Customer Service letter on price rollbacks

[freshpow]

I don't fully understand the uproar over the latest communication. No doubt this is still an area where Rivian needs a lot of work but, as others have pointed out, it's at least consistent with RJ's email (For anyone with a Rivian preorder as of the March 1 pricing announcement, your original configured price will be honored.) We also need to be patient and wait a few weeks until Rivian figures out exactly how they're going to handle all possible use cases and clearly communicates those details to us. Perhaps that last piece is wishful thinking on my part.

In spite of all the blunders to date, I feel fortunate as a pre-order holder to lock in a price that is well below current and future MSRP.

Like many of you, I play around with my configuration more than I should but I never locked in one that I didn't like. That would be silly. Some of you make it sound as if you're going to end up with some hideous configuration that you absolutely hate. Sure, maybe there's a color or wheel option that you decide you like more and you'll still have the ability to make that selection. You'll just have to decide if it's worth paying market price or if you'd rather take the discount.

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[impastu]

Power cover originally included on adventure pkg, which in turn is part of launch edition.

in the configurator change, they apparently elected to make it selectable Because there are now 3 choices.

I think they should have defaulted to selecting whatever was standard on someone’s configuration before the changes.

Many thanks. I did select Adventure Package, so presumably the cover will be included as it originally was. Glad that I ordered my R1T with "the Works" so that I don't have any regrets about how Rivian may handle reconfigurations for grandfathered reservations.

 

[Lil'Dave]

Just got my email.

 

[tonys]

I don't fully understand the uproar over the latest communication. No doubt this is still an area where Rivian needs a lot of work but, as others have pointed out, it's at least consistent with RJ's email (For anyone with a Rivian preorder as of the March 1 pricing announcement, your original configured price will be honored.) We also need to be patient and wait a few weeks until Rivian figures out exactly how they're going to handle all possible use cases and clearly communicates those details to us. Perhaps that last piece is wishful thinking on my part.

In spite of all the blunders to date, I feel fortunate as a pre-order holder to lock in a price that is well below current and future MSRP.

Like many of you, I play around with my configuration more than I should but I never locked in one that I didn't like. That would be silly. Some of you make it sound as if you're going to end up with some hideous configuration that you absolutely hate. Sure, maybe there's a color or wheel option that you decide you like more and you'll still have the ability to make that selection. You'll just have to decide if it's worth paying market price or if you'd rather take the discount.

I disagree with the above. Having the color and wheels configurable without incurring market price adjustment should be possible - especially given most have not seen this vehicle in person. If you are going to make a policy adjustment i.e. changes in configuration will lock you into market pricing, then that is fair if you give the customer advance notice. Making a change in policy with no advance warning is what I have an issue with - if that indeed is the case. Still too early to know - waiting to see as we receive more communications from Rivian.

 

[Taycanfrank]

I would wager you'll almost certainly be able to change color and wheels through CS or a guide without the price increase. If you suddenly want other options you'll probably be sol on price.

 

[Davethadog]

I just got off a chat with CS. You can change your colors and shit once they sort stuff out on their end. Everyone disarm and do some yoga or something.

 

[stynes]

Since I am one of the earliest posters on here, and since I have expressed some mild concern about the particular language in the email, I'm going to respond (once, since I don't see any point in us arguing about this. We can disagree about it, and that's totally fine with me. If you want to refute my argument, then please do. I will read it carefully and consider it when posting any more about this topic but won't respond directly unless you ask):

First, I hear where you're coming from on your comment about no way to win, except words do matter. The email could have easily been sent with the update saying, "We're working on it. Give us a few weeks to get things reverted to the old prices for you," and basically left it there. The bullet point that is concerning people could have easily been left out. If it doesn't mean what we fear it means, then it is superfluous language that adds needless ambiguity to customer relations at a really touchy time for customer relations. And indeed, there are TWO references to the price of the previous configuration. "Your previously configured price will be honored," is absolutely different from "We will honor the prices available prior to March 1." Two uses of "you[r] previously" cannot be an accident unless he's truly awful at a really critical part of his job as Head of Customer Engagement. It's not "our previous" or "the previous". It's "your previous".

