Mitch Dumke, a U.S. man who had used a Rivian R1T electric pickup for 15 months, got tired of repeating powertrain failures and returned the vehicle to the manufacturer. He received a 100% cost refund despite the truck having 38,600 km (24,000 miles) of use on it.
Dumke bought the R1T as a workhorse to perform a variety of farm-related jobs, from towing trailers to carrying tools. On four occasions, he had to call a tow truck as his battery pickup broke down.
According to the farmer, Rivian has superb customer service. Whenever there was an issue, the company quickly arrived to pick up the broken truck, reimbursed him for a taxi home and even provided him with a replacement vehicle for the duration of repairs.
Even so, the constantly malfunctioning R1T forced Dumke to drive assorted rental vehicles for 45 days over the course of the past 3–4 months. He kept visiting the service center but could not quite get rid of all the issues plaguing his truck. In the end, Rivian admitted its fault and agreed to buy it back at the full price.