Far From Service Center

[goldburger]

Reading about all the issues people have I’m nervous about being 25 miles from the service center in LA. Pasadena to El Segundo may as well be 400 miles. It’s frustrating for sure for you— I wonder if Rivian had communicated that they wouldn’t sell you a truck anytime soon would you have put a deposit down? I imagine their lack of transparency in that regard was by design.

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[domoplaytime]

Maybe there is something in the works for service in my area, but nothing planned in panhandle FL...

Or maybe Rivian just wants their vehicles close to adventures for word of mouth marketing to an enthusiastic community. I'm guessing there's more opportunities for adventure near mountains than the plains of the Florida panhandle.

 

[Count Orlok]

how far is too far? is there anything official? My current address with Rivian is 190 miles from the nearest service center. I could switch back to my Vegas address but then I'd have to get it to Wisconsin.

 

[ads75]

While I understand the frustration with being such an early preorder holder, someone has to understand it from Rivians point of view. I’m not sure they considered distance when accepting preorders. Last thing a new company wants to do is limit their potential customer base. And for repairs, or potential of repairs, I am 140-150 miles from the closest service center. The proposed Maryland facility is also about the same distance from me. And I feel like I am near the border for what I find acceptable for me as a customer.

As unfortunate and bad that it may look like Rivian isn’t delivering to these distant locations, it would look a lot worse if they delivered and then didn’t service, or pushed of service off. Even though I’m 140 miles away, if they sent mobile service to my area, they could potentially service 5-6 other R1Ts that I’ve physically seen in my area, knocking out multiple tickets for multiple customers. It’s a growing company, we all know that. Things are always going to be ideal, or feel fair.

 

[crashmtb]

I’ve heard a rumor that Rivian may work with Goodyear for some local service. This would open up lots of potential locations.

I don’t know if 100 % true, nor how fast this could happen…but I remain hopeful.

Goodyear? When did they become affiliated with Pirelli?

While I understand the frustration with being such an early preorder holder, someone has to understand it from Rivians point of view. I’m not sure they considered distance when accepting preorders. Last thing a new company wants to do is limit their potential customer base. And for repairs, or potential of repairs, I am 140-150 miles from the closest service center. The proposed Maryland facility is also about the same distance from me. And I feel like I am near the border for what I find acceptable for me as a customer.

As unfortunate and bad that it may look like Rivian isn’t delivering to these distant locations, it would look a lot worse if they delivered and then didn’t service, or pushed of service off. Even though I’m 140 miles away, if they sent mobile service to my area, they could potentially service 5-6 other R1Ts that I’ve physically seen in my area, knocking out multiple tickets for multiple customers. It’s a growing company, we all know that. Things are always going to be ideal, or feel fair.

Rivian obviously didn’t concern themselves with geography when vacuuming up as many preorders/reservations as possible to have a fat order book for IPO time.

 

[ads75]

Rivian obviously didn’t concern themselves with geography when vacuuming up as many preorders/reservations as possible to have a fat order book for IPO time.

Call it part of the early adopter tax. It isn’t like the deposit isn’t refundable.

 

[Joe schmoe]

We are very early adopters with an order date of Nov. 28, 2018. Rivian is telling us that we can not get a truck because we are too far from a Service Center. We are in the Florida Panhandle. We are 300 miles from Atlanta and 400 miles from Orlando. For this same reason, we will not be permitted access to the R1 Shop.

We are wondering how many others are in this same predicament. We also wonder how many others have gotten a truck even though they live in the boonies.

Rivian tells us that they deliver our R1T when they build a Service Center in our area. We are beginning to think that we will take delivery of our flying pig before we see our R1T.

As we approach the fourth anniversary of our Rivian order, we are feeling very neglected. Each and every day on the Forums we are seeing folks who ordered earlier this year raving about the new Rivian that they are now driving.

Our current estimated delivery date is just the year 2024. That could easily put us six years from our original order date. This makes us wonder if our price will hold.

We also wonder if those who already have a Rivian because they live in or near a big city are allowed to ever move to an area not near a Service Center. If they do move, do they have their Rivian repossessed? So much for the "adventure vehicle" moniker if you have to use your Rivian only in the vicinity of major metropolitan areas. The only "adventure" related to Rivian is getting your hands on one.

Please excuse my rant. I just have to vent every once in a while.

