The worst service experience in the industry

[onesoil]

Remote and mobile are two separate things. A remote diagnosis will only get you so far. One failure could be caused by the failure of something else, and sometimes the only way of realizing this is an actual tear down inspection of the vehicle.

I'm aware that they are two different things—I never indicated that they aren't. Some issues can be diagnosed remotely, some can be diagnosed via mobile technian, and others require a full shop.

I have multiple examples of issues where the Mothership customer service agent (855-RIVIAN) told me my truck needed to go to Chelsea, the lower level representative at Chelsea corroborated, but with persistence (often requiring a conversation with the service manager, texts directly to the mobile tech, etc.), I was able to have either remote diagnostics and/or mobile technician diagnostics to start, and the mobile tech was able to fix the problems, or the right parts were ordered prior to my SC trip, resulting in significantly shorter stays in the shop. I could detail specific repair examples, but I'll spare everyone.

Do you think this level of involvement is just part of being a "prudent" owner? I don't think this level of pushback/navigation/specific operational/mechanical knowledge should be a necessary prerequisite for good outcomes as a vehicle owner, do you?

I am absolutely aware that the SC is often the best place to be for diagnostics and repair, and that much of the work on these trucks can only be performed at a full shop. All I'm saying is that it shouldn't require such heavy lifting on my end to get a mobile/remote-first approach given our distance from the nearest SC.

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[Ecupip]

The site owners should make a complaints and concerns section where all can go to complain about anything and everything

At the end of the day, these are transportation devices for most owners, not hobbies—though of course they are to various extents a hobby for many on hear (myself included). While some enjoy this aspect of being an early adopter, otehrs just need a vehicle that works (and of course, many clearly have less problem-prone vehicles than the ones we currently own/lease, which is great!).

I would like to add that anyone considering purchasing an R1 with the expectation of outstanding reliability might benefit from doing some additional research. These vehicles are equipped with a substantial amount of equipment, and it’s natural that they may require servicing over time. Furthermore, maintaining a vehicle thoughtfully often involves more than just regular servicing or washing. Having owned many cars—some known for lower reliability—we've generally not experienced major issues. Perhaps it’s a matter of luck, or possibly the way we take care of our vehicles compared to others, who knows.

There will always be bad apples in the bunch, and they should be offloaded once they reach the level of frustration exhibited by ranting posts, for the sake of sanity lol.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I haven't read all 8 pages of comments, but I'm sorry about your issues. When my 12V failed (due to a software issue) Gaithersburg SC got me in the same day and replaced it while I waited. Every service I've ever needed (which has been minimal) was complete within a few hours. I'm coming up on my routine 22.5k inspection and I scheduled it last night for the new Sterling SC (which just opened 12 miles from my house). They're able to fit me in in in less than two weeks.

Obviously waiting sucks, especially when you don't have your vehicle and communication has been poor. As you can see from the comments, everyone has a different experience. Imo, the good outweigh the bad. Hopefully yours improves soon.


Editing my comment to add: There have been a fair amount of "trolls" who join a forum just to leave negative comments. Usually it's their first post. Not here so much, but on other platforms. Not saying you are one at all, just there's come to be some expectation of "frustration", for lack of a better word, with people who may join a forum just to "complain", if that makes sense?

 

[dleepnw]

Sorry your experience wasn't ideal but kinda overreacting to blow up Rivian over this. I've had plenty of worse experiences with other manufactures. The dealership/service experience is worse than what Rivian offers. I dread taking my vehicle in to service when its not my Rivian. I don't like the wait times but other than that they go above and beyond.

 

[captainjp]

Do you think this level of involvement is just part of being a "prudent" owner?

Yes

 

[captainjp]

I'm aware that they are two different things—I never indicated that they aren't. Some issues can be diagnosed remotely, some can be diagnosed via mobile technian, and others require a full shop.

