Lenovo Outlet. Just a little tip about shipping.

Hello all, just wanted to share an experience with Lenovo Outlet to provide you with a small tip regarding shipping.

Here is the timeline:
1) I ordered Monday on the 24th, in the afternoon(W510 refurbished) with EXPEDITE shipping. (note that standard shipping is Free but expedited costs $50)

2) I got an e-mail on the 27th saying that it was shipped via UPS Ground.

Now. I was getting 31st, Monday, as the estimated delivery, but was wondering if UPS Ground was really Expedited(I mean, that is the lowest possible shipping method... if I am not mistaken)

So this morning, on the 28th, I went to Online chat on the Lenovo website. I got a representative, by the name of Raj, and tried to confirm the shipping method. After explaining, I tried to get an explanation as to why it shipped via UPS Ground if I choose Expedited. He said it was showing up on the system that it was shipped 2nd Day Air. So, I explained to him, that the package should not be stuck at Virginia right now(it ships from NC and I'm in NY, so VA is in between; if shipped via air, the plane should not take a stop midway at all, right?) He said that it shows up as UPS 2nd Day Air, and there must be an error on the tracking website.

I exit the chat, and call UPS. The guy at UPS(thank god he could speak proper english unlike EVERY representative I talk to at Lenovo) confirms that it was shipped UPS Ground.

I CALL Lenovo thinking that it cannot be resolved via online chat. Representative by the name of Bianca picks up and I explain the whole situation again. She says that it was shipped UPS Ground as shown on her system.

And the most frustrating/annoying/downright upsetting part of all. The answer/explanation she gave me for every question was the following: expedited shipping gets you the package within 2~3 days of shipping and will refund you for the shipping if you don't get it by Monday. Standard shipping is supposed to take 3~5 days. She gave me this answer repeatedly for all the questions I threw at here, including 1) so the guy I talked to online was lying? 2) so what shipping would my package have been shipped by if I chose standard shipping? 3) if there is expedited and standard with price difference with no service difference, do I just lose my 50 dollars?, etc.

She basically told me as long as I got it in 2~3 days, I should be happy. She was avoiding questions to give me nonsensical answers. So for a person that lives quite close to NC(I, once again, live in NY), choosing Expedited does not get it faster to you than UPS Ground does. Lets say I live in Florida, the opposite side of the continent. Would they have sent it via UPS Ground if I chose the $50 option?

Honestly, I have no complaints with the deal I got. I am just frustrated that Lenovo's system is inefficient and tries to make money out of the shipping cost differences.

Last of all, this may be all my own fault. Maybe there IS even a lower shipping method. And maybe that's the one used for standard shipping. I guess I needed to let it all out to actually get myself back on track for today.

So just a little tip: when you choose shipping method for your Lenovo Outlet order, just take into your consideration your distance from NC(where they usually ship Outlet products).

Thanks for reading, and PLEASE DO point out the mistakes that I may have made as it may prove to be a big relief for me.

TGIF and enjoy your weekends. Cheers

 

since you asked, the shipping policy only has two options: 2-3 business days and 4-6 business days.   the 4-6 day option does not ship right away and is handled after those who choose the 2-3 day shipping option.

during checkout, the 'shipping method' page lists shipping options as follows:

nowhere is the word "expedited" used that i could find.

here is the current shipping policy: http://outlet.lenovo.com/customer-service

 

Sorry, Florida is not on the opposite side.. I meant Cali

 

Erik is right. With Lenovo (and the Outlet) the part of the transit that's expedited is their handling time. Packages often take a few days to even a week before UPS gets it.

 

Yes I do understand that.
The fact that I was quite disturbed about was that there was inconsistency/discrepancy between two representatives' words and that the expedited shipping method used the same method of shipping as the standard one. Those two are my only concerns. I have read all terms and conditions yet still believe there is inefficiency at the Lenovo Outlet. While I understand that having everything perfect in such a large scale of business is quite impossible, the representative I spoke to did not take any measures to resolve the problem or at the least explain the situation. That is all. Having to forego corporate dexterity for scale of business is inevitable. In such a business, customers like me(seemingly small problem looking in a macro scale) are bound to exist.

