.

 

[IPTV65]

Real Limestone R1S Interior and Exterior Detailed shots COULD potentially salvage

I totally agree. I mean how hard should that be now that they are in production? They have the worlds worst marketing and comms leadership.

 

[FHM]

I am a reservation holder for more than 2 years and ever since the beginning their communications have been sorely lacking. They really need to up their game. It should be no secret to anyone that we are in a very difficult environment with massive supply dislocations and inflation. It was not a surprise that the price might change (read the original agreement) BUT this is not something that happened overnight (as did the price change). Had they communicated better from the start rather than a massive change without warning, the outcome might have been different. PR disaster that was avoidable...

 

[godfodder0901]

Well, the people who cancelled are the ones that really set this reversal in to motion. I'd give them props.

While I absolutely agree that those brave individuals played a MAJOR role in the correction, I know for a FACT that we had some very STAUNCH supporters in the rank and file at Rivian. They were willing to make a hardline stand for us, the community, as well!

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Damn, a great response. I was so ready to be done and did cancel. I’m tentatively back on board. Financially it would be ridiculous not be. I’m still disheartened a lot, but this may have ended up being a good thing overall. I hope they communicate better and listen to the community that at least RJ sounds like he actually wants the community. I want to make sure he surrounds himself with folks who believe in it too. I’ll hang on for now, but Rivian has a lot of promises to live up to.

For the folks who said what ever I’ll pay 25% and like it, please reassess your priorities. It’s awesome that the preorder community called out a incredibly huge misstep and that Rivian responded. Your fanboying before even having the product is embarrassing, be a healthy fan. I’ll gush over the truck again once Rivian proves itself and I have a truck in my garage.

Your judgements are showing, sir. You don't get to tell me I'm right or wrong for the dollar amount value I put on the truck. Sorry you don't like that I didn't cancel my order, but it was worth it to me at 104k. That should make you happy - that means people will still buy R1s at the increased price.

Get over yourself :sigh:

 

[godfodder0901]

Real Limestone R1S Interior and Exterior Detailed shots COULD potentially salvage

I've heard that they are still tweaking Limestone... Very hard to get all of the nuance right.

 

[LeoH]

Go build a model x and then think about whether they over compensated. A reasonable solution would have been a smaller increase for pre-holders (or discount on new pricing), but we are now being sold vehicles well below value. To me, that's over compensating, but doesn't really matter at this point. Anyone that cancels now probably wasn't going to complete their order anyways.

Model X is irrelevant right now though, but I see your point.

However, we aren't getting a car well below value, we are getting a car well below MSRP. Eventually not because they like us, but because the total loss from increasing the price was more than the loss they would make on the vehicle. It is not uncommon for new products to sell at a loss for real-time test subjects ( That's what we are ).

As I mentioned in one of the other billion threads, I would have been completely fine paying the original price for a dual motor version if the delivery date remains the same. But the manner in which they went about it was enraging more than the increase itself, since now most people who were willing to even downgrade, just pushed their timeline till 2024 ( more like 2025 at this pace ).

Combine that with many who lost on stocks, which are trading at a magnificent $49 right now and an all time low, I think they compensated without the over.

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