Americas Ineos customer service, how has your experience been?

[PDX_Keith]

Mine, has not been great...

About two months ago I submitted a ticket to inquire into obtaining some 3D renders of the exterior of the vehicle. From my experience, automotive makers are actually pretty forthcoming with this information. To my surprise they were very willing to share and even mentioned how their goal was to have them accessible via an owners portal in the future. They already had all of my information from the purchase process, so the nice chap said he'd get back to me by the end of the week. Never heard back. I called a couple of weeks later asking for an update and the lady told me the ticket was closed as they had no commitment day scheduled to provide this information to customers. OK then, just proactively tell me that.

Now fast forward to two weeks ago and I submitted another ticket via the phone number to inquire into when wiring diagrams and manuals would be available to US customers. As a bonus I asked about the software update that the CEO promised as I get tired of that thing. The canned response on the diagrams/manuals was "our team of engineers are working dilegently on this but we are not at a point where we can make a date commitment". I thought to myself, WTH? Shouldn't this be a higher priority on a car thats been built for basically 2 years?

"Regarding the software updates there are no plans to update US vehicles".

Now I'm wondering if I have an idiot on the other end of this conversation, or if this is another case of big corporations left hand not talking to the right. So I replied with the article where the CEO stated it was going to be addressed and asked her to escalate the question and get back to me. Did I ever hear back? Nope.

 

[CrazyOldMan]

Mine, has not been great...

About two months ago I submitted a ticket to inquire into obtaining some 3D renders of the exterior of the vehicle. From my experience, automotive makers are actually pretty forthcoming with this information. To my surprise they were very willing to share and even mentioned how their goal was to have them accessible via an owners portal in the future. They already had all of my information from the purchase process, so the nice chap said he'd get back to me by the end of the week. Never heard back. I called a couple of weeks later asking for an update and the lady told me the ticket was closed as they had no commitment day scheduled to provide this information to customers. OK then, just proactively tell me that.

Now fast forward to two weeks ago and I submitted another ticket via the phone number to inquire into when wiring diagrams and manuals would be available to US customers. As a bonus I asked about the software update that the CEO promised as I get tired of that thing. The canned response on the diagrams/manuals was "our team of engineers are working dilegently on this but we are not at a point where we can make a date commitment". I thought to myself, WTH? Shouldn't this be a higher priority on a car thats been built for basically 2 years?

"Regarding the software updates there are no plans to update US vehicles".

Now I'm wondering if I have an idiot on the other end of this conversation, or if this is another case of big corporations left hand not talking to the right. So I replied with the article where the CEO stated it was going to be addressed and asked her to escalate the question and get back to me. Did I ever hear back? Nope.

TBH - at least for those of us who have had ours for a year or more - I would not have expected customer service to be able to do anything about those points or to give you an answer or timeline. SW will come when it comes, specs and manuals will come when they come - we’ve all been talking about it for a long time, none of us understands the holdup, but I don’t think any of us expect customer service to be able to address it. That being said - yes, my experience is that the central support team is very nice, very understanding, promises to follow up, and is not able to do very much one way or another. I work with my dealer for the things they can help with - and wait for Ineos to deliver the SW update, manuals, and HOPEFULLY access for independent mechanics in their overall service strategy.

 

[PDX_Keith]

The problem is the dealers also seem to struggle finding answers too. This just baffles me. I started there but didn't get any usable information so I figured I'd call and email them directly.

I did, however, save the email where she stated I shouldn't need diagrams or manuals as they'd rescue me anywhere. I plan to test that in the Northern Territories of Canada and Alaska, off road this summer, with my sat phone and see if they actually pick up the tab.

 

[CrazyOldMan]

The problem is the dealers also seem to struggle finding answers too. This just baffles me. I started there but didn't get any usable information so I figured I'd call and email them directly.

I did, however, save the email where she stated I shouldn't need diagrams or manuals as they'd rescue me anywhere. I plan to test that in the Northern Territories of Canada and Alaska, off road this summer, with my sat phone and see if they actually pick up the tab.

Send pictures! That will be awesome. Yeah, neither the dealer nor the help desk are going to have or give you those answers, IMO

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Their action is literally as if ineos automotive is in the exit strategy phase

 

[Znarfgh]

I have had mainly good exprience with Ineos customer services. The main point to remember that the call taker has limited experience and very little technical knowledge. They usually have to get information from somebody else.

I recently made an inquiry on the free length of one of their spring options and they got back to me within 2 days with the answer.

 

[PDX_Keith]

When I was discussing the manuals he stated that as long as I followed the recommended services intervals and used the recommended fluids that everything was still covered under warranty and the information I required was all in the owners manual. I asked him if he could show me where the torque setting for the oil drain plug was as I couldn't find it. He stated he didn't have a copy of the manual. I told him he could download it for free on the very website we're currently chatting on. He said he'd forward my request to engineering.

 

[PDX_Keith]

After Ineos sat on my request for escalation for several days I heard back from them again today.

" I would like to follow up regarding your recent inquiry.

The technical expert has confirmed that while an ADAS update is not completely excluded, it is still in development. Apologies for any confusion."

In regards to the wiring diagrams and manuals, Rossella tells me that dealers have been instructed to print out any information customers require until the official manuals are available. News to me and not exactly conventional but I guess it is a temporary bridge to somewhere...

Enjoy

 

[INEOS OG]

Nearly non existent. I am fortunate to not have "needed" CS aside from an order that was never built, and receiving a VIN for a vehicle which was not my build and learning "my vehicle" was inbound 6 months ahead of estimated delivery 2 weeks before it was due to arrive. Ineos CS did ultimately supply the (a) vin number once a well placed Redditor at Ineos helped me figure out what was happening with "my" Trialmaster. In the end I received a build enough like mine to take delivery but the whole prosess was a mystery from ordering in September of '23 to delivery in July of '24.

