M17x Order Status Discussion - Part 3

I called and spoke to a woman named Tori today. She reassured me that I should get it by my EDD. I'm not holding my breath...but anything can happen in 7 days. If it gets here, cool...But I really just want it before I head back to Cali.

 

Expect computer greatness

 

I guess the only problem with my lappy is just like everyone else.. The right side of the media button is popping out about 1mm.. Doesn't bother me at all. Also I just had a BSOD when I checked my laptop after eating. No idea what caused it Bleh

 

I just spoke with Dell and my order has been delayed.

Order Date: 3/21/2011
Orig. EDD: 4/14/2011
New EDD: 4/22/2011

Pending manager follow up at this time for clarification.

 

Do you have the lid closing set to putting lappy to sleep ?

 

I called Dell yesterday and asked about the status of my order and told them I had heard about the backorder on parts and the delays it was causing but they acted clueless and stated my order wasn't affected and that it will still ship by 4/20. Based on what others have said, I seriously doubt that rep had any idea what's going. A "case manager" is supposed to call me tomorrow and update me on the situation.

My order date was 3/31 with an EDD of 4/25. I haven't received an email from Dell stating my order was being delayed like others have so I don't know what to think.

 

I have it set to hibernate when the lid is closed. It hasn't happened since then. Everything seems to be perfect now except for the lower right side of the media buttons zone. I need to fix that tomorrow. I noticed that the touch pad doesn't have a scroll on the right side. Can anyone confirm this?

 

The dell robot just called and informed me that im getting delayed back to the 19th... I'm going to call back later and see what kind of free stuff I can muscle out of them for getting pushed back twice now.

 

Scary phone call today, called my DELL rep, asked him on the status of my order, and he said "It has been canceled" and I was all like " did you do man!!!???" And he goes "Ohh wait.... sorry about that... It is 'In Production' still"

lol I almost had a heart attack.

 

Finally shipped

 

what are your specs?
My shipping date is also today but my status still says in production

 

1 225-0536 Alienware M17x Soft-Touch, Stealth Black
1 317-6115 Intel Core i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
1 317-6119 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
1 320-1932 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
1 320-1938 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
1 342-2229 1.5TB Raid 0 (2x 750GB 7,200RPM)
1 318-0396 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

 

A dell human called me this time and this conversation was mostly him apologizing while I tried not to swear.. I asked why it keeps getting delayed and he said some parts are on back order. When I asked what parts are on back order he said no parts are on back order and denied ever telling me he said they were. Then he said the entire system is on back order because its a very popular line... oh dell... this is exactly why I've never ordered from you in the past and always said how terrible your systems are.. I was willing to try out the m17x but now im not so sure...

 

Posts like this are what prompted me to call Dell last night and check on my order. Their service seems really shady and if they give me the run around I think I'm just going to tell them to take the order and shove it. They charge a fortune for these systems and they can't even be honest with their customers, it's pretty ridiculous.

 

The Reps you guys are talking to just don't really know, the Rep I talked to knew exactly what was on back order and it's 2 things. You have to realize that some of the parts could be from Japan and because of the Recent Tsunami production has been low or slowed down. Don't belive me? Go look at what's going on with Samsung and Sony, with that being said I know for sure Ram Stick are at extremely limited supply as you can't even order the system with the 4gb 1 dimm sticks, and the Chasis is also on back order because it's a popular system and also many individuals have been ordering multiple systems of the same model/chasis such as myself. Patience people, patience, all good things come to those who wait, at least that's worked REAL well for me thus far.

 

Just canceled my R3 order, hope that makes someone else get his sooner.
Waiting on the m18x now

 

I don't have an issue waiting, but I do have a problem with getting jerked around by customer service. I'd just like to know for sure if my system is affected and to plan accordingly. Being told my EDD is getting pushed back due to parts shortages, I can deal with. Having the EDD come and go after customer service assured me that there were no delays I can't deal with.

 

No call yet, But I'm expecting one in the next few days

 

Same here Ryan 23, I called the order status number and now no EDD is given.

I talked to a rep and she was nice but not very helpful. She said I would likely still receive it on time. I asked for an update to the EDD and all she could say was that it has an EDD of tomorrow (4/8). No shipping status, nothing ...

Pretty lame.

 

Ok this is weird, do they take $$ from your acc and put it back ?
I could have sworn I saw the entry taking out 700 off my checking account on 3/24 (wife saw it too)

Now I see my acc balance is +700 AND I see no record of that transaction.

I called 800-AW and the bot says its still on build stage.

unlike ^^^ they atleast gave me an ESD of 4/14 and EDD 4/19.

