Rivian confirms no Meridian Sound System in my R1S. It has in-house audio system

[COdogman]

I might not have been so harsh to the stuck in snow guy if I encountered him in the wild, and likely would have attempted to help unstick him, but I still would have been laughing about him not knowing the auto-park safety while I explained it to him. I probably would have still chastised him for not reading the manual for a vehicle that's been for sale for the better part of a year now. Especially after having been in line for the reservation for it as long as he had been.

I agree, and I would absolutely help pretty much anyone who is stuck. They would have to be pretty damned annoying for me to just leave them there Even if he isn’t on the forums every day like we are, he should have taken some time after delivery to learn those things before running it into deep snow.

That guy’s worst behavior seemed to come after the incident, going on a full court press of Karen-ing. He was successful enough to get Rivian to cover his tow bill and comment publicly on the incident, which is more than we can say for the guy who‘s R1T “flipped” on it’s own in a field. I guess he didn’t have a loudmouth VC brother to act as his megaphone.

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[Donald Stanfield]

There has always been a small percentage of people acting like this, but I don’t recall it ever being this bad. It seemed to shift that direction during the pandemic, but it isn’t entirely clear to me why some people’s brains were broken by that and others weren’t. Either way it just sucks For anyone who has to deal with them every day (as you well know). Our approach is to just back up our staff as human beings, even when they make a mistake (as humans are prone to do sometimes). If customers can’t behave like human beings we ban or blacklist them.

I actually don’t think @Tim Dora is one of those people based on his recent post, but his original post in this thread had that same pattern to it that I am now very tuned into. It’s just not something I would ever complain about because I know I signed that agreement saying Rivian can change the configurations anytime they feel like it. If I didn’t want that to happen I shouldn’t have placed my order. I do understand his desire to have some warning of the change, but I think he happened to take delivery in the awkward period of time before Rivian got the word out to all their employees. That is bound to happen during the period where deliveries of both types are still happening.

I’m sorry you have to deal with it too. Stay strong!

It sounds like your approach and mine are similar. We too default to coming down on our employee's side and have been able to retain some pretty good staff. I think anyone has the potential of being one of these people, which is why it's so important to call it out when you see this behavior. I agree that the pandemic seems to have been the catalyst for the huge increase in entitled behavior but I also feel like we as a society can reverse the trend a little.

I personally blame large corporations with "the customer is always right" mentality. I cannot stand that, especially considering the customer is always right was never meant to refer to customer behavior, but was in reference to what the customer wants to buy. Basically that phrase means if a customer wants to buy a product you should find a way to offer it as only the customer can choose what they want. It doesn't mean to give people who yell and scream a free pass or to reward entitled behavior.

 

[COdogman]

It sounds like your approach and mine are similar. We too default to coming down on our employee's side and have been able to retain some pretty good staff. I think anyone has the potential of being one of these people, which is why it's so important to call it out when you see this behavior. I agree that the pandemic seems to have been the catalyst for the huge increase in entitled behavior but I also feel like we as a society can reverse the trend a little.

I personally blame large corporations with "the customer is always right" mentality. I cannot stand that, especially considering the customer is always right was never meant to refer to customer behavior, but was in reference to what the customer wants to buy. Basically that phrase means if a customer wants to buy a product you should find a way to offer it as only the customer can choose what they want. It doesn't mean to give people who yell and scream a free pass or to reward entitled behavior.

Agree 1000%. Our staff is pretty young (majority are between 19-30) and we are typically one of their first jobs, but so many of them come to us already with multiple horrifying stories from corporate restaurants or retail stores. And in every case the manager and their corporate overlords did nothing to back up the employee and even rewarded the customer with free or discounted stuff. Talk about positive reinforcement of bad behavior. How would anyone stay motivated to work in that environment?

One of the worst I’ve heard so far was a girl who said when she was 16 and working as a hostess at a Texas Roadhouse here in safe and wealthy Boulder County, a guy was upset because he arrived early and his table wasn’t ready yet. He lifted up his shirt and showed her a gun that was tucked under his waistband. She told the manager who did nothing. She said pretty much anytime a customer complained about anything they were instructed to give in to their demands. This experience obviously stuck with her because she didn’t come to work for us for another 4 years and it was still fresh in her mind.

I sure hope you are right and we can steer the ship back in the other direction, but I admit I am starting to doubt that is going to happen.

These kids have their own issues, but it would be hard to not be affected by jobs like that. They certainly don’t deserve to be treated like that.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Agree 1000%. Our staff is pretty young (majority are between 19-30) and we are typically one of their first jobs, but so many of them come to us already with multiple horrifying stories from corporate restaurants or retail stores. And in every case the manager and their corporate overlords did nothing to back up the employee and even rewarded the customer with free or discounted stuff. Talk about positive reinforcement of bad behavior. How would anyone stay motivated to work in that environment?

One of the worst I’ve heard so far was a girl who said when she was 16 and working as a hostess at a Texas Roadhouse here in safe and wealthy Boulder County, a guy was upset because he arrived early and his table wasn’t ready yet. He lifted up his shirt and showed her a gun that was tucked under his waistband. She told the manager who did nothing. She said pretty much anytime a customer complained about anything they were instructed to give in to their demands. This experience obviously stuck with her because she didn’t come to work for us for another 4 years and it was still fresh in her mind.

I sure hope you are right and we can steer the ship back in the other direction, but I admit I am starting to doubt that is going to happen.

