Rivian deposit refund refusal

[Dark-Fx]

So Rivian has no obligation to deliver the car at the agreed price at any reasonable time in the future?

None at all. Feel free to go read the agreement.

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[RivRyan]

Contracts must involve benefits to both parties. You’ve already placed $1,000 with them in return for a right to a car at some point in the distant future. If “confirming” only gave them an additional benefit and not you, I’m not convinced they can enforce their right. Certainly confirmation implied you also had some new expectation. What is it if not that of timely delivery of a vehicle?

But I think you have many courses here. Your state’s law may allow you three days after taking possession to return a vehicle, which would impose large expenses on Rivian and few if any on you; or you might work out an agreement with someone for joint purchase, to avoid transfer fees.

 

[docwhiz]

None at all. Feel free to go read the agreement.

If this is Rivians real attitude, I'll ask for my deposit back now (and hope I get it)

 

[dwang]

Rivian can’t give you the money back, They gave you the option of making the agreement binding so you could get the 7500 tax credit to satisfy irs rules. You could of decided at that point to not make the agreement binding and if you did you would still get 900 back.

EXACTLY.

 

[SASSquatch]

By the letter of the law you confirmed your order and you were aware of the implications (or should have been) when you clicked.

On the other hand, it is a completely dick move on Rivian to push your delivery date that far out after confirming, for whatever reason. With that large of a delay, I think it would be reasonable to offer you an out - that speaks more to the type of company Rivian wants to be and maybe should be than what is within their right to enforce.

 

[Redline]

If this is Rivians real attitude, I'll ask for my deposit back now (and hope I get it)

LOL wow

 

[lefkonj]

Even when they delay delivery by more than a year?
That's outrageous.
They have an obligation beyond just taking your money.

No they actually don't. Sorry but if you gave Kia a non-refundable deposit for a new car, you gave them your money, you agreed to buy it, now you want to walk away. Rivian gave you a chance to say no thank you, you didn't take it and clicked confirm, therefore you not them, made it non-refundable. Did you order the new pink exterior color? Did you talk with your guide before clicking confirm? did you buy the new micro-pack?

Sorry but a bunch of people who waited, just like you did, but did the proper due diligence and gave up their refundable deposit to get a Rivian.

BTW the vehicle is amazing and if you were ever serious about it you would love it too.

 

[golden_frog]

Just mention small claims court, and you may get your money back.

 

[Jumacao]

That’s a fair question. If I were the judge I would probably ask if Rivian had promised any specific timeframe for delivery post confirmation. If not, then the customer should factor that into their decision whether they should confirm or not.

And if I were Rivian I would say how can we give someone a delivery window, then ask them to confirm, which may include changes to the order that may affect their ability to deliver int he promised timeframe?

There are a few things you're not considering in these hypotheticals. First, did a majority of people who confirmed get a delivery date set for shortly after confirmation? If so, then OP can argue he had a reasonable expectation of delivery shortly after confirmation.

And as another poster mentioned, what benefit did OP get for confirming the order? If the confirmation is an additional contract, in which OP committed to a now non-refundable deposit, Rivian needed to have offered something in return for it to be valid - or else this confirmation (along with every other confirmation Tivian has people sign) could tossed out. A promise to deliver a widely vehicle in over a year from now - when many of the same make, model, etc. are available right now for the same price, isn't really any benefit to OP.

But the real bottom line (and the way most of this actually ends up settling) is: is $1,000 really worth it to Rivian? How much in legal costs (not to mention PR) are they spending to save $1,000? I can guarantee their attorneys charge more than that for an hour of work. Unless they somehow see this cascading into thousands of peole canceling their preorders if OP wins the argument, the most cost effective thing to do is just give this guy back his money.

This is not legal advice and I'm not representing anyone here, just spitballing about something on which I have no real world experience.

 

[Dark-Fx]

If this is Rivians real attitude, I'll ask for my deposit back now (and hope I get it)

You probably should. I'm sure you'll get better treatment from Tesla or Ford or GM.

 

[COdogman]

There are a few things you're not considering in these hypotheticals. First, did a majority of people who confirmed get a delivery date set for shortly after confirmation? If so, then OP can argue he had a reasonable expectation of delivery shortly after confirmation.

And as another poster mentioned, what benefit did OP get for confirming the order? If the confirmation is an additional contract, in which OP committed to a now non-refundable deposit, Rivian needed to have offered something in return for it to be valid - or else this confirmation (along with every other confirmation Tivian has people sign) could tossed out. A promise to deliver a widely vehicle in over a year from now - when many of the same make, model, etc. are available right now for the same price, isn't really any benefit to OP.

But the real bottom line (and the way most of this actually ends up settling) is: is $1,000 really worth it to Rivian? How much in legal costs (not to mention PR) are they spending to save $1,000? I can guarantee their attorneys charge more than that for an hour of work. Unless they somehow see this cascading into thousands of peole canceling their preorders if OP wins the argument, the most cost effective thing to do is just give this guy back his money.

This is not legal advice and I'm not representing anyone here, just spitballing about something on which I have no real world experience.

It's an interesting discussion and I can see both sides of it. I just feel the agreement we signed was clear - Rivian is not guaranteeing a delivery date. So what happened with anyone else is not relevant. If there are supply shortages or geographic or freight shipping challenges, then what happened to some a year ago is not the same as what happens to one now.

Plus, the estimates are dependent on configuration. If OP is waiting for a quad max then it's up to Rivian when that gets built and there is no comparison to what others have ordered....

Also, we agreed to arbitration as part of that agreement, which is also a barrier to winning. I agree it's probably not worth Rivian's time to fight these things, but as a matter of principle I don't feel sorry for people who try to cancel after the point of no return and then complain about losing their deposits. Don't confirm if you don't want to risk losing the deposit.

Rivian preorder agreement:
https://rivian.com/legal/preorder

 

[docwhiz]

You probably should. I'm sure you'll get better treatment from Tesla or Ford or GM.

Cancelled my reservation for a Cybertruck and received my deposit within a week.

 

[COdogman]

Cancelled my reservation for a Cybertruck and received my deposit within a week.

Was it after confirming your build? And what delivery estimate did they give you?

Most Rivian PREorder deposits were refunded quickly as well. OP confirmed his order then changed his mind. Not just a preorder... that happened in 2021.

 

[Supratachophobia]

Cancelled my reservation for a Cybertruck and received my deposit within a week.

Same, but the fine print never said it was nonrefundable.

 

[RivAW]

I ran into the same issue, but instead of a severely delayed delivery date, Rivian decided to drop some options from my pre-order AFTER I confirmed it. The first person I spoke with also told me that I couldn't get a refund. However, I also wrote an email explaining the situation, it got escalated, then I got my money back.

You may still get a refund. I think the deciding factor in my case was that Rivian decided to change my options after I configured it, which is kind of like changing your delivery date after you confirmed it. A bit of a stretch, but not a huge leap of an analogy to make.

Yeah…it’s different when n one case they “breached” by changing your order and in this case OP just didn’t read the whole message…it sucks and maybe OP gets a refund for the sake of “customer service”….but he/she is hardly entitled to one

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