Brian

Moose, I'm 100% on board with your rant. My order was over a year after yours, and I just got "processing estimate" even though I'm right next to a service center.

I bought my Tesla (in Memphis) before there was a service center or DC fast charger within the car's range. The car was delivered to my office on a trailer from Chicago. It did need warranty service at one point, and they brought me a loaner on a trailer, picked up my car, and took it to the shop several nudged miles away.

It was a couple of years before the supercharger network got built out enough for me to roadtrip in a reasonable timeframe.

Tesla understood (really probably Elon Musk micromanaging) that you have to reduce friction for buyers, and that it would cause some financial pain in the beginning. He was right, although a lot of people disagreed in the beginning. I though the stock was overpriced when I bought my Tesla, and that was several splits ago (sigh).

 

[moosetags]

Call it part of the early adopter tax. It isn’t like the deposit isn’t refundable.

What you say is true. I could always get my deposit back. That isn't the point. Rivian has strung me along for four years now. Rivian has absolutely no concern for their early adopters. This makes Rivian a less-than-honest company in my book.

If I had known early on, I would have had the opportunity to be an early adopter for the Ford Lightning or the Electric Silverado.

Brian

 

[ads75]

What you say is true. I could always get my deposit back. That isn't the point. Rivian has strung me along for four years now. Rivian has absolutely no concern for their early adopters. This makes Rivian a less-than-honest company in my book.

If I had known early on, I would have had the opportunity to be an early adopter for the Ford Lightning or the Electric Silverado.

Brian

Honestly, I don’t think they knew them what they know now. Like you said, 4 years is a long time. I wouldn’t cancel the order if I were you, but if you need something else, I wouldn’t wait either.

If you think the other brands are different, they aren’t. I reserved a Cadillac Debut Edition a few weeks before I did a R1T (Sep 2021). When I filled out my order form for that, Silver exterior, gray interior, 22” wheels, the order sheet said that was the color combo they would start delivering in Spring 2022. I received an email from Cadillac that all the Debut Editions should be built (they didn’t say delivered) by the end of this year, but now online rumors have Debut Edition build dates in January. I haven’t heard anything for mine, at all. At this point I doubt I would accept delivery for it, since I have the R1T. But I also hedged my bet with reservations for the eSilverado (which may be too expensive for me) and a GMC Canyon First Edition. At one point I also had preorder/reservation for a Hyundai Ioniq 5. That dealer wanted me to pay over sticker for it, so I cancelled it,

 

[crashmtb]

Call it part of the early adopter tax. It isn’t like the deposit isn’t refundable.

Yeah, I found out they refund the deposit pretty much the instant the button is pushed. ?

 

[Bigeasy70075]

Right there with you Brian. April 2019 pre-order. Processing estimate. All of the people who are defending Rivian for this behavior just don't get it. I look at their order dates and see barely a year waiting. We will see how they feel if they are still waiting 3 years from now.

And for the people who say well you can just cancel your order and get a refund. Not the point. I love the truck and think the company has done an amazing job with the design and engineering. I don't want to cancel. I want my truck.

Let me tell you a little about my story and tell me if I have a right to be upset about the current situation.

My first electric car is a 2018 model 3 ( I also have a 2008 Toyota tundra which I still love and use for all of my truck purposes). Took delivery of the model 3 here near New Orleans. Closest service center was in Houston (same as for Rivian). Had a number of minor growing pain issues with the car but all were handled with mobile service (tesla rangers at the time). Have really enjoyed the EV life overall despite the inconveniences of paucity in charging infrastructure.

Fast for forward to the end of 2018 and Rivian comes on the scene. Really liked the truck but waited a few months to see if this was really going to be a thing and by April of 2019 I couldn't stand it anymore some I put in my reservation.

Initially we were told that production would start at the end of 2020. We got to configure our vehicle, and having lived with an EV, my lifestyle and needs lend best to having as much range as possible so I give up the launch edition and free wheel upgrade to get a Max Pack. 2020 came and went and a new production timeline was set to begin in the summer of 2021. Max Pack was delayed and so I changed my configuration to standard pack but took a big hit because now I lost earlier delivery and the free wheel upgrade (Frustrating). Summer came and went. New production date by the end of 2021 we will be delivering customer vehicles. Near the end of 2021 I did get a delivery estimate of July-Sept 2022, and was super excited. Finally going to get a Rivian.

