Estimated Ship Date Accuracy

Just curious about others' experience on this, I ordered a new Lenovo x200 on 2/17 and it has an estimated ship date of 2/27. With Dells' I've ordered in the past that est. ship date has tended to be inflated and I've received the PC/laptop much faster than expected. Is Lenovo the same way, or should I not be keeping my hopes up about having anything in my hands before March?

 

When I ordered mine a year ago they inflated the ship date, and I got mine sooner. But it also depends if they need to wait on parts and such.

 

My ship date was set for 2/29 (supposedly due to CPU backorder), but it shipped a full 3 weeks earlier.

 

Great, that makes me a lot happier. Hopefully the extras I asked for (fingerprint reader, 5300 wifi, 4GB DDR3, 9-cell battery) won't cause a delay. Thanks for the input guys!

 

I received my machines on time or sooner than listed. But as said above, if they have a part that is real hard to get at the time of assembly then it could be a longer wait.(ex: 9 cell batteries were tough to get when I ordered mine due to the battery warehouse fire, but I still go my machine faster than listed.)

 

Mine came a week before the estimated ship date.

 

Lenovo's estimated ship dates are notoriously unreliable.

It could ship three weeks early, right on time, or it could be delayed multiple times.

It really is just a matter of luck.

 

Lenovo ship dates should be treated as a best guess rather commitment. You may receive your shipment before, exactly or significantly after the initial estimated date.

It does help to call customer service to check up on things periodically. They can accelerate delivery if motivated.

 

Doesn't the ship date mean that once it is shipped, you still need to wait a few days for it to be delivered? I guess I was unlucky, I ordered on 2/02/09 and est was 2/10/09, delayed to 2/17/09, and now delayed to 2/24/09 and still haven't shipped yet, but hope yours won't be like this.

 

I recieved my computer on 2/5/09 (about 2 weeks ago)

 

Geez! You'd think a company with Lenovo's reputation would have a better system in place. This could really screw with people who travel a lot and need to know when they need to be around to sign for a $1k-$2k package.

 

What have you ordered?

 

You can post a sign on your door for UPS to see instructing them to drop it off at a neighbor's house (who will sign). I did that before for a package that I knew was going to arrive while I was on vacation in China.

 

Just got this e-mail so I'm a pretty happy camper:

Thank you for choosing Lenovo!

All or part of your order has shipped.

 

Order date 02/02/09
Order Status In Process
Estimated ship 02/12/2009
Shipment tracking is available the morning after shipment
called the rep this morning, told me the project ship day is Feb. 26, and should get it in the first week of March.
, which part is delaying my order for so long..maybe the14.1" WXGA+ TFT w/ LED BL...
oh, ordered from lenovo canada epp site

 

Cool, that is the same message I got with my machines. You should be getting it soon. Enjoy!

 

Hrm, I was tracking my package and saw a new notice:

SHIPMENT DATA NOT AVAILABLE ON TIME TO BE PROCESSED WITHIN NORMAL PROCEDURE. SHIPMENT HAS NOT CLEARED CUSTOMS

I called UPS to find out what effect this has on the shipment. Prior to the customs delay expected delivery was the 26th, it's now been moved to the 27th and dependent on customs clearance. How often is there a problem with passing customs?

 

What reputation? The one Thinkpad used to have when it was made by IBM? That's history, man!

 

Yeah, the estimated ship date was way off for me too. It kind of messed me up to because if I had know it was going to ship that soon I would have had it sent to a different location where I was at the time--but I was going to be home by the estimated ship date so I left it shipping to my house. And then it arrived several weeks before I came home!

Their system just isn't very accurate.

 

Not very often. The customs thing is not really a concern; the delay should be minimal. All the Thinkpads go through this since they are coming from China.

 

Cool, thanks for the reassurance. Can't wait for it to arrive, I went from an incredibly fast desktop to a desktop replacement gaming notebook (P-7811FX) to my 1000H... the last I've had since October 2008, so I'm sort of like a performance junkie going through withdrawal. Using the x200 is going to be a wonderful feeling.

 

I got the exact same message when tracking my T500. The package spent a day going through customs, and then continued on its merry way.

 

Updated on 2/25 at 8:32am with the following:

SHIPMENT DATA NOT AVAILABLE ON TIME TO BE PROCESSED WITHIN NORMAL PROCEDURE. SHIPMENT HAS NOT CLEARED CUSTOMS / BROKERAGE RELEASED SHIPMENT. SHIPMENT IS SUBMITTED TO CLEARING AGENCY FOR FURTHER CLEARANCE

Is this also part of the normal customs process you guys went through?

EDIT: 12:39pm update: IMPORT SCAN

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

It arrived first thing this morning!

