First Emira Breakdown?

[Leonard]

One would hope Geely could at least line up a Volvo as a courtesy car when a Lotus needs service, but maybe there are too many moving parts to juggle there.

They should have had a fleet in place already.
A fast Volvo would have been the perfect solution

 

[VL3X]

Forum members should be banding together to make it known to Lotus about the level of service they expect, not burying their heads in the sand and dismissing the obvious

What else can we really do? Besides pull deposits and cancel orders.... All our ideas and complaints are documented on these forums and other social media sites that are all public. I know for a fact numerous Lotus employees follow my IG account and some have even spoken with me about things I've posted. Many have given feedback to Lotus of US reps, ROW dealers, and directly at Hethel about our concerns and disappointment in their lack of communication with customers. I actually feel bad for the online CS crew who have to constantly hear these sort of complaints too. They know improvement needs to happen and have even said they are going to do better... It just isn't happening for some reason.

Remember back in October 2021 when we were told photos of all the 6 FE colors would be shown? It took a forum member going to Hethel and making a video for it to actually happen. Or the constant delays we've seen getting base spec option details and pricing? We've known the colors since January 2022 and yet they're still not up on the configurator.

As long as the deposits keep coming in and deliveries continue to slowly rollout, they won't be pressured to do better. I know there's been a lot of cancellations due to the delays and customers fed up with the secrecy and lack of comms. The initial reviews weren't as stellar as a lot of us hoped either... Now there are cars going into limp mode and warranty work orders are piling up. I really hope they can get things under control because right now it's not looking great.

 

[Leonard]

What else can we really do? Besides pull deposits and cancel orders.... All our ideas and complaints are documented on these forums and other social media sites that are all public. I know for a fact numerous Lotus employees follow my IG account and some have even spoken with me about things I've posted. Many have given feedback to Lotus of US reps, ROW dealers, and directly at Hethel about our concerns and disappointment in their lack of communication with customers. I actually feel bad for the online CS crew who have to constantly hear these sort of complaints too. They know improvement needs to happen and have even said they are going to do better... It just isn't happening for some reason.

Remember back in October 2021 when we were told photos of all the 6 FE colors would be shown? It took a forum member going to Hethel and making a video for it to actually happen. Or the constant delays we've seen getting base spec option details and pricing? We've known the colors since January 2022 and yet they're still not up on the configurator.

As long as the deposits keep coming in and deliveries continue to slowly rollout, they won't be pressured to do better. I know there's been a lot of cancellations due to the delays and customers fed up with the secrecy and lack of comms. The initial reviews weren't as stellar as a lot of us hoped either... Now there are cars going into limp mode and warranty work orders are piling up. I really hope they can get things under control because right now it's not looking great.

I hear you. Its a good question.
I dont own an Emira so probably not for me to say.

But there could be a constructive Lotus feedback thread, emphasis on CONSTRUCTIVE feedback that gets concatenated and sent to someone at Lotus for digest and hopefullya few action points!

Obviously I'm going to put fwd Tom as Lotus owner, past serial complainer come feedbacker and Moderator

IF Lotus don't even want to entertain it then I refer you to one of my bazillion previous posts regarding CX

Be amazing to see them represented officially on this forum in some capacity, but baby steps hey

 

[Lotustoronto]

My original point was about forum members as a representative cross-section of Emira owners. And hence whether posts about issues from owners on here are a reasonable sample of issues actually occurring.

I agree the forum has a wider audience than the 1,500 registered members - probably 10x that in terms of visitors. Perhaps Lotus ought to take more notice of what gets posted here. But they’ve decided not to. And they have field reports from customers and dealers as a more accurate way of deciding whether an issue is widespread or not.

It would be great if Lotus engaged more with customers, including appreciating the role of forums and other social media, but we’ve been saying that for the last 18 months and it’s isn’t happening.

And I also agree to your original point, it is very hard to know if a problem is wide spread without hearing from a majority of forum Emira owners. Not just the few that decide to post about it.... But yes, Lotus should certainly care about what gets posted on any forum and social media.

 

[Green]

Really? So now you are implying that the level of Service Lotus have given has NOT affected your choice to defer your order (possibly indefinitely)

If you think this is a microcosm that isn't reflected throughout the whole Lotus depositer list then i am afraid you are definitely mistaken.

Forum members should be banding together to make it known to Lotus about the level of service they expect, not burying their heads in the sand and dismissing the obvious

Good idea lets get the 50-100 active members and band together to put pressure on Lotus. Not trying to be a d but are you serious?

 

[eriegz]

I think it's funny how the level of snark on this forum increases whenever there's a fresh batch of delays.

 

[Leonard]

Good idea lets get the 50-100 active members and band together to put pressure on Lotus. Not trying to be a d but are you serious?

Tell you what. Let's just throw insults back and forth on here instead
100 active members was Lotus blooming customer base 3 years ago

 

[lion shf]

And I also agree to your original point, it is very hard to know if a problem is wide spread without hearing from a majority of forum Emira owners. Not just the few that decide to post about it.... But yes, Lotus should certainly care about what gets posted on any forum and social media.

