Intel Press Release - Sandy Bridge Issue - What does this mean for the M17xR3?

What does your order status say on the dell page, and via 1800-ALIENWA, option 2, option 1? Does yours say "In Production" also? And "In production in the build phase" via telephone? Mine still do, with same EDD 2/16, even after today's various conversations with dell and aafes, which is hopefully still a good sign.

 

Yeah... mine both say the same thing. I'd even called after I got off of work. (10:00pm CST) and it said the same thing. The e-mail I received was from 2:15 pm CST

 

Who's the email from? Was it automated or from a person, and specifically to YOUR NAME?

 

Same here, just called and mine says "in the build phase" and to be shipped Feb 14th with a EDD of 16 Feb. I got the email today and called 2 times and both times spoke to a diff supervisor and both told me i could opt to have my order still built and shipped and have a repair guy come fix the mobo when intel figures a solution. They also stressed that they did not know how long it would be for the mobo replacement so makes me have a lil hope that it will still be sent on time.

 

Oh... I'm assuming since at the end of the e-mail it gave me a link to unsubscribe, it was automated. And the e-mail wasn't to my name specifically, just said "Dear customer." Which is why I'm still not sure whether to believe it or not, and why I plan to call them first thing tomorrow.

 

I didn't get an email... Also, I would like to have that option too. Who'd you speak to specifically? US, Indian, or Filipino rep?

Man, I didn't get that email... aafes screwing everything up for me. That's what I get for saving around $800. Eff me, hope everything turns alright...

 

I ordered through aafes. e-mailed a csr yesterday and told them today not to canx my order. they are going to hold it until the new MB are ready. to good of a price to reorder again.

 

Man, I didn't get that email... aafes screwing everything up for me. That's what I get for saving around $800. Eff me, hope everything turns alright...[/QUOTE]

I did have not recieved any emails either and did not order through aafes, I ordered through the EPP part of the Dell site, so don't worry, you're not the only one who hasn't recieved anything yet.

I've been following this thread since the issue first came to light and am like most of you, recieving different information every time I call, no e-mail or call from ANYONE from Dell, my laptop still says "in production - build phase" with an estimated ship date of 2-11. To say I'm frustrated at this point by the total lack of customer service and info from Dell is an understatement. Last time I called the CSR I spoke to was quite pursistant in trying to get me to cancel my order despite the fact that I said REPEATEDLY that I was fine with it being on hold. I also went onto the HP site the other day and they are selling computers with the exact same mobos with an estimated build date of March 7th, so the csr rep telling me I wouldn't get my computer until at least April seemed off. I wish I didn't have my heart set on this computer because I would cancel in a heartbeat and never work with Dell again.

 

Man, I didn't get that email... aafes screwing everything up for me. That's what I get for saving around $800. Eff me, hope everything turns alright...[/QUOTE]

I have not recieved any emails either and did not order through aafes, I ordered through the EPP part of the Dell site, so don't worry, you're not the only one who hasn't recieved anything yet.

I've been following this thread since the issue first came to light and am like most of you, recieving different information every time I call, no e-mail or call from ANYONE from Dell, my laptop still says "in production - build phase" with an estimated ship date of 2-11. To say I'm frustrated at this point by the total lack of customer service and info from Dell is an understatement. Last time I called the CSR I spoke to was quite pursistant in trying to get me to cancel my order despite the fact that I said REPEATEDLY that I was fine with it being on hold. I also went onto the HP site the other day and they are selling computers with the exact same mobos with an estimated build date of March 7th, so the csr rep telling me I wouldn't get my computer until at least April seemed off. I wish I didn't have my heart set on this computer because I would cancel in a heartbeat and never work with Dell again.

 

Oh, I wouldn't write Dell off just because of this experience. Their biggest problem is that they're HUGE, and this is obviously something they were not prepared to deal with. They could be doing a much better job communicating to the customer, but the fact that they are not tells me that even they don't know what is going on. Pure speculation, but I'm guessing Intel is scrambling to control damage, and is being careful to not make any promises they can't keep, and limit costs down the road as much as possible, which eventually translates down into no hard answers for Dell to give to us.

Cliff Notes Version: Yes, this sucks. Sure would be great to have more info. Probably not Dell's fault that we don't.

Dookie: I've also ordered through AAFES, have received no correspondance. Order status page has never changed from my "In Production" with EDD of the 18th. 1800alienwa says "In Production, Build Phase" with est. ship date of the 15th. I ordered on the 26th. I haven't bothered to try to talk to an actual person...to be honest, I'm kinda keeping my head down, trying to not draw attention to myself, hoping my computer somehow slips out the door like a soft-touch black ninja.

