**Brake System Failure .............. PART 2... Talking with a manager.

[kayabusa]

Today I decided to go to the service center and give them a hint of the problem since I found it. (Miami Service Center)

Here is the link with the problem:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-park-and-call-for-service-and-blimped.18731/

I asked very polite to a nice guy that open the door for me for the service center manager, and he told me, listen there is no service center manager, there are several managers of different departments and any of them are available. So I asked for the name of the manager for the service, to know who I should ask on my next visit and he didn't know the name because he work on 1st mile department.... He said, his name maybe is Nick.

When the tech person came to ask me what happened with my SUV I ask the same question, who is the manager and I was not given an answer.

Think about this for a minute....... We are buying $100k vehicle and we don't have the right to speak with a manager..... Under any circumstance.

Who runs a business and hide under the desk when the first problem arises ? I really miss the days where the manager is the first one to help you out......

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[NY_Rob]

Ever since Arnold started asking "Sarah Connor?" people have been a bit leery regarding offering up names ?

 

[Dark-Fx]

There are several managers for each service center. Service Ops Manager, Field Service Manager, Assistant Service Ops Manager. Then there's also the regional service manager. Depending on which SC it is, they might not have some of the positions filled. I've been able to escalate my problems but they definitely don't like you if you are bugging them, they are very busy people.

 

[Riviot]

Respect goes a long way, and jumping to "I want to speak with your manager" without even discussing the problem/situation/question insinuates you don't trust them or you think they're incompetent. You'd be surprised how much someone actually knows... If you just asked them.

Also, a manager's job isn't to field your problems/questions, it's to motivate and enable their team to complete a task. Pulling a Chad/Karen does the opposite.

 

[R1Tom]

There are several managers for each service center. Service Ops Manager, Field Service Manager, Assistant Service Ops Manager. Then there's also the regional service manager. Depending on which SC it is, they might not have some of the positions filled. I've been able to escalate my problems but they definitely don't like you if you are bugging them, they are very busy people.

Shouldn't be too busy to talk to a customer....ever. Especially an early adopter. These are your brand ambassadors.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

That's how I tell my employees to handle it too. When a customer comes in and immediately asks for a manger its a red flag that they are going to be a problem. I don't blame Rivian at all for not giving a name.

 

[R1Tom]

Respect goes a long way, and jumping to "I want to speak with your manager" without even discussing the problem/situation/question insinuates you don't trust them or you think they're incompetent. You'd be surprised how much someone actually knows... If you just asked them.

Also, a manager's job isn't to field your problems/questions, it's to motivate and enable their team to complete a task. Pulling a Chad/Karen does the opposite.

Approach shouldn't matter. Front line people shouldn't be gate keepers. It should be simple policy to pass customer to appropriate person and let them discuss and diffuse as necessary.

 

[R1Tom]

That's how I tell my employees to handle it too. When a customer comes in and immediately asks for a manger its a red flag that they are going to be a problem. I don't blame Rivian at all for not giving a name.

Sure. Tell that customer to go buy a different brand. Ford service manager did that once to me. Bought about 10 Acuras and Lexus since and guess what....I discovered they are that much better than Ford. In something like 20 years of switching.....never once had even remotest reason to ask for a manager at those dealerships. Not all customers are the bad guy...

Most front line employees don't have adequate training to understand how to handle a potentially irritated customer correctly.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Sure. Tell that customer to go buy a different brand. Ford service manager did that once to me. Bought about 10 Acuras and Lexus since and guess what....I discovered they are that much better than Ford. In something like 20 years of switching.....never once had even remotest reason to ask for a manager at those dealerships. Not all customers are the bad guy...

That's my plan. Not all customers are good for your business. If they have to resort to blustering at my staff as a first reaction not dealing in a decent and professional manner they aren't a good fit for my business. We are great at what we do and have a hugely loyal customer base because of it. I really don't have to cater to people who want to be difficult, its not worth it for my brand.

 

[R1Tom]

That's my plan. Not all customers are good for your business. If they have to resort to blustering at my staff as a first reaction not dealing in a decent and professional manner they aren't a good fit for my business. We are great at what we do and have a hugely loyal customer base because of it. I really don't have to cater to people who want to be difficult, its not worth it for my brand.

