Delivery day, got called said need to reschdule

[Rivdog]

If you took delivery of a car with water spots on the paint - assuming you even notice because many people may not - you’d also be complaining that you have an expensive car with water spots. How you can be so upset that Rivian is fixing minor cosmetic details before you ask is just something I can’t comprehend.

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[codydooddy]

If you took delivery of a car with water spots on the paint - assuming you even notice because many people may not - you’d also be complaining that you have an expensive car with water spots. How you can be so upset that Rivian is fixing minor cosmetic details before you ask is just something I can’t comprehend.

water spot and calcium deposit on light bar and front fascia which the detailer at rivian tried to get rid of but they cant and now require whole front end replacement. little worried about other part of the car not just the front. So not sure if its minor if a brand new car requires a full front end disassembly and put back together to start the journey.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

@codydooddy, I think I understand your anxiety.

"What else might be wrong that they're not telling me?" is at least a reasonably logical worry. Only you can figure out if there's a path for YOU to take delivery without undue anxiety.

Do your research (including consulting us, remembering we're random strangers who care enough one way or the other to post about Rivians on a forum), and then trust your gut.

***

I was anxious before taking delivery, based on ambiguities in the sales contract.

Now, after taking delivery of TWO Rivians at different Service Centers, and working with (855) RIVIAN-5 and Portland (OR) Service Center, I am one of Rivian's more loyal fans.

From RJ at the top to the Tech Support at (855) RIVIAN-5 in Michigan, to the front-line workers in Portland, everyone seems to care about getting it right for the customer if that's at all possible.

That reassures me -- even though Rivians are very complex vehicles from a new company, and complex stuff from a new company has glitches.

So, when I call Rivian, I have confidence in the processes. Since I'm not worrying any more about being mistreated, it's easy to treat everyone with respect. I like them, I trust them, and I like myself for the way I treat them.

BTW, Portland and Tualatin Service Centers have the same manager, and they share some of the front-line staff. I would be just as confident dealing with Tualatin as with Portland.

***

Your situation lends itself to feeling confident, and it lends itself to feeling catastrophic.

If I were Rivian, I wouldn't want a "look at this problem" photo on the Internet when it was company representatives who determined, "This doesn't meet our standards," and developed a plan for fixing it.

You may be the most even-tempered and fair-minded customer Rivian ever had, but things take on a life of their own on the Internet.

***

In your life, is this a big thing or a little thing?

If it's a little thing by itself, what would convince you that broader problems are sufficiently unlikely for you to proceed? Can you get (855) RIVIAN-5 to patch you through to the Service Center and talk about it?

If it's a big thing for you, what could Rivian do before delivery to show good faith and minimize the inconvenience TO YOU? Can you get (855) RIVIAN-5 to patch you through to the Service Center and talk about it?

Or can you drop in to the Service Center and talk about it? Portland SC is pretty approachable. I presume Tualatin SC would have about the same culture.

It doesn't matter how much I trust them, until you see that YOU can also trust them.

***

I hope this is helpful. I love our Rivians. I hope you make the decision, whatever it is, that YOU will feel best about in the long run.

Very best wishes!

 

[Donald Stanfield]

my bad, the quote prompt popped out after i already started typing that's why its split, what would you do if the day of your delivery they said hey there's more issue and they will need to replace whole front end of your car? just wait it out? personally if you're spending 110000$ and this comes up the day of your delivery don't give me warm fussy. Epically 12 hours ago they said yeah no big deal they'll replace the light bar and now more to it.

Id wait and take delivery when it’s ready. I can say this with certainty because when my first Rivian was delivered the delivery driver backed it into a tree and smashed the tailgate. I took delivery anyways, and Rivian made it right. I was so cool about it that I got a thank you letter from Rivian with some swag over it.

This was after a week delay due to a defective front drive unit. After both those things, I still happily took delivery and have since traded that vehicle in for another Rivian. Shit happens, no need to get whiny about it.

 

[codydooddy]

@codydooddy, I think I understand your anxiety.

