Article: Lenovo Canada problems continue

According to a follow-up exclusive by the Canadian publication, Digital Journal, the problems with the Lenovo Canada ordering system continue to exist and many customers face long delays.

The article can be found at http://www.digitaljournal.com/artic...om_Faulty_Order_System_Causing_Lengthy_Delays.

Since I ordered a T61p from Lenovo Canada February 29, my interest in this issue is more than academic.

 

I'm guessing all the happy posts about 2-3 day turnaround don't apply to Canadian orders? I placed my order for 14.1" T61p on March 1st and was told the estimated shipping date is be 27th.

As far as customer service goes, I certainly don't appreciate the fact that my email enquiries need a full day or more before getting answered, especially considering it's one of the largest IT company I'm dealing with.

 

I didn't see any indications of Canadian addresses in all those posts about happy experiences.

From what I've read here and in the previous article in Digital Journal, it seems the problems in Canada have been much more severe than in the U.S., have lasted longer and may still continue.

I really hope some sudden radical improvement has occurred since I just ordered from Lenovo Canada.

The reaction to this thread may tell the tale.

 

well, i think their system is still a bit buggy... i'm in ontario, i placed an order on 29 feb and got three order confirmations by email.

the confirmation emails had varying typographical/formatting errors so it seemed like they came from different templates/programs. none of them actually described my order in detail, which would be helpful for a cto, but they all had my correct name, customer and order numbers, and shipping/billing addresses.

so the order was placed on a friday. i called on the following monday to see if they had an updated eta (i was hoping things were moving along better these days). well, i was told that the order was stopped due to missing information!

somewhere between their sending me the confirmations and my phone call they'd lost my addresses and my credit card info.... so i provided them over the phone and asked for a confirmation email from the csr (and got it). i was told that my order was now off to the factory for building... with an official eta of 3-4 weeks.

for this order, i spoke with two csr's and both were competent, professional, and very helpful. i get the feeling lenovo is trying to address the problems, but that their system is still a bit borked. (mostly, i was surprised that my order was silently stopped with no email about it.)

i'll post again when the thing comes.

 

I've also had exactly the same experience with the confirmation emails. In my case, a little more anxiety was added by the fact that I got two of all the emails. Because there were problems with the website when ordering, I've been worrying that a might end up being charged for two systems when I had only ordered one.

A very professional CSR told me orally there was only one system in the order pipeline.

However, given the difficulties with the website and the ordering system, I'm trying now to get a second confirmation, preferably in writing.

 

I ordered a T61p Jan-4th and it arrived Feb-8th. I am not complaining about the delivery time, I was happy to have the ability to get a CTO custom order at a reasonable price. Before this new ordering system was implemented at the end of 2007 Canadians had the choice of exactly ONE T61p model pre-configured with WUXGA and a $2,200 price tag. I'll take a month wait over fast delivery of pre-configured models thank you.

Like many other people here, Lenovo did ship me only 1GB when I order 2GB. That was annoying but I was surprised when the missing 1GB arrived as Lenovo predicted one week after I called to complain about the memory.

 

When I called Lenovo to clarify 7/6 digit customer/order numbers, the CSR told me "oh that page shouldn't be there" and that was it. I did get an "update" on the status of my order that it will ship later in March - that was the only ETA of any kind I received and I had to ask for it.

Later that day I received a reply to an email I sent a day earlier stating that the tracking page is only for US customers, now that explains something.

I realized there was a new ecoupon that would have saved me another $100 or so, so I created a quote and sent it to Lenovo. We'll see how that one goes.

Will I be automatically updated via email about my order, eg. when it ships? As much as I'd like to know what's going on, I hate being a pain in the butt and calling in more often than absolutely necessary.

 

I received an "Confirmation Order" email on Jan-23. Nothing else! I phoned in the order on Jan-4.

The email was worded as follows:

Subject: Confirmation for order# 424000xxxx
Dear: Rick

Thank you for your purchase from Lenovo. Your order has been received and is being processed. Please contact the Lenovo Support Center for the latest information on the status of your order: 424000xxxx

We have included your complete order information below. If you have any questions about your order please contact Lenovo at：866-428-4465.

Please include your Order Number in any communication to help us serve you more quickly.

Thank you for purchasing from Lenovo. We appreciate your business.