 

You get the bill once they ship it out

 

Felixz1 if you ordered around 3/24 then they were doing a test charge on your account to see if the money was there. When the system is shipped then you will be billed for real.

 

I just called, couldn't reach me rep, they transferred me to the delay department and guess what? My shipment has been delayed to 4/15 !! I mean a week ago my rep told me that my laptop is already on its way and all it has to do is clear US customs, and now I hear it hasn't even shipped, so what's up with that?? Total BS from Dell

 

Ordered 3/8 still haven't recvd it. Case manager said parts were delayed and she will call me on the 9th with specifics. My EDD was 3/31 then 4/6 now 4/19! There's def a delay somewhere but wonder what parts in general.

 

I would cancel... lol

 

If I don't have mine by Friday the 15th I will have to cancel I have to get ready to deploy to Afghanistan on the 24th and I've called them and told them this my EDD is 18th I can't wait any longer for it and I've been told sure sure its all good .... they have one week or Im taking my cash and buying something I can get hands on and go

 

Dell has always been like this when ordering computers. I should've known better than to give them any more money. Right now I'm on the verge of cancelling and telling Dell to stick it. Again.

 

Seriously! Sager is sounding very nice right now.

 

You need to realize there are people on here that have been waiting since January with the whole Sandy Bridge issue. If these people can patiently wait for almost 3 months, I am sure it is humanly possible to wait 3 to 4 weeks for yours.

As was posted earlier, good things come to those who wait.

 

Some who have ordered in March are now pushing 5+ weeks of waiting. Those who ordered in January at least found out that the delay was due to the SB defect. The problem is that there is no reason being given for the delays now except for the generic 'items on backorder'.

 

I guess my issue is if I'm going to wait that long for a PC. Just tell me. Dont BS me and the other ppl, just say hey your EDD will be 3 months from now instead of giving a wrong EDD. Numerous reps are still telling ppl that ordered around March and April that there won't be a delay. And they answer with such generic stmts, "some parts are delayed".

 

Yeah I noticed that too.

I believe they withdraw the funds to make sure no credit limit/insufficient funds problems exist, then place the funds back in your account and place a hold on it.

Then when the system ships, they actually charge you.

At least, that's the only thing I can think of.

 

Good things come to those who wait, but only if you manage to get a machine that doesn't have a scratch, shoddy craftsmanship, or any other host of issues you see people post about here.

Still no contact from Dell about a delay, not holding my breath that they'll make the EDD though.

 

I was a little disappointed that the only protector was on the alienhead power button as well.

I have to agree with you, and I was also happy after I got mine. The wait was long and terrible though.

I hope you get yours before you head out. Pelicans are great cases!!! I have the 1495CC1. It has been through 2 deployments, a multiple other missions and beatings. Small piece of insurance for our systems. Anyone interested in looking there is a link to mine in my sig.

I have mine set to hibernate as well. I haven't had any problems with mine as far as BSOD because of it set to hibernate when lid is closed. Although I have the 460M.
Also you have to go in and turn on the scrolling. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working either.

Have you checked my sig and tried to track it without dell? If it's really on it's way, you will be able to get that info, if you read that post. I figured out how to do that while my computer was preparing to ship for like 5 days. I couldn't take it anymore and I was looking at different tracking pages on FedEx and just punching in numbers that I had from dell. lol

They don't actually take it out. They put a hold on it to make sure that it's actually in the account and then they release the hold, until it's shipping time, at which time they will charge your account.

Kinda.

It's the reps that are giving you the info. It's not really their fault, as they aren't given much info and just required to do very basic tasks. On the other end of the spectrum, Dell takes care of their customers that have a problem with their system. That cannot be said for HP and there are a lot of other manufactures that you have to pull teeth to get them to actually do anything for you. I will deal with their retarded order reps any day, knowing that on the back end, if I have any problems, I will be fully taken care of.

Yeah but some people had an extremely long wait after SB issue was cleared up, and there were people that ordered after them that were getting their systems before the ones that were caught up in the SB issue.

 

Dell called me again a few minutes ago asking if I wanted to cancel. (thats the third time today its like they want me to) I'm going to wait it out because of the good reviews about the system and several things Choppus has said that make me really want to try it out. If its anything less than perfect though its going right back and im building a desktop instead.