Your game is different than mine. All customers in my world are good, with exceptions that the ones that don't pay. My very best customers are the ones that were dissatisfied at some point, in some cases at the breaking point. That was were I came in, worked with them to reach a mutual solution, and in doing so, earned customers for life.

 

[SeaGeo]

Shouldn't be too busy to talk to a customer....ever. Especially an early adopter. These are your brand ambassadors.

Approach shouldn't matter. Front line people shouldn't be gate keepers. It should be simple policy to pass customer to appropriate person and let them discuss and diffuse as necessary.

Sure. Tell that customer to go buy a different brand. Ford service manager did that once to me. Bought about 10 Acuras and Lexus since and guess what....I discovered they are that much better than Ford. In something like 20 years of switching.....never once had even remotest reason to ask for a manager at those dealerships. Not all customers are the bad guy...

Most front line employees don't have adequate training to understand how to handle a potentially irritated customer correctly.

Like @Donald Stanfield mentioned, some customers aren't worth their business. Not saying OP isn't, but your statement of never being too busy to talk to a customer isn't realistic. How high up the food chain do you expect every brand to pander to you the moment you walk into their establishment? CEO? An explanation of "hey, I've experienced this. It's concerning. Can I talk to the manager in charge of this so that we can discuss what systems will be implemented to make sure it doesn't happen again" can go a long way. Walking in and saying "let me talk to your manager" is a great way to come off like someone who isn't reasonable.

 

[SeaGeo]

Your game is different than mine. All customers in my world are good, with exceptions that the ones that don't pay. My very best customers are the ones that were dissatisfied at some point, in some cases at the breaking point. That was were I came in, worked with them to reach a mutual solution, and in doing so, earned customers for life.

Customers who are dissatisfied can turn into great customers. Customers who are assholes don't necessarily deserve to be enabled. A hopefully obvious example are paying customers who are abusive to your staff.

edit: and to be clear, I'm not at all suggesting OP behaved inappropriately. Just pushing back on the idea it's always ok to just skirt the first level of staff immediately.

 

[R1Tom]

Like @Donald Stanfield mentioned, some customers aren't worth their business. Not saying OP isn't, but your statement of never being too busy to talk to a customer isn't realistic. How high up the food chain do you expect every brand to pander to you the moment you walk into their establishment? CEO? An explanation of "hey, I've experienced this. It's concerning. Can I talk to the manager in charge of this so that we can discuss what systems will be implemented to make sure it doesn't happen again" can go a long way. Walking in and saying "let me talk to your manager" is a great way to come off like someone who isn't reasonable.

My plan is it stops at the facility manager. Then if management above that center receives an unnactable level of feedback, that center manager is notified and trained. If that center still has too high of a complaint level, the manager is let go. So no....can't keep asking for CEO. But for a service tech or a service writer level employee, to determine that this customer isn't worth it for the Rivian brand, I think you place too much faith in that level employee to make that determination.

 

[kayabusa]

Respect goes a long way, and jumping to "I want to speak with your manager" without even discussing the problem/situation/question insinuates you don't trust them or you think they're incompetent. You'd be surprised how much someone actually knows... If you just asked them.

Also, a manager's job isn't to field your problems/questions, it's to motivate and enable their team to complete a task. Pulling a Chad/Karen does the opposite.

At this point after 30 days of owning a vehicle that has been in service 5 times, for 15 days and left me stranded, Im fed up and you will get the worse of me. You guys better use your management skill to came from this situation in good terms, because as a customer I did nothing wrong.

By the way being Karen is to put that office upside down, not to ask for a manager in charge.

 

[R1Tom]

Customers who are dissatisfied can turn into great customers. Customers who are assholes don't necessarily deserve to be enabled. A hopefully obvious example are paying customers who are abusive to your staff.

What I find is that it is often finding the right fit of team in our organization and customer. Sometimes one team would identify them as "abusive" but another simply recognizes them as "passionate". Fit is often our solution. That is where management comes in. Help figure out to assist that customer find a solution. Hear them out. Sometimes that is all it takes.

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