Second, yes, I agree that pitchforks need to wait. I pointed out concerning language, but I have at least twice encouraged people to be patient and wait to see what the implementation of this looks like.

Edit: Changed the first paragraph a little.

I guess I'm in the minority but I thought the email was fine. Not perfect, but fine. It...

1. Confirmed the approach to honor pricing for preorder holders
2. Told everyone not to freak that it's not there yet
3. Gave an idea of the timing of when it would be updated
4. Promised more regular communication
5. Gave us a new point of contact / voice

So I'm good with all of that. I do understand some of the lack of clarity around "your preorder" and "options you previously chose" and you guys are right - it's ambiguous. I played around with my config a big but never saved it except when I finally decided bite the bullet and pay for FE instead of the BM interior (I just love the wood gain in FE and finally decided if I was spending $80K for a SUV I should spent another $2K to get more of what I want).

The "your" configuration could mean exactly what you had configured including every option. It could mean the base model (S vs. T or Adventure vs. Explore, etc.). It could have just been a poor choice of words when really everyone will have full access to the configurator and will have the ability to continue making and saving changes at all of the old prices. Or it could have been somewhat intentionally ambiguous because Rivian doesn't know yet. Let me explain...

Rivan's configurator is an ecommerce toolset. Typically each options/config has a sku and there's a price associated with the sku. Typical functionality includes an ability to support coupons, discounts, bundles, and sometimes per customer pricing. But since Rivian didn't plan to support any of this, who knows what they planned for from their ecomm platform. Also, they essentially changed the available skus - power tonneau became a separate sku, 4 motor vs. 2 motor became separate skus.

My guess - given the several week timeline - they've decided what they *want* to do and are now trying to figure out how to do it. It took them hours (not including planning, just execution) to rollout the updated pricing. They now need to go back and plan what and how they can support rolling things back given that the landscape (different skus, need to support per customer pricing, etc.) has changed. I think they're working with their web team to figure out what they can do, what the easiest way to do it is, how painful it's going to be for them from an implementation standpoint, etc. My $.02.

DISCLAIMER: I have no inside information, I've just worked in this space a long time and seen other customers struggle with many of these same issues.

 

[stimpy]

Many thanks. I did select Adventure Package, so presumably the cover will be included as it originally was. Glad that I ordered my R1T with "the Works" so that I don't have any regrets about how Rivian may handle reconfigurations for grandfathered reservations.

Same for me. I'm fortunate that I configured a fully loaded R1T exactly as I would want it. The only thing I've changed since my original build is the color. I configured an Adventure with Max Pack, RTT and camp kitchen, so I got sticker shock when I saw the almost $100k price tag. I added the tent and kitchen because I expected the price to increase in the future and I foolishly thought we were price locked. I guess we weren't, but hopefully are now. I'm still not sure if those add-ons will be worth it to me when I get to my final order as it's already more than I intended to spend.

Ironically, I was on the fence about spending that much on a truck, but now I feel I'm actually more likely to purchase since I feel like I'm getting a $16k to $20k discount now. Worst case, the resale value should be higher for the quad motor if I don't like it after a year or so.

 

[freshpow]

I disagree with the above. Having the color and wheels configurable without incurring market price adjustment should be possible - especially given most have not seen this vehicle in person. If you are going to make a policy adjustment i.e. changes in configuration will lock you into market pricing, then that is fair if you give the customer advance notice. Making a change in policy with no advance warning is what I have an issue with - if that indeed is the case. Still too early to know - waiting to see as we receive more communications from Rivian.

I get it. You and lots of others want to have your cake and eat it too, and feel particularly entitled after Rivian's latest series of missteps. I feel more than fairly compensated by the ability to purchase my R1S for $12k+ under MSRP. Everything in the screenshot you posted still stands. You seem to be interpreting "priority for delivery" as "pricing for delivery". It has never been advertised that we would be given advance notice for price increases and we knew all along that we were dealing with an "estimated price".

