Gear Shop Ordering Problem (rare); PSA

[Synapticon]

Preemptive apologies , this may be TL;DR. Perhaps someone may benefit from my frustrating experience. A proactive fix to this particular problem is quite simple.

I recently made an order through the Gear Shop. At check out I got an error message to the effect "Incorrect address...correct before proceeding". I tried everything imaginable to change my address and resorted to calling Rivian to get it sorted. (BTW I habitually call Vehicle service and learned, after being transferred to Customs Service, of the separate line for the latter (big mistake, hold times averaging 30 minutes on 3 separate calls)). So I find myself going down a rabbit hole with clueless CSRs who can't figure out the problem nor take my order over the phone. Eventually one of them tells me that the addresses to create the shipping label on the Rivian side are populated by (or compared to), google maps. Google Maps unbeknownst to me has the wrong zip code for my address.

So he processes my order with the wrong zip code and assures me that he will have someone "address the problem" (couldn't resist, sorry) and have it shipped promptly. Needless to say, a week later, no order has arrived despite notifications from UPS that it would be delivered today, then "delayed due to incorrect address". Grrr! Wait times for Rivian CS, too long and have to repeat the scenario ad infinitum, UPS (their website and CSR, glacial at best), another dead end to update the correct address. What to do?

Not to be deterred, I investigated on my own. Starting with Google Maps I discovered that when I entered my address and selected the autofill dropdown option, the zip code on my address was incorrect. Not familiar how to proceed I invoked my kid's longstanding computer advice. "Dad, JFGI !" (Just F#*@ing Google It) So I did, "How to correct info on GM". Stumbled through that process and retested my result several times. Two days later I got my package with all kinds of markings to correct the address on it. Mysterious connections in cyberspace because I made no further effort to connect with the monolithic nonhuman (or human) entities.

So the PSA moral to the story here is, go check that your GM address is correct to the letter and correct any errors. This whole fiasco compliments of the last digit of my zip code in error.

My question to the forum: "Where do I get a refill on my 'Early-Adopter Chill Pills'?"; so I can survive my Power Tonneau Repair saga (15 months and counting).

Stay Adventurous!

Rob

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[VSG]

Writing from experience as a small business owner, you wouldn't believe how many people enter their own address incorrectly when placing an online order. Not just typos or mis-spellings or transposed numbers, but blatantly wrong or missing information (apartment building and didn't enter the apartment number, or wrong town name, or even wrong street name). Then they complain and give you 1 star reviews when they don't get their package ... and complain when I ask them to pay shipping a second time because *I* have to pay shipping a second time to resend it to the corrected address.

Because of this most companies (me included) long ago started using web services to check the entered address and "correct" it by putting it into a canonical form. Like with Amazon orders, they usually show you the suggested changes and ask you if the changes are correct or if you want to continue with unchanged address.

The gear shop message "Incorrect address...correct before proceeding" indicates that Rivian is checking the address, but it's not enough information - they should be telling you what is wrong about the address so that you can correct it if necessary before placing your order. Apparently they are also correcting the address to what Google tells them, but they are not showing you what the "corrected" address is. That's the heart of the problem - Rivian's website is changing what you entered and they are changing it in a wrong way without showing you so you have no way of catching the error.

Google maps has many wrong addresses. I have to keep correcting MY address every few years because Google's automated systems keep renaming my Street to be an Avenue. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but around here Streets go east-west while Avenues go north-south, and 100th Street and 100th Avenue are different (we have both, as well as 100th Place and 100th Way, which are also different and have their own rules ...).

It's good that you figured out your zip code was wrong in Google Maps - that may have been causing you a lot of other problems you didn't know about.

 

[Synapticon]

Thanks for elaborating much of what I left out. The frustration of no one knowing what was amiss and not pursuing a solution is maddening. I certainly hope someone from Rivian reads, understands, and takes action on this. That would be a true sign of customer service.

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