Lenovo Sales​

When I received that email I thought for sure it was going to take months to get my notebook. Based on all the problems people were reporting here I thought my Jan-4th order was in limbo until Jan-23. I am guessing Jan-23 was the actual ship date from China because the T61p arrived 2 weeks after the email.

Canadians certainly do not get the same service from Lenovo as Americans that is for sure.

BTW...nice avatar wju182. Is that you on the track?

 

Thanks Yorgi, that's me on the autox course. Hopefully I will start doing some track days this year. Nice M1

 

Wish I had seen this article before I ordered my T61p on March 2nd. I too received the duplicate order confirmations. They were not exactly identical though. I called Lenovo Canada the next day and canceled the duplicate order. I was on hold for a little while. But it wasn't like what some of those people experienced in that digitaljournal article.

One thing that bothers me is that the order confirmation details were very generalized as to what exactly I ordered. Luckily I printed off one of the duplicate orders from the Thankyou message you get after you hit the order button on the lenovo canada site. It listed all the main components. It makes no sense to me that those details aren't in the emails.

Now I'm just waiting to receive that estimated ship date. I'm hoping for March, but I'm in no real rush. My new 2GB corsair RAM and Hitachi 100GB 7200rpm HDD was delivered today from Canadacomputers.com I'm sure they are just itching to get into a nice spanking new T61p and unleash the fury!

I also plan on getting a Waterfield sleeve. They are pretty pricey though. However I don't know of any Canadian companies that can match their quality.

 

I complained to one CSR about the vagueness of the information in the order confirmation. He apologized and said they were still working on it. He also said something more detailed would eventually appear.

I have finally received confirmation by email from Lenovo Canada that there is only one computer in the pipeline for me -- despite the duplicate emails.

As is the case with you, ryanj16, the world will not end for me if the computer doesn't arrive in March.

It sure would be nice, though.

 

Just got an email back from Lenovo (took 2 days). They've changed the total for my order to the lower price that I quoted using a coupon, which I guess is easier than having to do a refund later on (CC wasn't charged yet as of this morning).

It also says my laptop has just been released for manufacturing. Anybody know what thet means in terms of time frame? My old laptop is really acting up as of late and I wouldn't mind having a new one pretty soon

 

when i called today, i was told it takes about two weeks to build after release to manufacturing... then add about 10 days for shipping. mine was released on 03 mar, and they say i should resonably expect it around the 27th.

 

I ordered a T61 yesterday. I called back today to confirm the system specs as what they Email is very cryptic as others said. The sales rep. was very nice and emailed me the full details so I can make sure the right system was built. He also confirmed it was getting built as we speak. He said the shipping was expected around the 17th of March (from China I think) and then another 10 days to get here. It is sad they take so long to deliver a product. Even if they are overseas, it takes a few days to send to USA or Canada from there. He said some client were lucky enough to get a system within less than 2 weeks. I’m assuming the dates they provide are worse case so that customers do not complain so I’m hopping they will do better than the dates they promised. We'll see.

 

I was told by a CSR that deliveries were averaging about three weeks from time of purchase. If so, I'm delighted. But I expect this is over-optimistic and intended more as reassurance.

 

I ordered a 14" widescreen R61 yesterday. I had the apparently usual dual Emails and a mysteriously fleeting "check status of your order" box that required order and customer numbers shorter than those I was given in Email. Also their "My Account" section login says that it doesn't recognize me, yet after attempted login and clicking again on it it clearly has my information and has let me in, even on completely different PC's. Needless to say this was a bit disconcerting....

Having said that I phoned today, spoke immediately to a CSR and verified the order; expected delivery which he said was conservative is March 23 - I really can't complain about that but their process certainly makes you a bit uneasy ESPECIALLY since it's a computer company and in a way an offspring of IBM who now seem to make a main business of simplifying companies' web presence!

I do look forward to the new laptop. My prior Dell Inspiron didn't last very well nor did my long ago Portege; I hope for better from this one...

 

My status so far:

Ordered my T61P on Feb. 28th. Noticed the prices were cheaper on March 3rd, so I called and asked for an adjustment and made sure I ordered 1 notebook since I got 2 confirmation e-mails. Apparently I will be charged the preadjusted amount and then be credited with the difference.