"What else might be wrong that they're not telling me?" is at least a reasonably logical worry. Only you can figure out if there's a path for YOU to take delivery without undue anxiety.

Do your research (including consulting us, remembering we're random strangers who care enough one way or the other to post about Rivians on a forum), and then trust your gut.

***

I was anxious before taking delivery, based on ambiguities in the sales contract.

Now, after taking delivery of TWO Rivians at different Service Centers, and working with (855) RIVIAN-5 and Portland (OR) Service Center, I am one of Rivian's more loyal fans.

From RJ at the top to the Tech Support at (855) RIVIAN-5 in Michigan, to the front-line workers in Portland, everyone seems to care about getting it right for the customer if that's at all possible.

That reassures me -- even though Rivians are very complex vehicles from a new company, and complex stuff from a new company has glitches.

So, when I call Rivian, I have confidence in the processes. Since I'm not worrying any more about being mistreated, it's easy to treat everyone with respect. I like them, I trust them, and I like myself for the way I treat them.

BTW, Portland and Tualatin Service Centers have the same manager, and they share some of the front-line staff. I would be just as confident dealing with Tualatin as with Portland.

***

Your situation lends itself to feeling confident, and it lends itself to feeling catastrophic.

If I were Rivian, I wouldn't want a "look at this problem" photo on the Internet when it was company representatives who determined, "This doesn't meet our standards," and developed a plan for fixing it.

You may be the most even-tempered and fair-minded customer Rivian ever had, but things take on a life of their own on the Internet.

***

In your life, is this a big thing or a little thing?

If it's a little thing by itself, what would convince you that broader problems are sufficiently unlikely for you to proceed? Can you get (855) RIVIAN-5 to patch you through to the Service Center and talk about it?

If it's a big thing for you, what could Rivian do before delivery to show good faith and minimize the inconvenience TO YOU? Can you get (855) RIVIAN-5 to patch you through to the Service Center and talk about it?

Or can you drop in to the Service Center and talk about it? Portland SC is pretty approachable. I presume Tualatin SC would have about the same culture.

It doesn't matter how much I trust them, until you see that YOU can also trust them.

***

I hope this is helpful. I love our Rivians. I hope you make the decision, whatever it is, that YOU will feel best about in the long run.

Very best wishes!

you can say I'm anxious and you are right. little things sure no big deal but for me its the fact brand new car needing this massive repair just sucks. not even touching the road quite yet and needing huge maintenance. that's all.

 

[codydooddy]

Id wait and take delivery when it’s ready. I can say this with certainty because when my first Rivian was delivered the delivery driver backed it into a tree and smashed the tailgate. I took delivery anyways, and Rivian made it right. I was so cool about it that I got a thank you letter from Rivian with some swag over it.

This was after a week delay due to a defective front drive unit. After both those things, I still happily took delivery and have since traded that vehicle in for another Rivian. Shit happens, no need to get whiny about it.

yeah im going to do that. rushing not making it better.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

An example of Rivian's willingness to adapt to individual circumstances and make it right for the customer:

We were established Rivian customers, having bought our R1S in Portland a few months earlier. I don't know if that affected their willingness to help us in the situation below. It shows what Rivian can do when there are special circumstances involved.

We bought the R1T on the opposite coast, partly because it was the right year and color for us, and partly to transport a fragile family heirloom (hand carved walking stick) that I wanted to move to Washington State but that I didn't think I could trust to the airlines.

***

We flew to Baltimore and rode public transportation to the Gaithersburg SC around mid-day on the scheduled purchase day (Friday 2024-05-24). Our R1T was ready, but we discovered the odometer statement was wrong. Maryland forbids delivery of any vehicle until one calendar day after the customer has received an accurate odometer statement. We had not been misled in any way -- we knew it was a demo from the beginning, and we knew the actual mileage -- but the Service Center said Maryland is unyielding on the timing of the actual odometer statement paperwork.

