Unresponsive Customer Service?

[dleewla]

Trying to be patient, BUT, not for much longer. Has anyone else had a similar experience with Customer Service?

Had R1T 2 weeks, and got a nail in the tire sidewall. I dont have a spare. Called CS day of incident and told they will expedite a replacement to me in 1-2days. Then nothing. Called next day, no info, no update. Told will provide update that day. then nothing, again. Next day I contact my guide, who says they'll get to the bottom of it. then nothing. Call CS again (3rd day in a row), and no info, no update. Told I'll get a call back....... nothing.

CS is polite and empathic but I need information and results! Why cant they tell me when they can get me a tire? 2 days or 2 weeks, either way just let me know so I can plan my transportation!

communication from Rivian? oh, we know what to expect.

this is what happens when you are a company focused on production and delivery because of shareholders and stock price. even if it means service sucks and there aren't enough parts to support customers.

i mean i dont necessarily disagree with that approach but the result is what were seeing with service centers right now in large part and why all the little issues with the R1 are starting to add up.

Sponsored

 

[NY_Rob]

Even if it's due to Pirelli not delivering tires right now, Rivian can't say we have 4,000 22" tires available so let's deliver 1,000 trucks with 22"s. They have to hold some back for customer needs... especially a vital commonly damaged part like a tire.

 

[atebit]

“supply chain issues”

 

[SoCal Rob]

Even if it's due to Pirelli not delivering tires right now, Rivian can't say we have 4,000 22" tires available so let's deliver 1,000 trucks with 22"s. They have to hold some back for customer needs... especially a vital commonly damaged part like a tire.

Could it be that decision makers at Rivian aren’t aware of the fact that they apparently have the entire output from their tire supplier in the U.S.? Maybe they went to buy more for service issues and were told by Pirelli that the 22” cupboard is bare.

Assuming that Pirelli is also in the business of manufacturing as much as they can sell, and assuming that tire manufacturers do some kind of consumer demand analysis then why didn’t they make enough?

This is not a unique situation where a vehicle manufacturer agrees to purchase specific tires from a tire manufacturer as OEM equipment for the first time in history. I would hope that the tire manufacturers go through some analysis. As an example: If I sell 40,000 of tire x to a car manufacturer then I need to manufacture 2,000 of tire x for TireRack and other sales channels which carry our product otherwise consumers won’t be able to buy our replacement tires when they are needed.

If Rivian doesn’t have enough Rivian-branded parts which can only be purchased from Rivian to keep trucks on the road then that’s a Rivian problem. In my book it is unreasonable to expect that Rivian is responsible for managing Pirelli’s entire U.S. stock of tires which happen to fit their vehicles.

 

[crashmtb]

Rivian should hsve some sort of safety/minimum stock level for things like tires at service centres.

I'm sure they’ve heard of kanban

 

[emoore]

Even if it's due to Pirelli not delivering tires right now, Rivian can't say we have 4,000 22" tires available so let's deliver 1,000 trucks with 22"s. They have to hold some back for customer needs... especially a vital commonly damaged part like a tire.

Really? Would you expect that from ford or bmw? I would never expect a manufacturer to replace a tire, that’s what tire companies are for.

 

[NY_Rob]

^ we're talking about a very specialized custom made tire that's only manufactured by one tire company in the world and it only fits one vehicle which has two other tire size options available. I would classify that as extremely rare. It will never be stocked by any local tire company and maybe not even at regional warehouses. So yes, I do expect Rivian to keep some in reserve for Service Center/customer needs. Why would you expect a "tire company" to stock a product that they would likely never sell?

Funny you askied if I would expect BMW to carry replacement tires.. well, yes, they do exactly that! My i3 is similar to the R1T, it's tires are only made by a single manufacturer on the planet. The only fit an i3, no other BMW's or any other vehicle... a very specialized/rare tire, just like the R1T's 22" tires. No tire store stocks those tires, if you need one today.. you go to a BMW dealer and if they don't have on on hand.. they usually get one for you in one day. I expect the same from Rivian with their super rare custom made 22" tires. Waiting 15 days to get a tire for a current production vehicle is unacceptable.

Lesson for all Rivian owners... invest a few extra $$$ and purchase a spare with your Rivian.

 

[SoCal Rob]

^ we're talking about a very specialized custom made tire that's only manufactured by one tire company in the world and it only fits one vehicle which has two other tire size options available. I would classify that as extremely rare. It will never be stocked by any local tire company and maybe not even at regional warehouses. So yes, I do expect Rivian to keep some in reserve for Service Center/customer needs. Why would you expect a "tire company" to stock a product that they would likely never sell?

First, the way you’re describing these tires I think you may be talking about the 21s and not the 22s which OP is trying to locate.

Second, “…a product that they would like never sell?” Let’s be reasonable: tires are considered wear items. People replace wear items like tires, windshield wipers, and brake pads pretty frequently and a lot of them don‘t go to the dealer or manufacturer for replacements. It you were talking about the metal rim then I’d be totally onboard with you. It was designed by Rivian, sourced by them, and not really a wear item.

