I think it's a warped point of view to see the R1 Shop as an underhanded attempt to force customers to take a different configuration. It seems that for some people, Rivian will always be in the wrong no matter what they do. The R1 Shop was introduced to improve customer satisfaction by giving you a way to get a vehicle sooner if you are flexible in your configuration. If you're not flexible, then keep waiting and you will get your vehicle in the normal course of time.
Not everyone gets an invite to the R1 Shop. If you don't want anything in there, keep waiting. No one is forcing you to take a different configuration, and you're not being penalized or strong-armed. You're being given an opportunity to get something sooner if you want to switch. That's a benefit to you. If you don't want to switch, they don't care, there are plenty of other people who will jump at what's being offered in the shop.
The R1 Shop was created in part because of the reaction of the community to the way Rivian was fulfilling orders earlier this year. Because of supply shortages, notably in interior configuration, Rivian was only shipping what they were able to manufacture. In many cases, that mean that recent orders were being fulfilled soon, because they had the optimal configuration, while older orders were being passed over because they had configurations that weren't being made at the time.
Rivian was making what they could make, and when what they made didn't match to an older order they would give that vehicle to a newer order. But many in the community with older orders were very flexible in what they would accept and wanted the opportunity to change configuration to get their vehicle sooner. This is why the R1 Shop was created. Vehicles that Rivian has on hand that are not attached to a specific customer for whatever reason (cancelled order, customer changed configuration after vehicle was in manufacturing, etc.) are now being offered to people who are waiting. I advocated for this early in the year, asking for Rivian to give "right of first refusal" to older pre-order holders so that we could either choose to wait or take what was available. Before the R1 Shop, we had no choice - we had to wait or constantly flip-flop on our configurations hoping to hit the magic combination. Now, with the R1 Shop in place, you have a choice. And frankly if you don't want anything in the shop you really don't have much cause to complain anymore if they give that to someone else who has a more recent order since you've already declined those vehicles.
I didn't receive my R1T until four months after my original delivery estimate, but that was because I wanted the Ocean Coast interior which was delayed. Rivian delivered my vehicle just before my new delivery window opened. I did have access to the R1 Shop for about two months, but I did not want a different interior even though I could have gotten my vehicle earlier by selecting something from the shop. No one forced me to switch - many people did switch, however, because their priorities are different than mine. And they were glad to have the opportunity to switch - this opportunity didn't exist back in March and April when people were jumping the line just because they had Black Mountain configured. That angered many people who would have gladly accepted Black Mountain instead but weren't given the opportunity to switch. That changed with the introduction of the R1 Shop.
You selected Max Pack. You were given (back in Dec 2021) a 1H2023 delivery window. That means your delivery is still 3-9 months off if everything is still on schedule. Back in the summer Rivian said they would be updating 2023 windows later this year. When they send you a new delivery date you will have a better idea of when you will get your Max Pack. Rivian has been very good about meeting the revised delivery dates, and your new date will certainly be a smaller window and more accurate than the estimate they gave you a year ago. If you are set on the Max Pack, then you can ignore the R1 Store and wait. But flipping out and accusing them of malfeasance when they give you an opportunity to get something sooner is just unwarranted.
