[[email protected]]

Backstory,
Been a Reservation holder since website went live back in 2018 to take orders. Talked a neighbor into putting in an order for an R1S back in 2019 or 2020 (date is irrelevant but background none the less).

Story,
This March they got tired of waiting and so cancelled their order. Two weeks ago I found out and was like "they're starting to ship vehicles, R1S s00n to ship too, when is your window?". Their response was to tell me they cancelled their order. I directed them to call customer service and re-instate their order. So they did this and were told - Rivian is no longer re-instating orders, they only did so due to cancellation for price increase of 1 March, and the last date to re-instate had passed on 20 March.

End of Story,
Bird in the hand isn't worth anything anymore, Rivian has enough business it seems. My friends in turn just ordered a Model Y from Tesla. So maybe Rivian thought they would just put in a new reservation...wrong. Tesla just got a new customer, and knowing my neighbors, will be Tesla for life now vs being Rivian for life. Very short sighted IMO on Rivian's part.

Before I get slammed, yes I get price increase, yes I get cost to manufacture, and yes I get there had to be a date to re-instate. But any sort of public campaign to keep order holders in line - nope, any press release announcing this - nope, just internal arbitrary decision on date.

Ranting complete,
Question - haven't listened to end of quarter earnings telcons, does Rivian announce new order numbers at all? Any data for how many new orders are coming in a month? I'm sure it's way to early to have a capture rate (how many reservations turn into owners - but I'd like to have an idea of this if possible at all.
Dirty_B

 

[derekmw]

I wouldn't say they will be Tesla for life. I've had 3 Tesla's and have on order, my 4th. But I am switching over to R1T as soon as I'm able to get into one.

I completely agree they shouldn't re-instate the order. Someone who just canceled because they didn't want to wait is just that - you lost your spot. If you want it, get a new order and get to the back of the line. As you said, they only re-instated orders which were canceled due to the price increase, and that makes sense to me. I would do the same in their position.

I've ordered my Tesla back in early March and from the forums, it seems my Aug-Oct delivery date is probably going to shift. There are people almost up to a year mark, waiting for their orders. If they cancel and then later change their mind, will Tesla put them back in the spot they were in? Nope. Plus they would have lost their $250 order fee paid.

 

[@Boise]

I think Rivian’s response was appropriate. Stepping out of a line and sometime later expecting to step back in the same spot is not reasonable. They made a decision and should live with that.

No Parts = No R1s

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Reinstating orders was a one-time exception to accommodate customers affected by Rivian's poor business decision. If you had a pre-price-hike reservation which you canceled AFTER the price-hike announcement and BEFORE the "we will honor original pricing" announcement, then you were allowed to reinstate the order. If you didn't fit within that narrow set of circumstances, then reinstatement was never offered.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

So they did this and were told - Rivian is no longer re-instating orders, they only did so due to cancellation for price increase of 1 March, and the last date to re-instate had passed on 20 March.

But any sort of public campaign to keep order holders in line - nope, any press release announcing this - nope, just internal arbitrary decision on date.

This is the only piece that I agree with. They should have told people if March 20th was the date to meet. I don't recall seeing that anywhere. Heck, there was an email March 18th for FAQs for reinstating an order and it didn't have a date.

That said, it's May... It's more than 60 days past, could you imagine if your friends had a original timeframe for about now and Rivian now gets the order, has to figure out how to build and ship the car to your friends so they can meet their promise that they'll retain the original delivery estimate?

At some point it's time to continue down the list, but I do agree they should have asked folks to kindly reinstate by a certain date, a point of no return.

 

[SunTzu]

They should have told people if March 20th was the date to meet. I don't recall seeing that anywhere. Heck, there was an email March 18th for FAQs for reinstating an order and it didn't have a date.

I see that March 20th was mentioned in an email sent to me on March 6 as a reservation holder who wasn't able to afford the price increase and as such I had cancelled my order. Amongst other things it stated, "If you don’t want to decide now, you have until March 20, 2022, to let us know." I think it is logical to assume that they had determined that those who had cancelled their orders after the price increase had done so as a result of the increase and as such would be the only group offered the opportunity to reinstate their orders. As a result, that group would be the only people to which the March 20th date would be relevant.

 

[EaglesPDX]

This March they got tired of waiting and so cancelled their order.

They only did so due to cancellation for price increase of 1 March

Did you want to add a third reason they canceled?

If they had canceled over Reason No. 2, they likely would have heard of Rivian rescinding and reinstating a few days later. Sound more like Reason No. 1 and they checked out of the Rivian ecosystem.

I just had Ford cancel my F150 EV registration, first day reservation, because they say their email to convert to order went to my spam folder. No explanation from them why the cancellation notice didn't go to spam but the convert to order email did. No phone call (Ford doesn't have an email address, everything is by phone) from Ford. Ford turns everything over to the dealer who I contacted by email to see my spot in dealer's line (turned out when you made your reservation didn't matter, just if you dealer had an allocation). Dealer emailed back, 35/25 so 2023 earliest. No email from dealer. No phone call from dealer.

