Worst fears came true. My R1T died at a light. Update today(8/18)

[Olsonsolar]

I am curious, what happens if the truck breaks down along side the road away from home on warranty and you happen to be towing a camper? Who's responsibility is it for getting the camper to a safe place?

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[Speedrye]

That would be your responsibility. Rivian only promised to fix the truck, not the situation it left you in.

 

[Robotpedlr]

I am surprised that you have to ping your Guide all the time for updates and hope he replies. The guide should be giving you constant updates w/o the need for you to inquire all the time.. I would expect him/her to give you (at a minimum) a daily update. Passive help is not ideal in this situation.

 

[DaveA]

My guide said that the buyback doesn't have to be in the 7 day window per his leadership. I am assuming because I have not had the truck in my possession for 7 days. He said we can wait to see what the SC finds wrong.

My guide has been responsive but not really responsive if that makes sense. He will respond but doesn't always answer what I have asked. I asked to escalate this to someone else and he said he would speak to his lead about this. That was Friday afternoon.

As of 1238pm est, my truck just moved garage and was Parked outside the gate. I have not messaged my guide today, would you check in daily about the loaner and status? I'm not sure what my expectations should be here.

I was given an additional 7 days, via email, to assess the vehicle once it was returned since I had only had it 3 days before sending back for paint issues, etc. They should be pretty good about that.

 

[Pendarin]

I don't intend for this to be demeaning to them, but Guide is just a different name for "salesperson" -- you know, the person that first comes to greet you when you walk onto a dealership. As consumers, that should be the expectation we should set for ourselves in our interaction with them. Maybe Rivian wants them to have a larger role than that, but my bet--based on all the feedback I've read on this forum so far--is that their roles/pay are constructed in such as way as to motivate them to sell vehicles, as with an ordinary salesperson, and that will be their primary focus. Honoring (arbitrary) preorder priority queuing, being point-persons for post-sales issues, and all of those (supposed) responsibilities are secondary. To be fair, this is all speculation on my part, but bear in mind as a consumer in a buyer-beware country, you have a responsibility not to implicitly trust what a business is telling you.

To that end, I'd put more pressure on the SC and customer service than you're putting on your guide.

I also would like to say that there are many of us who have fully functional trucks that are also very invested in the outcome here and are watching this thread. We all know that it could have been any one of us in this situation.

 

[TOCBoston]

That would be your responsibility. Rivian only promised to fix the truck, not the situation it left you in.

While I agree with you here entirely and wouldn’t expect anything from Rivian, something feels off about it.

Rivian consistently promotes the utility of the vehicle with a strong emphasis on towing. Combine that with the bad PR they may see from these early breakdowns (somewhat predictable) and you could see where they could afford some flexibility. Probably won’t though.

Alternately, it would be nice to see Rivian include trailer towing in their roadside assistance contract since they have the scale to make it super cheap for them. It would be a nice plus, especially during early rollout.

FWIW, it appears that AAA can include trailer towing. Anyone towing with a Rivian should strongly consider that option.

 

[Speedrye]

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While I agree with you here entirely and wouldn’t expect anything from Rivian, something feels off about it.

Rivian consistently promotes the utility of the vehicle with a strong emphasis on towing. Combine that with the bad PR they may see from these early breakdowns (somewhat predictable) and you could see where they could afford some flexibility. Probably won’t though.

Alternately, it would be nice to see Rivian include trailer towing in their roadside assistance contract since they have the scale to make it super cheap for them. It would be a nice plus, especially during early rollout.

FWIW, it appears that AAA can include trailer towing. Anyone towing with a Rivian should strongly consider that option.

With Rivians requiring flat bed towing, does anyone know if most flat beds have a trailer hitch on the rear that could at least tow your trailer with the truck to the service center?

 

[MountainBikeDude]

5/31. Waited patiently to hear anything from the SC until 4pm est. Sent my guide a nice text asking for an update and locating a loaner. He responded promptly saying he would reach out again to SC and see again about a loaner. I receive no further communication. It's now after my guide's hours(6pm est), and I have no update.... I can check the location of my truck and see its been moved into the garage but that's it....my update is no update unfortunately ..... not sure really what to say or do anymore.

I commend your patience. I'm a pretty easy going guy that will give people the benefit of a doubt more often than not.

That being said, at this point I'd want an outline of what the heck is going on. If the current guide can't seem to get the information, call them, it's too easy to to brush off a text. When you get them on the phone, give them a deadline of the EOD or sooner to get you a detailed outline of, What's wrong with your vehicle? When you can expect it back? and what the loaner situation is. Their job is to figure this out. If they can't get the information I'd figure out which service center it is at and call it directly.

Growing pains be damned, the truck is sitting somewhere, with someone having at least a vague idea of the issue and a repair timeline.

Just my two cents

 

[rodhx]

While I agree with you here entirely and wouldn’t expect anything from Rivian, something feels off about it.

Rivian consistently promotes the utility of the vehicle with a strong emphasis on towing. Combine that with the bad PR they may see from these early breakdowns (somewhat predictable) and you could see where they could afford some flexibility. Probably won’t though.

Alternately, it would be nice to see Rivian include trailer towing in their roadside assistance contract since they have the scale to make it super cheap for them. It would be a nice plus, especially during early rollout.

FWIW, it appears that AAA can include trailer towing. Anyone towing with a Rivian should strongly consider that option.

Just curious...do you have the same expectation for Ford/GM/Ram/Toyota/etc since they promote their vehicles in same way? I don't see why expectations for Rivian should be any different. But agree they might be able to create some goodwill PR by making such arrangements.