Then March of 2022 happens. The price for my configuration goes from $74K to $96K. My heart sinks. No way can I afford that big a price increase. Really bummed but didn't cancel. Then 2 days later RJ says that Rivian will honor the previous pricing (for which I am still grateful). Again anxiously awaiting my delivery window but updated windows go out by email in may (just 6 weeks before my delivery window opens)and I don't get an email. No contact at all. Nothing...... I give it a couple of days but the forums are a buzz with the bad news. If you haven't gotten an email your delivery window is indefinitely postponed. Called CS immediately and they couldn't offer any information.

That is when I began to take matters into my own hands. I did some internet detective stuff and found the Email of one of the 2nd tier (reports directly to RJ) administrators. I email her with my story. She says wow can't believe you were able to track me down. I don't have the answer for you but I am going to get the person who can give you the answers to contact you. That person did contact me and it turned out to be Tony Caravno himself. Can believe I am having this conversation with the actual head of Rivian customer service. Tony was very interested in my story and seemed genuinely apologetic for the situation. Explained that they were concerned about deliveries outside of their service center support areas. I am understanding and my patience was restored. Amazed the Tony himself would take the time to respond to me. Tony then went on to assign me a guide so that I had a more consistent contact and he assures me that I "will get a delivery window by the end of the summer".

But of course, the summer came and went. Rivian didn't even have the caring to send an email stating that it was going to be at least another month. They buried the information on their website and It was posted by on of the Rivian Stories guys. OK end of October "FOR SURE".

Then the end of October. Many are unhappy because their windows are delayed and I get the Dreaded Estimate Processing. So I try to contact my guide. He has gotten a promotion and another guide has not been assigned to me so I get the regular customer service rep who is extremely nice and tries to be as helpful as he can but has very limited ability to get anything changed. He does offer me the information that............Go ahead, bet you can't guess.............. yes you should be getting a delivery window in January of 2023.

Not only have I been waiting for 3.5 years but have passed on an F150 lightning reservation .I ordered it. It has been delivered and yes my brother is loving his new Lightning. I agreed to allow him to purchase my reservation in April 2022 when I had to put in my actual order because I though I would be getting my Rivian by September at the latest. I also get nearly daily ribbing from the 4 other people I convinced to pre-order a Rivian. Two of which have now given up. One of those still has his reservation but says it is unlikely that he will actually take delivery and the other has cancelled his reservation and has gone a completely different direction. Against my advice he bought and ID 4 but who am I to judge. I convinced him to pony up $1000 for what to him is vaporware.

So here we are.... I think any reasonable person who has been through this would feel frustrated, lead on, lied to and yes extremely mad. Come on Rivian get this together and get me my truck.

P.S. with the new automatic tonneau cover please.

 

[Dark-Fx]

What you say is true. I could always get my deposit back. That isn't the point. Rivian has strung me along for four years now. Rivian has absolutely no concern for their early adopters. This makes Rivian a less-than-honest company in my book.

If I had known early on, I would have had the opportunity to be an early adopter for the Ford Lightning or the Electric Silverado.

Brian

You had a trim they decided to not sell configured until Rivian made that decision. They seem to be more strict about delivery locations now than they were initially. Had you configured a launch edition truck from the get go, it probably would be sitting in your driveway already.

I fully disagree with your statement about lack of concern. Rivian has changed their stance on delivery locations because they figured out they can't provide an adequate ownership experience to the early adopters that live far from the service center.

 

[moosetags]

You had a trim they decided to not sell configured until Rivian made that decision. They seem to be more strict about delivery locations now than they were initially. Had you configured a launch edition truck from the get go, it probably would be sitting in your driveway already.

I fully disagree with your statement about lack of concern. Rivian has changed their stance on delivery locations because they figured out they can't provide an adequate ownership experience to the early adopters that live far from the service center.

Rivian should have been more forthcoming and advised me early on that they never intended to make that model and that I would never get a truck as I didn't live in a a big city. Pretty deceptive.

Brian

 

[Dark-Fx]

Rivian should have been more forthcoming and advised me early on that they never intended to make that model and that I would never get a truck as I didn't live in a a big city. Pretty deceptive.

Brian

If they really never intended on producing it, they wouldn't have had it as a configuration.

 

[moosetags]

If they really never intended on producing it, they wouldn't have had it as a configuration.

I think that they offered the Explore version just to suck in more subscribers at the lower price. I think that they also knew that these trucks were all going to big cities.

Brian

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