I don't know how people can call the Thinkpad ugly, I'm completely enamored. And typing on it really is as good as people say. Also even though I'm coming from a 1000H I'm surprised at how light it is considering what's inside. I'm rambling, but it's because I'm pretty happy right now.

 

Not sure when I'll see my T500.

Order date: 2/12/09
Original Estimated Ship Date: 2/24/09

On 2/22, my CC no longer had the order amount on hold (I am assuming the hold had expired after 10 days). I emailed Lenovo for a current update. The reply assured me everything was fine and the ship date was still 2/24.

On 2/24, the ship date was 3/16. I emailed again and the reply indicated a constraint on one of the parts. I then called 2 different numbers and was assured everything was fine and the ship date was still 2/24.

On 2/26, no change. I called again and was told the ship date is now 3/6 due to a shortage of T500s. A priority flag was placed on my order.

Anyone else order a T500 around 2/12? You would think Lenovo would have more accurate information.

 

Is it normal to say in process for weeks at a time before its actually processed? I have placed an order for two x61's and it has said in process for the past week. I just wanted to make sure that this is normal...My assumption is that the status changes from In Process when the unit is actually shipped? I ordered a T61p about a year ago and a half ago and it shipped almost immediately after the order.

 

Thats' exactly how I feel. The machine is just beautiful in all black. I think you will love it. Enjoy!

 

My T61 was shipped out a few days BEFORE the proposed ship date.

 

i ordered my T400 on the 23rd... I called on 27th and they said that it was being assembled and I would get an update on Monday.

 

The order status for my X300 says "Status: Shipped on 02/26/2009. Shipment tracking available the morning after shipment.", but tracking info still isn't available and it's the 28th. The status for the free laptop bag (which shipped earlier) was updated the day after with tracking info - I wonder why this is taking longer. I hope is actually was shipped.

 

You should call Lenovo and ask a rep personally for your tracking number after you've been told it's shipped. That's what I did after not seeing any tracking info up on the site two days after shipping and the rep was very happy to give it to me.

Hell, I've had the friggin laptop with me for three days now and there's STILL no tracking info up on the order status page.

 

My T500 is on the way - arrived in Anchorage yesterday.

Lenova woudl reduce a lot of drama if it provided more accurate order status info.

 

Thanks for the advise, all it took was a quick call and I got the tracking number. It should arrive tomorrow

 

My T500 has arrived! I have a stupid question, though. There is a plastic pull tab in the battery compartment with a white piece of cardboard . The cardboard lifts out but the plastic is reluctant to come out. I am guessing the cardboard is some sort of protection for the harddrive while in shipping. Does the plastic need to be completely removed? I would think the heat from the battery would be an issue otherwise. I'm just wondering how much force to use.

 

I am a graduate student in Computer Science field. I am in the middle of an academic quarter, and understandably it is very difficult for me to survive without a notebook. I am extremely frustrated with the inaccuary in Lenovo's est shipping date, and the incompetence of their support people.

When my previous DELL notebook broke down (after 2.5 yrs!), I ordered a Lenovo T400 for me (with LED screen, there were NO warnings of delay when I ordered). I wanted a Lenovo because of its brand name, and well known quality product with good customer service (so I had heard).

I placed the order on 11th Feb 2009. It was supposed to ship in 2 weeks. I was repeatedly assured by the customer care that it would ship on that day. That was 4 Weeks ago.

Later, customer care told me it will ship in week of 3rd March. When i called again, they told me it would ship in week of 9th March. And then, they told me that it'll definitely ship in week of 12th March. Now, online tracking shows it will ship in the week of March-25. That is a WHOLE 1 1/2 months after I placed my order, in the middle of my academic quarter. I have had to suffer academically, just because of Lenovo's wavering ship dates.

I see their customer care as a bunch of buffoons now, who do not know themselves is happening. Ofcourse, they are capable of making fake promises and consolations. I have no trust left, what so ever, in Lenovo. I have already wasted a lot of time and effort just TRYING to know when my order (for which I paid ~$1200) was going to ship. I will ensure that I let everyone I know knows what happened, so that they make the wise choice.

 

Back up a bit. Put it into perspective. Lenovo experienced an unexpected supply problem with the LED panels. That happens to the best of companies.

The customer service reps may be forced to give you their best ship date estimate at the time you ask for it. I think there is a good chance that it is only that - their best guess. Perhaps it would be more correct to just tell you they don't know when you should expect it, but would you be happier with that response?

I'm sure they have a plan for how soon they hope to ship those orders. It looks like a safe bet that that plan continues to be modified due to continued issues with supply. I really don't think that they are giving false ship dates, knowing full well they are much farther from being able to ship the product.