 

[TOCBoston]

Just curious...do you have the same expectation for Ford/GM/Ram/Toyota/etc since they promote their vehicles in same way? I don't see why expectations for Rivian should be any different. But agree they might be able to create some goodwill PR by making such arrangements.

Fair point, but if I was in a forum for those manufacturers I’d make the same point.

Any vendor that sells a product using specific claims/attributes as a large part of their marketing effort is setting a higher expectation of that specific item/capability. They should all offer towing as part of roadside.

 

[jerseyff]

I thought I was rude and bullish on Friday and got the same result and figured I would be give then a chance and be nice today. I just don't know how to find someone to escalate this to.

I had a guide speed bump during my purchase process and I called in to CS and spoke with them, and requested that I get a call back from my guide's team lead. Team lead called me back within an hour.

 

[Akay07]

Updage today 6/1. I sent a lengthy email to a customer service lead today at 11am outlining some of my concerns with the service process and communication from my guide. My guide calls me at 1143am and I missed the call while I'm at work. He left a voice mail that they are going through an escalated engineering diagnostic on my truck to figure out what's wrong and they are thinking the front drive unit needs to be replaced. He made it sound like it was a minor replacement. He said that my SC should have a loaner truck by the end of the week for me. He also said he would update me daily this week. We will see but Hopefully, fingers crossed, Looks like I will have a 3.5 hr drive to Richmond in my future this week. Did my escalation to a customer service lead help? I do not know

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Updage today 6/1. I sent a lengthy email to a customer service lead today at 11am outlining some of my concerns with the service process and communication from my guide. My guide calls me at 1143am and I missed the call while I'm at work. He left a voice mail that they are going through an escalated engineering diagnostic on my truck to figure out what's wrong and they are thinking the front drive unit needs to be replaced. He made it sound like it was a minor replacement. He said that my SC should have a loaner truck by the end of the week for me. He also said he would update me daily this week. We will see but Hopefully, fingers crossed, Looks like I will have a 3.5 hr drive to Richmond in my future this week. Did my escalation to a customer service lead help? I do not know

Awesome. Really, how it should have been from the get go. Still learning tho.

 

[Akay07]

I a

Awesome. Really, how it should have been from the get go. Still learning tho.

I agree. I am starting to feel that I am not alone with their truck not making it the full 7 day trial.

 

[Novo-caine]

My truck, I got on Saturday, just died at a light on my way home from work. Had to hard reset the truck 4 times to move it 20 yards off the side of the road. Came to a stop at red light and when I hit the accelerator, it lurched forward and i heard a noise. It showed all the usual warning lights. After a reset, I could put it in drive. it would start to move calmly and then the truck would start shaking violently and cut off. Was told to leave it on the side of road and the tow truck would get it. I think it was going to be some time for the tow truck to get it. That was heartbreaking. They stayed on the phone with me for about 20 mins and offered an Uber and I go get my enterprise rent a car tomorrow.... In the future, I would always carry a nfc card with you so they can easily work on your truck. I had to run back to work and get mine and leave it with the truck. I guess now it's a waiting game....

Update this morning....it only took 9 hours for a tow truck company to pick up the truck. I was still taking calls from the tow truck driver and rivian roadside assistance past 1230am.fixes.? Missed work staying up so late with calls from the tow truck and roadside assistance. But my truck finally made it to the SC at 430am.

Spoke to my guide when he got into work. There are no loaners available and basically waiting to see what the SC says about the truck. Asked about the return policy and it he said it would take weeks to be refunded the purchase price. And probably only a new truck if the repairs are extensive.

My guide also said he did a zoom call with the SC manager and lead technician and they would get on my truck when it arrived.....i told him the thing is...my app and text received show the truck to be at the SC since 423am. He said they must have not done inventory....and would send them a message. This has not been a good experience thus far. Not sure what a reasonable expectation for making this right would be.

Last update today (5/27)...they found the truck and blamed the tow truck driver for putting the truck some where else. They won't get to my truck on Tuesday to be able to diagnose the issue. They had other jobs infront of me taking up space. Again, just poor communication from my guide saying I would have that answer today amd they would diagnose that today. I understand stuff happens they may not be able to get to it. Just tell me that up front because he spoke to the service center right before calling me. Continued frustration with this service process on a 5 day old truck.

5/31. Waited patiently to hear anything from the SC until 4pm est. Sent my guide a nice text asking for an update and locating a loaner. He responded promptly saying he would reach out again to SC and see again about a loaner. I recieve no further communication. It's now after my guide's hours(6pm est), and I have no update.... I can check the location of my truck and see its been moved into the garage but that's it....my update is no update unfortunately ..... not sure really what to say or do anymore.

6/1. I sent a lengthy email to a customer service lead today at 11am outlining some of my concerns with the service process and communication from my guide. My guide calls me at 1143am and I missed the call while I'm at work. He left a voice mail that they are going through an escalated engineering diagnostic on my truck to figure out what's wrong and they are thinking the front drive unit needs to be replaced. He made it sound like it was a minor replacement. He said that my SC should have a loaner truck by the end of the week for me. He also said he would update me daily this week. We will see but Hopefully, fingers crossed, Looks like I will have a 3.5 hr drive to Richmond in my future this week. Did my escalation to a customer service lead help? I do not know.

Similar thing happened to mine and now almost 4 WEEKS LATER, I should have it back tomorrow. The big problem is that each part they need has to be sent from Normal. It’s a painfully slow process overall. Good luck. And keep asking them for the loaner which I did after I was sick of the enterprise rental car.

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