In a social media post, Matthew Prince, the CEO of Cloudflare Inc., voiced his concerns over the steep service and insurance costs of Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN, in the wake of his own negative experience with Rivian’s customer service.
What Happened: Prince, who owns a Rivian R1T truck, said he initially faced a cracked rear windshield issue. When he reached out to Safelite — a provider of vehicle glass repair, replacement, and calibration services and insurance claims management — for a repair quote, he was quoted $49 and a reasonable three-day wait time.
However, the situation took a turn for the worse when Safelite could not obtain the required rear windshield glass from Rivian directly, according to Prince.
“So I scheduled an appointment. Was a couple weeks before they could get me in. Inconvenient, but the holidays, so…” he said on X.
Prince said he was taken aback when Rivian quoted a repair cost of $4,232 for the windshield, which was significantly higher than Safelite’s uninsured quote of around $1,000. The Cloudflare CEO further noted that insuring his Rivian truck was more costly than insuring his high-end Porsche Taycan.
“Rivian trucks are great — as long as nothing goes wrong. When something goes wrong, they're a disaster,” he wrote.
“I really want to love Rivian. I root for them. It's a great product — as long as nothing goes wrong,” he said. “And I am fortunate that I can afford to put out $4,200 to fix a windshield and deal with the insurance myself.”
Prince’s current estimated net worth is about $553 million.
He also claimed that Rivian charged a jaw-dropping $8,000 for fixing a cosmetic dent in the bumper.
“Until they fix their outrageous service cost issues … and resulting high insurance cost, I just can't recommend their cars to anyone who, you know, actually plans to use them.”
Why It Matters: Prince’s criticism is not an isolated incident. In the past, other Rivian owners have also voiced their concerns over the company’s high repair costs. For example, in May last year, a Rivian R1T owner was shocked by a $42,000 repair bill for a minor fender bender.
Rivian has also faced criticism for its long service wait times. One R1T owner said he waited eight months for his vehicle to be repaired after an accident, which caused a lot of complex issues with the internal wiring.
"Highly capable, highly qualified collision repair centers are in high demand. This applies to not only EVs, but all vehicles with advanced technology, materials, and collision avoidance or ADAS features,” a Rivian spokesperson told Benzinga in an emailed statement. “We remain committed to expanding the options Rivian customers have when it comes to collision repair, and we are dedicating significant resources to the training, onboarding, and support of third-party collision repair centers.”
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Editor’s note: This story was updated with the Rivian spokesperson’s comment.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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