Communication from Lotus

[Kajer87]

Hi Guys,

I ordered my Emira at Goodwood last year.

I'm massively looking forward to getting the car but since ordering I have barely heard anything from Lotus and wondered if this was common experience?

The last email I got was in early May to ask about delivery and finance. I responded but have not heard anything since then.

 

[DerTheDer]

Non existent lol, other than the promotional stuff where its nonsense about the Eletre.

 

[kitkat]

Welcome to the thunderdome!

 

[Maurice R]

Non existent lol, other than the promotional stuff where its nonsense about the Eletre.

Yes 99% non existent communication.
It’s we will communicate with you shortly maybe or maybe not. When we feel like it or not.

 

[TXEMIRA]

Admin - please move this thread to the “Dream” Sub Forum with titles like:

Nessy, monster or nah?
Big Foot or YETI - which is PC in ‘22?
Have they found any ghost on all those ghost shows?
Wheel Gap - Perfect for All.

Thanks!

#ForTheMythical

 

[Crown]

Yes 99% non existent communication.
It’s we will communicate with you shortly maybe or maybe not. When we feel like it or not.

Much the same here , ordered day of the reveal at lotus before Goodwood . Had my 2nd deposit email stating November i4 delivery and paid. Only contact I’ve had. That’s it until November now I think.
Mind you thats more than I’ve had from Tesla . I ordered a model y performance last October had have heard absolutely nothing !

 

[VL3X]

Yep.. I gave Lotus $5k so far in exchange for 3 generic marketing emails. Hopefully my $100k purchase will arrive at some point.

 

[BeHappy]

I heard Matt Windle say via video that we are all VALUED customers. Wouldn’t it be great that we felt that way with some good old fashion regular communication, then maybe I wouldn’t be moaning at every opportune moment and be very concerned what Lotus after market care and service is going to feels like !!

 

[Pegasi]

Devil's advocate here. Hope I don't get run out of this thread. In my estimation Lotus is having to almost go day to day like most companies in these times. I have communicated with my dealer a couple of times but otherwise heard nothing and not expecting to hear anything because no car is coming yet. There isn't really anything they can tell me unless I am missing something. Does Porsche, BMW, Audi give updates on new cars that have never been in production? Furthermore, this is a 100K car, yes that's expensive but does it warrant exclusive treatment??? I don't know the answer to that question, that's why I asked.

I am trying to understand what people are wanting to hear from Lotus?

<<<
Your original July delivery is now scheduled for September.

We have your deposit and we are still in pre-production development, we will let you know as soon as we can.

The September delivery is now November.

We have your spec and can confirm the options you picked are still available.

The November delivery is now January.

We haven't finalized wheel gap, sagging seats, or the 36000 KM 3 year warranty.

The January delivery is now March.

The purchase price will not change.

Here is a pre-production picture of your color.

#Forthedrivers

???
>>>

Lotus got caught in an almost perfect storm. New car, last ICE, pandemic, war, supply chain and WAY MORE DEPOSITS than they expected. Imagine going to work tomorrow and having 3 times the work and 1/2 the resources and 50% less stability in the workplace. I went through the ordering process of a GMC Savana white van and that was an 18 month dumpster fire.

 

[VL3X]

I am trying to understand what people are wanting to hear from Lotus?

I expected something as simple as "We've received your order."

Even further more, I'd actually like something like: We've received your order. Here's a confirmation of your spec. Here's the expected production start date. Return to this page for updates. Here's a pic of your completed car at the factory. It will soon be shipped to your dealer for final delivery.

How hard is that? Seriously.. I'm really tired of seeing Porsche friends (and even GM/Dodge and others) get excellent treatment and pics of their cars from the factory. If Amazon can send me instant confirmation/shipped/delivery updates via text and email about a $5 product I ordered a couple hours ago, why can't a car manufacturer with a brand spankin new $120,000,000 factory manage to set up a basic customer management and retention system to notify customers of their $100k+ exotic sports car order?

 

[Pegasi]

I expected something as simple as "We've received your order."

Even further more, I'd actually like something like: We've received your order. Here's a confirmation of your spec. Here's the expected production start date. Return to this page for updates. Here's a pic of your completed car at the factory. It will soon be shipped to your dealer for final delivery.

How hard is that? Seriously.. I'm really tired of seeing Porsche friends (and even GM/Dodge and others) get excellent treatment and pics of their cars from the factory. If Amazon can send me instant confirmation/shipped/delivery updates via text and email about a $5 product I ordered a couple hours ago, why can't a car manufacturer with a brand spankin new $120,000,000 factory manage to set up a basic customer management and retention system to notify customers of their $100k+ exotic sports car order?

The problem with this is what if all those dates keep changing? Will you (not you specifically) but will a "person" go to social media or wherever and start trashing Lotus. I assume you received confirmation that they received your deposit, unfortunately that may be all you get.

They may have way bigger problems with that $120,000,000 new factory than giving you fictitious dates that are really just best guessing.