 

Well... I just got off the phone with Dell again (Sorry that I'm not able to share something that you guys might find a little more credible, but at this point it's all I have to go on) and after asking whether or not I would receive my laptop on time due to the chipset flaw, I was transferred to a CSR Manager who told me that my computer is still going to be delivered to me on or before my EDD. I was sure to ask several times about them still being able to get my order out on time, even with the chipset issue and he repeatedly ensured me that I would. I was also told that they would keep in contact with me between now and my EDD to keep me informed on my status and to let me know if anything changes... (whether or not this happens remains to be seen) Anyways... At this point I'm hoping that I still receive my computer by my EDD. I've got my fingers crossed. And Dookie, the CSR Manager I spoke to was American. Just in case you were wondering. lol.

 

What's the email addy ?

Mine says the same too online and through the phone. Every csr also has told me the same "In Production" status. Yesterday was the first time I was told/asked to cancel my order. Every day before that, I was only "offered the various options" only AFTER I asked "what's gonna happen to my order in light of this intel crisis?". Clearly noone knows anything. I'm gonna call today and get an American csr at lunch to clarify, since the Indian csr never emailed me, and the aafes guy never called me back.

 

That's the best line I've read so far! lol +1 rep

 

Yah, thanks. I keep wondering if it's an American or outsourced employee, because I'm guessing that the American Dell ppl would get their "memo emails" faster than elsewhere, and thus have maybe more up-to-date info. Is his info current as of today? Or is he just saying that to yank your chain? Did you get a name, and which phone # did you dial to get the American rep?

 

Sorry for the back-to-back posts, but I just received this e-mail from dell, which addressed me personally... Here's the e-mail...


Dear (My name here),

Thank you for your recent contact with Dell Customer Support. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you to help ensure you continue to enjoy Dell’s products and services.

The following information is related to your recent call:

Service Request Number (My service request number)

Your order Is currently processing and has reached a stage of completion which prevents any changes or modifications to be made to the order. Therefore, your order will ship as originally configured.

Please accept delivery and if you would like to return your system for a refund and place a new order, please call and speak with our Consumer Customer Care group at 800-624-9897 within 21 days from the date of invoice between 08:00 AM to 09:00 PM CST, Monday to Friday and 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM CST, Saturday and Sunday. Please remember you must contact us and receive authorization prior to returning any merchandise to Dell.

We trust your query is resolved to your satisfaction. However, if you still require assistance with Service Request Number (SRN Here), please forward this email to and include the following information in the body of the email:

1. Brief description of the issue you are experiencing.
2. Best time to call you.
3. Phone number(s) where you can be reached.
4. Service Request Number (SRN Here)

For any NEW issues, please contact Dell Customer Support at the Toll Free number 1-800-624-9897 between 08:00 AM to 09:00 PM CST, Monday to Friday and 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM CST, Saturday and Sunday.

Your satisfaction is very important to us. Thank you for choosing Dell.

Respectfully,


I guess this is a good sign? Or does anyone think that response was too quick?

 

My Order date was January 31st (Just before all this broke out) and my EDD is February 16th. I'm hoping for the best. As far as the chat thing goes... I'll try and get my WLM account up and running again and put my my contact info in my profile. I would add yahoo too, but I can't remember what the heck it is. >.<

 

i feel like i should start this post by quoting every other post in this thread!

basically i've been contacting dell every single day since the sandy bridge "fiasco" came to light. the disjointed info i recived from the various csr, tech support, sales rep, supervisors and miscellaneous people who answer the phone at dell would be funny if it weren't so sad.

*****************the following is a true story******************

for example as recently as 3 days ago a US sales rep told me that "according to the information he had" there was no flawed chipset and that "he hadn't heard any thing from intel"(they usually call him personaly to consult with him on all major issues! ). he then pointed to my edd of 2/16 and my "in production" status as proof . this was the only time in my life i ever got angry with a rep.

to conclude if i wouldn't really want my r3 i would cancle just to spite the lack of info sharing over at dell and for those who haven't figured it out yet DON'T TRUST THE REPS!

 

You couldn't see because you were talking on the phone, but the Dell Rep was doing the "These aren't the droids you are looking for" Jedi wave when he said that.

 

forgot to mention that i too have yet to recive any e-mail from dell

frustration mounting.............................

 

MERCURIUS: Yah man. No emails/phone calls for me yet so far. I'm gonna call today at lunch to see wassup. I have same EDD as you, and ordered on 1/28.

 

One thing I noticed is alot of people have EDD 2/16. I ordered on 1/24 and my EDD is 2/16, some people ordered in early Feb. and their EDD is also 2/16. Maybe that is Dell's guess of when they can get fixed systems out, or I hope so atleast.

 

forum rules reminder:

 

I just got a call from my rep. He said that the new motherboard should come by next week. And once he has more information regard the situation, he will call back and update my status.

