Rivian Service policy - no alternative transportation unless vehicle kept for 48 hrs

[Donald Stanfield]

You don't say?!

If you already knew that, why did you quote my post about a loaner and bring up Uber?

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[Time2Roll]

A friend of mine had their Volvo hybrid towed in today for drivetrain issues.
Dealer not sure it can be repaired. Told no loaner is provided for the first 10 days.
Two days for Rivian sounds pretty good.

 

[Billyk24]

Agree. Rivian has always taken care of me over the past 2 years of ownership, 11 service visits.

11 visits in two years! Gosh, that would piss a lot of people off. Are we expecting the R2 to be different?

 

[madhat]

So weird seeing how different service is city to city. Phoenix has been great for me; they even gave me Uber credit for an elective alignment (not warranty) because they had several alignments scheduled that morning. Had my truck back within 4 hours.

 

[coasties]

Update. Conversation with Service Support Specialist.
I have not received any communication from Tualatin SC for the past week.

The Phone number for Service in Portland sends me to the general service number.

The information I received yesterday is as follows (summarized):

Vehicles kept for under 48 hrs will be encouraged to use ride-share credits. Vehicles kept for more than 48 hours may be offered a rental car or a loaner. There is no guarantee. It is at the sole discretion of the local SC as to what actually happens. A service rep from the local SC will contact you 48 hrs before your visit.

This approach is not good for those of us who live several hours from the SC.
I enjoy my R1T (68k miles 2023), but this service approach is discouraging.

I made another request yesterday for a call back from the SC and an SC Manager.

It is also discouraging that we can't call a SC Manager. They should be customer-facing, not customer-hiding.

I'd be happy to talk with Rivian about alternative service options. E.g., outside ride-share area (30 miles?) and vehicle kept overnight and SC given 4 weeks' advance notice, means you get a rental or loaner.

 

[freshpow]

Update. Conversation with Service Support Specialist.
I have not received any communication from Tualatin SC for the past week.

The Phone number for Service in Portland sends me to the general service number.

The information I received yesterday is as follows (summarized):

Vehicles kept for under 48 hrs will be encouraged to use ride-share credits. Vehicles kept for more than 48 hours may be offered a rental car or a loaner. There is no guarantee. It is at the sole discretion of the local SC as to what actually happens. A service rep from the local SC will contact you 48 hrs before your visit.

This approach is not good for those of us who live several hours from the SC.
I enjoy my R1T (68k miles 2023), but this service approach is discouraging.

I made another request yesterday for a call back from the SC and an SC Manager.

It is also discouraging that we can't call a SC Manager. They should be customer-facing, not customer-hiding.

I'd be happy to talk with Rivian about alternative service options. E.g., outside ride-share area (30 miles?) and vehicle kept overnight and SC given 4 weeks' advance notice, means you get a rental or loaner.

I can understand why they don’t want their SC managers fielding random calls from customers with service appointments weeks away. Just wait until they contact you 48 hours before your appointment and nicely explain to them that it’s important for you to have a loaner or rental car to be able to get home and back to the SC to pick up your car. If they push back, you can easily show them that a round trip Uber will cost way more than a two day rental car.

This seems like a whole big to do over something that hasn’t even happened yet.

 

[Doggman]

I was an early Polestar adopter - had a LE Polestar 2 shipped to Denver about 6 months ahead of the first Space to pop up here and a couple of years ahead of when the local Volvo dealers finally stopped acting like I had walked in and threw a dead animal on the counter every time I needed service (which was frequent in the early days). Tempered my expectations about start ups, even ones with big money behind them (i.e. Geely/Volvo)

I think if you look around you'll find that most manufacturers use similar language and do not contractually guarantee the availability of loaner cars or other alternate transport under most circumstances. Just look at other enthusiast forums to see this exact thread playout for Toyota, Lexus, Rover, Cadillac, etc. Even the big German 3 don't do this unless you've purchased one of their extended warranty upgrades for a ton of extra $$$. Yes they try their best to keep you happy (to a point) as part of their customer service so you'll trade up with them in a few years, which Rivian should absolutely be striving to do at the R1 price point (and I can't imagine them leaving a customer to sleep the service center doorway for a week waiting on their truck) but even with our X5M, if it's going to be in the shop for a while and the wife wants a comparable vehicle we need to book ahead at least a month or get stuck in a much less lux Enterprise rental or Ubering to work for the duration.

What BMW does do that is nice is usually have some kid available who can run you back to work or to home or to a nearby workspace and then come get you when they're done if they just need the car for a morning or an afternoon and their waiting areas are also well appointed enough to hang out in a for a couple of hours as demanded of the dealers by the BMW home office.