 

[rodhx]

Ironically, I was on the fence about spending that much on a truck, but now I feel I'm actually more likely to purchase since I feel like I'm getting a $16k to $20k discount now. Worst case, the resale value should be higher for the quad motor if I don't like it after a year or so.

Hmmm...perhaps instead of a massive PR disaster this was a master plan to convert reservations to sales? ?

 

[kommonplace]

I know you're all on pins and needles, but you can relax—I finally got my email.

I am super happy with my configuration, so if it's locked in as-is, I'm fine with that. I understand those who are upset, though. It sounds like they will allow changes to paint color, etc. so hopefully that is the case. I think that's reasonable. Certainly a good step toward "rebuilding trust."

 

[Autolycus]

I get it. You and lots of others want to have your cake and eat it too, and feel particularly entitled after Rivian's latest series of missteps. I feel more than fairly compensated by the ability to purchase my R1S for $12k+ under MSRP. Everything in the screenshot you posted still stands. You seem to be interpreting "priority for delivery" as "pricing for delivery". It has never been advertised that we would be given advance notice for price increases and we knew all along that we were dealing with an "estimated price".

You should give serious thought to toning back your use of "entitled" here. You're leaving out a lot of the full context, which is that MANY of Rivian's customers believed Rivian had violated their trust. The rollback on the price increase for pre-March 1 reservation holders is in the context of Rivian being forced to do that in order to prevent a mass exodus of customers and a huge hit to the brand's identity. There are a lot of reservation holders who are still not comfortable fully trusting Rivian again, and a lot of the comments in this thread aren't about entitlement. They're about steps that Rivian should do to rebuild that trust.

Also, another reminder that I urge patience from everyone since we don't have a final answer on these questions. That I am saying Rivian should tread lightly here does not mean I am personally upset about anything in the email. I am not entitled to anything, but if Rivian wants me as a customer and as an advocate, they still have some work to do. For me it's not a ton more work, but I know for others it could still be a good amount.

 

[LoneStar]

Just got the email myself. Now waiting to see some posts from those who's page has reverted back to original (last) config with retroactive pricing.

 

[kommonplace]

Hmmm...perhaps instead of a massive PR disaster this was a master plan to convert reservations to sales? ?

You kid, but it crossed my mind, too. Obviously they are not savvy enough to pull this off (right?) but I think it may very well be the outcome regardless.

We were on the fence between dropping $81k on an SUV versus $60k or so on just a Tesla Model Y. (We're not in the Range Rover/Patagonia demographic that Rivian is targeting—the R1S is a huge stretch purchase.) But now seeing we feel like we're getting a $100k SUV for $81k and suddenly it's not only easier to swallow, but it almost seems stupid not to pull the trigger.

Again, I'm sure this wasn't their intention, but in the end it may really work in their favor.

 

[OldGoat]

Some very interesting takes here. It is one of those things that seems to come down to one's personal optics and life experiences. I spent most of my career in project./program management overseeing large, complex projects. No doubt, this has impacted my personal perspective.

For example, never in a million years did I see the e-mail as "threatening". I hate to think what words would be used to describe some of the e-mails I sent out and meetings I held with project teams.

Similarly, I don't understand the outrage over the fact that one is not able to change anything at any time. When I put in my reservation, I saw the disclaimer on price and functionality. It seemed reasonable and expected, so I just kinda assumed my price would go up. As a max packer, I still have another year to wait and, quite frankly, am a bit shocked that my price is locked in now! Prices go up for everything, including paint and wheels, even vegan leather. It's all going up...well except for my R1T.

Like most people on here that have never seen the truck in person, I am a bit on the fence with color and wheel choices. However, I made the decision day one based on the information I had available to me at the time. Again, goes to my own experiences where you are forced to make hundreds of decisions based on best available information at the time. Delaying decisions almost always has consequences be it cost, schedule or quality. So, I've always assumed 1) prices may go up and 2) if I change something, it will likely impact price and/or schedule.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that my way is the best way to look at things (I've been married far too long to go down that path!), just that it is interesting to see the different reactions.

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