[BeardedBandit]

An Open Letter to RJ and Rivian –

As a pre-order holder, we helped Rivian get to where it is today. The collective number of our pre-orders are mentioned on earnings calls, cited for fundraising, and added credibility to the market demand for EV’s and for Rivian’s place in that future. We signed up years ago to be a part of this journey, many of us investing further with pre-IPO offers, helping to support Rivian’s future.

But our reward… was nothing. For years of loyalty, investment, advocacy, and of course waiting patiently for our dream EV’s to arrive. We were met with increased prices, an increase that could pay for an entire ICE vehicle, and no acknowledgment of our contribution to Rivian’s success thus far.

We can’t think of a bigger slap in the face from a company that we helped build. Simply put – we are disheartened and disappointed by this lack of consideration for our contribution. For us pre-order holders that have been with you for years – why should we even keep our reservations? We helped you, but you have taken us for granted.
But complaining without suggestions for resolution isn’t going to solve this problem.

Here are some ideas for how to resolve this:

• Offer discounts for those who have been with Rivian since before a specific date – you know, the pre-order holders that you used in fundraising materials, IPO filings, etc. Doesn’t have to be the same price we committed to years ago but let’s maybe… meet in the middle. Something is better than nothing, eh?
• Offer priority on future vehicles if we can no longer afford these price increases – maybe we can’t afford the R1 models anymore, but put us at the top of the list for R2 generation?
• Offer other ways for us to invest where we may see value and can still contribute to Rivian’s future – Similar to employee stock purchase programs, maybe offer us pre-holder the ability to buy more stock at a discounted price to help us both invest in the company but make a bit more money to help pay for the jump in cost of our vehicles.

At our core, we believe in the company, we believe in the mission. We are offended that you don’t seem to care about those who helped you get to this point.
Sincerely,

R1S Pre-Order holder of 25 months.

 

[eHauler]

Hey @BeardedBandit. I think the solutions you presented here are great and should be what Rivian considers. Adding to this should be a timeline of how when they should respond. The longer they drag this on, the worst it's going to get.

If they don't act soon enough, are you going to move on?

 

[Chris S]

IMO, your ideas for a resolution, while well-intentioned, are too late. I no longer trust or feel any appreciation from leadership, and won't be able to patronize them until/unless the current leadership team responsible for this debacle is replaced. I'm out.

 

[BeardedBandit]

Hey @BeardedBandit. I think the solutions you presented here are great and should be what Rivian considers. Adding to this should be a timeline of how when they should respond. The longer they drag this on, the worst it's going to get.

If they don't act soon enough, are you going to move on?

Honestly, I don’t really know. I don’t know a car that overlaps with this functionality and size.

 

[BeardedBandit]

IMO, your ideas for a resolution, while well-intentioned, are too late. I no longer trust or fell any love from leadership, and won't be able to patronize them until/unless the current leadership team responsible for this debacle is replaced. I'm out.

Let’s be real, it’s all to GD late. The hardest part about this is that no one at Rivian seemed to care that we helped get them here, and now they throw us in the trash. Hard to trust them.

 

[Coughdrop]

Hardest part is… I dont think they realize they are still nowhere - there is still such a long road ahead… to pull a drastic change like this now is just irresponsible as a company - honestly concerns me as a shareholder.

 

[BeardedBandit]

Hardest part is… I dont think they realize they are still nowhere - there is still such a long road ahead… to pull a drastic change like this now is just irresponsible as a company - honestly concerns me as a shareholder.

Seriously, how they’ve handled this seems so abstract to the vibes they’ve been putting out so far. They’ve got to walk this back to show they actually listen to their customers.

 

[BlackH20]

I hope you all have some luck, but I am out when an emerging company with nearly $100K trucks for sale with a customer service email sent to me, directing me to look at my configuration for a $20K price increase. The CEO made his decision, as did all of the top management, and this is what they think of you. The previous head of Sales and Marketing stated they knew that they could never sell one truck at a profit before the IPO. This is very concerning and, after yesterday, seems to have some weight to it. R.J. will have a tough week next week, with no softballs on the earnings call. I sold the stock canceled my order. Either remove the CEO or get qualified people to manage an emerging car company. At the least, your accountants are the worst in the industry. White paint is free, but it's a $1750.00 option on an SUV with a glass roof the next day? No, inflation is not at 20% on an $80-90K vehicle. That's a sad excuse. You ruined a good brand and core group that supported you; I find it hard to see a recovery with an old Mitsubishi plant that's the biggest chore is turning out delivery vans. The most communications I ever got were to sell coffee cups and T-Shirts.