Purpose was to share an experience, not to prove anything. Thanks.

 

i can't explain why the first representative claimed it was shipped 2nd-day air.   it's possible he misinterpreted the tracking details and saw that tracking was two days in transit.   i'm only guessing here.

from what i can tell, your system was shipped on time and will be delivered per the shipping policy.   the math is done so that delivery is made by 5pm on the 3rd business day if not sooner.   if someone lives in california for example, they could receive a package shipped 3rd-day air, 2nd-day air, or even overnight if the system doesn't leave the warehouse in time.

given your experience, how would you have liked this to be handled?   are the shipping policy and shipping methods not well defined?   what could be made more efficient?

 

IMO, the process was smooth, and compared to many others' experiences with the Lenovo Outlet, I believe mine turned out to be very good.
I am just bothered by the fact that the $50 extra for expedited shipping will not get me the package sooner than the free one would. I know that I AM getting it in 2 days as the shipping method suggests, but I would have gotten it in 2 days with standard shipping as well.
MY POINT HERE is that when I pay $50 extra for expedited shipping, I expect Lenovo to spend that money on a better shipping service. Standard shipping ships via UPS Ground, and since my $50 for expedited shipping was apparently not used as mine was sent via UPS Ground, where did that money go?
I am not complaining about how my order was delayed or any problems along that line but about the fact that there may be an irony in my case.

I am not trying to bash Lenovo, I am in love with Thinkpads and will never part myself from the product line(though the quality has deteriorated over the years). I am just pointing it out so that no others will experience the same.(i.e. person living in NY should not choose to pay extra $50 for a service that will be provided for FREE).

Thanks for reading.

 

Thanks erik for your responses, as your status as Moderator, the questions you have posed actually get me to thinking logically.
To respond to your question about making the system more efficient, the only solution I can come up with is simply labeling what services will be used for each shipping method. If it had said "UPS Ground" for standard and "UPS 2nd Day"(for example) for the expedited, then I would have actually gone to the UPS site to calculate when it would arrive. It also makes Lenovo more accountable for its actions. This problem derived from the fact that the shipping methods to be used was not labeled at all. It feels like Lenovo has done so purposely to get the extra $50 for a service it regularly provides for free(hope it was not on purpose, but looking at it as a person who lives in a profit-driven corporate world, I see why it cannot be true)

Essentially, this problem cannot be completely solved because... such petty problems cannot be solved for such a large company with a wide consumer base.

Thanks again.

 

that's understandable.

currently the only promise made is in the delivery time, not the shipping method used.   as i understand it, this is due to the example i gave above about living in cali and choosing the 2-3 day option.   it could ship three different methods and still arrive within the promised schedule.

many times the outlet runs specials on shipping and offers the 2-3 day upgrade at no charge.   $50 is the highest i've ever heard about.   most of the time i log in it's shown as $0.00 for both options.

anyway, i do hope you enjoy the W510 despite the shipping method not being as expected.   if it's what you wanted and delivered when you wanted it then i'd say you did quite well.

 

I work in the shipping industry, and I can say without a doubt that expedite shipping is just a great profit center. The company I work for does NOT allow us to up sell shipping since there is just pure profit to be made, if someone needs product quicker they can pay actual upgrade of shipping.

The way orders at MOST online companies works is simple, they are shipped on a priority basis, with the average order taking a few days to ship, and they are able to charge a premium to ship the same day or early the next day (in your case $50) now with UPS the beauty is that they can get product almost all the way across the country for about 3 - 4 days.... from Dallas (where we are) we can ship basically all over the US with ground and get there in 2 - 3 days... if we were lenovo, we would basically only upgrade to 2nd day air shipements of products that are going to the extreme ends of the US (i.e. New York, Florida near the panhandle, Seattle, etc)

Hope this helps, yes you got screwed, but that is the price you pay, next time dont expedite unless you need the items quickly (and if you do, then as long as you get it in the time alloted you are good)

 

Ahh, the benefits of living 20 minutes from Morrisville, NC. That, and easy access to the on-campus sales...