They also don't come out of the gate threatening that they'll be coming for you if they decide you were at fault for the repairs, that's just stupid customer service and anyone who leads with that to an owner who put down $100k for a truck should be fired - though TBF not many Bimmers get used for hard trail running - for that BMW will at least wait until they have your car in pieces and spread out around the shop.

Still, I get the frustration. It doesn't matter if it's a Rivian or a Civic, it sucks to be without your ride and more so to be without your ride and stranded hours from home. That there seems to be so much variability in service from location to location would speak to rapid hiring and inexperience at the local level but in the end it all comes down from the top where the buck supposedly stops.

 

[coasties]

I can understand why they don’t want their SC managers fielding random calls from customers with service appointments weeks away. Just wait until they contact you 48 hours before your appointment and nicely explain to them that it’s important for you to have a loaner or rental car to be able to get home and back to the SC to pick up your car. If they push back, you can easily show them that a round trip Uber will cost way more than a two day rental car.

This seems like a whole big to do over something that hasn’t even happened yet.

They should want their SC managers to take calls. That gives direct feedback. I ran a large service organization, and customers and potential customers could call me.

I'm afraid my situation calls for planning. It will give me only 1-2 days to plan for an alternative, book a hotel, or rent a car. Rivian will have limits on ride-sharing $.

I follow the 7Ps (proper planning and preparation prevents pixx poor performance).

 

[freshpow]

They should want their SC managers to take calls. That gives direct feedback. I ran a large service organization, and customers and potential customers could call me.

I'm afraid my situation calls for planning. It will give me only 1-2 days to plan for an alternative, book a hotel, or rent a car. Rivian will have limits on ride-sharing $.

I follow the 7Ps (proper planning and preparation prevents pixx poor performance).

In the past when I've received Uber credits it has been for $300. Surely a 1 or 2 day rental costs much less than that. It's unfortunate that the service tech would send a message that makes it seem like they'll leave you stranded but communication has never been Rivian's strong suit. They will take care of you. Add an 8th P for patience.

 

[DuoRivians]

Update. Conversation with Service Support Specialist.
I have not received any communication from Tualatin SC for the past week.

The Phone number for Service in Portland sends me to the general service number.

The information I received yesterday is as follows (summarized):

Vehicles kept for under 48 hrs will be encouraged to use ride-share credits. Vehicles kept for more than 48 hours may be offered a rental car or a loaner. There is no guarantee. It is at the sole discretion of the local SC as to what actually happens. A service rep from the local SC will contact you 48 hrs before your visit.

This approach is not good for those of us who live several hours from the SC.
I enjoy my R1T (68k miles 2023), but this service approach is discouraging.

I made another request yesterday for a call back from the SC and an SC Manager.

It is also discouraging that we can't call a SC Manager. They should be customer-facing, not customer-hiding.

I'd be happy to talk with Rivian about alternative service options. E.g., outside ride-share area (30 miles?) and vehicle kept overnight and SC given 4 weeks' advance notice, means you get a rental or loaner.

If it’s at their sole discretion, then why not offer it every single time?

 

[coasties]

If it’s at their sole discretion, then why not offer it every single time?

Cost.

 

[DuoRivians]

Cost.

Then it really isn’t at their sole discretion.

 

[coasties]

Then it really isn’t at their sole discretion.

I would expect the SC to operate on a P&L basis. Managers might have compensation tied to the P&L. Also based on customer satisfaction (subjective) and service vehicles processed, time to process, (objective) etc.

Rivian would want SC not to lose money. The element they have the best control over is costs. Hence, rules around rentals, loaners, etc.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

In the past when I've received Uber credits it has been for $300. Surely a 1 or 2 day rental costs much less than that. It's unfortunate that the service tech would send a message that makes it seem like they'll leave you stranded but communication has never been Rivian's strong suit. They will take care of you. Add an 8th P for patience.

I have used Uber credits in the past for Tesla and the Uber/Lyft both Lucid and Rivian provided when I went to pick up the vehicles when I purchased. The problem with Uber/Lyft credits is that they don't cover tip, so the tip portion is out of pocket and I'm not going to stiff the driver because credits are for the ride portion only. Looks like I need to bring in my R1S for drooping suspension, wonder if they will provide a loaner this time!!

 

[DKM_R1S]

11 visits in two years! Gosh, that would piss a lot of people off. Are we expecting the R2 to be different?

rivian is very efficient though. Only 11 visits for 51 different service items.

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