Rivian Customer Service: SiriusXM Radio will not be native part of the entertainment system

[Gshenderson]

My only $.02 is joy knowing that I'll never have to have a run-in with XM Customer Support ever again. When I bought my 2011 Leaf in 2019 it had that as an option. So I activated for a few months as a trial. Then cancelled it once I heard the dial-up compression audio quality.

They then continued to charge me monthly. Shame on me for not checking, I raged at all level of Customer Service. They claimed it was cancelled. Back and forth. Took three months to get it officially cancelled and no funds were ever compensated.

Similar experience here. Signed up for it once with a new car. Hardly ever used it, but then when I sold that car I called and cancelled. It took 4 calls over a 6 month period to finally get the, to stop charging me, and even then they refused to refund me back to the first call. Never again. Absolutely horrible company from my experience. I won’t lose any sleep over not having XM capability in my Rivian.

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[CarterGee]

I'm just gonna say it... XM is trashy and it should die and no lux car should have it as a persistent option and it doesn't make sense to have the hardware to receive it and I hate XM and I'm happy I don't ever have to see it in my upcoming truck.

 

[SANZC02]

Similar experience here. Signed up for it once with a new car. Hardly ever used it, but then when I sold that car I called and cancelled. It took 4 calls over a 6 month period to finally get the, to stop charging me, and even then they refused to refund me back to the first call. Never again. Absolutely horrible company from my experience. I won’t lose any sleep over not having XM capability in my Rivian.

I do not think that is unique to Sirius XM.

I never do auto pay for anything, if they do not have a 6 or 12 month prepay option I won't get the service.

 

[Diddy123]

I'm just gonna say it... XM is trashy

In terms of quality, agreed. In terms of business practices, agreed. In terms of usefulness, I disagree. It may be niche, but it serves it's purpose very well.

it doesn't make sense to have the hardware to receive it

When 20% of driving adults are paying for that service, clearly there is a real demand for many. Most companies would kill for that kind of market capture. It's also become expected by most folks to be a standard feature. Not saying that's right or wrong but when 95% of new cars include it, across all levels of luxury, it seems like a mistake by Rivian to exclude it.

 

[jeeden]

No worries here, we never got beyond the trial period with any of our last 3 vehicles. For road trips we love just having the music, podcasts, movies, etc all downloaded on devices through Amazon, disney, google, etc.

Figure in a couple of years SpaceX will have figured out how to miniaturize their Starlink dish and receiver to put somewhere on the vehicle and have gigabit internet anywhere and that will be the final end of satellite radio.

 

[Craigins]

I will miss it. I will definitely look at after market solutions.

Mainly due to music genre. I like BPM and Chill on SXM, so electronic dance music. There are some podcast like alternatives, but that really limits what I get exposed to. Also those stations tend to have shows played by djs that aren't available elsewhere.

 

[Bumble1978]

I will miss it. I will definitely look at after market solutions.

Mainly due to music genre. I like BPM and Chill on SXM, so electronic dance music. There are some podcast like alternatives, but that really limits what I get exposed to. Also those stations tend to have shows played by djs that aren't available elsewhere.

Message me directly. I gotchu. I'm a Huge EDM/Trance/Chill podcast connossiour. Pretty much only listen to DJ Mixed podcasts, you should see my google podcasts account lol not many you cannot find on either place, and many publish to both.

 

[Smithery]

People buy iPhones and Samsung flagship phones, despite many much less expensive options available. Rivian will sell R1Ts, despite cheaper F150 configurations that will exist.

There is a market for better/premium implementations. People will pay more for what they perceive as a nicer experience.

I know people who would never pay for factory navigation because they can just suction-cup their phone and block their view of the road. But to me, that's an insane idea.

If you're okay with the aftermarket SiriusXM tuner, then you can do that. Someone else would cringe at the thought, however.

What I'm proposing is a Rivian-built module to add SiriusXM. It would certainly cost more than $70. But some people who really want SiriusXM, might be willing to pay $499 for the hardware to get a first-class integration.

I understand what you're saying.

It's why I paid $500 for an iPod integration module that barely worked until it stopped working altogether.

Fact of the matter is... not having the factory iPod integration was never going to be a deal breaker for me then. And I wager not having factory Sirius isn't going to be a dealbreaker for anyone who has already decided the Rivian is for them.

Even if a handful of preorders cancel because of this, they're still sold out well into the first year or two of production capacity as-is, which gives them plenty of time to consider it based on feedback from such cancelations.

Getting any product out the door is HARD, much less your very FIRST product... much less your very first product AS COMPLICATED AS THIS ONE.


In other words: "We're already behind and already have complaints that the truck is more expensive than folks originally thought. Should we make it take even longer and potentially make it even more expensive for everyone.... Or should we get what we have out the door and start our list for v2?"

I bet even most of the Sirius diehards from rural Pennsylvania would rather have their truck sooner at this price than pay more for it later.