I have multiple examples of issues where the Mothership customer service agent (855-RIVIAN) told me my truck needed to go to Chelsea, the lower level representative at Chelsea corroborated, but with persistence (often requiring a conversation with the service manager, texts directly to the mobile tech, etc.), I was able to have either remote diagnostics and/or mobile technician diagnostics to start, and the mobile tech was able to fix the problems, or the right parts were ordered prior to my SC trip, resulting in significantly shorter stays in the shop. I could detail specific repair examples, but I'll spare everyone.

Do you think this level of involvement is just part of being a "prudent" owner? I don't think this level of pushback/navigation/specific operational/mechanical knowledge should be a necessary prerequisite for good outcomes as a vehicle owner, do you?

I am absolutely aware that the SC is often the best place to be for diagnostics and repair, and that much of the work on these trucks can only be performed at a full shop. All I'm saying is that it shouldn't require such heavy lifting on my end to get a mobile/remote-first approach given our distance from the nearest SC.

Do you have experience with other car companies that you’re comparing your experiences to? I feel like your expectations of personal attention are a bit unreasonable. I get that people expect VIP treatment for their “$100k truck”, however there are Fords that cost well above that amount. You’re out of your mind to think you’ll get anywhere near the kind of treatment you’re expecting from Rivian.

 

[onesoil]

I haven't read all 8 pages of comments, but I'm sorry about your issues. When my 12V failed (due to a software issue) Gaithersburg SC got me in the same day and replaced it while I waited. Every service I've ever needed (which has been minimal) was complete within a few hours. I'm coming up on my routine 22.5k inspection and I scheduled it last night for the new Sterling SC (which just opened 12 miles from my house). They're able to fit me in in in less than two weeks.

Obviously waiting sucks, especially when you don't have your vehicle and communication has been poor. As you can see from the comments, everyone has a different experience. Imo, the good outweigh the bad. Hopefully yours improves soon.


Editing my comment to add: There have been a fair amount of "trolls" who join a forum just to leave negative comments. Usually it's their first post. Not here so much, but on other platforms. Not saying you are one at all, just there's come to be some expectation of "frustration", for lack of a better word, with people who may join a forum just to "complain", if that makes sense?

I think this is a very reasonable summary/response to the OPs grievances, which to me, were entirely reasonable in their own right (as in, it was reasonable for them to be upset based on their story, which I personally believe probably happened as they reported).

I do get tired of people dismissing any criticism of Rivian (or any company, for that matter), however valid or constructive, just because they have not personally had the same experience.

It would be great if everyone had trouble free ownership, or great communication and quality of work when work is needed—but that simply isn’t the case. When people invalidate these reports of bad experiences because they themselves have more positive ones, it doesn’t help push for progress.

Many of us here (probably most?) have high hopes for Rivian’s success, and it being a young company, it should be more adaptable and malleable than more established brands. But only if they are able to learn from their customers and respond to reasonable constructive critiques.

I know some feel the need to defend the brand from FUD stirring complainers, but don’t throw the babies out with the bath water, shoot the messengers, and smother the various canaries in the coal mine while doing so! If bad experiences didn’t ever get talked about and worked through, Rivian would be much worse off for it—how they respond and adapt is what’s important.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Do you have experience with other car companies that you’re comparing your experiences to? I feel like your expectations of personal attention are a bit unreasonable. I get that people expect VIP treatment for their “$100k truck”, however there are Fords that cost well above that amount. You’re out of your mind to think you’ll get anywhere near the kind of treatment you’re expecting from Rivian.

My Ford dealer does pickups for service, remote service, proactive recall fixes, etc…. Always friendly and always go above and beyond. Always texts me updates. It really matters what dealer you work with. Same here, it matters what SC you are close to.

 

[Zorg]

Not reading 8 pages. 3 years into our R1T ownership our experience with service has been positive so far. Our local SC is in Reno, NV and has been awesome to deal with. For major issues, they prioritized our service and wait was reasonable. I sincerely hope that OP's issues get resolved.

As a result, we sold our X and a R1S gen2. So far so good.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Not reading 8 pages. 3 years into our R1T ownership our experience with service has been positive so far. Our local SC is in Reno, NV and has been awesome to deal with. For major issues, they prioritized our service and wait was reasonable. I sincerely hope that OP's issues get resolved.

