BEWARE - Have Low Expectations with Houston Service Center

[Prime]

The issue is that Rivian is trying to compete with Tesla, so I was hoping that they would at least meet or better yet, exceed my expectations. Now that it is clear they cannot do that then they can at least do what they say right? That is not a lot to ask right as a consumer that patiently waited 4 years for delivery?

I expected that a manufacturer like Rivian would have some sort of relationship with a car rental company. I would think that their customers would get priority based on that relationship. It turns out that a run of the mill car dealer (not a manufacturer) has a better relationship than they do. If that is the case, then don't promise a "full size SUV" as my loaner car. I simply expected that they would do what they said, they didn't.

I also expected that when the service manager said they would call me tomorrow morning that they would actually call. That doesn't seem like too much to ask does it?

I also expected that when I said "my closest service center is in Houston and that is the one I want", that they would actually read the words on the screen and pay attention and make the appointment at the right location. They didn't.

Maybe have a receptionist at the service center instead of an empty room upon arrival for the appointment. Doesn't seem like too much to ask right?

I expected that the technical guy that is in charge of my car would be able to answer some basic questions, that doesn't seem too outrageous, does it? He couldn't.

How would I know that the service centers are backed up. Maybe Rivian can say "Hey just FYI, the service centers are backed up so we will try and get to your car within ____ number of days instead of "They will call you tomorrow morning with a diagnosis."

So, like my title says, just have low expectations and you can chill. If you have any sort of expectation that they will take care of you or just even do what they said they were going to do, you will be disappointed.

Having a Tesla and a Rivian, the fact that you can call and actually speak to someone at Rivian puts them way in front of Tesla as far as customer service. Everyone I’ve spoken to or dealt with at Rivian has been very polite, can’t say the same for Tesla. We love our model Y and our R1T, no dig on the vehicles, but customer service in general with Rivian is very good. Now with that said, I’m waiting on my service appointment that’s another 6 weeks out ?

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[Agswin]

Having a Tesla and a Rivian, the fact that you can call and actually speak to someone at Rivian puts them way in front of Tesla as far as customer service. Everyone I’ve spoken to or dealt with at Rivian has been very polite, can’t say the same for Tesla. We love our model Y and our R1T, no dig on the vehicles, but customer service in general with Rivian is very good. Now with that said, I’m waiting on my service appointment that’s another 6 weeks out ?

On side note, do you only have electric vehicles? We thought about R1S and Y but weren't sure about going all electric. R1S definitely doesn't have the charging infrastructure that makes me comfortable enough to take a long trip

 

[Prime]

On side note, do you only have electric vehicles? We thought about R1S and Y but weren't sure about going all electric. R1S definitely doesn't have the charging infrastructure that makes me comfortable enough to take a long trip

Yes! All electric, although it’s only been about a month, but so far so good. For long trips we have been relying on the Model Y since it has the better (Tesla) charging network. At some point we’ll try out the Rivian.

 

[Kuro-Rivian]

If I really wanted to spread FUD all I'd have to do is rent my R1T out on Turo.

Even valet drivers ask me about the tok, and I'm like "I know!! it will be fixed soon"

So I all seriousness I did have a tok. It was hardly noticeable to me. But a few weeks ago I went to SC to pick up wheels I bought. (I live about 3 miles away). So service manager takes ride in my truck and says he can fix it. Longer story longer. Make appt and bring truck back. Turns out they have a new service for it. Not just greasing the where shaft meets hub (which was the initial fix). Now they have a type of washer that goes over the half shaft spline and they use a special tool to "stake" it. Tok is completely gone. So there's hope for you.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

So I all seriousness I did have a tok. It was hardly noticeable to me. But a few weeks ago I went to SC to pick up wheels I bought. (I live about 3 miles away). So service manager takes ride in my truck and says he can fix it. Longer story longer. Make appt and bring truck back. Turns out they have a new service for it. Not just greasing the where shaft meets hub (which was the initial fix). Now they have a type of washer that goes over the half shaft spline and they use a special tool to "stake" it. Tok is completely gone. So there's hope for you.

I actually have my service tomorrow, and I'm reasonably confident that it will be fixed.

 

[Daily22ssv]

I have had very positive experiences with the Houston Service Center. Chris, the manager, is awesome and very attentive. I know early on I had issues with the national service center not properly notifying the local service center with appointments. Maybe this is still occurring to some extent. No doubt they are focused on deliveries right now as well as dealing with the plethora of new car customers wanting every panel gap to be perfect. Regarding loaners, I have had an Enterprise car, which wasn't great but better than nothing, and a Rivian loaner. The loaner just depends on availability (which is limited and prioritized for major issues). Candidly, I would rather Rivian be focused on getting cars to customers at this point than dedicated to service centers as loaners so I am willing to live with the inconvenience. Fortunately I live relatively close to the service center (45 mins away) but I know you have a much longer commute which makes logistics and timing more frustrating. Hope everything works out with your car.

I agree! Chris was an excellent service manager. The staff as well have been great to work with. They have surprised me every time I've been there how good it was. It must have been a bad overloaded week for them.

Having a Tesla and a Rivian, the fact that you can call and actually speak to someone at Rivian puts them way in front of Tesla as far as customer service. Everyone I’ve spoken to or dealt with at Rivian has been very polite, can’t say the same for Tesla. We love our model Y and our R1T, no dig on the vehicles, but customer service in general with Rivian is very good. Now with that said, I’m waiting on my service appointment that’s another 6 weeks out ?

You can call and speak to Tesla directly now. They fixed that issue awhile back. I've had 2 service visits in the last month they definitely have had a huge improvement on service and do same day service as well in and out if possible. I agree Rivian customer service has been very good as well. Houston Service Center I was really impressed with and well managed.

 

[Sevn86]

My R1S is at the Houston service center right now. Unfortunately, they also didn’t have a Rivian loaner available for me. I’m in an enterprise rental and it reeks of cigarette smoke/ weed. They said many are complaining about this to them and enterprise isn’t doing anything. They also didn’t have a premium SUV that Rivian is paying for and ended up putting me in a Chevy equinox. I called the service center and asked if they could get me swapped out with something else since I will need to have the rental for another 7 days.

I will say this, Chris and the team have been amazing so far.

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