To give another example, Tesla charges $325 for their HomeLink module. You may find that absurd and think you'll just velcro your $10 FOB to the headliner... But I'd pay the $325 for the better integration.

To give another counterexample, Tesla sells a vast majority of their cars with no SiriusXM hardware

You can buy a Model Y today that costs more than an R1T Explore, almost as much as R1T Adventure, and has no SiriusXM hardware.

And if there's an outcry about it, it's not keeping Tesla from selling every one they make.

TLDR: I understand the desire for this, but there's no way they will or even should delay and spend more money to get it in v1.

 

[jimcgov3]

Was this not realized once we found out that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were not part of the entertainment suite? Next thread topics to get your keyboards ready for:

Rivian Customer Service: HD Radio will NOT be part of the entertainment suite.

Rivian Customer Service: MapQuest Printouts will cost users $0.10/page

Rivian Customer Service: Motorola Bag Phone cut from the final design.

 

[eggpaul]

I love XM. Lots of cool stations . Guess I'll keep it in my Volt.

 

[Babbuino]

In terms of quality, agreed. In terms of business practices, agreed. In terms of usefulness, I disagree. It may be niche, but it serves it's purpose very well.

When 20% of driving adults are paying for that service, clearly there is a real demand for many. Most companies would kill for that kind of market capture. It's also become expected by most folks to be a standard feature. Not saying that's right or wrong but when 95% of new cars include it, across all levels of luxury, it seems like a mistake by Rivian to exclude it.

I've also had a bad experience with XM, but to your point, it seems like the user base keeps growing year by year. XM should be a must for adventure vehicles since the adventures could be I'm places without cell signal. Well, I guess full size spare tires should also be a must, but the R1S won't come with one... maybe people who really want XM may just have to tie it on the roof next to the full size spare tire like in the latest video in Moab...

 

[AndroidAppBundle]

good point. Rivian is supposed to be for off-roading and really exploring. This means venturing in to area’s without cell service. So the idea of just streaming content in a Rivian vehicle can be a stretch. There are channels that I do enjoy on XM, and a lot of shows that are syndicated, and a pain in the butt to try and get otherwise (requiring more subscriptions, more apps, constant internet).

No reason to hate on XM. I know more than a few people who have it in every vehicle they own.

i dont get cell phone coverage through most of central PA, so the radio is all I have when I drive to the cabin.....

 

[AndroidAppBundle]

I know what you mean. A lot of shows stream on SXM, especially from festivals different clubs. They have a lot of exclusives, and I’ve more than once found myself not able to find sets from SXM online- it amazes me at times that someone wasn’t pirating it.
Now that I think of it - it is a no brainer. Out in the Rivian, no mans land, no cell service, but you are able to bump the tunes because....SXM.

I will miss it. I will definitely look at after market solutions.

Mainly due to music genre. I like BPM and Chill on SXM, so electronic dance music. There are some podcast like alternatives, but that really limits what I get exposed to. Also those stations tend to have shows played by djs that aren't available elsewhere.

 

[AndroidAppBundle]

And all the substitutes are going to require more development resources.

I do not want this car to be some weird extension of Amazon. I don’t want this to have exclusive support for only Alexa and Audible and Amazon Music.

Rivian is so misguided if they think consumers want the Amazon motor vehicle experience. No one is trying to order a 12 pack of batteries from their vehicle. Amazon music service is terrible. Audible requires a 15$/mo subscription.

No CarPlay support is bold; especially if they offer Android auto. Amazon just doesn’t relate to customers that way. I know no one who is a staunch Amazon Music or Alexa fan. I just feel like Rivian is forcing the Amazon ecosystem hard. This comes at a time when Amazon is thin ice with consumers.

There is nothing more that can suck the soul out of your brand than partnering with the juggernaut Amazon
right now. They are Exxon, like when Exxon had the Alaskan oil spill.


I say this as an Amazon shareholder. They do some things well. But not this

Yeah, the expectation is key.

AA/CP, SiriusXM, and HomeLink are all in the same category for me: things I’ve come to expect in cars at anything greater than an economy price point. I’m curious to see what options Rivian provides us as substitutes, but if you use any or all of these features, eliminating them without a work-around or substitute is going to put some people off.

 

[Richland Scott]

June 2019 preorder holder for R1S. I am a Rivian fan but also not Don Quixote. Would I prefer to have Sirius/XM built into the vehicle? Yes. However, it is not a deal breaker. That is not the biggest issue. The bigger issue is the lack of communication about if Sirius/XM is or isn't in the vehicle. This is a binary answer, either yes it is or no it isn't. Instead of Rivian just telling us what is or isn't included, they engage in this obtuse dance leaving everyone to guess. The same obtuse dance we have been subjected to for months on any number of subjects. RJ promised better communication, this is a promise he isn't keeping. Rivian must figure out its communications shop before there are even more "promises" left unkept.

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