These kids have their own issues, but it would be hard to not be affected by jobs like that. They certainly don’t deserve to be treated like that.

Sadly I’ve heard just as bad or worse than the gun story. I wish someone would do something like that to me though because I’d call the cops and get him for brandishing. I am also armed so him going any further than suggesting the firearm wouldn’t work out well for either of us.

Lots of stories of irate customers and managers just giving in to them from my staff. They all love it when instead of giving in I throw these asshole customers out on their ass and ban them for life from my building. Depending on what they did to be thrown out I’m not very nice about it either.

It’s cheap goodwill for your staff and the sort of person who will throw a tantrum like that isn’t the sort of person you want as a customer anyways. The amount of sale lost is more than made up for by your staff being in a good mood and pulling for you.

 

[COdogman]

Sadly I’ve heard just as bad or worse than the gun story. I wish someone would do something like that to me though because I’d call the cops and get him for brandishing. I am also armed so him going any further than suggesting the firearm wouldn’t work out well for either of us.

Lots of stories of irate customers and managers just giving in to them from my staff. They all love it when instead of giving in I throw these asshole customers out on their ass and ban them for life from my building. Depending on what they did to be thrown out I’m not very nice about it either.

It’s cheap goodwill for your staff and the sort of person who will throw a tantrum like that isn’t the sort of person you want as a customer anyways. The amount of sale lost is more than made up for by your staff being in a good mood and pulling for you.

Exactly how we see it. We don't want them and getting rid of them quickly does help boost morale. Keep up the good fight over there!

 

[DaveA]

Would someone check to see if the equalizer screen still shows "Meridian" on the bottom left area on these newer builds? Just curious.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Exactly how we see it. We don't want them and getting rid of them quickly does help boost morale. Keep up the good fight over there!

Same to you.

 

[TechnicalLimitation]

Are the non-meridian systems, in the R1Ts, still being sent with "meridian" badging & markings? If I flip up my rear seats, on the passenger side in the back, I see a "Meridian" plastic cover. Presumably there's something audio-related under it, instead of the full under-seat storage being open.

I'm guessing that means I have a Meridian system.

It's a good system. I wouldn't say it's amazing but it's good.

I would say I'm a bit afraid to go past 20/30 on volume, I don't really want to blow a speaker or something, but at 20 it's not all that "loud" to me.

 

[PeterSK]

Wow - I just read through this entire thread, not sure why but it was while eating lunch so not a total waste of time. I'm glad that the discussion has settled a bit; it's not fun to be surprised by changes, but as an early adopter with a new company you have to set your expectations accordingly and cut them some slack. I'd just like to point out that this behavior - from both sides - isn't particular to Rivian or Rivian owners on forums. I'm old enough to remember Alcantaragate on the Model 3, when sometime in probably spring of 2018 they stopped shipping Model 3s with Alcantara headliners, instead they had a more traditional but still nice headliner material.

This was right in the middle of Tesla's Production Hell, and I'm sure they did it either to cut costs or ensure supply or both. Reading the anguished posts you would have thought they had significantly cut range or power, or done something else that fundamentally ruined the vehicle and experience. I had a Model 3 on order and wasn't sure how to react at first, but was pleased that when delivered in August it was a perfectly nice car, and frankly I think having the Alcantara all over and around me would have felt a bit much. Crisis averted...

 

[freshpow]

Would someone check to see if the equalizer screen still shows "Meridian" on the bottom left area on these newer builds? Just curious.

I have the Rivian system and it does not show Meridian in the bottom left on the equalizer screen. Haven't checked under the rear seat yet and my truck is currently in the shop getting PPF'd

 

[runwithscissors]

Went to the Rivian event yesterday in Manhattan and was able to hear the new in house audio system. I'm no audiophile but it sounded great to me in the R1S. I had a chance to talk to Brian Gates about it who happily said lets jump in the R1S and test it out. He connects his iPhone to it and said he likes to test it with Post Malone's - Hollywood's Bleeding. Vocals sounded great and then the bass was pretty impressive once it kicked in. We then jammed to Owner of a Lonely Heart which also sounded really good. He mentioned that some people were really picky with the EQ and I guess that's cool for those that can really hear the difference. I didn't do a comparison against Meridian out of respect for his time and the many people in the other vehicles.

Hopefully they have more events across the country so people can pick their brains because it's really cool to see the company big guns out there willing to crawl under trucks to talk underbody shields and then jumping in and jamming to a few tunes. They never ducked any questions and couldn't be more helpful by bringing in other experts there to discuss.

 

[Golden Ears]

No great loss Bob Stuart’s voicing if his Meridian products isn’t the greatest . MQA for instance IMHO sounds better after the first unfolding and worse after the second and Meridians proprietary pre-ring post ring filter is applied. Yes it’s nice to be rid of pre-ring prior to the transient , but the filter makes most recording sound as if they were all closely mic'd and certainly gut certain genres this is a detriment . Fine for Folk and most small ensembles, but worst for orchestral music and for effects which were intended to be far field. Many consumers will mistake this MQA sound for increased clarity … sadly like many did for digital which appears at first to have more clarity until you realize music was filtered and list along with some noise.

 

[Vaejoviscarolinanus]

I can’t say that I am not bummed about the Meridian news because I was in the high end audio business for 20 plus years and I respect the quality of the Meridian products but it is a vehicle for me to get my pants in a bunch it will be more than just this. Im not happy about it but it is not a deal breaker. So I am just disappointed.

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