Called on the 5th because I wanted to reconfigure the order. The rep said my machine was being built so that wasn't possible. All right, no biggie. I asked the rep to confirm that my price adjustment is in the system -- Yup. I asked him how long it will take the adjustment to appear on my credit card, "3 weeks," he answered.

Knowing Lenovo Canada's notorious shipping times, perhaps it is our advantage if our notebook is taking an unreasonable amount of time to arrive we can bug them to extend our warranty or give an additional discount?

 

Cheez, my laptop took over 40 days to arrive. I complained, and they gave me a 10% discount up to $100. I'm sure you can use the same thing.

 

Any updates guys? I'm very close to considering purchasing this beast...yet I'm still wary due to everyone's issues...

 

nothing new for me yet...
(my order was placed on 29 feb and forwarded to the factory for building on 03 mar... i haven't heard anything since. i'll post again when they charge my cc or when i get the shipping email.)

 

I ordered on the 8th and my CC was charged the next day. But no emails since the order confirmation I received on the 8th so I am not sure whats going on, I emailed to get an update today though.

 

I ordered on the 10th, and promptly got an "Order confirmation" e-mail, and then today, the 12th I got two slightly different "Confirmation for order#" e-mails - one that just provided a contact phone number ("If you have any questions about your order please contact Lenovo at：866-428-4465.") and one that says I can contact by phone or e-mail, but provides no e-mail address ("f you have any questions about your order please contact your Lenovo rep at ：866-428-4465 or e-mail: .")

So it looks like they are still working out some glitches. Lenovo does seem to be tracking these issues with customers on their support forum, so you should post your experiences there as well:

http://forum.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=T_Series_Thinkpads&thread.id=2915

I haven't had a chance to call and check on things yet, as I am out of the country.

 

noooooo.....why god why!@?!@#!

sorry...had to vent...just ordered on the 9th...rep indicates today order is being processed...I'm assuming that means it hasn't hit assembly yet....sigh...i know i know...i haven't even really started the waiting process...but these posts that indicate no improvement to lenovos shipping are making me a little miserable....damn you sexy t61p u better be worth it!

EDIT:expected shipping 26th march

 

That was exactly what happened to me. Ordered Mar 10, and got 2 confirmation emails Mar 12. So I called them to confirm my order as well as the specs. Everything was good, and the rep told me it was being built right now and should be shipped out Mar 28. I really don't know if I can count on this date as so many people are having problem getting their laptops on time

 

Anyone else notice that there is a specific configuration would give you "1 to 2 business day" instead of "3 to 4 weeks" build time before shipping on the Lenovo configuration page? That was the only reason why I didn't order the DVD writer and 9-cell battery as I needed the laptop relatively soon. I thought since different configurations actually did make a difference in estimated build time, it must be true. Well now I know it's not (I ordered before finding out about Canadian-specific problems) and I don't want to cancel my order and place a new one since, at this point, that would mean I have to wait until this laptop (apparently being built at the moment) gets here and return it to Lenovo.

I sent an email asking if I can send in the original parts, pay for the difference in cost for the upgrade, and Lenovo send me the items I wanted. I doubt it's possible but it sure would be nice.

Edit - OK that was just stupid. Back to waiting...

 

Cool... I'm going to try and be optimistic and hope that info is accurate and might apply for my March 10th order as well - a shipping date of March 28th would be perfect, much past that and I might have to cancel the order and pick up something local, as I will need the machine for my next trip which is scheduled for April 14th, and I will want to time to configure it (i.e. clean install).

What model/processor/ram/hard drive did you go for?

Oh, and you should post your experience about the multiple e-mails over on the lenovo forum because the rep there (Mark_Lenovo, who seems to be monitoring things closely - including following up to replies on the Digital Journal forum) didn't seem to be too aware about this order confirmation e-mail snafu they are having.

 

Good thread guys. Thanks for posting your experiences.

I'm wavering between the T61p and the XPS 1530.

These customer service/shipping issues have made me a bit hesitant though.

I don't mind waiting...I just want to be able to trust the company I'm ordering from.

 

Ordered March 9 and called today it should ship April 10th at latest but I didn't confirm the specs, and I should have.

 

Yikes! If they tell me that, I will definitely have to cancel my order!

 

If you need it sooner then its a good idea, but I am in rush and mine was a custom built T61P so I am not that surprised it will take longer.