Rivian surprises, outrages EV truck buyers with 20% price hike [Updated]

Price hike hits nearly all preorders, with lower-spec trucks years away.

arstechnica.com

This case is going to get a lot of visibility, what she says is exactly true about the price and price increases after the IPO

Good luck to all the buyers. You deserve it after this long wait and inferior customer service at this price point. I am 65 and bought 20-30 cars over a lifetime, and lucky enough to buy some high-end cars. I know what service is at this level, and Rivian and their CEO are not near it.

 

[Coughdrop]

Seriously, how they’ve handled this seems so abstract to the vibes they’ve been putting out so far. They’ve got to walk this back to show they actually listen to their customers.

I agree… but how do they walk this back now… I would say a lot of the loyal people that pre-ordered and I would have expected to stick with the pre-order were/are members here… and look at the cancelation poll thus far … 67% cancelation rate… that’s insane.

Earnings call should be interesting…

 

[CeeB]

This is a company that just raised $12 billion in an IPO. Let's assume that they revert all 50,000 reservation holders back to the original pricing, and absorb the roughly $20k per order price increase. That would be a $1 billion hit to profit margin. But in return, you retain a legion of devoted and enthusiastic fans who are getting exactly what they wanted at the price they wanted. You have 50,000 cars on the road, showcasing your brand with happy drivers behind the wheels.

Instead, now you have a few people reluctantly "holding on to see what happens" and you have a whole lot of people like me who are so furious that we cancelled our orders and want nothing to do with the Rivian brand ever again.

Did anyone take the time to do this math and think maybe it might be worth the investment?

 

[BeardedBandit]

This is a company that just raised $12 billion in an IPO. Let's assume that they revert all 50,000 reservation holders back to the original pricing, and absorb the roughly $20k per order price increase. That would be a $1 billion hit to profit margin. But in return, you retain a legion of devoted and enthusiastic fans who are getting exactly what they wanted at the price they wanted. You have 50,000 cars on the road, showcasing your brand with happy drivers behind the wheels.

Instead, now you have a few people reluctantly "holding on to see what happens" and you have a whole lot of people like me who are so furious that we cancelled our orders and want nothing to do with the Rivian brand ever again.

Did anyone take the time to do this math and think maybe it might be worth the investment?

Spot on. They lost that in market cap because of this blunder, so clearly it backfired.

 

[O. horridus]

Another idea:
Offer us (LE reservation holders) $1000 down payment (= reservation amount), 0% financing. My quick calculation shows the savings on that would be about $10,000 over 5 years, compared to 4% on a $100,000 loan. That's half of the price increase, so it ends up splitting the increased cost between Rivian and the customer, as well as gets them recurring income, builds their financing business, and maintains a customer relationship. And prevents me from having to sell highly-appreciated stocks and pay 20% capital gains tax on the money I'm using to buy the Rivian, so that saves me more. It doesn't really compensate for the way they've handled things, but it's a compromise that benefits both parties without having to walk back the price increase.

 

[BlackH20]

This is a company that just raised $12 billion in an IPO. Let's assume that they revert all 50,000 reservation holders back to the original pricing, and absorb the roughly $20k per order price increase. That would be a $1 billion hit to profit margin. But in return, you retain a legion of devoted and enthusiastic fans who are getting exactly what they wanted at the price they wanted. You have 50,000 cars on the road, showcasing your brand with happy drivers behind the wheels.

Instead, now you have a few people reluctantly "holding on to see what happens" and you have a whole lot of people like me who are so furious that we cancelled our orders and want nothing to do with the Rivian brand ever again.

Did anyone take the time to do this math and think maybe it might be worth the investment?