I understand and certainly sympathize with your plight. I'd probably be upset, too. However, keeping it in perspective may make it easier for you to make the right decisions for your own situation (i.e. cancel your order and buy something else or continue to wait). At the very least, it may keep the stress levels down a bit.

 

I agree with Rich.Carpenter. I definitely sympathize with you, MrLebowski. I had problems with Dell (basically the incompetence you feel for Lenovo, I would feel for Dell), but I was probably just one of the unlucky ones.

 

Aloha:

Here's perspective over a temporal scale:

+An order placed on 2/10 receives a ship date of 2/20. Okay.
+On 2/20, the website ship date reads as 3/24.
+On 2/25 a call to Lenovo reveals a ship date of 3/9.
+On 3/2 a call to Lenovo reveals a ship date of 3/12.
+On 3/6 a call to Lenovo reveals a ship date of 3/17.
edit...
+On 3/16 a call to Lenovo reveals a ship date of 3/17. No wait a minute, 3/23. Yes, on the same call with the same rep in a moments notice. Lenovo, you gotta be kidding.


Later this week when I call for an update, I will receive my originally delayed ship date of 3/24. I too suffer the B/L LED woes. However, there is no excuse for Lenovo to blow off its customers by not offering any sort of heads up on the delay.

 

The web site showed 3/24. Your subsequent calls look like they were moving toward that date as well. Do you think they are intentionally giving you false information? You've called them three times on three different days and gotten three different best guesses. I think you can determine at this point that they really don't know when they will be able to ship your machine, but they still feel they will be able to at some point. Calling over and over will just get you more best guesses.

Might ask for their Crystal Ball department with your next call.

 

Would that be at 1-866-42MAGIC?

 

At this point, the information you get at that number may be just as useful to you.

 

A rep had called me up and said that it is going to ship definitely by March-17.. still hasn't.

 

MrLebowski:

Same predicament here. Ordered a T400 at beginning of semester and here almost Spring Break and nothing yet from Lenovo. Beware, I just got a cancellation notice from Lenovo. Have posted text of message at Lenovo forums...

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/...&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=9312#M9312

...and is truly a lame story the inability of Lenovo to be honest about their failures at order fulfillment or respect for customer. For example, their email salutation was "Dear Customer" rather than my name on the order.

Best of fortune to you.

Kawika

 

@kawika... I empathize with you. I am going through the same ordeal, and so are so many other customers. I don't think I am going to recommend anyone to trust Lenovo sales now. If they can't build this frigging system, they should atleast accept that they can't, rather than building so much bad reputation. I just called two sales reps (one via the THINK number, and other who's direct number I had) one gave a shipping week of 3/23, other a shipping date of 3/25. I think I'll be shocked if they actually do ship this laptop on those dates.

 

^ I feel your pain, MrLebowski. I had an estimated ship date of 3/13, when I called on the day of, it got pushed to 3/21, and the next day it got pushed to 4/07. Thankfully, it shipped on 3/17.

My boyfriend is thinking of getting the same x200 I ordered, and I told him to get it through a 3rd party supplier. Lenovo's unreliable ship times and unhelpful customer service aren't worth dealing with.

 

I ordered a T61 about a year about a year ago when they first came out. It was delay after delay; commitments made by sales reps were worthless.

I was really frustrated and when I received it wasn't happy with the quality of it compared to past Thinkpads either. So, having said "I'll never get another", I'm back here looking to get a X301.

After searching, I see other manufacturers have the same problem with delivery dates slipping and there doesn't seem to be anything as good as the X301 that I can find. I'm surprised as you would think in today's economy shipping equipment wouldn't be a problem. Personally, I'd rather see the higher quality of the Thinkpad maintained even though it will mean a higher price. Higher quality equipment and service is what made a Thinkpad different.

Regards-Michael G.

 

After 42 long days, a totaly of 1.5 months of delay, and lots of followup later, my Lenovo T400 has finally shipped today! I can't believe it!

I hope they are sending it with the frigging LED backlit screen that I waited so much for online order says "** SBB 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, W/ CAMERA" - is that LED backlit or not?

 

Congrats. I ordered on 2/11 and just saw today that my order was pushed back from 3/25/09 to 4/4/09.

 

Oh, that's bad. I hope they ship it much before that.. I suppose that you had ordered a LED screen too. What does the Lenovo order page say about the kind of screen that you have.. does it mention "** SBB 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, W/ CAMERA" or "14.1 WXGA+ TFT, LED W/ CAMERA"...

I am calling up their cust care..

 

MrLebowski, that item line is not where the LED specification is called out. For me, the item line you are talking about states:

14.1 W X G A +TFT

There is also an item line further down that shows:

14.1"WXGA+,LEDB/L BT WWAN .

Check all the item lines.