Gaithersburg, MD Service Center: Get it together

[tyfly867]

Total nightmare dealing with this service center, and my service experience as a whole. Multiple calls back and forth to schedule a service over a period of weeks on the most minor of an issue, can't figure out whether it's a mobile unit visit or requires a visit to the service center (to replace a review mirror cap). Finally schedules a mobile appointment. Day of: no call, no shows for the appointment. WTF. And there's no accountiablitiy. The best I can do is call the main service center and talk to some service rep in California who has no idea what's going on. I feel bad for them when I make my frustrations known, but there's literally no one else I can contact regarding this absurdity.

Not the first poor experience with the service side of Rivian either. The service side of this company is seriously deteriorating the enthusiasm I want to have for the brand.

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[connoisseurr]

They’re very busy, but it doesn’t excuse the no show, no call.

When you call central service, ask for a service advisor email address from Gaithersburg.

 

[tk21]

They “forgot” my first appointment when they were at Capitol Heights, took 3 months to reschedule, 2 weeks after drop off to start work, and still had to fix things on pickup. My second appointment just scheduled isn’t until mid-January (next availability). Pretty frustrating.

 

[R1Thor]

I just dropped off in Gaithersburg, yesterday.
They are absolutely slammed.

And I honestly didn't enjoy the fact that it took me over an hour and a half to get back on the road (because I still had to get to work), as the transition to getting a rental/loaner was long and convoluted.

That said, everyone I encountered was super friendly, really genuine, and I believe they wanted to represent Rivian well and make all of their customers genuinely happy and whole. All of this despite the fact that they're being held accountable for volume beyond their personal control.

I know it stings, and it's inexcusable that you were missed, but I'm also relatively certain no single person at that service center set out to sleight you or dismiss your concerns. I would remain firm, but polite when you speak to anyone at service. Afterall, you catch more flies with honey! We're all human.

I, myself, had to wait ~4 months for this service visit. Ideal? No. But I also want them to take their time and get it right. Fortunately, I've had no MAJOR issues with the truck that would prevent it from being drive-able.

Hopefully you get your concerns heard and you issues resolved soon. Good luck, OP.

 

[WorldComposting]

Hmm this is good to know as I'm about to book a service in Gaithersburg. My vehicle just came up with an SOS warning and I lost LTE, Wifi, and GPS. Car is still drivable but now I wonder how long it might take to get fixed.

I also need to rotate my tires and was planning on going through the Rivian Service Center but maybe I'll just buy all the stuff and do it myself.

 

[diehlryan]

That said, everyone I encountered was super friendly, really genuine, and I believe they wanted to represent Rivian well and make all of their customers genuinely happy and whole. All of this despite the fact that they're being held accountable for volume beyond their personal control.

Yeah, when you're there they have no problem putting on a happy face and listening to you. From there on out they don't get a crap about your experience. They closed 2 items on my service center ticket that were not fixed.

1. Rattles under drivers floor. Tech couldn't replicate - CALL ME AND ASK FOR MORE INFO!
2. Highway Assist/Driver+ doesn't work at all. "Highway Info not available." - No shit, that was my complaint. Truck is not recognizing highways where assist/driver+ is available.

No mention of either by the SC rep when picking up the truck. Let me jump in like everything was good to go!

 

[tyfly867]

I understand they are busy, but that is no excuse for their incompetence, poor execution, untimeliness, and lack of follow up.

I’m not one to get angry at random phone support staff, but I will politely call out BS where BS exists, and express my dissatisfaction. Honest feedback is an important part of growth. And Rivian needs to grow up.

 

[R1Thor]

Yeah, when you're there they have no problem putting on a happy face and listening to you. From there on out they don't get a crap about your experience. They closed 2 items on my service center ticket that were not fixed.

1. Rattles under drivers floor. Tech couldn't replicate - CALL ME AND ASK FOR MORE INFO!
2. Highway Assist/Driver+ doesn't work at all. "Highway Info not available." - No shit, that was my complaint. Truck is not recognizing highways where assist/driver+ is available.

No mention of either by the SC rep when picking up the truck. Let me jump in like everything was good to go!

