Shipping "Dell-ays"

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As students head back to school there might be something missing from their backpacks -- the new Dell laptop they ordered weeks ago. Shipping delays on the new Dell Inspiron and XPS line of notebooks are causing people to wait several weeks longer than they anticipated for their notebooks as Dell keeps delaying existing orders and pushing out delivery dates.

Here at NotebookReview.com we've actually witnessed a 200% traffic spike in our Dell forum for the past 4-weeks, and a majority of that traffic is coming from people visiting the forums to discuss their problems receiving Dell notebooks they've ordered. There were so many posts in our Dell forum concerning this issue, we had to open up a new forum dedicated to Dell shipping questions. So what's going on?

Dell hasn't said much regarding delays on Inspiron notebooks, but they have publicly indicated that they're having trouble with XPS M1330 orders due to quality control issues with such things as the paint job and component supply shortages. It seems this is also occurring with the Inspiron line of notebooks now as well. The Inspiron 1420, 1520 and 1720 are all in sharp demand (good for Dell) and Dell and its suppliers apparently can't keep up with the volume of orders they have received (bad for customers).

To demonstrate the amount of frustration consumers are experiencing with these shipping delays, witness a thread called &quot;Post when XPS M1330 ordered and when/if shipped&quot;, it's approaching 9,000 replies to it in the past month, that's far and away a record for our popular discussion forums, and indicative of the number of frustrated customers. Heck, we even have long threads dedicated to XPS M1330 delays broken out by regions: UK M1330 Order Status Thread, European M1330 order progress.

In regards to Inspiron delays, customers are coming up with metrics for what's causing the longest delays on shipments. One forum poster was nice enough to make a post informing others how long their order would be delayed based on the color lid they selected. For instance, here's the breakout for the expected delay if you order an Inspiron 1520:

• Black, white = no delays
• Brown lid = 5 days extra
• Yellow lid = 6 days extra
• Blue lid = 8 days extra
• Red, green, pink lid = 11 days extra

Want a pink lid? That'll be 11-days extra wait time

So instead of ordering the color lid they really want, people are opting for the black or white colored Inspirons to get the notebook sooner. Other known delays appear to be due to options such as graphics cards.

If you've ordered a Dell notebook and are experiencing large delays receiving your notebook, our condolences to you. Forum member Flamenko recommends using some strategies to win concessions such as warranty upgrades, OS upgrades, or even money back for the inconvenience of delays in his very useful post here: how to get money back and concessions from Dell for shipping delays. And, if you're one who likes to compete, you can enter your name on the list for &quot;Who has waited the longest&quot; to see if you can win the waiting game

 

It's been a while since I had laughed this hard.

Nice one !

 

I like the public announcement on how to get more stuff from Dell. They really need to step up to the plate and fix this. But rather than see a free backpack or warranty upgrade, I'd rather see it ship!

They wanted to make a comeback with their new designs (since HP took over their spot in the food chain), but I guess they weren't adequately prepared for the surge in orders. Der...

Funny thing: recently, I had to contact Dell about one stupid thing about a desktop. Customer service (not tech service!) was actually relieved to be dealing with a problem not related to the new laptops. She even said that to me! I just laughed...

So keep on battering Dell, and maybe they'll fix it!

 

Dell loves giving out $100 off coupons for stuff like this. Makes me want to order a notebook to just get those coupons




Love the title too.

 

So checking Dell it's 18 days to ship, up to 11 days delay (plus 4 for weekends), that's 33 days if you really want Flamingo Pink. Is this about accurate now, or is it even longer? I saw all the threads in the Dell forum, got intimidated by the traffic, and went to another forum!

I agree, paying a Jackson or two for a backpack is much better than a long delay and getting a free one (and not even getting much choice in which one you get at that).

Makes me glad I went with Jet Black instead of Midnight Blue.

 

The help and support available on the threads listed above is great - the monster thread is hard to get a handle on and can grow by 30 or 40 posts during a day, but the people there are great.

I agree with Greg's comment about just wanting them to ship... and enough already with the freebies! If it was here when they said it would be I wouldn't have even thought of asking for free stuff.

 

Funny title.

200% increase in Dell traffic !!! But cool to post how to get concessions.

 

I'm glad we're getting accurate information on the laptops.There was too much confusion going around. I even called the CSR's a few times and i kept getting different answers. Even the CSR's don't know what's going on I agree that Dell should have been well prepared for the high demands on the notebooks. Hopefully they'll speed up this process

 

Amazing....with their prices already pretty low, I wonder how they are making money with all the concession coupons they are giving out.

 

I will add that Dell aren't the only guys experiencing logistics issues with shipping laptops, Lenovo is quite well known for this issue as well, it's just really unfortunate on the timing with these Dell machines because everybody is trying to get a notebook for school. At least Dell is being public about the problems with the XPS, I'd like to see them step up and explain the Inspiron issues as well.

 

This is true, but Dell is one of the companies that are "Cool" to bash. Not saying they don't deserve it, but their leash is a lot shorter than an Asus, Compal, Sager, etc.

 

I wonder if there is some forward pricing going on. When's the next price adjustment for the Intel CPUs? Before a lot of the current orders will actually ship?

What I find amazing is that a big technology company can't actually make decent predictions of delivery dates at the time of order. It was due to this forum, not the Dell system, that I was not surprised when my EDD suddenly moved back 28 days just two days before the original EDD.

John

 

It's unfortunate that the company is so poorly organised at times. Dell make fantastic laptops.

