Anyone hear from their Rivian Guide?

[timesinks]

"Some time in 2020" was the original ship date, which includes just a few vehicles on the last day of the month. They are 6 months behind, not 1 year.

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[Friscorays]

Bummer about March 1, 2022.

 

[SANZC02]

It is undeniably suspicious that Rivian is the only company that had their pre-COVID plans purportedly derailed by the 2020 pandemic.

Yes, lucky for everyone Covid did not impact the computer chip industry, that would have been disastrous....

 

[RWerksman]

Yes, lucky for everyone Covid did not impact the computer chip industry, that would have been disastrous....

It's unfortunate for Rivian that global communication has been completely disrupted due to Covid and that there is no possible way they could have managed expectations better for the folks that provided them $1,000 each.

I mean, think of all the pictures of RJ and his family in a tent! It took a TON of effort for the PR team to photograph, develop, and airdrop them over Instragramstan and Tweetervania.


I'm willing to give them a pass on the timeline, but we're well past the point where any delay should have been communicated to pre-order holders. There is no excuse for the radio silence - pandemic or not.

 

[Friscorays]

Bummer about March 1, 2022.

 

[timesinks]

I'm willing to give them a pass on the timeline, but we're well past the point where any delay should have been communicated to pre-order holders. There is no excuse for the radio silence - pandemic or not.

They have not yet missed out on starting guide conversations "in May" and starting deliveries "in June." They are trying to pull off something completely unprecedented (an upstart manufacturer delivering 3 brand new production vehicles in a 6-month span). They're busy focusing on meeting those public commitments (guides "in May", deliveries "in June").

Personally, I am optimistic going into next week.

 

[0=====0]

They have not yet missed out on starting guide conversations "in May" and starting deliveries "in June." They are trying to pull off something completely unprecedented (an upstart manufacturer delivering 3 brand new production vehicles in a 6-month span). They're busy focusing on meeting those public commitments (guides "in May", deliveries "in June").

Personally, I am optimistic going into next week.

I am being optimistic as well. But there is a lot of information still missing. and Based on the support chat responses, it seems like a lot of this is not nailed down yet. Its always, we are working on the details and will share more information soon. Its never, yes that is finalized, here it is.
For example, support for V2V/V2H, Alexa, UI etc should be done by now. They are entering production assembly in 15 days. At least the software base line for the infotainment should be finalized by now.

They are just leaving a lot to be done by the Guides.
Its just going to make their jobs more difficult.

 

[timesinks]

I don't get why people keep asking customer support. If there's a public release of new information, sure, talk to them to ask clarifications. But everyone knows full well that they are not going to give you unannounced information. Why would they let an individual one-on-one conversation steal the thunder of the next big reveal?

The fact that customer support isn't sharing information means Rivian has decided to withhold that information, not that it isn't hammered down.

 

[RWerksman]

They have not yet missed out on starting guide conversations "in May" and starting deliveries "in June." They are trying to pull off something completely unprecedented (an upstart manufacturer delivering 3 brand new production vehicles in a 6-month span). They're busy focusing on meeting those public commitments (guides "in May", deliveries "in June").

Personally, I am optimistic going into next week.

Just to be clear - you're perfectly content with how your expectations have been managed up to this point? You have all of the information you need and you're confident in the timelines and product?

This is a terribly complex launch with literally thousands of moving pieces - no one is disputing that. I think we're also all in agreement that these will be delivered ... eventually. I'm not even getting into the missing features that were announced and quietly dropped, like L3 autonomy and the 180 degree tailgate.

What I am saying is they have dropped the ball repeatedly and consistently when it comes to customer expectation management. They could have done things like established a cadence of information releases, actively updated FAQ documents with meaningful information, clearly communicated upcoming dates with some-sort of precision ("May" and "June" are not precise at all) and they have either chosen not to, couldn't be bothered to, or were not competent enough to make it happen.

Before you ask, yes, I am a project manager (projects in the millions, not billions though), I own a business that has launched new products and sold tens of thousands of units, and I've been a consumer for multiple pre-launch vehicles -- both automotive and powersports.

 

[timesinks]

Just to be clear - you're perfectly content with how your expectations have been managed up to this point? You have all of the information you need and you're confident in the timelines and product?

