Poor Customer Service Experiences?

[Spinstorm]

I was very happy to get the chance to check out @MoniputerLM beautiful Zenith Red DE P last week and make a video (coming to my channel soon).

But it was clear to me from our conversations that Lucid aren’t good at customer service. They are polite but inflexible and not forthcoming. I have experienced this myself this week trying to squeeze a test drive while I am in LA from the UK at the end of the day just so I can have tried the car I have reserved.

And they have basically been useless; from the PR head to the customer services.

I then went into Beverly Hills studio - and again very polite - but they have no clue about the technical details of the car.

I think Lucid have spent all their time making an excellent car and forgotten the basics; but I have two experiences to go off here.

I don’t think they different departments talk to each other. Politeness isn’t the same as good.

What about everyone else?

 

[hydbob]

Like I've said before, there is a huge dichotomy between have a reservation and having a car. I've never had the same issues with customer service as some people here on this forum though. Once you receive your car though, it's really the standard they have been advertising.

 

[MoniputerLM]

Like I've said before, there is a huge dichotomy between have a reservation and having a car. I've never had the same issues with customer service as some people here on this forum though. Once you receive your car though, it's really the standard they have been advertising.

I agree 100%. Before I picked up my DE, I got very little useful information from my assigned rep. Once the car was in town that changed to a very good experience and as an owner feel that I am treated very well by the customer support staff that try their best to be empathetic and helpful.

 

[Spinstorm]

But should you have to have the car before you get good service?

Right now the bottleneck is the supply of cars but does that not mean that they should treat reservation holders the same?
Because if they don’t that will cost them customers.

 

[MoniputerLM]

But should you have to have the car before you get good service?

Right now the bottleneck is the supply of cars but does that not mean that they should treat reservation holders the same?
Because if they don’t that will cost them customers.

You are correct but right now I am glad that the support for owners is good.

I spent 4 months waiting for a C8 Corvette getting no useful timetable from GM until my car was assigned a VIN, then the automated GM production system gave me updates.

 

[Chirpy]

But should you have to have the car before you get good service?

Right now the bottleneck is the supply of cars but does that not mean that they should treat reservation holders the same?
Because if they don’t that will cost them customers.

I'm also a GT reservation holder but I accept that my refundable £770 GBP puts me in a different place to those who are owners. They surely have to have priority in this start up phase.

My interactions so far have been really good and included a Zoom meeting which was instigated by their Amsterdam office to keep me up to date. I'm feeling pretty good about customer service here but I'd like to see them follow the MB (Star) and BMW (Genius) lead with product experts who can answer detailed questions when the country specific details are nailed down. This seems like a weakness in the US they need to address quickly.

 

[hmp10]

I don’t think they different departments talk to each other.

I have found this to be the case since my early conversations with Lucid Sales going back over three years. Some of my questions were asked before anyone in Lucid had the final answers, such as would the Air have Google Earth maps (one of my favorite Tesla features), and I understood that. However, some questions were asked after customer production was underway, such as what is the weight of the Dream forged 21" wheels, does the Zenith Red have a true clear coat on top of the tinted clearcoat, is the hardware installed in the Dream doors for eventual power operation actuation by OTA update. Those questions, to which answers clearly existed in the organization, either went unanswered or took several weeks to get an answer. (I've had my Dream Edition for almost a month now and still don't know the weights of the 21" wheels or whether my car has the hardware for power door operation. On the latter question, I've been given conflicting answers.)

When these difficulties continued after I was handed off from Sales to the Delivery Team, it became clear that no one who faces the customers directly have internal access to personnel in Engineering, Production, or the Paint Shop to get answers to straightforward yes/no questions.

 

[HC_79]

is the hardware installed in the Dream doors for eventual power operation actuation by OTA update. Those questions, to which answers clearly existed in the organization, either went unanswered or took several weeks to get an answer.