We already had a dinner appointment in Pennsylvania on Friday evening, to pick up the heirloom that was to ride home to Washington State in the R1T. We planned to stay overnight in Pennsylvania, reserving a hotel after we knew our departure time from the Pennsylvania house. We had Saturday night reservations at a hotel in Chicago; a plan to park the R1T at Midway airport for a few weeks, until the next time off from our "day jobs;" and tickets for a flight home from Chicago early Sunday morning 2024-05-26. We didn't have more than a couple hours to spare in this carefully planned schedule.

We explained all this to the staff and manager at Gaithersburg. The manager acknowledged that this was entirely Rivian's error. He explained how they would "make it right" for a local resident, who would most likely have driven another car to pick up their Rivian. But that wasn't going to work for us, given that we had a tight schedule and didn't yet have alternate transportation.

***

After discussion, we all realized that the best and fairest solution was: (1) locate alternate Friday evening transportation to Pennsylvania, preferably a loaner, preferably an R1T; and (2) a very very early pickup of our purchased R1T on Saturday morning, charged to 100%, allowing enough time to get to Chicago Saturday night and sleep before Sunday's flight.

So that's what they arranged. Gaithersburg SC happened to have an R1T loaner for Friday night, that they could release directly to us on Friday afternoon and which we could return anytime they had staff to accept it. One of the Delivery Guides volunteered to come to work at 06:00 Saturday to accept the returned loaner, finish the purchase paperwork, and release our purchased R1T. They adjusted the purchase price (I think they waived the extra charge for Rivian Blue, and threw in some swag) as a goodwill gesture. They kept all of those promises.

Rerouting from Pennsylvania to Maryland would cost us maybe 2-3 hours driving and might involve a slightly more expensive hotel. As additional compensation for our extra time, they volunteered to pay for the hotel in Maryland. We never turned in the hotel receipt, but I'm confident they would have kept their promise if we had sent in the claim.

In short: After discussion, Rivian staff offered a solution that we thought was workable and fair. We are more loyal to Rivian now than we were when we first found out the problem.

***

Customers with a demanding, angry attitude are seldom the ones who get the best service. We had to assert and explain our needs clearly, without damaging our relationship with the people whose help we needed.

The measures that solved our problem aren't the same as the measures that might solve your problem. But here's the principle that has given us success:

When we state our needs, and explain why we see these as "needs" and not just "wants," and stay in "problem-solving mode," almost every Rivian employee responds with a problem-solving spirit of their own. On the few times when we've encountered an exception, we ask cheerfully, "This seems to be difficult for the two [three] of us to resolve. Could we talk with a manager who might have more ideas and more authority, so we can all come to a good solution for this problem?"

I cannot tell you that this approach will work for everyone, or under all circumstances. Various Rivian forums, including this one, have some people whose requested solution was bigger than ours, and the customer request seemed to scare Rivian enough that the owner couldn't get what they felt was fair.

But I can tell you that this people-oriented problem-solving approach has worked 100% of the time for us with Rivian -- and I cannot say that for other automobile sales operations. (I'll spare you some of our automobile-dealer horror stories. You might have a few of your own. Let's just say that even if I wanted the exact car they sold, there are some dealers in our area that I wouldn't even ask for a bid because of past experience.)

***

Please don't be swayed by this story any more than it deserves. You still have to make the decision that seems best for you.

If you decide the Rivian will still meet your needs better than its competition, I hope you take delivery; I hope your Rivian experience is at least as smooth as ours; and I hope you enjoy your Rivian as we do. Almost nothing in this world is guaranteed -- eternal vigilance is the price of everything, not just the price of liberty -- but I hope my story helps you to decide and drive well.

Very best wishes!

 

[Shaqdeez]

Not sure if anyone asked is this a buy or lease?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

An example of Rivian's willingness to adapt to individual circumstances and make it right for the customer:

We were established Rivian customers, having bought our R1S in Portland a few months earlier. I don't know if that affected their willingness to help us in the situation below. It shows what Rivian can do when there are special circumstances involved.

We bought the R1T on the opposite coast, partly because it was the right year and color for us, and partly to transport a fragile family heirloom (hand carved walking stick) that I wanted to move to Washington State but that I didn't think I could trust to the airlines.