Yes. We didn't deposit $1000 in exchange for a commitment to receive weekly updates. We wanted a spot in line to purchase a truck in 2020 (and, we understood that the global pandemic was a reasonable cause to push that back 6 months to mid-2021). So far, they haven't failed any commitment they've made to us. So far, they haven't asked for the remaining $84,000 (or whatever our exact configuration comes out to). So, for where we are right now, we have all the information they've ever committed to providing and don't feel like we've been wronged by them in any way.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

They were initially trying to deliver vehicles to customers late fall of 2020. They pushed back to June 2021. Only 6 months, maybe 8 if you want to push fall to its start.

 

[jjwolf120]

They were initially trying to deliver vehicles to customers late fall of 2020.

Fall ends in December.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Fall ends in December.

Exactly, not the year @peashooter was throwing around

 

[SeaGeo]

Just to be clear - you're perfectly content with how your expectations have been managed up to this point? You have all of the information you need and you're confident in the timelines and product?

This is a terribly complex launch with literally thousands of moving pieces - no one is disputing that. I think we're also all in agreement that these will be delivered ... eventually. I'm not even getting into the missing features that were announced and quietly dropped, like L3 autonomy and the 180 degree tailgate.

What I am saying is they have dropped the ball repeatedly and consistently when it comes to customer expectation management. They could have done things like established a cadence of information releases, actively updated FAQ documents with meaningful information, clearly communicated upcoming dates with some-sort of precision ("May" and "June" are not precise at all) and they have either chosen not to, couldn't be bothered to, or were not competent enough to make it happen.

Before you ask, yes, I am a project manager (projects in the millions, not billions though), I own a business that has launched new products and sold tens of thousands of units, and I've been a consumer for multiple pre-launch vehicles -- both automotive and powersports.

Do I wish Rivian were communicating things in a different way? Maybe. Has their "story" updates resulted in a way to keep us engaged and excited? Yeah. Is it annoying for people who want some more detailed information? Yes. Would I *love* to have a better idea on a lot of information, and a better idea as to when I should expect a truck? Yes.

Do I think Rivian has missed a deadline other than pushing back with COVID? Not yet. Again, it's still May. Am I going to give them shit if the first guides reach out in the first week of June? No.

I think it's worth putting things into context by comparing how they are doing relative to their peers. They're doing an absolutely *massive* ramp up and growth right now, which includes a lot more than "just" adding a new model. This isn't Ford being late with Mach e deliveries. Which did happen. This isn't Tesla failing to deliver anything on time. Which is a given. Tesla can't even deliver a refreshed model in the quarter they say they will (remember model S refresh deliveries Q1).

Point being, Rivian is a startup with an extremely aggressive launch plan that is also fairly tight-lipped. That approach appears to be an attempt to manage expectations. Every time they've communicated something, I've actually been happy with the product they announce. Have they changed some minor details since 2018? Sure. Has there always been an asterisk that details are subject to change? Yes. It seems to me that people who put $1,000 into getting a vehicle from a startup that is unfortunately trying to launch through over a year of COVID shenanigans should probably be managing their own expectations. And yet are it seems like people are having a proverbial stroke over not being told that something is late *before* Rivian has actually missed a deadline. Which makes me think many people did not properly acknowledge the risk and uncertainty associated with giving money to a startup. To be honest, if I tossed them $1,000 in 2018, I would have *planned* to never get that $1,000 back, and never get a product. That's exactly what I expect to happen with almost every "pre-order" associated with start-up manufacturers not named Rivian, Lucid, and Aptera.

Honestly? I'm surprised they've done as well as they have so far. There are a ton of historically successful companies that have shit the bed over the last year trying to adapt existing operations. Let alone starting massive initiatives.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Just to be clear - you're perfectly content with how your expectations have been managed up to this point? You have all of the information you need and you're confident in the timelines and product?

From my perspective, how they communicate prior to publicly stated deadlines isn’t important. Guide contacts beginning in May (anything before midnight on June 1st meets the goal) and deliveries beginning in June (any vehicle delivered before midnight on July 1st meets the goal) are what they’ve promised.

I’m relatively new, having placed a deposit in April, so I would prioritize quality of product delivered over communications and meeting self-imposed deadlines. I intend to keep this vehicle for a long time so I am okay with them prioritizing product quality over everything else.

Of course I understand why others who’ve waited for years are ready for the wait to be over.

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