Rivian looks like customer service heaven vs. Ford's trixie hobbit stuff.

Ironically, I made the Rivian reservation before the price increase because Ford was dumping the orders to dealers with no respect for the order of reservations. So now I get a better tow vehicle at a lower price and a better fit for my mostly urban driving.

 

[[email protected]]

Did you want to add a third reason they canceled?

If they had canceled over Reason No. 2, they likely would have heard of Rivian rescinding and reinstating a few days later. Sound more like Reason No. 1 and they checked out of the Rivian ecosystem.

I just had Ford cancel my F150 EV registration, first day reservation, because they say their email to convert to order went to my spam folder. No explanation from them why the cancellation notice didn't go to spam but the convert to order email did. No phone call (Ford doesn't have an email address, everything is by phone) from Ford. Ford turns everything over to the dealer who I contacted by email to see my spot in dealer's line (turned out when you made your reservation didn't matter, just if you dealer had an allocation). Dealer emailed back, 35/25 so 2023 earliest. No email from dealer. No phone call from dealer.

Rivian looks like customer service heaven vs. Ford's trixie hobbit stuff.

Ironically, I made the Rivian reservation before the price increase because Ford was dumping the orders to dealers with no respect for the order of reservations. So now I get a better tow vehicle at a lower price and a better fit for my mostly urban driving.

"Rivian is no longer re-instating orders, they (Rivian) only did so due to cancellation for price increase of 1 March, and the last date to re-instate had passed on 20 March."

My friends cancelled due to wait, Rivian only reinstated those that cancelled for price increase. Plain enough?
Apology for being snarky accepted.
Dirty_B

 

[EaglesPDX]

My friends cancelled due to wait, Rivian only reinstated those that cancelled for price increase. Plain enough?

How would Rivian know why they cancelled? The Rivian posts did not say anything about conditions for reinstating the canceled orders, just the dates. If canceled right after the price increase and up to the date of the fix, you could reinstate your order. No qualifier.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I see that March 20th was mentioned in an email sent to me on March 6 as a reservation holder who wasn't able to afford the price increase and as such I had cancelled my order. Amongst other things it stated, "If you don’t want to decide now, you have until March 20, 2022, to let us know." I think it is logical to assume that they had determined that those who had cancelled their orders after the price increase had done so as a result of the increase and as such would be the only group offered the opportunity to reinstate their orders. As a result, that group would be the only people to which the March 20th date would be relevant.

Hmm, I don’t have the same email. I cancelled on the 1st. Got an email from RJ on the 3rd. The FAQ on the 18th. Got a Friday update on the 25th. Welcome back letter on April 1. Restoration email on the 2nd.

Im not sure why I didn’t get the 20th deadline email but some did. That’s the only piece I think was missing.

 

[archiboy]

sorry for the potential hijack of your thread. I'm an R1T LE owner and day one reservation holder. I'm also an F150 Lightening reservation holder. I love my R1T but it's not a work truck and that's what I really need. I got the call last month to place my F150 order for delivery sometime this summer. My local dealer insisted on a $10k premium. I sent them an email stating I'll buy when they remove the premium. Without warning or notice - the dealer cancelled my reservation. I'm working with Ford to reinstate. But I've heard nothing back from them for a few days. I don't have great hope that I'm gonna get reinstated. Talk about loyalty.... I'll never give another $1 of business to the dealer. If Ford does reinstate me they will have earned some points. I'm a Tesla owner going back to 2015. In many ways they've treated me like dirt. But they are still years ahead of the pack with supercharging network, tech, and on several other fronts. I will only be loyal to Tesla until someone catches up to them. I'm loyal to BEV and not ICE. IMO that's the real goal. The switch to BEV is a Tsunami. We've all gotta get in line and pay the price of waiting. Because I personally had the forethought to pay $100 to Ford for a reservation doesn't give the dealer the right to 'steal' $10k from me.

 

[Canyonero!]

Because I personally had the forethought to pay $100 to Ford for a reservation doesn't give the dealer the right to 'steal' $10k from me.

They don't call 'em "Stealerships" for nothin'!

 

[derekmw]

They don't call 'em "Stealerships" for nothin'!

This seems to be pretty common right now with the shortage of vehicles. My dad placed an order for the Subaru Solterra and when they told him they are adding a 5k markup, he complained to Subaru corporate and then a few hours later, he got a call from the dealership that they are canceling his order because he's too difficult to work with. lol

 

[IThinkFreely]

What did I just read?! Someone got bored, cancelled their order and then sort of, kind of tried to reinstate the order later? But were told no? 😗

 

[Yellow Buddy]

What did I just read?! Someone got bored, cancelled their order and then sort of, kind of tried to reinstate the order later? But were told no? 😗

They got impatient, not bored. But otherwise yes.

They didn't cancel because of price either, nor did they want to reinstate because of price. They only wanted to reinstate because they found out they could get it instead of waiting for it and they could potentially reinstate it utilizing the reinstating process due to the price increase.

So in short, they got impatient and then tried to take advantage of something else to cut back in line and were told no.