Today it sure is not worth it; they lost billions in the company's value, the sales of the trucks, that is when they can even deliver them would not be booked for the next two to three years. I can have a lovely house built in a year, and that appreciates, I am not waiting 3-4 years on a truck. Also, they complicated the whole ordering system with different configurations, lower battery ranges, two electric motors versus four, a whole lot of explaining when you have been chasing people to configure their truck that still they can't make yet. Do you want to wait a few years? Do they make it? History is pretty bad. You think they could at least say this price is locked in, but they're so scattered they can't quote it. What if they underestimated Amazon's order and are taking a loss on every van? Do you think Amazon took a 20% increase on their order? Hell no. It is really bad when you lose the head of sales and marketing at launch time. The language is the same, and they can raise the price every six months. People can compare all day long, but there is no comparison unless you have a product to deliver to the consumer.

 

[sciencegeek]

This is a company that just raised $12 billion in an IPO. Let's assume that they revert all 50,000 reservation holders back to the original pricing, and absorb the roughly $20k per order price increase. That would be a $1 billion hit to profit margin. But in return, you retain a legion of devoted and enthusiastic fans who are getting exactly what they wanted at the price they wanted. You have 50,000 cars on the road, showcasing your brand with happy drivers behind the wheels.

Instead, now you have a few people reluctantly "holding on to see what happens" and you have a whole lot of people like me who are so furious that we cancelled our orders and want nothing to do with the Rivian brand ever again.

Did anyone take the time to do this math and think maybe it might be worth the investment?

You're assuming they can fill 50,000 orders in some reasonable time frame. They can't. They have to cull reservations, and they might as well do that with a price hike.

 

[BlackH20]

You're assuming they can fill 50,000 orders in some reasonable time frame. They can't. They have to cull reservations, and they might as well do that with a price hike.

The Board and CEO and top management analyzed this six ways to Sunday. The best they could come up with was to piss on 50K early adopters of their brand who have waited for months and years. Wait a week, SEC is going to be looking very hard next weeks earnings call and top investment funds that lost millions on the stock price, not a grand or two, like me on the stock. These boys got problems on their hands, be cautious with your money people. Reviewers don't buy cars, they get them for a day or a few, they don't wait for repairs, live with defects and most of all poor customer service. I remember when the Chevy Citation was Car of the Year. A piece of crap. Don't buy into saving the earth, I have done three tours for this country in the sandbox of hell on this world and it will take centuries, civilizations and tribes to get other countires anywhere near our standard of living in the United States 50 years ago. Look, we can't even feed and supply water to everyone yet, but your going to save the earth and show it by what you drive. You got the USA buying 800 Million of barrels of oil from Russia, that is actually today and tomorrow, (ya, we won't sanction that) as long as we don't produce it we feel better. Say prayers for Ukraine, when two to three live nuclear plants are in the middle of a new war zone now you have a real pollution problem. It's noble, but don't drink too much of the kool-aid. There is a lot of bad shit happening in countries you have never heard of. Tail pipe emissions aren't going to change the world in the next 100 years. Been in the middle east where coal burning under homes is so hot they have to wet down the floors two to three times a day to walk in their homes. Chemicals spilling into rivers and ocean were there are no regulations. No plumbing for human waste in many countires. China and India are in no agreements to stop burning coal or stopping pollution, their just hitting their industrial revolution, people there would love to have one old ICE car. Watch the Madison Avenue Marketing, be cautious with your cash with companies like this that make you feel guilty or proud of what your driving as their target. I thought it looked like a good value, $80K for a SUV, $7500 federal, $2500 state, but a $20K jack up in one day is so poor, plus pay the 8% sales tax on that $20K. I'll go with a proven company, proven service nettwork and huge pockets, like the big three and all my needs and most of ours can be met. And if you go with, good luck, maybe they will embrace the cusotmer instead of their own pockets, but it may be too late.

 

[JimmyEV]

This is a company that just raised $12 billion in an IPO. Let's assume that they revert all 50,000 reservation holders back to the original pricing, and absorb the roughly $20k per order price increase. That would be a $1 billion hit to profit margin. But in return, you retain a legion of devoted and enthusiastic fans who are getting exactly what they wanted at the price they wanted. You have 50,000 cars on the road, showcasing your brand with happy drivers behind the wheels.

Instead, now you have a few people reluctantly "holding on to see what happens" and you have a whole lot of people like me who are so furious that we cancelled our orders and want nothing to do with the Rivian brand ever again.

Did anyone take the time to do this math and think maybe it might be worth the investment?

Agreed, given how much money they've raised you'd think some of that money would be saved for a situation like this where they can take a hit for existing customers and then made the pricing changes. What they've done instead benefits no one on either side.