Again, assuming that Pirelli is in the business of manufacturing as much as they can sell, and assuming that all tire manufacturers do some kind of consumer demand analysis then why didn’t they make enough?

I think that the tire manufacturers go through some analysis to determine need since people regularly encounter road hazards and wear out tires… and tire manufacturers make money by selling tires. Wear will probably be more of an issue on a 7,000+ pound vehicle with the power and torque some drivers will be fully using. I bet all tire manufacturers have some statistical model or experience to guide them on how many they need to manufacture per quantity sold to a vehicle manufacturer.

Lesson for all Rivian owners... invest a few extra $$$ and purchase a spare with your Rivian.

I completely agree with this and if a vehicle could fit a factory-supplied spare then I always had one in the vehicle: full size or compact.

I still think that if Rivian doesn’t have enough Rivian-branded parts (like rims) which can only be purchased from Rivian to keep trucks on the road then that’s a Rivian problem. Rivian isn’t responsible for managing Pirelli’s entire U.S. stock of tires which happen to fit Rivian vehicles. I don’t know why Pirelli didn’t make enough (supplier issues of their own?), but they simply haven’t made enough for needs after the vehicle purchase yet.

edit:grammar

 

[NY_Rob]

Rivian should have some sort of safety/minimum stock level for things like tires at service centres.

I agree, but that doesn't seem to be the popular opinion around here. Let the owners fend for themselves with local and online tire shops. Tires are not a manufacturers responsibility.

 

[AO_Pete]

They are the manufacturer's responsibility if the manufacturer is consuming the entire inventory of tires. Happens all the time with new 'non-standard' vehicles, and the tire shops aren't going to try too hard when they know it probably impacts <0.5% of their customer base. Tesla had similar issues in the early days of Model S, they were the only place you could get a replacement tire.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I agree, but that doesn't seem to be the popular opinion around here. Let the owners fend for themselves with local and online tire shops. Tires are not a manufacturers responsibility.

Right, dealer service operations may stock tires, but what happens when the tire manufacturer doesn’t have enough to satisfy all customer (manufacturer, dealers, large tire chains, and small tire shops) demands? You see the issue we are discussing.

I’m fine holding Rivian accountable for things which are truly their responsibility: items branded as Rivian and only available for purchase via Rivian. I think most reasonable people would agree: If you can’t find a particular Pirelli branded tire anywhere then that’s a Pirelli supply issue.

 

[SoCal Rob]

They are the manufacturer's responsibility if the manufacturer is consuming the entire inventory of tires. Happens all the time with new 'non-standard' vehicles, and the tire shops aren't going to try too hard when they know it probably impacts <0.5% of their customer base. Tesla had similar issues in the early days of Model S, they were the only place you could get a replacement tire.

The only reason Rivian would be consuming the entire inventory of those tires is because Pirelli didn’t make enough.

I’m pretty sure the way this works is that Rivian contracts with Pirelli for a quantity of tires; Rivian doesn’t dictate that Pirelli is forbidden from producing more tires than Rivian buys. Since TireRack and others seem able to order these tires but can’t get them, it isn’t a case where Pirelli is obligated to only sell these tires to Rivian.

Even if Rivian had an exclusive deal where Pirelli was forbidden from selling tires to anyone other than Rivian, it still wouldn’t preclude Pirelli from producing more tires and keeping the stock in the U.S. for future Rivian needs.

Pirelli cannot meet the vehicle owner demand for these tires and to me it seems silly to blame Rivian for that.

 

[crashmtb]

I agree, but that doesn't seem to be the popular opinion around here. Let the owners fend for themselves with local and online tire shops. Tires are not a manufacturers responsibility.

When the tires are a proprietary size, and it's a brand new vehicle...tires are certainly a manufacturer's responsibility.

But it's also on Pirelli and their distributors.

a zero sum game in this case - nobody wins.

 

[NY_Rob]

The only reason Rivian would be consuming the entire inventory of those tires is because Pirelli didn’t make enough.

Yes, so when Rivian is getting low and communicates to Pirelli "we need more tires" and Pirelli responds "we don't have any more to give you" Rivian needs to immediately hold some back for existing customers who get blowouts, etc. You don't just keep manufacturing vehicles till you literally run out of tires. That is completely irresponsible and leads to people having to wait 2 weeks or longer (and who knows if that is even accurate.. it's not like Rivian ever kept a date promise yet) because they got a flat tire.

 

[Mathme]

This is one reason I'm leaning away from the 21" wheels..with only one size available, there's a real bind there. There are however, two options that may help the OP here:

1. Order a spare tire from Rivian? They may not have a spare tire available, but maybe a spare tire and wheel in their service supply chain.
2. a Quick peek at Tire Rack shows there are 4-5 different tires in the 22" size that can be delivered within a couple of days to my location. You may have to buy 4 new tires in this case and swap out. This wouldn't necessarily be a total loss, as then you'd have three you could possibly sell on this forum to others who may be in your situation.

Just a couple alternatives to maybe get you back down the road sooner...

Sponsored