***

We flew to Baltimore and rode public transportation to the Gaithersburg SC around mid-day on the scheduled purchase day (Friday 2024-05-24). Our R1T was ready, but we discovered the odometer statement was wrong. Maryland forbids delivery of any vehicle until one calendar day after the customer has received an accurate odometer statement. We had not been misled in any way -- we knew it was a demo from the beginning, and we knew the actual mileage -- but the Service Center said Maryland is unyielding on the timing of the actual odometer statement paperwork.

We already had a dinner appointment in Pennsylvania on Friday evening, to pick up the heirloom that was to ride home to Washington State in the R1T. We planned to stay overnight in Pennsylvania, reserving a hotel after we knew our departure time from the Pennsylvania house. We had Saturday night reservations at a hotel in Chicago; a plan to park the R1T at Midway airport for a few weeks, until the next time off from our "day jobs;" and tickets for a flight home from Chicago early Sunday morning 2024-05-26. We didn't have more than a couple hours to spare in this carefully planned schedule.

We explained all this to the staff and manager at Gaithersburg. The manager acknowledged that this was entirely Rivian's error. He explained how they would "make it right" for a local resident, who would most likely have driven another car to pick up their Rivian. But that wasn't going to work for us, given that we had a tight schedule and didn't yet have alternate transportation.

***

After discussion, we all realized that the best and fairest solution was: (1) locate alternate Friday evening transportation to Pennsylvania, preferably a loaner, preferably an R1T; and (2) a very very early pickup of our purchased R1T on Saturday morning, charged to 100%, allowing enough time to get to Chicago Saturday night and sleep before Sunday's flight.

So that's what they arranged. Gaithersburg SC happened to have an R1T loaner for Friday night, that they could release directly to us on Friday afternoon and which we could return anytime they had staff to accept it. One of the Delivery Guides volunteered to come to work at 06:00 Saturday to accept the returned loaner, finish the purchase paperwork, and release our purchased R1T. They adjusted the purchase price (I think they waived the extra charge for Rivian Blue, and threw in some swag) as a goodwill gesture. They kept all of those promises.

Rerouting from Pennsylvania to Maryland would cost us maybe 2-3 hours driving and might involve a slightly more expensive hotel. As additional compensation for our extra time, they volunteered to pay for the hotel in Maryland. We never turned in the hotel receipt, but I'm confident they would have kept their promise if we had sent in the claim.

In short: After discussion, Rivian staff offered a solution that we thought was workable and fair. We are more loyal to Rivian now than we were when we first found out the problem.

***

Customers with a demanding, angry attitude are seldom the ones who get the best service. We had to assert and explain our needs clearly, without damaging our relationship with the people whose help we needed.

The measures that solved our problem aren't the same as the measures that might solve your problem. But here's the principle that has given us success:

When we state our needs, and explain why we see these as "needs" and not just "wants," and stay in "problem-solving mode," almost every Rivian employee responds with a problem-solving spirit of their own. On the few times when we've encountered an exception, we ask cheerfully, "This seems to be difficult for the two [three] of us to resolve. Could we talk with a manager who might have more ideas and more authority, so we can all come to a good solution for this problem?"

I cannot tell you that this approach will work for everyone, or under all circumstances. Various Rivian forums, including this one, have some people whose requested solution was bigger than ours, and the customer request seemed to scare Rivian enough that the owner couldn't get what they felt was fair.

But I can tell you that this people-oriented problem-solving approach has worked 100% of the time for us with Rivian -- and I cannot say that for other automobile sales operations. (I'll spare you some of our automobile-dealer horror stories. You might have a few of your own. Let's just say that even if I wanted the exact car they sold, there are some dealers in our area that I wouldn't even ask for a bid because of past experience.)

***

Please don't be swayed by this story any more than it deserves. You still have to make the decision that seems best for you.

If you decide the Rivian will still meet your needs better than its competition, I hope you take delivery; I hope your Rivian experience is at least as smooth as ours; and I hope you enjoy your Rivian as we do. Almost nothing in this world is guaranteed -- eternal vigilance is the price of everything, not just the price of liberty -- but I hope my story helps you to decide and drive well.

