The forgotten Sept/Oct orders

[stanley]

+ 1 Brendan is a great representative for Nissan and a strait shooter.

 

[SanDust]

+ 1 Brendan is a great representative for Nissan and a strait shooter.

He's doing more for Nissan's image here than the entire CC group. That's not really a criticism of the group, they just don't seem to have the tools they need. Sometimes it takes someone further up the chain. In any event, Brendan has really helped. Hopefully he'll get some recognition for this since it has to be a thankless job.

 

[daniel]

This will be my last post here.

You guys are right that I should not have posted in anger as I have done. It serves no purpose. I apologize to anyone who has been offended by my words. My patience has been sorely tried these last few months and I failed to control my anger.

I hope those of you still waiting get your cars soon, and I hope they live up to their promise. For the present I'll continue to drive my little Zap Xebra and wait to upgrade until a full-on electric car is offered by a company that I can trust to deal with me in good faith.

Good bye and good luck to you all.

Daniel

 

[HIOJim]

This will be my last post here.

Take care, Daniel. I've been reading your posts since 2006 back on PriusChat and I always enjoyed them, even when your passion got the better of you. The last year has been a roller coaster ride for everyone, and has tried everyone's patience. I hope your Porsche bridges the gap until you can find that EV of your dreams.

Jim C

 

[ttweed]

I've been reading your posts since 2006 back on PriusChat and I always enjoyed them, even when your passion got the better of you.

Passion is a good thing. All the greatest human achievements contain an element of it, usually tempered by intellect and hard work.

Your experience has been undeniably poor in this process Daniel, to say the least. I can't help but feel if you just put the objective facts of your treatment in front of someone who could actually DO something about it, instead of dealing constantly with the powerless clowns at CS, you would be much farther ahead of the game by now. Your situation deserves to be addressed on the facts alone, without the subjective rants and induced frustration and anger.

I hope Brendan responds to your email, calls you tomorrow, and gets you a perfect example in your exact spec delivered promptly. This really is the car you have been waiting for.

TT

 

[electricfuture]

I know my patience has been tried - but they are leading me along once again. The good news is that the dealership Mossy - Poway has a STOCK NUMBER to go along with the VIN I have had for a month. They say delivery is eminent - for 3 days now. They also said the VIN would be the same. So apparently if your dealership has a stock number your car is either in Long Beach or on the way.

Here is my history (one of the worst):
Sign up: Jan. 2010
Fee Paid: April, 2010
Assessment complete: August, 2010
Allowed to order: November, 2010
Delivery on Dash - April, 2011 changed to June 14, 2011 after earthquake
Blink installed: June 3rd, 2011
Inspection passed: June 4, 2011
Second SDG&E Meter installed (EV Project): June 7, 2011
Received ELECTRIC emblems (EBAY) June 7,2011
Load test of Blink: June 10, 2010

I can only hope the car shows up next week. After 18 months I'll believe it when I see it.

Only the cost of gasoline is keeping me going :|

 

[LALeaf]

Load test of Blink: June 10, 2010

Just curious what is the 'Load test'? I hope to get the Blink soon (have had my car for a week now), and haven't heard this as a requirement before.

 

[kenwallace]

I heard that the issue was with the Japan earthquake. These orders were put on hold, but then somehow when things got up and running again the picked up with the orders allocated to the later time slot. The orders that should have been filled during the down-time were orphaned and for whatever reason not placed back at the head of the line. Must be frustrating to say the least!

 

[LEAFfan]

I ordered 9/10/10. My car was delivered to my door 6/6/11. So, delivery was just short of 9 months to the day of ordering! I got my VIN back on 3/9/10, so yeah my car was in port for more than two months. I had my share of status chats with CS, and 'elevations' to CS supervisors. I experienced every range of 'where-the-heck's-my-car' emotion. I was affected by just about every delay for cars that were lucky enough to have arrived in LB pre-earthquake+tsunami: AC software fix, multiple accessory holds, and multiple 'waiting for railcar' delays. The latter was due to my own decision to order from out-of-state, and probably added another 3 wk delay. Though, since I had anticipated that this last one might delay my delivery about 2 wks, it wasn't that far off.
Having said all that, it was a crazy ride. It was after my last call with a CS supervisor whose smugness and you'll-get it-when-you-get-it attitude pissed me off. I politely told him off ... He apologized, and noted he'd change his 'tone' in future calls. He offered to email me with updates ... blah blah. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, I started reading about how helpful this CS supervisor was very soon later that day.
Well, all to say that it was after that CS call ...and reading some of the more 'vindictive' posters here, most if not all of whom ordered days, weeks and months after me, that I began to think 'why the heck am I letting myself get all worked up about this?' Though you don't want to hear it when you've already waited 8 months since ordering, Nissan is trying to get these cars out as quickly as possible ... Even if they are not flying out of port as quickly as we would all like, especially your own car.
Even though I too had reached the point of wondering if I even wanted this car anyways because the delays had 'soured' the anticipation and excitement, I can now say don't worry about it. As others have said, once your car arrives, it's surprising how quickly it all fades from memory. If you don't trust that, then you may be better off not getting the car.
I know I'm very happy after the looonng 9-month wait. Right now, I'm sitting waiting for my car to get tinted. I'm a happy Leaf owner. If anyone else has reached the 9-month mark from the date of RAQ/ordering, then you can b#%^* to me.