 

When people started ordering the R3 the EDD was 3-4 weeks out and people were getting them on average 2-12 days. But now there are obviously some problems. I know they pushed the EDD back on the dell website shortly after some problems arose. They moved it like 4-5 weeks out. I would say they are trying to keep up with it, but they are doing a pore job at it. I also strongly agree with the lack of info and the generic statements. If Dell would just give the reps some info, or a way they could easily look up the info so when customers called, even if the rep didn't know, they could easily pull some kind of info and let the customer know what the heck is going on.

 

If it was not for my orders change to end of April and not June I'd wait it out but if there is no change by the 15th for me I'll have to cancel and find something other really wish I did not have to think about it like that I REALLY want this laptop ... I all ready have the HDD's and Ram ... hah

 

I called the today to see if I can extract an ounce of information from them but as always I don't get anything beyond it's on schedule and they tell me my EDD date as well as that a higher quality machine such as the one I chose takes more time. I'm pretty comfortable with waiting it out if I knew two things:

1. The exact status of the machine in production stages. Waiting on RAM/GPU....etc.
2. A reasonable justification of the 4+ weeks of waiting. I don't even think that in the 80s and 90s when parts were more time consuming to get a hold of (logistically speaking) did the build time take a month. They were probably close to that point, however, there is little justification(beyond the song and dance they give you at customer support) for something like that now a days.

On another note I finally got the NBD shipping upgrade so I feel better now and it reflects on y order so my EDD has been shifted from 4/22 to....*drumroll* 4/20! I may take a few pics once it gets here but everyone else has ben doing such an amazing job with theirs.

 

Oh come on. You have to take pics and post them, so the other waiting after you have something to look at. They have looked at the rest of ours so many times now, they are bored with them. Need some new pics to keep them occupied. lol

 

@kcstudio, and anyone else that wants to know. On your task bar click on the arrow, (show hidden icons) then click on synaptics pointing device, select the far right tab (device settings) click on settings expand scrolling and then click on one finger scrolling and set it up how you want it to react from there.

 

Thank you much. I'd give you more rep if I could but it won't let me, haha. Also, did you every try to fix your media button zone? I really don't wanna take apart my lappy until I actually upgrade it.

 

I understand that. However, the disaster in Japan possible has affected the ability of parts.

 

That's one way to look at it. Mine for example has 2 stuck/dead pixels. Other than that, no complaints. Out of all the M17x R3's order, those ordered by Notebook Review forum members probably represents a quite a small portion. Usually only those with issues post. I am sure there are many, many other Alienware customers who have no issues what-so-ever and are happy with their purchase.

Those that post are the exception, not the norm.

 

That's completely understandable and would be great if they would share that information with us customers.

 

Ya, I completely agree that the sample size here is completely lopsided as a lot of people probably come here for tech advice and such with faulty systems. I guess I'm just getting a really negative vibe from people here who have had bad experiences and it's affecting me as well. I just expect to get a quality product from a company that caters to the enthusiast and charges a premium because of it.

 

As Choppus stated, the customer service reps themselves may not even have that information. They might only be able to say a "shortage of parts" because that is what their supervisors or Dell has told them to say. I'm not saying that makes it alright, because it doesn't.

Case in point, I called Origin PC to inquire about an Eon15 laptop. If you configure the laptop, the 1080P screen option says "an additional 2 weeks lead time". When I called and asked about it on the phone, they said it was due to the Sandy Bridge issue??? How does the SB issue correlate to the screen, IDK. They are based in the US and still seem confused.

 

I'm still curious why some people are getting emails from Dell about delays and some aren't. Is it specific to the 60hz screen? I ordered the 3d 120hz screen and have heard nothing and I believe others are in the same boat with me. In any case, I suppose I'll try to stay more optimistic, but with long build times your mind gets plenty of time to over-analyze everything.

 

I would hold tight if you can. IT is totally worth it. I had 2 replacement orders canceled on me, one due to a shortage of parts. Finally think I have it resolved. So far I have been impressed with Dell's customer service. Even though some of their reps are not so bright, they really do try and make it right.

 

The most encouraging thing I've read in my short time here is that it seems like pretty much anyone that has problems with their laptop will get excellent service in the form of replacement parts or even a replacement machine. I hope that applies to me too, because all I got was the basic warranty! I'm super careful with all my goodies so I don't think I need anything more than that.

 

That's exactly my point, just give a good reason behind the wait and I'm sure consumers will understand. Uh oh, watch out now the famous NBD approach! FEDEX is probably making a killing off them.

It looks like maybe they expect to get this cleared up around 4/18 - 4/22




| Alienware M17x R3 | i7 2820QM | 8GB DDR3 | 6970M | BLU-RAY

ORDERED: FOREVER AGO B.C.
EDD: 12/21/2012