Now to you specifically, do you not think you will get a car? Will this communication make you feel better or confirm you are getting a car? Again, these are serious questions. This is the first car I have ever ordered and always curious about the mindset of a fellow enthusiast.

 

[Hedge]

The problem with this is what if all those dates keep changing? Will you (not you specifically) but will a "person" go to social media or wherever and start trashing Lotus. I assume you received confirmation that they received your deposit, unfortunately that may be all you get.

They may have way bigger problems with that $120,000,000 new factory than giving you fictitious dates that are really just best guessing.

Now to you specifically, do you not think you will get a car? Will this communication make you feel better or confirm you are getting a car? Again, these are serious questions. This is the first car I have ever ordered and always curious about the mindset of a fellow enthusiast.

Fair points.

I’ve assumed my June-now-July car will be September. Just gives Lotus a fighting chance of meeting expectations. Even if they are my own!

Having said that, I’m in the first 200 cars. So, if Lotus’ supply chain is so precarious they’re not even sure if they can build 200 cars in the next 30 days, then it must be pretty doubtful about later cars unless there’s some kind of batching they’ll do (I guess for non U.K. that would be true, but U.K. first 200 cars???).

I did hear back in February/March that delays wouldn’t be because of supply chain! Type approval was the thing back then - although no mention this has been resolved either.

So to hear supply chain issues now is loses a fair bit of trust in the comms for me. Although it’s almost entirely expected in reality. Someone must have just got it wrong back then.

Anyway, as above, I’ve just assumed ‘my’ car will be September to reduce the risk of further disappointment. All my summer plans - factory collection with my son, taking daughter to her prom in it, wedding use for a groom (friend), road trips in U.K. and Europe etc - with the car have been blown out of the water anyway!

 

[Leonard]

I expected something as simple as "We've received your order."

Even further more, I'd actually like something like: We've received your order. Here's a confirmation of your spec. Here's the expected production start date. Return to this page for updates. Here's a pic of your completed car at the factory. It will soon be shipped to your dealer for final delivery.

How hard is that? Seriously.. I'm really tired of seeing Porsche friends (and even GM/Dodge and others) get excellent treatment and pics of their cars from the factory. If Amazon can send me instant confirmation/shipped/delivery updates via text and email about a $5 product I ordered a couple hours ago, why can't a car manufacturer with a brand spankin new $120,000,000 factory manage to set up a basic customer management and retention system to notify customers of their $100k+ exotic sports car order?

I agree apart from the amazon comparison. Nobody can compare to that level of service and that's because they are the biggest company in the world, but just happen to be selling $5 tat. But the service is impeccable hence why u go back for more, even tho you hate their business model....

 

[Pegasi]

I do have a deposit on another car from a brand talked about frequently on here. But I will not mention it on this post. I did get an email saying "hello, we are still here, just checking in, we are working on your allocation." Paraphrasing. I got that email about 2 months after placing the deposit but there was no mention of timing. I wonder if they were just tire kicking to see who is still vested in their purchase and willing to wait.

Did the email make me feel any sort of way? Not really, it's gonna be one to two years so it's just noise. And yes, sometimes noise is good.

VL3X made good points about user experience. I have seriously wondered about the communications but it's really hard to understand if you have zero information from what Lotus is going through. I do have an agenda in that I just want everyone to be happy with cars, communication, and Lotus. But by no means would I judge someone for feeling any kind of way.

Honestly, I think we should write an open letter to Lotus. Will it make a difference, who knows. Another forum member @kratedisease has said a couple of times that during the C8 purchasing experience the forums got down right nasty and then everyone got their cars and all was forgotten. I hope that happens here.

 

[Eagle7]

At the risk of causing an uproar, for those of you that placed an actual order (not a deposit), didn't you get a confirmation of your order from Lotus, with your deposit I.D., your spec and the price?

 

[kitkat]

At the risk of causing an uproar, for those of you that placed an actual order (not a deposit), didn't you get a confirmation of your order from Lotus, with your deposit I.D., your spec and the price?

Yes — through my dealer though, and I had to ping them to get it.

Have my approved customer submission ID and price.

 

[Eagle7]

Yes — through my dealer though, and I had to ping them to get it.

Have my approved customer submission ID and price.

Same here, but for the U.S. I think that's what's supposed to happen, since technically the dealer is the one buying the car from Lotus, so they get the order confirmation from the factory.

 

[TomE]

At the risk of causing an uproar, for those of you that placed an actual order (not a deposit), didn't you get a confirmation of your order from Lotus, with your deposit I.D., your spec and the price?

Not in the UK, no. It's still technically a deposit for a right to order up until 30 days before delivery, when it becomes an order if you sign the paperwork. No one has had confirmation of spec unless they asked for it, or a confirmed price.

We've got a build code we had to submit with our deposit, driven off the configurator, and that generates a price when you plug it into the configurator. But that isn't fixed, which some people found out when re-entering their code and getting a slightly different number. The tracker cost had gone up earlier this year, but Lotus didn't tell people who had already locked in their specs.