 

the delays caused items are with the words "can cause delay to you order"!!! I'm not from dell , but i have ordered a 1520 week ago and i have get it right (even 1-day before) the supposed time.
yes it was with the black color and without the items with the mentioned words!

 

Those delay notices were not there for most of July when many of the people posting ordered. Also, as you might notice, if you get any graphics card, you will be delayed.

 

I wonder if these 1520 delays are related to the Compal delays for the IFL90, because I thought I read somewhere that Compal is making the Dell 1520s.
Tim

 

Ordered: 7/30/2007 PINK :Inspiron 1521, AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 (1.6GHz/512KB)

Status: In Production

ESD: 8/16/2007

 

I didn't even know about the "Who has waited the longest?" thread, and I was listed. I feel sorry for the few people who had it worse than me though.

 

I orderd pink in the beginning of July just to get lied to from Dell reps and managers. The order was delayed 3 times then re-ordered in a color that was showing 'in stock' then that was delayed. Its really sad because they made a good product but the problem is they are offering too many choices and every system is so complicated. Dell NEVER offered me anything and not that it would have helped but it would have made me come back after cancelling my order but instead I went MAC and won't be back!
Dell can go stick it because they really don't care if I order or not and I will always remember the lack of concern they had.
Looking at the Macs...we went right to the store, were offered a student discount, left with the product and don't have to worry about a virus or big time spyware, or the dreaded VISTA which seems to be presenting a big problem.

 

Is it really worth it to wait so long for a blasted computer?

You'd think Dell was the only computer company on the planet.

 

I guess now is the back to school season and laptop purchases are surging in July and August so it's hard for dell to deal with all these orders given that it's the economic choice.

 

Y'know, before today I was trying to decide if I wanted to get a Dell or an HP in a couple of weeks. I absolutely LOVE the spring green color but I don't think I have the patience to wait as long as some of you have!

Good luck to those of you who continue playing the waiting game.

 

I wonder how a big company like Dell missed that one.

Of course there won't be increasing demands during the back to school season (pfft.)

 

Dell probably switched their logistics model to a "lean just in time" or "just in time" sales system. Whenever I had to deal with that it always created problems because you had zero flexibility to handle surges in demand. I used to sell commission big ticket electronics for Sears and during high demand times it could take 4+ weeks to get something, stock TV's would come in direct from the manufacturer, and many sets were on sale but you couldn't buy them because they weren't able to be ordered. Just in time makes your bottom line look better, but if you want the big bucks you're going to have to play a game of risk and stock up to keep people happy during certain times of the year or on specific models.

 

Interesting theory

 

"As students head back to school there might be something missing from their backpacks.."

Well, I'm one of those students. As if I were reading a part of my life, I'm going not going to have a laptop for the first two weeks of my freshman year. What a shame... Funny thing the article says that those with black bezels won't have a delay because according to a Dell representative my Black 1520 was delayed because of the color.

 

Wow!!!! Im famous now!!!! Ive been getting thanks from several who were successful in getting concessions for their wait. Thanks for including me!!

Nice article and....impressed.

 

Only 13" LED thin & light just before school starts - wasn't it clear to Dell there is going to be high demand for the XPS m1330 ?

All the other manufactors are proly busy on their LED screens models , once they will come out the m1330 won't be so hot at this price .

What I don't understand is why no brand but Apple has jumped the wagon by modifying an existing model to host a LED screen ?

 

I too was wondering the same thing!

 

If I hadn't gotten such a great price on the 1520 I'd cancel the order. I hate to wait, and I am a student, but the wait will be worth it in the end. I shopped around for weeks before ordering a few days ago, just didn't think about looking through the web to see which products were having trouble shipping. I've ordered from Dell for the last 5 years commercially, and it has been my experience that units show up in usually less than one week, even on big orders. This is my first laptop order though.

With a free 160gb HD and free 2G RAM upgrade, plus $300 off the already great discounts (last week they were stackable), I walked away with a 1520 with a 2.2GHz dual core proc, 8600M video, 160Gb HD, 2Gb RAM, Webcam, etc for less than $1200. It was a steal. I am a student, and have been in online classes all summer, but I can deal with using my desktop PC until it gets here.

 

What about Canada's M1330 shipping thread?

 

I just finishing ordering my Dell Inspiron 1721 laptop and i should get it 9-3-07

 

I do the computer buying for a large medical practice in Chicago, and we purchase Dell equipment. I asked our supplier about this today, I was informed that the Dx20 series of laptops are undergoing a massive run right now as their End Of Life notification was just released. The run was so impressive that Dell flat-out stated the EOL timeframe of 90 days would be severely reduced (organizations have not certified the Dx30 series, so they're trying to get as many Dx20s are they can).

So they're dealing with both the Back to School spike as well as a corporate purchase spike. Good time to be Dell, bad time to be a customer, worse time to be a customer without a lot of flexability.

 

To OP, excellent post and title, thanks for doing this! I also got a very good deal and don't have a lot of time pressure and can afford to wait. Meanwhile, I will be calling Dell if there are further delays to see if there could be some compensation. It is nice of them to offer these things sometimes, it definitely helps their rep, especially when those "Dell-ays" are causing most people in the Dell forums to slam them hard.

 

not weeks extra...months for some

 

I ordered a 1720 on Aug 2nd and it showed the ship date as Aug 20. To my surprise I logged into and see that my laptop was shipped today so maybe they're making progress?

 

^^^ Goes to show what happens when ya got the hook up to the richest man in the world.

 

Second richest you mean? All hail Carlos Slim!

 

hey, at least they make em part by hand