As a result, we sold our X and a R1S gen2. So far so good.

Why did you sell your R1SG2?

 

[onesoil]

Do you have experience with other car companies that you’re comparing your experiences to? I feel like your expectations of personal attention are a bit unreasonable. I get that people expect VIP treatment for their “$100k truck”, however there are Fords that cost well above that amount. You’re out of your mind to think you’ll get anywhere near the kind of treatment you’re expecting from Rivian.

I have had much better experiences with much cheaper vehicles. I have also never had such a complex vehicle, personally, though I followed the agonizing ownership experience of an early Model S my dad had—which was even more problematic because in addition to the many mechanical issues it had, the Tesla SC staff were often much less pleasant to deal with, and at the time, we also didn’t have one in our state yet, so it involved all the same time consuming transport logistics.

I never brought up the cost of this truck, nor do I think it has any particular relevance. You must be mistaking me with the caricature you have in your head about some whiny, unreasonable, excessively entitled Rivian owner who expects the world to bend over backwards to solve their problems for them. One o those, I am not that.

I have read some posts that could fit this description, but not in this thread, and frankly, it’s pretty rare. I do, however, more often read posts from apologists who dismiss valid concerns and brush off legitimate issues brought forth due to some bizarre notions about where responsibilities should lie between manufacturer and customer.

Granted, my posts always seem to end up being lengthier than I intend, so perhaps you didn’t actually read all words written, but the gist of what I’m calling attention to is:

1. Some of these vehicles have a lot of warranty issues. I detailed the long list of things that have needed to be repaired across our four vehicles in some detail. While this is not specifically a service issue, it becomes one depending on how the issues are handled and resolved (or not).

2. In my experience, the Rivian service could be smoother, more well organized, and require less repetitive communications or need frequent check-ins and follow-ups from me to them to make sure things are on track. Service is often good, sometimes great, but also many mistakes have been made and has in aggregate, required an immense amount of work on my end to move along in a smooth and reasonably timely manner.

In my opinion, it isn’t reasonable to expect someone to need to be as involved with the warranty repair process as I have had to be. I am effectively managing four of them, two of which are very early builds (and we didn’t seem to get mythical VINs that don’t have any/many issues), so I recognize that my involvement requirement is magnified therefore. But even if I had just one of the 2022 R1Ts we have, I think my feelings would still be much as they are.

3. Distance from the SC matters a lot. If we didn’t have four trucks 3+ hours away from the nearest (overburdened) SC, I’m sure the many times we’ve had to return for additional repairs for things broken by them on prior appointments, things missed, repair QC issues, etc. wouldn’t feel nearly as inconvenient (and time consuming=expensive). If we were a short drive from the shop, I’d also be able to physically swing by to speak face to face with staff, which is something I can do with other shops closer by

If you’ve made it this far and still feel that it’s unreasonable of me and others to expect and hope for Rivian to improve their post-purchase service experience, then I guess we may have to agree to disagree

 

[Zorg]

Why did you sell your R1SG2?

Sorry meant to say sold the X and bought a R1S g2

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Sorry meant to say sold the X and bought a R1S g2

Aha!

 

[captainjp]

If you’ve made it this far and still feel that it’s unreasonable of me and others to expect and hope for Rivian to improve their post-purchase service experience, then I guess we may have to agree to disagree

I did read through and I do agree. However, I’m moving on from this thread. Best of luck in your ownership. 🫡

 

[GonGo66]

I have to wonder if there's any service center that doesn't leave the cars sitting a week before doing any type of work. That certainly is a pain point, they don't even order parts ahead. it's insane that they back fill the huge waiting area for what seems no logical reason at all. I brought in my car for "calibration of suspension" since at lowest while parking it would sometimes rub on the fender liners and that makes 0 sense with an adjustable suspension. they Let it sit the whole week, then rushed through new fender liners install, (and did 0 suspension adjustments) but again, now i'm not using kneel or lowest since I don't want to damage the fender liners at 500$ a pop.

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