LeaflessInSeattle said:
Well, I hope that future students of public relations study this in textbooks for years and years to come, in a chapter titled: "How to take the most motivated, enthusiastic, and excited fans in the world and turn them into people who remember your mistreatment of them for the rest of their lives."
I, too, went from a solid "month of May" (from 2/8 through 4/4) to "Pending" and now "month of July". I wrote a long post about in in the "May(be)" thread, but I guess this is my new home, now.
I, too, believed (based on everything Nissan CS had told me, and from what I've read here), that I was pretty "safe", in that I survived the first round of earthquake delay notices and in that my dashboard continued to show "Month of May" after the second round of emails went around on 4/4. But later that night, like many others, I went back to "Pending". More calls to CS told me "not to worry about it" and that the "Pending" didn't mean anything had actually changed.
I never did receive any email from Nissan about the new "month of July" status date, but found it there this morning.
I must say that these past 4 days have really been a turning point for me, too. Up until that time, I was a very passionate LEAF proponent, having gone to every local LEAF event, and was very excited (despite repeated delays) that soon I would
finally be joining the ranks of EV'ers. I had been on the priority list, and was poised to reserve the minute it opened up on 4/20, but the Nissan web site had problems accepting Amex cards, so that pushed back my reservation a few hours, starting a chain of events that ultimately has meant I am now a full 7 months behind the first people to get their cars (assuming that Nissan can be trusted to actually deliver in July). That initial delay pushed back my order opening date by almost 2 months. Then more problems with the Nissan site prevented me from selecting either of my preferred local dealers (whom I'd already been talking to for a while). Further false information from Nissan (that they'd be shipping in the order of reservations, not orders), and the lack of any information on accessories prompted me to wait an extra couple weeks before ordering, so I could see the cars in-person (all colors), and hopefully get more info on the accessories at the upcoming local "Drive Electric Tour". That was kind of a bust, so I only ordered floor mats with my Silver SL-e.
But this last round of going back to Pending, and now July, coupled with all the calls, emails, and chat sessions I've had with CS (and attempted contacts with Nissan Corporate and my dealer), have pretty much depleted all my excitement about the LEAF and goodwill towards Nissan. I very nearly canceled my order out of sheer frustration, but I don't see any reason not to remain in line, even if I end up getting a different car before July. I certainly understand that the earthquake had a devastating effect at many levels, and fully sympathize with that. But, all indications from Nissan and CS were that my car had already been built and shipped before the earthquake. After all, Nissan sent me an email on 2/7 saying they were building and shipping my car at that time. The
least I would have expected from Nissan was that if there was a delay, they would not wait till the last minute (3 weeks before my delivery month, and a nearly a full month after the earthquake) to notify me of a delay. But that's exactly what they did. And no small delay, either. It's another 2 full months.
Unfortunately, these two months that we won't have a LEAF are two Summer months where we really do need a car, and will now need to make other arrangements that may well preclude taking subsequent delivery on a LEAF. For us, this latest (and very late) Nissan delay has set off a whole new chain reaction of unfortunate consequences that impacts many facets of our lives, from vacation plans, remodeling plans, plans having to do with repair/selling of existing cars, etc.
The really ironic part is that until this month my wife wasn't so excited about the prospect of paying so much to be a pioneer, but was just beginning to change her mind and get excited about the impending delivery. Now, not only have I lost my long-standing enthusiasm, but she feels like she got all excited about nothing, and had the rug pulled out from under her, too.
Unless things change, there may well be an orphaned silver SL-e at Rairdon's sometime in July (if we can trust Nissan on that…).
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Reserved: 4/20 (delayed for hours due to Nissan website snafu with Amex cards, which cost me two months on ordering date.)
Ordered: 11/16 (after first not being able to select local preferred dealers on Nissan site, then being told orders would be shipped based on reservation date/time, NOT order date/time)
Status: Went from Pending to "month of May" on 2/7, back to "Pending" on 4/4, now to "month of July" on 4/8.