It is the 2000s after all

 

[TomE]

Really? So now you are implying that the level of Service Lotus have given has NOT affected your choice to defer your order (possibly indefinitely)

If you think this is a microcosm that isn't reflected throughout the whole Lotus depositer list then i am afraid you are definitely mistaken.

Forum members should be banding together to make it known to Lotus about the level of service they expect, not burying their heads in the sand and dismissing the obvious

That's not what I said and you're mis-representing it to try and back up your point.

Of course service (and other factors) are contributing to some people cancelling. The figures I've provided were to explain that this forum is not a representative cross-section of either owners or deposit holders. There are owners already driving around in Emiras who never use a forum or Facebook or Instagram - I've met a few of them. We have no idea what issues they are having or not having. They weren't queuing up at Hethel with pitchforks last time I looked, but perhaps they broke down on the way there.

You can try to extrapolate or make assumptions based on what you read on here, but you have no way of validating what are simply assertions. I know dozens of people who were on here or other forums a year ago with deposits but have posted verylittle since then and not since they took delivery. Any idea what experience they are having?

There are a lot of vocal people on here who are disappointed with the level of service - I have been and still am one of them. But there are also a silent majority who are just waiting or have their cars and are getting on with driving them. Yes of course Lotus should get better. But there is only so much shouting into a vacuum you can do.

 

[TomE]

What else can we really do? Besides pull deposits and cancel orders.... All our ideas and complaints are documented on these forums and other social media sites that are all public. I know for a fact numerous Lotus employees follow my IG account and some have even spoken with me about things I've posted. Many have given feedback to Lotus of US reps, ROW dealers, and directly at Hethel about our concerns and disappointment in their lack of communication with customers. I actually feel bad for the online CS crew who have to constantly hear these sort of complaints too. They know improvement needs to happen and have even said they are going to do better... It just isn't happening for some reason.

Remember back in October 2021 when we were told photos of all the 6 FE colors would be shown? It took a forum member going to Hethel and making a video for it to actually happen. Or the constant delays we've seen getting base spec option details and pricing? We've known the colors since January 2022 and yet they're still not up on the configurator.

As long as the deposits keep coming in and deliveries continue to slowly rollout, they won't be pressured to do better. I know there's been a lot of cancellations due to the delays and customers fed up with the secrecy and lack of comms. The initial reviews weren't as stellar as a lot of us hoped either... Now there are cars going into limp mode and warranty work orders are piling up. I really hope they can get things under control because right now it's not looking great.

A group of 6 forum member deposit holders visited the factory in Jan 2022 to meet Lotus senior management. We all prepared documents and sent them in advance. We've talked numerous times on here about how we were listened to, promises made about how things were going to get better and then very little happened.

It took 10 months to get the video of the 6 FE colours from when it was raised face to face and 12 months since Lotus first promised the pictures.

A group of about 20 pre-reveal deposit holders tried to get senior management attention about how their deposit sequencing was mis-handled. Despite support from some people at Lotus, the seniors who could do something about it decided to completely ignore it and not even communicate with that group.

The LCC team know lots of people are frustrated with the level of service and have been for months. They don't seem to be able to influence change, they are just the front line call handlers.

At what point will people realise Lotus don't care about customer service or improving it?

 

[Leonard]

A group of 6 forum member deposit holders visited the factory in Jan 2022 to meet Lotus senior management. We all prepared documents and sent them in advance. We've talked numerous times on here about how we were listened to, promises made about how things were going to get better and then very little happened.

It took 10 months to get the video of the 6 FE colours from when it was raised face to face and 12 months since Lotus first promised the pictures.

A group of about 20 pre-reveal deposit holders tried to get senior management attention about how their deposit sequencing was mis-handled. Despite support from some people at Lotus, the seniors who could do something about it decided to completely ignore it and not even communicate with that group.

The LCC team know lots of people are frustrated with the level of service and have been for months. They don't seem to be able to influence change, they are just the front line call handlers.

At what point will people realise Lotus don't care about customer service or improving it?

The fact this happened and yet nothing happened.. spoke volumes.
Lotus had lost me from there on. But i was willing to forego it all IF they delivered the product they said they would.
Just because they didn't listen once to 6 individuals doesn't mean you stop now. If you do those that don't actually care about us, you, future customers win and "the drivers" ultimately lose.
Stay vocal and don't put up with anything short of what you would expect in a luxury product.

 

[TomE]

I hear you. Its a good question.
I dont own an Emira so probably not for me to say.

But there could be a constructive Lotus feedback thread, emphasis on CONSTRUCTIVE feedback that gets concatenated and sent to someone at Lotus for digest and hopefullya few action points!

Obviously I'm going to put fwd Tom as Lotus owner, past serial complainer come feedbacker and Moderator

IF Lotus don't even want to entertain it then I refer you to one of my bazillion previous posts regarding CX

Be amazing to see them represented officially on this forum in some capacity, but baby steps hey

See my response above. We have tried multiple times to engage with Lotus, in various small groups and individually. That has included some very detailed, written, constructive feedback and suggestions from that group of 6 in Jan 2022. Also by several individuals on here who have given feedback to Lotus and shared that with me.

