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Mid-January 2023 - The Euro Delivery Date battle (aka the One-sided Euro Delivery Date battle)

You've already gotten some sense, over the last few pages, that we had been concerned about the specifics of our Euro Delivery pickup in Europe: when it would be ... could we be bumped out of it entirely, etc. The most important question (could we be bumped out entirely) had been answered pretty definitively by Tim (the Sales Manager) at this point. No, we weren't going to get bumped out; it was just a matter of when. And although we had not been given a precise date, the general sense from Porsche ED Canada (likely from Michael Maternicki, although he was not communicating with us directly anymore and we got the sense from one of our Porsche Centre London chats that he had gotten his hand slapped for talking directly to us) was that we were getting a push-forward on the delivery date. And we were getting pushed into that timeframe because the build date for Luke's Boxster had been thrown forward to the end of May/beginning of June. And because the Euro Delivery process requires about two months from factory exit to European Delivery date, that brought us to the July/August timeframe (i.e end of May + two months = end of July).

Now, as I also discussed before, Luke and I were trying to plan the best possible awesome driving experience in Europe. We'd thought about the details for years now, and we had good experience too, derived from our 2018 Euro Delivery experience receiving my current car - a BMW M2. And also from my own experiences travelling in Europe in summertimes past. All of those experiences informed us of the very real fact that mid-summer - especially August - was pretty much *the* *worst* *time* to do "enthusiast driving" on the good twisty roads of the mountains of central Europe (well, maybe except for the dead of winter). Because literally everyone and their dog goes on vacation then - all together. En-masse. Roads are clogged. Accommodation is packed. Campers and RVs are everywhere. Cyclists abound.
This is why we try hard to avoid August
So, needless to say, when our Euro Delivery tentative date got pushed from April/May to July/August, we were a bit distressed. No, maybe not distressed. Perhaps disappointed was a better word. Everything was finally starting to fall into place, and while a Euro Delivery trip during the height of everyone's vacation didn't totally wreck things, it did stand to make things quite a bit less perfect. So, when I describe the next set of interactions with Porsche Centre London, please remember that I was only doing it out of a sense of leaving no stone unturned, no possibility un-investigated, in the pursuit of a perfect Euro Delivery Experience. I did realize that I may have been crossing the dreaded "pestering" line. Although, upon reviewing the correspondence of the time, Tim did say at one point "Reach out at any time with any questions / concerns". So maybe I wasn't actually being a pest.

Anyhow, after the December 28 email where Tim basically relayed a message from Michael at Porsche Canada ED, which said "I've placed them on the July/August waitlist", I (or rather, I should say we) went away and thought about it for a while - for a couple of weeks, actually. Thinking about what a mid-July / early August Euro Delivery would look like. The logistics. About what alternate routes or locations we could take that might avoid the crowds. We then discovered another big downside to this time period: the Zuffenhausen factory tour, where the 911 and 718 models were being built, and which was something we really wanted to see - to see our actual models getting built before our eyes - we discovered that this tour shut down for the summer vacation period on July 18. That meant if our trip started after that, we'd totally miss the opportunity to take this tour.

We eventually made peace with the idea of a mid-summer ED date, BUT ... we also felt that it was worthwhile to prod and inquire a bit, just to see if something, maybe just maybe just maybe, could be done to get Luke's Boxster built just a bit earlier - even two weeks earlier might make a huge difference, and then hopefully secure a Euro Delivery slot either in early July or maybe even late June. That would be perfect-A-MUNDO! Remember - this was likely a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us, and I don't think anyone can fault us too much for leaving no stone unturned in this particular respect.

We had been noticing in the Track-Your-Dream app that the build date of Luke's Boxster had been fluctuating a bit (it had actually moved earlier in time by a few days). I wrote an email around that little tidbit and sent it to Tim on January 11. In it, I said:

January 9, 2023 2:11 PM
[...] We also have noticed that the Boxster (order number 081002) factory exit has moved earlier by 4 or 5 days (which is great). Not sure if you had anything to do with that but if so, thank you. Crossing fingers that maybe Porsche will further decide to move the build date of the Boxster to something closer to the build date of the Cayman (order number 080951). That would further improve our chances of doing ED before the busy travel / summer shutdown season.

Tim, to his credit, responded quickly:

January 11, 2023 4:10 PM
[...]
There are all sorts of machinations behind the scenes which could alter these dates slightly. We do not get notice of every change. We are still working with Porsche Canada re: finalizing the Euro Delivery trip. Any major change will be made known to us, which we will, of course, relay to you.

This message in itself didn't really speak much to the idea of them (Porsche Centre London) beseeching the powers that be on our behalf, but it did allow for an opening of a line of conversation.

I then sent the following back to Tim:

Jan 11, 2023, 9:53 PM
Thanks for the update, Tim.

Message received regarding the understanding that all dates are provisional and subject to change.

Luke and I will still hold on to some small hope that we can avoid doing Euro Delivery pickup in July or August (especially August - it is pretty much the *worst* time to be traveling around on scenic roads in Europe, save for the middle of winter).

But yes, we realize that everything is pretty much out of our control.

