CANCERDOC
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Eric
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2023
- Threads
- 14
- Messages
- 742
- Reaction score
- 1,152
- Location
- Southern California
- Vehicles
- 2024 R1S PDM
- Occupation
- Healthcare
- Thread starter
- #1
I am posting about my experience with the El Segundo CA center. It is not meant to be critical. It is meant to share my experience and for other owners to know what to expect as Rivian deals with understaffed and overworked service centers.
Did my new vehicle pickup on 5/18. They were very busy and the guide showed me the basics and when I pointed out a few items that needed to be addressed he asked me to use the app and try to schedule an appt with a different service center. They were nice enough to pull the vehicle into the service bay on pickup day to look at it and they told me we can’t fix it today it it should be a quick repair after we get the parts in.
One of the items was a broken front passenger seatbelt adjuster. Rivian advised no one should sit in the front passenger seat until it was fixed… just in case. I went to the app, only to be offered an appt in August.
I later called customer support and was connected to a manager who was able to arrange an earlier service appt. I dropped my vehicle off at El Segundo on 5/29, picked up a Tesla 3 as a loaner from Enterprise and flew out of town for a conference. In addition to the seatbelt which required urgent attention, I added a few service items such as seat trim, interior trim, and a noisy computer fan.
One week later without any updates I called to find out what’s going with the vehicle. I was told oh no one has looked at your vehicle yet. For a vehicle incapable of transporting a front passenger safely! I requested a call back from service and again a manager called me and told me they would assign the vehicle to the night shift (they apparently work through the night!) to address the seatbelt but leave other items for later. Two days later the seatbelt was fixed and they asked me to pick up the vehicle.
I went to pick up the vehicle today. The service center was busy. Many employees walked through the waiting area and they were obviously very busy. After waiting for about 15 minutes at the counter someone came out to help me with the service pickup. I asked whether she could help me with an appt for the unaddressed items. Without even looking up she said no I can’t and to just use the app. I asked whether she could have someone else help me as I didn’t want to type out the new problem list for a new service appt. She said no I can’t and then proceeded to address other customers.
Now I get it they are busy and overworked. But if they can’t actually manage to deliver vehicles that don’t require immediate repairs, they will need up their service capacity.
Ultimately the gentleman that helped summarize the service visit for me also helped me to book an appt for Sept to address the other non urgent items (already listed as items for the current appt but they told me they did not have capacity to address it now), giving me the flexibility on a day where I can start my clinic a little later so I can drop the car off in the morning. But they could have done that without the cold “I can’t help you, just use the app” approach. Some people shouldn’t be in public facing jobs.
Extra #1. When they pulled my vehicle up, it was covered with bird droppings. I asked if they could clean it off with some quick detailer, since I saw a bottle of it behind the service desk. The guy said no we can’t. I ended up using some Kleenex and some water from their boxed water in their service customer fridge to clean the droppings off. Good thing I have a ceramic coating, the droppings wiped right off.
Extra #2. Another customer came to pick up his Rivian after an AC repair. Apparently the ac broke again as he drove off and he came right back. He had been sitting for more than 2 hours waiting for the tech to look at the car again and was told “we are still working on it”. He looked visibly upset.
Did my new vehicle pickup on 5/18. They were very busy and the guide showed me the basics and when I pointed out a few items that needed to be addressed he asked me to use the app and try to schedule an appt with a different service center. They were nice enough to pull the vehicle into the service bay on pickup day to look at it and they told me we can’t fix it today it it should be a quick repair after we get the parts in.
One of the items was a broken front passenger seatbelt adjuster. Rivian advised no one should sit in the front passenger seat until it was fixed… just in case. I went to the app, only to be offered an appt in August.
I later called customer support and was connected to a manager who was able to arrange an earlier service appt. I dropped my vehicle off at El Segundo on 5/29, picked up a Tesla 3 as a loaner from Enterprise and flew out of town for a conference. In addition to the seatbelt which required urgent attention, I added a few service items such as seat trim, interior trim, and a noisy computer fan.
One week later without any updates I called to find out what’s going with the vehicle. I was told oh no one has looked at your vehicle yet. For a vehicle incapable of transporting a front passenger safely! I requested a call back from service and again a manager called me and told me they would assign the vehicle to the night shift (they apparently work through the night!) to address the seatbelt but leave other items for later. Two days later the seatbelt was fixed and they asked me to pick up the vehicle.
I went to pick up the vehicle today. The service center was busy. Many employees walked through the waiting area and they were obviously very busy. After waiting for about 15 minutes at the counter someone came out to help me with the service pickup. I asked whether she could help me with an appt for the unaddressed items. Without even looking up she said no I can’t and to just use the app. I asked whether she could have someone else help me as I didn’t want to type out the new problem list for a new service appt. She said no I can’t and then proceeded to address other customers.
Now I get it they are busy and overworked. But if they can’t actually manage to deliver vehicles that don’t require immediate repairs, they will need up their service capacity.
Ultimately the gentleman that helped summarize the service visit for me also helped me to book an appt for Sept to address the other non urgent items (already listed as items for the current appt but they told me they did not have capacity to address it now), giving me the flexibility on a day where I can start my clinic a little later so I can drop the car off in the morning. But they could have done that without the cold “I can’t help you, just use the app” approach. Some people shouldn’t be in public facing jobs.
Extra #1. When they pulled my vehicle up, it was covered with bird droppings. I asked if they could clean it off with some quick detailer, since I saw a bottle of it behind the service desk. The guy said no we can’t. I ended up using some Kleenex and some water from their boxed water in their service customer fridge to clean the droppings off. Good thing I have a ceramic coating, the droppings wiped right off.
Extra #2. Another customer came to pick up his Rivian after an AC repair. Apparently the ac broke again as he drove off and he came right back. He had been sitting for more than 2 hours waiting for the tech to look at the car again and was told “we are still working on it”. He looked visibly upset.
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