 

Yup, same here - T61p, 15.4" chassis, T9500, 4GB, 160GB 7200rpm, WSXGA, Draft N Wireless, Vista Ultimate

 

what were the specs u ordered?

 

According to a different site, your machines shipped March 10 & 11 and you were notified yesterday. Funny you should write that... today. ... and yes, of course, you'll have time to register. It's a given that you can't register until you have the serial number. No reason to panic just yet.

 

My specs were
1) T8100
2)Vista Business 64
3) 4 gigs ram
4) 160gb 7200RPM
5) WSXGA+ 15.4"
6) 256meg vid card
7) DVD burner

 

Just to set the record straight, Mark didn't ban you. I did, and I don't work for Lenovo. I just moderate their forum.

 

Wow, you really do have a way with words. I read your replies to people in that other forum and all you do is put people down and demand everything instead of contributing something constructive.

No wonder they banned you. LOL!!!!

Anycase, back on topic ... Looks like Lenovo Canada has/had some major bugs in their system for sure, but from reading recent posts here and elsewhere it seems that orders are fulfilled within the estimated time frame more frequently now than not. Still would be nice if they cut the delivery times down tho.

 

Then cancel your order! LMAO!!

 

I think the 15% fee for returning the order might be another down fall of the lenovo =(

 

So why exactly is it that Canadian customers have to wait 4 weeks to get their computers while US customers get theirs in 7 calendar days (last post in "T61 shipping" thread here as of now)? Was it this way too BEFORE their screw-up with the ordering system? I'd imagine the orders get sent to the same place where they build the laptops eventually.

 

That is the million question... order seem to be getting to the factory at the same time... they have the address...

 

I have no idea, but that's a very good question. Are the computers made in the same factory? Perhaps Canadian orders are made by part-time slave labor or somethin? LOL!

 

Just to report:

I ordered my T61p. Feb. 29.

According to the CSR, the estimated delivery date is March 26 or 27.

I went over the specifications with him in detail. He was able to pull up on his computer exactly what I'd ordered. An encouraging sign, given past experiences.

 

Either they filter out priorities by the country it was ordered from or they don't manufacture the laptops at the same factory... Could the US orders be factored in US? 7 days seems impossible... I ordered (from Canada) around the 6th of March and they haven't shipped yet from China factory. That's over 7 days already. If the US orders take 7 days door to door and they come from China too, they must go before other orders...

 

My bet would be that the problem is the ordering system and its incompatibility with the rest of the global Lenovo network. Supposedly, the Canadian system is new and suffering from all sorts of glitches.

This could mean that somewhere along the line either information is lost or perhaps not authenticated because of incompatibilities with older systems. My guess would be that this failure or incompatibility or whatever it is means that at some stage Canadian orders have to be processed manually. This would make for big delays.

Then again, it could be because the Chinese don't like Stephen Harper.

 

I ordered T61 7662 CTO with DVD burner on Feb 28th on Lenovo Canada and it was shipped on March 11th. There could be another 3 to 5 days for your order to be shipped

 

I never received the answer to my question from the CSRs: Will I be notified via email when my laptop ships or do I have to call in/check if the credit card has been charged?

 

Checked my credit card today and there was no credit hold and since its Saturday it looks like I can't get speak to a rep until my lunch break on Monday. The order has been lost though obviously, but since I don't need a new computer that badly right now I am going to wait until I need a laptop and get better for cheaper.

 

I would defenitelly call in. I doubt they will call you. Maybe an automatic Email but based on what is said here i wouldnt count on it. A tip to you all, when you get hold of a good representative, ask him to Email you information about your system. That gives you his direct Email and makes it way way easier to reach them after. Trying to get a specific rep over phone is near impossible. By Email, I got replies within an hour each time and don't have to wait on phone. I like to talk to the same person each time as it builds up some kind of link of confidence and makes it easier to get a good service.

 

Update: The hold can not last longer than 7 days according to my credit card company. I am going to cancel though and wait until I need a laptop for school as I do not know the start date yet. Instead of a good laptop get better quad core desktop for the same price and cheap laptop to type on for school.

 

My CSR seemed to indicate that I'd receive an email with a detailed invoice (including all the information on my configuration) when the system shipped. Can anyone else confirm this?