Ship Times Accurate?

I ordered my T61 14 WS yesterday the October 26th and I ensured I ordered nothing with the delays. The estimated ship date is November 14th. That seems really excessive. Is this time accurate from people experience? My hp costume only took five days to ship and was shipped 3 day express. Why does UPS ship ground, it will take latterly a month from Asia!!! IBMs also cost more.

 

The estimated ship date is somewhat accurate, but expect possible delays. Lenovo has been notorious with their build times lately and it has nothing to do with shipping method. They seem to have serious supply issues when it comes to parts, especially the LCD monitor.

ThinkPads cost more because they are better built notebooks. Your custom HP probably didn't have hard drive shock protection or magnesium parts to reduce flex.

 

Your laptop is built to order. The date they give you is an estimated ship date. Could ship early, could ship late, could be dead on. My T61 shipped a few weeks before the ESD.

 

it also doesn't actually ship via UPS ground, from when it ships, delivery will take like 2 days (unless it gets held in customs, which sometimes happens)

 

i can assure you. that most of the ship times is inaccurate. =P

 

I am frustrated. I ordered a T61 October 8th. Estimated ship date was 10/25. I looked at it today and it now says Jan 8. What the? No wonder it was such a great deal. After three and a half months, it won't cost them as much to build to the specs. I am seriously considering cancelling my order. This is my first laptop. I decided on this one after much research. It fit exactly what I wanted - now I'm sick. No laptop for me for now.

 

Jasn, there has been a backorder on 9cells from what I hear. Maybe call and they will allow you change to 6 cell? Or just cancel and find something else, you have a right to be PISSED.

 

im ordering even without 9 cell battery and with a normal WXGA screen. sighhh. but so far my ESD just extended to 1 month forward. Even so the customer service keep sayin that my t61 will be delivered this week.

 

hey it would be great if you could update on your situation if you did get it this week.

 

Any changes to his order will reset his position in the queue.

Same here. Just normal WXGA, standard 4 cell for me and I've already gotten a two week extension. They keep telling me the same thing.

 

I was in the exact situation as you. Even ordered the same day. By the 25, it hadn't updated to shipped, and on the 26, it said the estimated ship date was 1/08/08. So I called Lenovo Friday, and spoke to someone. He put me on hold and talked to the supply department. When he returned he told me to disregard the order status page and that the laptop should ship early the week of the 28th. I would suspect that you might have a simlar experience, but YMMV

 

i'll keep u posted mate.

 

I ordered a T61 14" WXGA+ on 10/26 w/ the 7 cell battery (supposedly causing a delay to 1/8) and the DVD burner (supposedly causing a 3 to 4 week delay per the website). I called customer service on this after the order and am actually OK with the delay so long as the price doesnt drop in my. Price has actually gone up since 10/26. Lo and behold I check my order status and it says that I have been invoiced and the machine shipped on 10/28! What gives? I am happy that its not delayed but what is going on?

 

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WAIT BaldwinHillsTrojan I ordered the same day as you October 26 around 10AM PST and I avoided those options because of the delays (DVD-RW and Battery). It says your machine has shipped? my status still has "in process" and the date still is 11/14. Can someone explain this? How you get them ship yours so fast in only 2 days which were not even business days?

 

Chances are something else in your order caused the delay, although they don't always tell you what it is when you're ordering. I ordered October 2nd and mine's still in process. From what I understand, my delay is because of the screen (14.1" WXGA with webcam).

They ship them from China, which seems to ship seven days a week from what I can tell.

 

I ordered the same screen. When they say yours should be shipped? Whats their estimate?

thanks
ps my current laptop is about to crap out the hard drive clicks. So I can't wait for it to come.

 

I don't think the date listed is accurate. I ordered on Oct. 22 with a 9 cell battery and the ship date was listed as 1-3-08. So I called and they said its because they were out of 9 cells, so I switched to a 6 cell. Then once they updated that it said my shipping date was now 1-8-08. So I called and they said my estimated shipping date was actually Nov. 19, not Jan. 8 as listed.

 

Ordered Oct. 2nd originally, and it was supposed to ship 10/19. It keeps getting pushed back now it's estimated at 11/7. The customer service guy says it should ship any day now. We'll see.

It's an estimation and sometimes it's accurate, most often it isn't. Changing your order though typically puts you back at the end of the line, which they should've told you.