Just curious if they gave you a walkaround and gave you the chance to ask questions/verify anything, or did they just hand you the keys and give you the impression it was time to go?

 

[diehlryan]

Just curious if they gave you a walkaround and gave you the chance to ask questions/verify anything, or did they just hand you the keys and give you the impression it was time to go?

“We will bring truck around and youre teady to go. “

I should have asked so shame on me. Shame on them for not mentioning items that were not resolved.

 

[WorldComposting]

Alight just made my appointment for next week to hopefully fix the SOS issue. I'm curious to see how long they need to keep the R1S.

I'm supposed to get a loaner so we will see how it goes. I was debating on dropping off this Friday so my wife could drive me back but with a loaner they at least have some skin in the game and so my wife doesn't need to take off when I pick the vehicle up.

This is my first experience and you have me worried. I decided not to add in the tire rotation as I won't be able to guarantee it was done.

 

[virgnia_rivian]

Alight just made my appointment for next week to hopefully fix the SOS issue. I'm curious to see how long they need to keep the R1S.

I'm supposed to get a loaner so we will see how it goes. I was debating on dropping off this Friday so my wife could drive me back but with a loaner they at least have some skin in the game and so my wife doesn't need to take off when I pick the vehicle up.

This is my first experience and you have me worried. I decided not to add in the tire rotation as I won't be able to guarantee it was done.

We were in for service at Gaithersburg in Sept. They told us 2-3 weeks, but they had it done in 2 days. We had one warranty item, spare install and a tire rotation.

 

[KBabione]

Just curious if they gave you a walkaround and gave you the chance to ask questions/verify anything, or did they just hand you the keys and give you the impression it was time to go?

We picked up our R1S in Gaithersburg on August 21st and the rep spent a full two hours with us setting up our PAAKs, confirming that the card keys worked, explaining all of the features, and lastly going around and looking at all of the details with us. We also did a drive around the block of buildings near the SC. I felt the handover was done really well and never felt hurried. The only question that I forgot to ask was regarding the crossbars (our charger had arrived a couple of weeks before we took delivery and the crossbars arrived about two weeks after).

All of my other questions (so far) have been answered by looking at this forum - it's been great!

 

[R1Thor]

“We will bring truck around and youre teady to go. “

I should have asked so shame on me. Shame on them for not mentioning items that were not resolved.

Yeah, that's a tough one. I wouldn't beat yourself up. I'd likely have done the same exact thing (assumed we were solid and not wanting to be a bother), left, and then in hindsight wished I'd prodded to make sure everything was done to my satisfaction... But, to your point, you shouldn't need to.

I will be sure to go down the list of items that (should) were fixed and make sure they're done.

 

[beyond]

Mine goes in next week to gaithersberg. Regarding the rental, how does that work? They have ones there or do you have to uber somewhere else like enterprise where you get a car?

 

[R1Thor]

Mine goes in next week to gaithersberg. Regarding the rental, how does that work? They have ones there or do you have to uber somewhere else like enterprise where you get a car?

They shuttled me (and at least 4 other people during the time I was there) to Enterprise. Enterprise set me up with an R1S. I tried to ask if Rivian was using them simply to manage their 'loaners' or if Enterprise was...enterprising enough to simply buy some Rivians from Rivian to charge Rivian a premium for 'rentals.' The (nice) lady I spoke with had only been there for 4 months, so she wasn't sure.

That said, the R1S I accepted only had 61% SoC and they only have small chargers there (plugged in via NEMA 14-50), so while they offered to 'top off' while I 'went to lunch,' I declined and decided to try my luck getting to work, then home (they DID offer me to switch to a 100% SoC Kia EV6, which I also declined). I have an R1T--if it's not apparent from my profile photo, and wasn't sure what kind of 'economy' I'd get from the R1S comparatively--my typical 141 mile commute typically costs me ~180 miles of range. Fortunately, I made it home with just over 50 miles left, so that went better than anticipated. FWIW, with 61% SoC, that particular R1S was advertising 187 miles of range.

Enterprise was, however, pretty busy and only had 2 people servicing getting people checked in, cleaning cars, and doing the walkarounds, so that took much longer than I cared for (especially wanting to get to work).

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