Did you get an answer on this? I'm curious to know if they're doing the Tesla approach and putting in items that are activated via a paid upgrade. It's one of the reasons I just sucked it up and went with the AGT to get everything in it as I know DreamDrive Pro will be pretty crap day one but wasn't sure they put the hardware in the car if you don't order the package to activate later.

 

[hmp10]

I've gotten conflicting answers. When I first visited a Design Studio to check out the Air, the demo car had power-operated doors. Zak Edson, the VP of Sales & Service, was there and warned me not to expect the Dreams to have the hardware installed, as the engineering for that feature would not be ready by the time production started.

A few months later I visited a Design Studio again and was told by a sales associate that he was hearing that the Dreams would have the hardware for later activation. The next time I corresponded with Zak about something else, I asked again about the power-operation hardware, and he said the hardware would not be installed in the Dreams.

Then, one of the mobile techs who came to work on my car (and has been working on other Dream Editions out in the field) told me that the "pistons" were installed in the doors to enable activation via an eventual OTA update.

After hearing this, when I next emailed with Zak about something else, I asked him about the doors again. It was the one question in that email that Zak did not answer.

So . . . who knows?

 

[PhotoEye]

Did you get an answer on this? I'm curious to know if they're doing the Tesla approach and putting in items that are activated via a paid upgrade. It's one of the reasons I just sucked it up and went with the AGT to get everything in it as I know DreamDrive Pro will be pretty crap day one but wasn't sure they put the hardware in the car if you don't order the package to activate later.

 

[HC_79]

I've gotten conflicting answers. When I first visited a Design Studio to check out the Air, the demo car had power-operated doors. Zak Edson, the VP of Sales & Service, was there and warned me not to expect the Dreams to have the hardware installed, as the engineering for that feature would not be ready by the time production started.

A few months later I visited a Design Studio again and was told by a sales associate that he was hearing that the Dreams would have the hardware for later activation. The next time I corresponded with Zak about something else, I asked again about the power-operation hardware, and he said the hardware would not be installed in the Dreams.

Then, one of the mobile techs who came to work on my car (and has been working on other Dream Editions out in the field) told me that the "pistons" were installed in the doors to enable activation via an eventual OTA update.

After hearing this, when I next emailed with Zak about something else, I asked him about the doors again. It was the one question in that email that Zak did not answer.

So . . . who knows?

We need Sandy Munro to get one to tear down to figure out what's actually in it and what's not. lol!

 

[PhotoEye]

I am pretty confident that, if Lucid goes the Tesla route of charging for OTA updates that merely enable functions long promised to DE owners from Day One (rather than "upgrades" that provide new functions), litigation will be swift.

 

[hmp10]

We need Sandy Munro to get one to tear down to figure out what's actually in it and what's not. lol!

He's tearing down a Plaid right now, so I'm following that saga.

He made an interesting comment that bears on the problem some of us are having with trunk alignment. Munro said that it is notoriously difficult to get aluminum to produce consistent results from stamping body panels, which is why panel alignment problems with aluminum bodies are harder to avoid than with stamped steel panels.

 

[hmp10]

I am pretty confident that, if Lucid goes the Tesla route of charging for OTA updates that merely enable functions long promised to DE owners from Day One (rather than "upgrades" that provide new functions), litigation will be swift.

Mercedes was planning to build all the EQS's with 10-degree rear wheel steering but sell cars with only 4 degrees enabled unless you paid a subscription fee for the full 10 degrees. The outrage was so immediate that they backed down.

Tesla owners seem to be the only people willing to pay outrageous fees for stuff that doesn't even work . . . and they just raised the charge for Full Self Driving (which isn't) to $12,000. A recent YouTube channel owner responded to some fanboys by saying, "Elon could sell his boogers and a lot of you would buy it. But, it would be limited production, I guess." He nailed the syndrome precisely.

 

[borski]

But should you have to have the car before you get good service?

Right now the bottleneck is the supply of cars but does that not mean that they should treat reservation holders the same?
Because if they don’t that will cost them customers.

You’re right, but if they’re short-staffed I’d much rather they prioritize existing owners over future ones.