 

My order screen shows an invoice number and Lenovo's policy is not to invoice until it ships. The shipping box also says that they will provide tracking information the morning after it is shipped. Indicated it was shipped on 10/28 but I cant find the tracking info just yet. My concern is the buggers shipped the wrong machine. We all know by know they are a little unorganized. I feel fortunate but also concerned.

On my first order, which I cancelled, the sales rep was supposed to get back to me with a confirm but did not. I went beserk on them but I dont think that is the reason for any expidetied shipment. I think its the luck of the draw with Lenovo's ordering and procurement system.

 

Just to update you all. I got a tracking number. It's in transit. It's coming! Lenovo #1 in customer service IMO. I just hope they didn't botch and ship the wrong machine. Normally wouldn't worry about such but given the botches I read on this board have to be cautious.

 

welcome to lenovo my friend.

 

Mine just left Chep Lok Airport in Hong Kong. Woo hooo, it's on its way. Lenovo has good customer service IMO! Prompt order fufullment and delivery.

 

I ordered a T61p on 10/16; my ESD is 11/16. I sent two emails asking about status and if there was a part causing delay, but I got no reply. I just called and talked with a rep who couldn't give me a status update (2 weeks after I ordered mind you). He said he'll send me an update email within 48 hours. We'll see. I understand possible delays and such, as that's supply and demand. However, I do expect a response to email inquiries and a valid status update. Having to wait 48 hours is a bit much in this day and age if you ask me. I suppose I'll decide when and if I get the email update. If I don't get the update at all within 48 hrs, I'm canceling the order. Shame, as I've been researching for the last month and was really looking forward to a ThinkPad. If I can't get a simple reply to an email or a status update on a two week old order, I'm not sure I trust them to build a quality machine, much less service it if something were to break. Am I being too harsh about this?

 

you very lucky man

 

Wow Lenovo Build Fast. No Worries other T61 buyers!!!

Ordered: 10/26/07 around 10:00AMish PST
Estimate: 11/14/2007
Shipped 10/31/2007

Wow only 4 days thats crazy I am in shock, I never had a computer built so fast

CONFIGURED SYSTEM
SBBB INTEL CORE 2 DUO T7500
VBB MSWIN VISTA ULTIMATE 32
SBB MSWIN VULT32 US ENGLISH
SBB NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 140M MEDIACARD
VBB 2GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 2DIMM
SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
SBB UN(TRACKPOINT+TCHPD)+ FING.R
SBB 100 GB HDD,7200RPM
SBB INTEL TURBO MEMORY 1GB
SBB CD-RW/DVD-ROM COM,UBAYSLIM
VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT
SBB INTELPRO/WL3945ABGUSCNLAAP
VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
SBB 6 CELL LI-ION BATERRY
SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA
SBB LANG.PACK US ENGLISH
RECYCLE FEE FOR PRODUCT WITH 4 TO 14 INCH DISPLAY

 

You're lucky, I placed my order today and the expected delivery is 12/03/2007. Right around the time my computer class finishes, how convenient lol.

 

I have called three times about the delayed shipping. The first guy said it was a hiccup in the system and that it would ship this week. Two days later I called again but the guy didn't know anything about it. He said that he'd check into it and email me. Ha, no email. Before he hung up, I asked what the contact two days prior saw the showed the computer to ship this week. Again, he said he didn't know but would check into it. Stall tactics. Jerks.

 

One lesson Lenovo needs to learn is that being straight forward with people about delays will help them in the long run. I can deal with things much better if I'm told in all honesty (or even 90%) what's going on. I worked for an airline and learned that people could cope with delays much better if told the reason (besides an engineering issue that would freak people out - like, um, the engineers are checking to make sure the engine isn't going to fall off) These repeated lies will only hurt them. I'm annoyed that I can tell what the guy on the other end is going to say before he says it. I don't blame him as I'm sure he probably doesn't know - it's the people who do know that don't pass on the information. GRRRRRRRR.

 

Jasnjules, what is the status of your shipment??

But yeah they will give you the run around, I have been through it in the past with other companies.

