Motorcycle on ThinkPad R61 with Display Roll Cage and more info regarding Incorrect Order Status Information

This is a video from Lenovo Blogs ,I know its R61 but T61 and R61 use the same Display Roll cage
http://www.lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/
And following you can find Lenovo's response to some of questions regarding delays of T61
http://www.lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=84
Incorrect Order Status Information *Updated 6/13*

A lot of customers noticed a recent email which erroneously stated their orders would not be shipped until August. The slip in those dates was the result of an internal glitch that caused estimated ship dates for these systems to change unexpectedly. We expect to have more concrete dates for everyone sometime this week, but rest assured this was only a glitch.

One specific configuration is confirmed to be delayed, T61 and R61 models with NVIDIA graphics and Microsoft Windows XP. We expect to have more information soon on when that configuration will ship, but stay tuned for the latest. We will offer Windows XP as an option through web purchasing on these machines again once all issues are resolved.

Thanks for understanding and bearing with us.

Updated Thursday June 7 at 11:26 PM EST

Lenovo customers: here’s the story as we know it now.

Because of a data entry error, the bezel – the frame that surrounds the LCD panel – was omitted from the bill of materials for certain T61 & R61 14.1” widescreen orders which is sent to our factories to specify how to build the products. This omission caused a majority of the orders taken between May 9th and May 24th to “hang” or get rejected by the manufacturing process. The missing part problem was discovered and we began to work with manufacturing to fix the rejected orders and get them fulfilled ASAP.

We are now working to resubmit the orders and get them built and fulfilled. If we cannot resubmit them efficiently, we will have to manually re-enter the orders. Until we resolve the rebooking issue, we’re not able to provide any updated shipment dates.

An additional set of T61 orders with the 15.4” WXGA screen were constrained by shortages of those screens. They will be built by June 20th, but I don’t have any more specific information at this time.

These issues address 97% of the T61 orders in our backlog. The remaining backlogged orders are delayed for various individual reasons separate from the overlying issues. Two examples of these issues would be something common like a credit hold or something like the previously referenced NVIDIA and Windows XP configuration validation, but the point is that these remaining 3% of the orders have individual, unique issues that are not due to the two larger issues previously discussed.

I pledge to keep you informed of all developments as I learn them. Customers will be contacted by email as soon as we have a definitive solution. If you wish to cancel your order, please email [email protected] and provide your order information. Our telephone support staff currently has a large number of calls coming in and email is the most efficient communication method at this time.

To say we are sorry is not enough. We intend to conduct a thorough post-mortem of this incident to ensure it does not happen again. Thank you for whatever patience you have left.

Updated Saturday June 9 at 12:10 PM EST
We are still working to answer the big question, when everyone’s orders will be re-booked properly, but a lot of questions were asked and I wanted to answer everything I could at this point.

Q: Will all the orders have to be rebooked?
A: No. Approximately 64% of the backlogged orders placed between 5/10- 5/25 are due to the bezel / data entry isse. These will need to be rebooked to correct the error on our end. We are working this weekend on an automated solution for this, and failing that, we will need to resolve the orders manually. We hope to have the solution early next week. The 36% of the delayed orders are due to a variety of issues including component contraints of the 15.4″ WXGA LCD panel referenced in our 6/7 update, and miscellanous issues like credit holds and the NVIDIA / XP configuration. These will not need to be rebooked, and will ship as the issues are cleared.

Q: When will you tell us more?
A: We plan to send direct email communications next week, with updates. We will also continue to post updates here next week.

Q: Why are some people reporting that orders placed outside this window of time appear to be shipping sooner?
A: This is occuring in some cases. We are attempting to prioritize the orders that must be rebooked to ensure logical priority by original booking date. Orders that do not need to be rebooked — the 36% affected by panel and other shortages — will continue to be fulfilled as parts or other delaying factors are resolved. Attempts to cancel orders and rebook them now could actually delay your delivery further as we are giving priority to existing orders.

Q: I’ve seen mentions of this Meyers-EPP order. What is the deal, and is this adding to the delay?
A: Lenovo offers an employee purchase program where access is based on the employee’s last name and company serial number. Employees are only allowed to share this program with friends and family. Unfortunately, an employee’s name and serial number were widely shared on some public sites and discussion forums. The number of orders placed using the Meyers EPP access were small and this incident is irrelevant to the outstanding issues.

Q: For the orders that must be rebooked, will customers be penalized if special promotions have now expired?
A: No. We will work our customers on a case by case basis to honor these orders.

Q: What about expedited shipping?
A: These orders are custom configured and will ship to the U.S. from China. Once landed, they will pass through customs and then be delivered. Moving to expedited shipping would only reduce total delivery time by 1 day, and would require 100% of the orders to be altered. The time to change all the orders manually could actually delay them more than the 1 day gained in shipping.

I hope this helps answer some of the concerns everyone here has. I understand it doesn’t answer all of them, but every question or concern voiced here is being noted and worked to provide a concrete answer. We do have a team working over the weekend on solving the re-booking issue, but please just understand that it will be until Monday or Tuesday before I have anymore information to post here. Thanks for bearing with us.

Updated Thursday June 13 at 8:17 PM EST

I owe everyone an update and I do have some more answers to your questions. There are numerous other questions we are pursuing to answer for you and I will have a more comprehensive update soon.

Q: What is the current status on resolving the orders with the bezel hold up?

A: We have successfully tested the automated rebooking solution, and have processed approximately half of these orders. We have paused briefly to make some adjustments to ensure the pricing reflects all appropriate promotions and discounts during the rebook, and will resume and complete the balance of these orders shortly. A subset of remaining customers have split orders, or orders for which portions have already shipped. We will be contacting those customers directly through our sales team.

Q: I received an order confirmation email, and my order totals were different than on my orginal order. Will you still honor the promotional pricing I orginally had?

A: Your original order price will certainly be honored and we have noted that a portion of customers received new order totals which did not reflect the orginal pricing. If this has occured with your email, simply note it in the response back to the [email protected] email ID, and we will update your order totals to reflect your orginal amounts. As noted above, we have paused rebooking briefly to ensure this is addressed in our solution prior to processing the rest of the rebookings, in order to reduce confusion.

Q: I didn’t get any email, but I believe my T60 or T61 order is delayed by these issues. What do I do?

A: We received “email bounce” notices for some of the email addresses we distributed to. If you didn’t receive a communication, and you believe you are affected, please send a note to [email protected] with your order number and your request. A team is working to receive and process all emails being received. Please allow 24-48 hours for a response. You may see either [email protected] or [email protected] when you receive your e-mail: both addresses go to the same place and we will receive them.

Tim Supples

And Thanks to Jason and Gene at least Lenovo knows there are much more unhappy customers

# Jason Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 5:51 pm

Here is all your complaints organized properly for Lenovo’s viewing pleasure http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Gene Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 8:52 pm

The situaiton is worsen. Some one put his order on 5/29 have got his laptop shipped.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2024749#post2024749

# Gene Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 8:55 pm

And, this guys did Nvida configure.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=126214&page=20

Who can tell us truth?

 

why are you reposting these blog entries?

 

He's trying to be cool and start the next 50-page thread.

In short, its a no-go, son.

 

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