Long Alienware 18 delay.

So I bought an top end Alienware 18 model clear back in July 12th and the orders code that was received was faulty, so they reset my order for my Alienware 18 on the 29th of July. Well I was told that my computer would come in on August 16th but turns out that my computer had gotten delayed understandably I waited. They are on their 4th delay now and I still have yet to receive my computer... So, I need to ask has anyone else bought the Alienware 18 top end model with the 4 ssd's and the Nvidia dual 780m graphics cards with Sli and received a bunch of delays like I have? They kept telling me it was the graphics cards in back stock causing the delay but now they don't seem to have any info on what is the part now causing the delay. If I had to guess, Nvidia doesn't produce a lot of these 780m with sli because Alienware is the only computer that uses it.

Also I have purchased my computer in the US.

 

There are a few other brands that use 780 sli cards. Unfortunately this is the norm for Alienware on high end Systems it seems I would MSG one of the reps here with your order number so they can check it out.

 

my last order was pu into production 10am the 1st of august. Im still waiting too.

Like you, they kept screwing up the order, but for me they did it 6 times since june 7th...

 

" 780m with sli "

There is not such a thing.
Nvidia/TSMC can't produce enough 780m cards to satisfy the market. Asus have had 3+month delay on their 780m machines. AW quoted me late October date for a 780m machine.

Either Nvidia ordered to few wafers from TSMC, huge demand or low yields of working chips.
+ Priority customers like Apple. Dell/AW could do like Apple and pay hundreds in million in advance to get stuff in time. Nvidia is probably in full making new mollie chips for Apples refresh in late october. (the fastest "mobile" part still today is Apple's version of 680M in iMacs. Even the slower Nvidia 650 used in RMBP where special over clocked versions. Dell could also get these special chips if they payed up.)

 

A lot of you may not realize that at this time (when you first placed your orders) the amount of sales probably skyrocketed due to the deals of up to 30% off. There were so many orders, Alienware ran out of parts, almost immediately. I'm sure there is still a backup of orders from that day and they're doing everything possible to meet demand, but it was probably unexpected. And there are also NEW orders on top of those... Not only that, NVIDIA probably had not anticipated such high demand and likely did not begin producing or allocating the cards for weeks, for Dell. There are other companies who use NVIDIA as well, who may have had priority for shipment of cards.

If Dell/Alienware says there are no parts available - there are no parts available. It's not like only the members of this forum knew about the deals and bought notebooks. I bet they sold thousands, maybe tens of thousands or more, during that 72 hour window, and have probably sold more since that day... The truth is: you just have to wait a little bit longer. It looks like they're just now getting caught up.

Edit: For those of you who ordered before this sale, I cannot attempt to explain why you haven't received your system. I myself ordered about two weeks before (on the 15th) and my system arrived by the 27th.

 

don't be such a hippie Dre. If AW has some issue, they certainly could post it on their websites, but they have not. Since there is no official comment from them, we have to assume things are A-OK,
Now Ive had a friend who placed an order, and another person I sort of know, also has a replacement, of which both, getting the same machine I am getting, though both placed after my order...

Yet they have thiers already. So screw AW, they screw with their customers. I had issues for 13 months before being offered a replacement. Had motherboards catch fire, had things replaced multiple times, had videocards fail, soundcard fail, wireless cards fail, and the motherboard, and the battery..

its ridiculous. If anyone should have priority it should be those who waited over a year, at the point where their warranty expires before final resolution is even offered. They've taken about 3,000$ of my money so far, and I don't have anything working to show for it thus far.

well, I have this order status, that's been stale for 6 weeks starting today, which is actually an extension of an order originally placed 9weeks ago which got cancelled on part due to faulty AW management...

I was over and over reassured I'd get it by the 21st then the whole shortage thing happened, but that's over now. Everyone confirms it. they even told me themselves, and said I'd now get my machine by the end of july. when that came around they promised me by the end of the first week of September NO LATER, well its the 7th... I still have no word on a delivery date, and now they refuse to comment. Its not like they're eve offering me any sort of compensation for all the crap. They simply are treating me like they do not care.

I happen to own 7 AW systems, from various years. Only in the last 3 years has there ever been issues... and in the last year I've had to return multiple machines for various reasons, nevermind had multitude of faulty hardware crap on the 18's, and 14's...

mind you, I have an m17x-r3 and a m17x-r4. Not a single issue whatso-ever. They got that machine down right. Least IMO/ im sure theres issues out there, but seems much less then the 18's.