 

[ryket]

User experience is something they've never understood. It's just not in their DNA. That's why we get annoying ADAS features, and it's why customer service is an afterthought. It feels like they contracted out to some call center somewhere for first level support.

For example: at delivery, I got a printout saying that they were going to give my data to SiriusXM and I could opt out by emailing their "privacy team". I did. No response, and my data got given away anyway. Not the worst thing in the world, but it doesn't make a great first impression on buyers.

It's a shame, because the Ineos folks I talked to back on the PT02 test drive were really knowledgeable and enthusiastic. (Of course, I don't expect them to be the ones fielding tier 1 support questions.)

 

[Dreadfully Distinct]

How common is it to contact an automobile company’s “customer service” team? Sorry, I had to ask. I don’t think I ever considered calling customer service on any of the vehicles in my past. The dealership was the first point of contact. But I guess that’s the problem too.

Your contact with other automaker support teams has been good?

 

[HereinDaRockies]

How common is it to contact an automobile company’s “customer service” team? Sorry, I had to ask. I don’t think I ever considered calling customer service on any of the vehicles in my past. The dealership was the first point of contact. But I guess that’s the problem too.

Your contact with other automaker support teams has been good?

don’t calibrate your expectations to the experiences you have with volume car brands.

Sure, a highly personal and curated experience is unlikely for a brand selling millions of units a year.

For Ineos’ low volume of customers and it being a new brand, having exceptional post purchase experience would have been strategic.

It’s obvious these Ineos people come from B2B culture and these consumer relationship concerns were all unknown unknowns for them.

Not a smart strategy to promote Lynn Calder from within. Should have picked a seasoned automotive leadeer

 

[Dreadfully Distinct]

don’t calibrate your expectations to the experiences you have with volume car brands.

Sure, a highly personal and curated experience is unlikely for a brand selling millions of units a year.

For Ineos’ low volume of customers and it being a new brand, having exceptional post purchase experience would have been strategic.

It’s obvious these Ineos people come from B2B culture and these consumer relationship concerns were all unknown unknowns for them.

Not a smart strategy to promote Lynn Calder from within. Should have picked a seasoned automotive leadeer

Well, all of that aside, I’m just saying I probably would have never considered contacting customer service for an issue. I did contact them, thanks to reading about it and obtaining the phone number here on the forum, and other than having a hard time understanding what they said, my experience went quite well. In fact, within two hours of opening a ticket with them, my service manager called me about the matter, and two weeks later the issue was resolved. The woman I spoke to was very professional and informative and followed up twice until resolution and the ticket was closed. I was relieved and happy.

 

[Roach]

Not a smart strategy to promote Lynn Calder from within. Should have picked a seasoned automotive leadeer

100% agree with one exception. Ineos faults might be in part due to picking people from the industry. Despite the brand the industry seems to use the same playbook. Would have been interesting to use somebody that had services experience, like Disney or Ritz Carlton….break the mold and build an experience company vs coach builder. Grenadier should have been a tool for more and not the end game.

 

[PDX_Keith]

Trust me I tried to get information from my dealer first and I honestly believe they tried to get the information. My observation is that Ineos is not proactively speaking to the dealerships either. Even the service department said they struggle at times so spend a lot of time waiting. Overall, the level of dealer training is far inferior to the big brands.

So I tried myself and here I am. What I find incredibly curious is they're spending a lot of effort to not allow communication with anyone who works for Ineos in the USA. If someone has a US contact they're able to share I'd love to speak with them and provide them perspective and productive criticism.

 

[MattA]

For example: at delivery, I got a printout saying that they were going to give my data to SiriusXM and I could opt out by emailing their "privacy team". I did. No response, and my data got given away anyway. Not the worst thing in the world

This attitude astounds me given the modern world, no big deal?
Would you post all your details here? Would you post all your details on any social media platform
More importantly would you post all your phone contacts, emails and photos for the world to see? I wonder how your family and friends feel about that?
So why have massive corporations have all those details and think it’s its big deal?
Madness IMO

 

[anand]

So I tried myself and here I am. What I find incredibly curious is they're spending a lot of effort to not allow communication with anyone who works for Ineos in the USA. If someone has a US contact they're able to share I'd love to speak with them and provide them perspective and productive criticism.

While they'll (almost) never post publicly, there are plenty of IA employees (US and RoW) that read the forum on a daily basis, just as there are employees of other brands that have been on the forum since the start. I think this is true across brands and Internet forums, but even more so with this forum in particular because of the nature of the vehicle and the fact that it is a new brand.

From what I've gathered from the past 2 years, the mothership requires nearly every decision to be run through them in order for anything to happen stateside.

For what it's worth, I've been told that the Ineos US technical reps (I'm assuming we're more focused on the service/technical side of complaints instead of uninformed sales people) make regular visits to the dealers in their territory. But, as it is a new company and almost half the dealers have only been on board for <6 months, I think everyone (dealer and corporate) are scrambling to get up to speed. Not trying to write that off as an excuse, but trying to find logic and reasoning. I know IA is hiring for a number of positions, but as of a few months ago, their US workforce was less than 50 people

 

[LC0013]

I have contacted Ineos numerous times. Sometimes with easily answered questions and sometimes not so. Responses were from quick to a pretty good long wait however, what they said they would do they did. Seriously, you have to wonder if they believe there are just a few too many whiners on the internet boards.