Very best wishes!

This reminds me of a story with my second Rivian, my current R1S tri. The rear defrost didn't work and they had already had a mobile tech out to try and fix it so next stop was the service center in Nashville. I had stressed that Nashville is a 3.5 hour drive from my house, so my ideal would be arrival upon service center opening, getting a loaner for a day spent in Nashville and driving home that same day so that I didn't have to drop it off and make a return trip.

Rivian accomidated the entire thing, from the rental to having it done by 2pm local time so I could drive back home at a reasonable hour. While it wasn't ideal having to go to the service center to fix a new car, Rivian did everything they could for me to lessen the blow. Reading stories on here seem to have that common theme of Rivian doing what they can for their customers. Some people will never be pleased no matter what, but if you have a decent attitude towards problems and setbacks you will walk away with a positive experience.

 

[onesoil]

Could you please rephrase this using complete sentences? This post is giving me a headache trying to decipher.

I think OP has made it clear in all the posts I’ve read so far that this is a tall order. Grammar, punctuation, and coherent sentence construction do not seem to be skills he possesses or prioritizes (at least not on this forum as far as I can see).

I rarely agree with the “good riddance, we don’t need your type around here” mentality, but honestly, if OP is this upset about the SC trying to rectify cosmetic issues before delivery, I’d rather not hear about all the issues he finds after delivery and through ownership.

 

[mkg3]

I think OP has made it clear in all the posts I’ve read so far that this is a tall order. Grammar, punctuation, and coherent sentence construction do not seem to be skills he possesses or prioritizes (at least not on this forum as far as I can see).

This is bit harsh. No need to make it personal. Many simply interact on the phone and are used to text-like informal communication.

 

[mkg3]

Delivery day today, they called said there’s water spots detailed can’t remove. Talked to service said it’s pretty bad need to replace whole front fascia. For now no timeline but rescheduled a week out…… already want to just cancel stick with Tesla

Many have tried to help you rationalize the whole situation. Sounds clear that you have your view and sticking to it.

No one can make the value judgment about how you feel. Only you can so I recommend walking away from this Rivian. Each person has own risk tolerance.

Even if they fix everything to your liking, there always will be a small part in the back of your head that say something like "it started bad and there are so many little things that's still not right".

It's not about the price of the vehicle either, Either something is right or not. It doesn't matter if its a $30K or $110K vehicle.

 

[iansriv]

This reminds me of a story with my second Rivian, my current R1S tri. The rear defrost didn't work and they had already had a mobile tech out to try and fix it so next stop was the service center in Nashville. I had stressed that Nashville is a 3.5 hour drive from my house, so my ideal would be arrival upon service center opening, getting a loaner for a day spent in Nashville and driving home that same day so that I didn't have to drop it off and make a return trip.

Rivian accomidated the entire thing, from the rental to having it done by 2pm local time so I could drive back home at a reasonable hour. While it wasn't ideal having to go to the service center to fix a new car, Rivian did everything they could for me to lessen the blow. Reading stories on here seem to have that common theme of Rivian doing what they can for their customers. Some people will never be pleased no matter what, but if you have a decent attitude towards problems and setbacks you will walk away with a positive experience.

Good point. I've had similar experiences of Rivian being accommodating. My car went in for service a few weeks ago. When I got it back home I noticed scratches on one of the wheels. I contacted Rivian and said that I wasn't sure if it was them or me but the scratches were not there prior to service. I told them if they think it was me, I'd handle it. The SC manager contacted me and sent a mobile tech to replace the wheel and tyre. I'm not sure if I or Rivian was sure who was at fault but it was a very nice gesture.

 

[derekmw]

This is hilarious that the OP thinks that Tesla is somehow better. I’ve had four Teslas now and every single time there was some type of body damage or issues that they wouldn’t tell me unless I specifically inspected it thoroughly and had to make them fix those issues. And then here comes the OP complaining that Rivian proactively, before he even picks it up found these issues and is trying to fix it.

 

[socaladam]

And QC should be at factory not day before delivery.

1000000% agree

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