 

just came across this link (added to post#1)

Dell Platforms Impacted By The Intel Stop Ship Of The Cougar Point Chipset | Dell

 

BatBoy, thanks for the info. Wish I could give u 2 rep, lol. That's a good news. Dell certainly would never ship out bad products unless Intel promises to cover all the expenses later when customers return to replace the chipset.

 

If I got my money back does that mean my order is cancelled?

I would probably need to make sure that I have enough money on my bank account to pay for it if ever they still ship it put.

@Mercurius
I do hope we have the same case. I'll give Dell a call tomorrow to see what's gonna happen. I ordered mine 1/26 but surprisingly my EDD is 2/16

 

Both of my computers now say Cancelled.

I love that Dell did not email or call me once. Infact if I didn't check my order I'd have no idea anything was happening. Now I have to call them and find out why they canceled my order instead of asking me if I wanted to put it on hold till the parts came in. My problem now is, if I have to re-order the computer when it goes back online, I'll have to wait even longer for it to be built.

So stupid.

 

humm my order date was Jan 30th with a EDD of 16 Feb and everything still says its a go, and money is still gone from my account.

 

I ordered even earlier than that (1/28) and my EDD has ALWAYS been 2/16. It never changed. The only thing that changed was the first time I called about the Intel issue, and the very nice Indian csr upgraded me to NBD for free.

Excellent. I hope it's true. I got an email from "my" rep today, and he says nothing new, which is kinda sad. I guess there's not really any memos being passed around the dell world (outsourced) offices.

Ditto. Cash rulez everything around me (us), yo. I'm pretty sure Dell would rather save the headache and logistical "nightmare" of doing a recall, or wasting money/time on the contracted techs coming to your pad to fix the computer, and just have a good one shipped to you to begin with. I guess in a way, that's a good thing. Sux that THEY make the decision, and not the buyer who paid for it, though.

That's hella shady. I've never gotten any call or email either, but mine's been put on HOLD, according to the nice-guy Indian csr I keep talking about. Every other csr just says that it's still "In Production." And checking by phone says it's "In production in the Build Stage," which it's been saying for the last week. Online still says "In Production" also. Aafes person I spoke to on my way home from work said that everything "Looks normal," as if my order is still going forward like normal, but that in the memo there reads "Cancellation rejected," which prolly refers to my telephone exchange with them yesterday to tell 'em NOT to cancel lolz.

Same here. Let's hope for the best.

and,

@Batboy: Did you dig for this article: Dell Platforms Impacted By The Intel Stop Ship Of The Cougar Point Chipset | Dell, or did someone from Dell send it to you? I really hate how they're not keeping us in the loop, and how every one of us is finding out this stuff on our own. For the average consumer (i.e. parents, or non-nerdy forumgoers such as us), they would've never known until it passed their EDD and nothing was in their hands/mailbox. Kinda sad actually. This is my first Dell purchase, and even though it's Intel's fault for the faulty chip, Dell's way of handling this is just really, really bad service. Kinda reminds me of an asian restaurant, lolz. (I'm not racist, I'm asian).

 

I found it on the support site while I was looking for a driver. it was listed under top solutions on the main page.

Welcome to Home User Support

I agree the information should be actively put out there but I also can imagine that they (and many other manufacturers) are still trying to work out the details.

Dookie, have you tried to contact Sales directly and ask for an update specifically with your order and the situation as it stands today? As for a supervisor. Be polite - nobody wants to talk to someone who is screaming.

 

I've never screamed at anyone. IMO, I'm very pleasant as a customer. I've worked in customer service before, and can understand the itchyness that some customers can display even in the smallest of dilemmae.

I'll call tomorrow and try asking for a supervisor. Doubt they'll give me anything different, but I'll try nonetheless for the sake of trying.

Thx for your support! Especially, thanks for making me feel welcomed in the AW section of NBR. I kinda miss reading/posting in the other threads though, which I've completely abandoned since making my purchase lolz.

 

If you would, Dook, please let me know what they tell you and if anything has changed. I keep checking my order status like a mad-man (Over the phone and online), hoping it'll change and I can breathe a sigh of relief. I know I'm not crazy! You've gotta believe me!! lol

 

I order through aafes also and have been getting the runaround for over a week now. Depending on who i talk to my order is either on hold or going to ship on time. I even asked about doing a swap for the R2 and the rep said the R2 wasn't going to be built anymore, she told me this while i was looking at the R2 on the alienware order page. So yeah that basically sums up the experience that i have been having with Dell and alienware. Please post if anyone actually gets any sort of useful info out of these people.

 

Logged into my account today @ dell.ca, found my order cancelled :confused2: so i phone into alienware/dell to find out what happend only to be transfered 10 times and hung up on once. once again :confused2:. finally to be told that noone knows why my order has been canceled and that they flagged my account and i will be contacted as soon as they find out the reason. i have no idea weather i should wait out the R3 or if i should just suck it up and order the clasic, read a lot of good things about the R2.