+1

 

[LEAFfan]

For anyone that is having issues and not content with the response from CS, get in touch with Brendan... His upfront and honest insight into what is going on is amazing. If you have hard feelings towards Nissan you seriously just need to talk to him for a bit. Plus he is actually in the position of fixing things.

+3!

 

[ttweed]

I heard that the issue was with the Japan earthquake. These orders were put on hold, but then somehow when things got up and running again the picked up with the orders allocated to the later time slot. The orders that should have been filled during the down-time were orphaned and for whatever reason not placed back at the head of the line.

This is not entirely true. The skipping over of Sept./Oct. orders to fill Jan./Feb. orders began approx. 3 weeks before the earthquake. Nissan USA has admitted that a vendor mistakenly entered a group of later orders into the production schedule that "leapfrogged" earlier orders. Then the earthquake and tsunami had additional disruptive effects due to throwing the computerized production/delivery system into disarray, combined with the lack of parts availability from vendors, but the original scheduling mistake was made pre-tsunami. The boat that left Japan the day before the earthquake already contained a bunch of the "out of order" cars, which were subsequently delivered to the "lucky ducks" because Nissan decided not to reallocate them according to order date. Post-earthquake, this whacked process was allowed to continue, it seems, and some of the early orders went back to the end of the production queue. We will never know the true cause and extent of the screw-up, I'm afraid, but it was the result of bugs in a brand new ordering system devised for the roll-out of a revolutionary new production vehicle, combined with a natural disaster of epic proportions. Not much can be done at this point but trying to pick up the pieces and do as much as possible to take care of overlooked customers as best as possible on an individual, case-by-case basis. That is what Brendan Jones has been trying to do ever since Mar. 11, 2011.

TT

 

[Stoaty]

Good description, Tom. The only thing I would add is that part the ship that left Japan the day before the earthquake also contained the Pollen cars, which caused further headaches and frustration for Nissan, the Forgotten Orders, and the Lucky Ducks.

 

[LEAFfan]

Good description, Tom. The only thing I would add is that part the ship that left Japan the day before the earthquake also contained the Pollen cars, which caused further headaches and frustration for Nissan, the Forgotten Orders, and the Lucky Ducks.

I was told that there were only about 200 LEAF 'pollen cars' out of 1500 and it was only a real problem to clean with all the colors except cayenne red and blue with black being the worst to clean.

 

[ttweed]

Load test of Blink: June 10, 2010

Just curious what is the 'Load test'? I hope to get the Blink soon (have had my car for a week now), and haven't heard this as a requirement before.

I think what electricfuture is talking about is that when your Blink unit is installed, the techs test it with what they call "a car in a box," which simulates hooking the vehicle up and starting/stopping a charge cycle to make sure it is functioning as it should in advance of you actually hooking your Leaf up. In my case, with a dual meter installation, this involved bridging the second meter socket briefly and energizing the Blink's circuit, doing the test, then disconnecting it until I had the final inspection and the second meter was installed by the utility. It was about two weeks before I could actually use the Blink unit after it was installed, due to delays in getting the final inspection signed off by the city before SDG&E would set the meter. It has worked perfectly ever since (hard-wired ethernet--not wireless).

TT

 

[ttweed]

...with black being the worst to clean.

My daddy (rest his soul) used to say, "Black is a great color for a car, son, as long as you own a carwash."

TT

 

[electricfuture]

The Blink load test is done by the the electrician who has a "car in a box" that mimics connecting the Leaf to see if the charger is working properly. This is usually done when they install it - but my guy forgot the box. So they had to wait until SDG&E pluged in the second meter (EV project) to run the test. Worked perfectly, software updated and Blink Screen says "Plug in your vehicle to begin charging".

Got to go - the dealership called and THEY HAVE MY CAR!!!!!

 

[lonndoggie]

Got to go - the dealership called and THEY HAVE MY CAR!!!!!

W00t! Congratulations!

 

[SanDust]

W00t! Congratulations!

Are you the last one? We're pulling for you to get your car soon.

 

[smkettner]

FilmMixer ordered September 8 and is still waiting.

 

[lonndoggie]

W00t! Congratulations!

Are you the last one? We're pulling for you to get your car soon.

As smkettner pointed out, no, FilmMixer...and then there's daniel.

Rumor (e.g., Nissan CS) claims my car was invoiced to the dealer as of Monday morning. However, my spy (father-in-law) was at the dealer yesterday and had them check status, and what they saw still says at port. So who knows.