Why/How did my order ship so quickly?

I ordered the system in my sig early morning on 3/24. At the time of the order, it was estimated to ship on 4/2 with an estimated delivery date of 4/9. When I called to check the status the next day (3/25), it stated that the order was processing. When I checked again later that night, it said it was shipped on 4/6. I checked the status again the next morning (3/26), and this time it said it was shipped on 3/28 with an updated estimated delivery date of 3/31. Now today, on the 28th, I got the 'order has shipped' email along with the FedEx tracking number. FedEx's estimated delivery date is 3/30.

Anyone have any idea why or how my order could have shipped so quickly? I never did catch it in the kitting/build/testing/boxing stages...and these stages usually take at least a few days. Could I be receiving a recently returned system that just happened to have the same specs? It seems almost unheard of to receive a new system in less than a week after ordering it...especially when considering that they are built overseas and that I picked standard 7-day shipping. Is there any way I can tell if it is a returned system?

My friends and family somewhat jokingly said maybe it's because of my previous order history. I ordered the SXPS 1645 in late November, but later ended up cancelling the order in December due to the throttling issues it was having at the time. When I cancelled the order, it was already in the build stage for a day or two. Could Dell maybe have noticed my history and "rushed" my order this time?

 

It could be a canceled order, or one that was returned before it was opened.

 

Would have to have been ordered and canceled- if it shipped to another customer it cant be shipped as new to another customer - opened or not

 

+1 If it was shipped, it would be in outlet.

 

Just be happy that you are getting soon..i have ordered on 3/12..still nothing came...

 

That's what they are supposed to do, however who know's what dell actually does...

 

Feel luck i ordered on 3/6 got mine on 3/25 a few days earlier than my edd of 2/29. At least they were ahead of schedule. lol

 

I just ordered mine last and its still in "pre-production" so I have no idea when mine will come even though the EDD is 4/30 :/

Consider yourself really lucky that you didn't have to wait long...

 

Thanks for the replies...hopefully it's just from a recently cancelled order.

The FedEx tracking number is finally giving me more details today. The shipment was picked up in Chicago instead of starting out in Tennessee like normal. Last week I read somewhere that someone else's shipment started out in Chicago as well, but I cannot find the post anymore and it is driving me crazy. I was just wondering what their situation was or why it was shipped from Chicago. I am unable to find it in the search results. Maybe it was deleted or I seen it on some other site.

Any ideas why it's shipping from Chicago? Do they have a warehouse there or something?

 

They do have a small office there, but I thought that was for mobile support only.

 

I found the post I was thinking of here. His order was new, but looked like he received a 'open box' or 'refurbished system'.
I guess I will just have to wait to see what mine looks like when I get it. We may be on to something if mine looks like an open box/refurbished sytem too.

Would the status of the service tag tell us anything... I knew the service tag since yesterday morning, but wasn't able to add it to my list of systems until last night. (During the day it was saying it was invalid.) Does this tell us anything? Or does Dell change the service tag on cancelled/returned/refurbished systems?

 

The service tag never changes and is with the system for life. Its hard to say, but you can always ask the history of that service tag. Sometimes the rep can give it to you, other times maybe not. Depends on who you get.

 

Hey codester,

That was me that got the order from Chicago. Yes, the box did look "opened", in that the adapter was not in a plastic sleeve like usual and the microfiber cloth cover looked dirty. It seemed as though the box had been opened and thrown together at the last minute. All other new laptops I have received from Dell have been packed immaculately and looked like they have never been opened. The laptop itself looked ok (no marks, blemishes, etc.) and booted up to the standard DELL setup screen. Forgot to plug in my service tag in all the excitement to see if it was new or not -- other than that, it is a really nice machine and the screen is stunning.

What did you find when you plugged your service tag in?

 

FWIW...ordered an Inspiron 15 with i5 core on 3/23, shipped today via fed ex, tracking and call from fed ex says will deliver tomorrow, 3/31. Initial EDD was 4/9, so who knows, maybe they have a full stock of all needed parts and/or have undegone a recent "motivational" team experience or something.

 

I didn't really find anything. It's just that I wasn't able to add the service tag to my list of systems or view the system configuration in 'My Account' during the day it shipped. (It was telling me to make sure it was valid.) It finally worked later that night. I read somewhere that Dell doesn't activate the service tag until the system has been shipped. So my thought was that if it was a returned system, the service tag would have already been available/valid because it was shipped before. Since mine wasn't available at first, I thought maybe it could mean it's shipping for the first time (meaning it is a cancelled order). But who knows, maybe the service tag is inactivated for returned systems and then reactivated when they are shipped again.

 

Maybe yours is a FastTrack system? I see some Inspiron 15's with i5 on there ( http://www.dell.com/fasttrack) Did you order from there, or does your system specs match any of those?

 

I got my computer yesterday... It didn't look like an 'opened item' to me. The AC adapter wasn't in a bag, but I just noticed that it wasn't in a bag in any of the unboxing videos found on YouTube...so that sounds normal to me. There were marks on the cloth cover, but I wouldn't say it is dirty. The marks were just from the cloth/fibers being flattened due to pressure between the notebook and packaging.

I'm loving my system so far. Only gripe I have is that there is a bad paint job on the 'lip' of the Blu-ray/DVD slot, so the grey plastic is showing through. (It's not on the outside, but more on the inside where it is still visible.) Somewhat disappointing, but I guess I will have to try to touch it up using some paint or a black marker.

 

You can touch it up, but make sure you test out the marker before you apply. Quite a few times the black marker will dry a very dark purple. If anything, your best bet would be paint. Car touch up paint (small bottle) should work as well.