 

I'm not sure what the rules are for posting info found on another site but the Direct2Dell chipset info was updated a couple of hours ago (I'm curious what he means by "pending," anyone know?):

"Update 2 (February 10): I simplified the previous sentence above. Please contact Dell if you want to return your system or get a refund on an order that has not yet shipped. For more details, customers in the US can read support.dell.com article #389728. There is a Contact Us section on the left side of the page. If you are outside the United States, you can find it by:

Going to support.dell.com
Choosing your country from the drop-down menu near the top left of the page
Typing 389728 in the Search field
If you have one placed an order on one of the affected systems (XPS 8300, Vostro 460, Alienware M17x R3 or the Alienware Aurora R3) and it is pending as of February 1 or later, we will not be able to ship your order with the current chipset. You can either contact Dell like I mention in Update 2 above to get a refund of your purchase price or wait to be contacted by Dell.

We will begin notifying customers via e-mail and or phone number beginning this week and next. At that time, you will have two options:

1) Cancel your original order and place a new order for a different system not affected by this chipset issue, or

2) Leave your original order open. We will begin fulfilling these orders once we have received the updated chipsets from Intel.

After you receive the e-mail or telephone call from Dell, be sure to respond promptly with the option you prefer. If we do not hear from you within seven days of the communication, we will assume you've decided to cancel the order.

I’ll provide further details as they become available."

 

Just called and was also put on hold/transferred for 8 times.

So what I was ultimately told was they're canceling orders in preparation for the new chipset to come in. I was told they'll be remaking orders next week (around the 17th) for everyone who had one ordered and they should arrive around the 25th of Feb (for me).

apparently they need to remake the orders so they have have the new chipset ID in the orders to make sure no one sends out a bad one.

I got a contact to keep intouch with as well, so at least I feel slightly less lost

 

So when they start remaking the orders do we get it at the same price as our intial order? cause I bought mine through special promo through aafes that is no longer going on

 

I also checked out my order status @dell.ca and found my order has been canceled. Same as you. It was still in production yesterday. I will call CSR to find out why they cancel it.

 

mine hasn't been cancelled..... i called them about a week ago and told them I DID NOT want it cancelled and that I would wait it out till they get new chipset.. so far so good

 

mine from the U.S. website hasnt been cancelled. Also called today to just make sure and its still set to be shipped the 14th

 

yeah half of the reps says mines shipping as planned and they will send a tech when they get replacement mb and the other half say its on hold

 

thank you all for your update. Whatever info you have regarding the order status of current R3 please let me (us) know.

Thanksss

 

2c worth..... was finally called about my order and was told that they wont be making the R3 for about 5-6 months, and he offered me the clasic version instead. gave me the specs of a I7 740qm 8gb ram dual 5870's 1200p screen 640 gb hard drive and tells me that it would be the same as a I7 2720 8gb ram gtx 460 3D bundle raid 0 2x 320gb HD.... for the same price of 3400$can. >.< should i feel ripped off?

 

Worse processor, but better graphics.
Also no 3D.

I would wait if you want 3D graphics... if not, buy it.

 

That is entirely your call. Its what you want - if you have your sights set on the R3 with the 3D Bundle, then stick with it. Personally, my thought on the offer they gave you - pass. Just my opinion of course.

 

not really ripped off cus it not overpriced just realize the following

1. the gpu is definitely a step up performance wise but you dont get the 3d
2. one 640 gb hdd doesn't = the 2 320 gb hdds because of the exrta speed you get from raid
3 this 5-6 month thing should be taken with a grain of salt since it flies in the face of everything else we've been hearing from dell and intel

 

Is it just me or does it seem like Dell is pushing the R2...almost like they are trying to clear inventory of the older chips/graphic cards? I mean 5-6 months for an R3 when parts will be shipped late Feb by most other accounts? yes, speculation on my part, but almost every account of cancellation seems accompanied with a hard sell of R2 hardware...

 

so after complaining and and whining to the csr I decided that i would order the R2 with and I7 840 8gb ram dual 5870's and 640 gb HD and 1200p screen of course. i think i will stick with something not as new and all the fixes figured out. 3D was a nice idea tho just can't see me wearing glases over my glases all the time <shrug>. thanks all for the replies

 

so for all the people who are giving up on the R3 and going for the R2.... is dell working with you at all on the switch? last rep I talked to said they would have to cancel my order then i would have to wait till I recieve the refund and then I could make another order. Last I was told was that it could take up to 5 days to recieve my refund.. Just curious if anyone has had a rep work with them in just getting some sort of equal spec R2 without having to refund the money and restart the whole process...