Order Delays!

TL;DR: Ordered an 18, order delayed twice, can't afford further delays, need detailed information, HELP MEH!

Hello, new member, second post! (I also posted this in the alienware forum)

I ordered an Alienware 18 with all the bells and whistles on 2/16. The original delivery date was 2/26. As the day approached my order remained "in production". I called on the 25th and after some communication difficulties I was able to discover that some component was on back order and that my order would be delayed. The following day the delivery date was updated to 3/4. Okay, a week delay is manageable, but it's unfortunate that I had to call to find out any information. The order status site seems to tell me 90 things I already know and one thing I need to know, the actual status. But is void of any details beyond that.

As the 4th of March approached, I decided to call again. And was again told that my order would be further delayed due to a back ordered component. This time, on the 4th, the date was rolled out 10 more days to the 14th.

What is frustrating is that I am active duty military, home on leave, about to head back out in a couple of weeks and I cannot afford further delays, and I cannot ship the laptop where I am going.

If there's any Alienware techs that read these forums, I would appreciate if someone could get me some details on what part is back ordered, when they anticipate getting it in, and how that will affect my delivery date.

Regards,
Christopher

 

I just got off the phone with Dell....again
The order is going to be delayed...again
The man on the phone said that the component causing the delay is the 512 SSD + 1TB 7200 Hard Drive. They found that out yesterday and were apparently told that they would have a further update in 3-5 business days, which will be past the current estimated delivery date.

What. The. Hell.
The damned hard drive? I can drive down the road and pick up a 512 solid state drive and 1TB 7200RPM hard drive both for a laptop without any issue. Why is a hard drive causing so much headache for such a gigantic company?

 

I called dell last night because my order was due to be delivered on or before March 28th. The rep told me that my laptop was being shipped on the 26th. Woke up to a delay until the 30th, called the rep this morning and he said he would expedite my order but I don't know how true that is. I ordered on the 17th. Is this a comman thing?