 

I'm not being a hippie, lol. Just trying to help people realize there's more going on than they may realize, and it's not a simple process or click, buy, ship.

The issues you are experiencing may be due to the fact that you are speaking with a low level sales associate who cannot see the latest details on orders. For example, I once ordered a system and was told it was delayed but they did not know for how long or why, and then I sent a PM to a representative on this forum and he was able to see notes on the order that said why it was delayed and the actual date it was expected to finish - lo and behold, he was right on... You should ask to speak with a supervisor or talk with someone other than the people who handled your order or answer the phone when you call.

In your situation, I would have just canceled and re-ordered. I wouldn't be waiting since July 2nd (if I remember correctly).

 

actually,. I'm speaking with Susan form executive support who answered my complaints form the federal business bureau. Apparently, she is the highest level of customer support there is. But it sure does not seem that way. Seems like no one can get anything done. Ever.

for instance, she has her own extension, and always answers it or it goes to her specific voicemail. But - again, im getting no where, and I've asked many times, if there is a supervisor or manager I could speak too, she constantly tells me there is no one higher then her.

She basically has described to me, she is the ceo's wife, and owns the company(by saying there is no one higher then her, and have reached the highest escalation possible..). which she is obviously not. But she will not get this escalated in any fashion, for some odd friggin reason.

I truly believe, there might be some foul play going on. Even friends of mine have asked (including my never-paranoid fiancé) "do you think they're lying or screwing with you, deliberately?"

I have no choice but to answer honestly, and simply state, ":It might appear they are doing so, but I wish to continue to believe otherwise, I hope they are not, because I've been waiting patiently long enough."

 

That is very strange... The CEO's wife? Lol. Well, I'm pretty certain that's not true. To be honest, they may have screwed something up with your replacement and they're trying to cover it up with excuses. But I don't know... It's a crap shoot at this point.

In the end, I hope you get your system and it works flawlessly. It would be a shame to get a faulty system, but I've seen it happen.

 

If I received a defective product in the end, I think I'll snap. However, I have no warranty at this point either. I wonder if I'm able to even upgrade and pay for extended warranty. My original Warranty expired in july , took all year to resolve issues' so I haven't even had the computer I should have had this whole time. I asked if they'd give me an extra years warranty, since all this was originally stemming from an issue over a year ago. They said No. They said they'll hook me up, with an additional 30 days.

I'm wondering if they meant the additional 30 as in last month... or 30 days from when I receive the machine LOL as if I'm ever getting my replacement, hahahah... I'd laugh hard they deliver the machine, and the warranty was for last month, and yet, its defective still. This is Dell after all. 50% their machines are broken in some way, and generally if your not an experienced user, you'd never notice...

 

Did you go through the Canadian version of the Better Business Bureau? I think you posted in another post that you did and maybe they are just following what they can/are allowed to do to the letter. If they have a year to diagnose or whatever, maybe they are using up all the time or doing whatever they are allowed to based on that? Your case is probably the strangest one I've seen since I've been here and one word of advice to everyone here is if you do go the BBB route, be aware that Dell may follow it to the letter and you won't get any favors if a nice person finds your case.

 

Yeah.... I have called everyday about this computer explained my situation and spoke to a lot of management. They do as everyone says they do, reassure that the system will be sent, they told me that they will get their parts by the 23rd of September.... we will see then but when it comes to calling I have done that more than enough. They say nothing is wrong with my order and that it is normal and I truly do not believe canceling and re-ordering is going to fix this problem so we will see.... You would figure that they would put me on top priority since I spent top dollar on this thing.

 

I went with the US BBB, because it has greater affect on them, since their head office is in the states.

 

This is not good to hear. I have an 18 in production with no EDD.

 

well, They told me today they still haven't shipped the laptop out. Thought its been finished being built for days...

 

*Update* My Alienware 18 came 11 days early from it's last delay date. My advice to people who ordered their Alienware 18s wait as I have been using it so far everything is instant on this computer everything is correct on my order and everything is working on my end. To be WARNED though it took 2 months to recieve my computer so if your going to order one you need to be patient. Also instead of the bottom having a name plate it states what graphics card is in your computer and what date the computer was "Depoyed" I found that cool.

 

My replacement went into production 9/4, now it's on the truck for delivery. Looks like things are speeding up.