As you can see here, I was trying to convey understanding, acknowledging that we really didn't have any true power, but still prodding gently to see if someone could take some initiative and inquire a little bit - just just in case.

Tim responded quickly again, but in his response, doesn't indicate that he's accepted this notion of prodding/inquiring:

Jan 11, 2023 10:04 PM
Sounds good guys. I feel July / August is the most likely timeframe for your EU Delivery. I know up until May 2023 is completely booked and they likely won't hold the cars until September or later. Factor in the shutdown, then I think logically it only leaves July / August, but let's let the process play out and we will go from there.

I wasn't sure why that part about "booked up until May 2023" was there, since really all we were looking for was a slight revision of the delivery date - two or three weeks, maybe into late June at best. We weren't looking to get our delivery date moved backwards by two or more months! Maybe he didn't really digest that part. And from his "Let's let this play out" comment, it seemed that he was gently trying to get us to stop asking.

I thought about our situation for a few days; discussed it with Luke; explored more deeply the issues we felt we would encounter with a "busy season" Euro Delivery date, about how we might structure it to minimize being impacted by that season. I mean, of course it was doable at the height of summer season, and yeah, maybe we were just being too whiny and we should just take whatever we were given. But again ... this was a trip-of-a-lifetime, and why shouldn't we explore all possible avenues ... I mean, the ask itself (try to move a build by a few weeks to accommodate some logistics) wasn't that crazy. If there was a really good reason nothing could be done, then sure, so be it. But I felt I really hadn't yet made our case in the clearest way possible, and so, at the risk (once again) of reaching "pest" status, I decided to take one last kick at the can: a longer, more carefully constructed email with a list of the reasons why trying to get the delivery date moved was so important to us. I hoped that would engender some better understanding and maybe a bit of motivation to actively inquire and see if something could be done:

January 17, 2023, 1:13 p.m

Yes, thanks for the update, Tim.

I'd like to take the opportunity to re-paraphrase/clarify the preferences that Luke and I have. Parts of what you will read below are repetitive, and for that I do apologize. But basically what I'm trying to ensure is that you are properly ... let's say 'armed' ... with our thoughts and preferences, written as a concise list to which you can refer, should there ever arise a situation where you have to make spur-of-the-moment decisions and negotiations with those at Porsche ED/Corporate on our behalf.

Ok, so we've got these five points as our set of hopes/preferences:

- Delivery in June: Of the three months of summer, June is the most preferable (in terms of favorability for road travel and also for Luke's logistics with his daughter). We realize that June is right up against the factory completion for Luke's Boxster. We only bring this option up in case there's some chance of swapping/finagling an earlier build of Luke's Boxster and/or if somehow Luke's car can get turned around extremely quickly for ED after factory exit.

- Delivery in July: If July is the month where we are assigned our ED slot, if at all possible it would be nice to do it before the 18th (so we can take the factory tour - my understanding is that the factory tour is unavailable for the summer after July 17th). Earlier in the month also helps ensure our trip does not bleed into August.

- Delivery in August: August is the least preferable month to do a European Delivery (being part Italian, I know all too well about how particularly bad August is for beautiful road travel ... there's a ton of congestion. *Everyone* goes into the wilderness in August: RVs, cyclists, campers, you name it).

- Location Flexibility: If it makes any difference or helps with logistics or schedules, Luke and I are willing to receive delivery at either Leipzig or Zuffenhausen.

- "Last-Minute" Flexibility: Luke and I are willing to consider "last minute" time slot openings (as in, we're willing to wait to book flights and other arrangements in order to maintain a flexibility advantage). We don't mean "last minute" literally - more like we mean on the order of some number of weeks in advance.

And that's that. Again I'm quite aware that we're at the mercy of a busy ED delivery roster and the logistics of factory processes, so I completely understand if there's nothing further that can be done. Additionally, thanks for your patience receiving and reading through all of this correspondence from me. And, as always, thanks to you and to Christina, for all of your work and effort on our file.

...Andrew

So, there you had it. Our last kick at the can to try and see if perhaps we could get Tim (and/or Porsche Centre London) to inquire to Porsche ED Canada (or whomever) to see if some exception or arrangements could be made to secure a Euro Delivery timeslot just a touch earlier than the end of July.

Unfortunately, the response to this longer email was ... silence. As in, we heard nothing from Tim, Steve or Christina with regards to this email thread. No reply, nothing. And as the days of January drew on, I also realized that we had not heard back from Christina (from our call back on Dec. 28) on several related advocacy items upon which she had pledged to work. We had no idea if they had inquired on our behalf, and just not bothered to tell us the response, or if they just had had enough with my asking, and just decided to take the silent-treatment route. Or maybe someone higher up had told them to stop trying to make an exception in the case of these guys, or ... who knows what. Again, lack of transparency and information breeds usually incorrect speculation.

In any case, after it became clear they weren't going to respond, we just decided to drop the matter - at least for the time being. It was really quite disappointing to end this interaction this way, but we really had no power here, and any further talk of it risked us perhaps angering them. Better, I supposed, to make the best of what would come and instead focus on the many other pressing items we needed to address before the big trip.
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