They don't act on the feedback (in many cases they don't even acknowledge it) and seem to have no interest in improving the customer experience. Ade wanted to ask a series of questions when he did his videos last year - the list was edited down. I've offered to do a Q&A session with someone from Lotus on here, with questions agreed in advance - no response.

 

[Leonard]

See my response above. We have tried multiple times to engage with Lotus, in various small groups and individually. That has included some very detailed, written, constructive feedback and suggestions from that group of 6 in Jan 2022. Also by several individuals on here who have given feedback to Lotus and shared that with me.

They don't act on the feedback (in many cases they don't even acknowledge it) and seem to have no interest in improving the customer experience. Ade wanted to ask a series of questions when he did his videos last year - the list was edited down. I've offered to do a Q&A session with someone from Lotus on here, with questions agreed in advance - no response.

See mine above
You can't stop. This forum is growing and it needs to represent owners and feedback to Lotus.
And you are perfectly placed to facilitate
I get my new Geely car next week, so don't have an issue with the mothership. But i wont buy a new Lotus now until Hethel sorts out its senior management team and/or Geely does it for them

 

[TomE]

The fact this happened and yet nothing happened.. spoke volumes.
Lotus had lost me from there on. But i was willing to forego it all IF they delivered the product they said they would.
Just because they didn't listen once to 6 individuals doesn't mean you stop now. If you do those that don't actually care about us, you, future customers win and "the drivers" ultimately lose.
Stay vocal and don't put up with anything short of what you would expect in a luxury product.

No, because it's not my job to fix Lotus. I've spent months advocating for the company, the people and the cars because I'm passionate about the cars and the community of owners and hoped more people would come and discover the joys of Lotus ownership. I invested time and effort to give constructive feedback. I got treated badly as a customer and as a (admittedly self-appointed) advocate for this random gang of deposit holders.

I have a choice about whether to hand over £80k to Lotus. A month ago I chose not to and still think that was the right decision. I have kept deposits in place and hope to be able to re-visit that decision and go ahead with a purchase later this year. Others are going ahead now and that's fine and I hope they enjoy miles of smiles with their cars. I'll keep doing what I can to support this community but Lotus clearly don't want my input.

 

[Leonard]

No, because it's not my job to fix Lotus. I've spent months advocating for the company, the people and the cars because I'm passionate about the cars and the community of owners and hoped more people would come and discover the joys of Lotus ownership. I invested time and effort to give constructive feedback. I got treated badly as a customer and as a (admittedly self-appointed) advocate for this random gang of deposit holders.

I have a choice about whether to hand over £80k to Lotus. A month ago I chose not to and still think that was the right decision. I have kept deposits in place and hope to be able to re-visit that decision and go ahead with a purchase later this year. Others are going ahead now and that's fine and I hope they enjoy miles of smiles with their cars. I'll keep doing what I can to support this community but Lotus clearly don't want my input.

I TOTALLY understand that.
Can still facilitate a feedback area on forum and someone can pick up your mantle and push the agenda with Lotus, or not. I'd happily have done it if I had gone ahead with my purchase. Takes someone else that isn't too brow beaten and cares enough I guess.
Or we just embrace apathy and accept what we are given I guess

 

[TomE]

Anyone is welcome to volunteer to try that. I care, but it’s clear Lotus don’t. That’s not apathy, that’s real world experience.

 

[Grumpy]

i love the brand, despite how much i've moaned i wont ask to return it, they are making efforts

Maybe its a learning curve, i can accept that, just missing my new car so clearly i'm biased

To be clear, under your consumer rights, your contract is with Lotus Cars not the dealer. Lotus cars have the liability to correct this. I hope they get you a replacement car as soon as they can schedule one. They should provide a courtesy straight away.

 

[shaank]

Every cloud …. Glad you’re keeping the faith

Have to Just got my Emira back from repairs, and... well.. see my thread here:

📓 Journals - Diaries of the first Lotus Emira picked up from Hethel - V6 FE - yellow / ice / silver / sport

The calipers match the lotus badge, a 'lemon yellow' shall we say, rather than the warmer more mustard tone of the Hethel Yellow paintwork. They definitely do NOT match the paint work at all, they look cool, but I'm tempted to have them painted. This is a real problem, look what can go wrong...

www.emiraforum.com

 

[Jimblob]

Have to Just got my Emira back from repairs, and... well.. see my thread here:

📓 Journals - Diaries of the first Lotus Emira picked up from Hethel - V6 FE - yellow / ice / silver / sport

The calipers match the lotus badge, a 'lemon yellow' shall we say, rather than the warmer more mustard tone of the Hethel Yellow paintwork. They definitely do NOT match the paint work at all, they look cool, but I'm tempted to have them painted. This is a real problem, look what can go wrong...

www.emiraforum.com

Good luck tomorrow… I offered him my car but he said he had one arranged in Scotland. Makes sense now. Fingers crossed

 

[shaank]

Good luck tomorrow… I offered him my car but he said he had one arranged in Scotland. Makes sense now. Fingers crossed

If mine breaks down, or these errors flash up again.... we will ALL (and Lotus) wish he took yours instead.