 

Deja vu - I'd have thought I wrote your post if the dates weren't different. I don't think you're being too harsh. However, I was going to cancel too, but I don't see anything out there that I want to replace it with. It's a long term investment for me so I'm really torn and will probably just wait it out. I am sorely disappointed though. Before selling out, IBM needed should have given Lenovo lessons on how to communicate and satisfy customers. In the bigger picture, I'm a bit sick that IBM sold out notebooks to the Chinese. I hate that I'm feeding the monster that's eating America - I cheered one day when I saw a sticker that said made in Thailand. Sheesh, how bad can it get? ("An enemy of my enemy is my friend.") They are probably all made in China now. One made in the US would be $10,000 for the base model - made of wood.

 

Lies, lies, all lies. You must work for Lenovo - posting nice things about them. If not.....well, you trully are a lucky man.

 

Not sure. Last I was told, it would ship this week. I don't believe it. I'm sure he politely says the same thing to everyone. The call center staff probably put notes in my file to update staff so they can string me along. First guys says it will ship this week. Second guy says he's not sure, third guy says he'll look into it and email back. (I haven't heard anything yesterday or today) I was suspicious when he said he would email me and asked for my address - he can see what it is......it's in my file - it's supposed to make me feel like I'm getting somewhere. I feel like I'm on a treadmill going nowhere.

 

Below is my experience:

• 10/16/07 - I placed an order (order#2CCPL3) for a "pre-configured" surplus notebook from the Lenovo Outlet, direct with Lenovo Outlet Sales by telephone. These were new, boxed notebooks previously ordered but not sent out, that were being resold by Lenovo. My credit card was processed and the purchase amount authorized (ie held against my card but not charged) that same day. The estimated ship date showed as 10/23/07. The order went into status "In Process".
• 10/23/07 - my online order status remained "In Process" but now the estimated ship date showed as 10/29/07 - two weeks after purchase.
• 10/23/07 - I called Lenovo Order Status to inquire about my order. The agent I spoke to told me the item I ordered was discontinued and my order could not be fulfilled and I would have to select a replacement system. I hung up and called the Lenovo Outlet to see why my order had been cancelled. They told me I should not have called Lenovo Order Status since they know nothing of the Outlet sales.
• 10/23/07 - I called in asking why the order was delayed, given it was not being customized/built, but was a pre-configured, boxed item which merely had to be taken off the warehouse shelves and shipped. I was told that due to high numbers of orders, the warehouse/shipping were backlogged. Instead of the original 5 working days to ship it was now taking 7 working days. I was told the online estimated ship date should be ignored, and the notebook would be shipped by 10/25/07.
• 10/25/07 - having not received a shipping notification or tracking number I called in again asking why my order had not shipped. I was told again of the same delays and told my order would definitely ship by 10/29/07.
• 10/29/07 - my online order status remained "In Process" and the estimated ship date now showed 11/05/07
• 10/29/07 - I called in again asking why my order was further delayed now to 3 weeks after order placement. The representative told my order had in fact shipped, and have me a tracking number, which he said would be active by the next morning.
• 10/30/07 - I entered the tracking number given to me throughout that day, but it seemed it was invalid.
• 10/30/07 - I called in once again to ask where my order was and why the tracking number I was given was invalid. The agent I spoke to this time had no idea where the tracking number came from, as his system showed my order had not shipped and no tracking number was recorded. The agent told me he could not find any more info about my order status, but would get someone to research it and get back to me with some details.
• 10/31/07 - no one had ever communicated back to me about my order
• 10/31/07 - I called in yet again regarding my order. The first agent said he "Didn't know what else to tell me". I asked to be transferred to his supervisor. He transferred me, but when the call was answered and I gave them my order number they (Public Sales) tell me they cannot see my order and I am talking to the wrong department - my order was for "High End Sales" and they give me another 800 number to call. When I call this number it is an IBM number, clearly incorrect so I hang up
• 10/31/07 - I call back the Lenovo Outlet and speak to yet another agent. He proceeds to tell me that due to the backlog instead of the initial 5 working days it was now taking 10 working days to ship orders. I inform him that the 10 working days period was up the previous day (10/30/07). He then proceeds to tell me that my order would ship "soon". I tell him that "soon" is not good enough - I want someone to find my order/notebook and ship it given the delay I want Lenovo now to ship it overnight at their expense. He tells me he cannot change the order in that way but would get a supervisor to look into my order and get back to me by end of day.
• 10/31/07 - by end of day, once again, no-one ever communicated back to me about my order
• 11/1/07 - Despite having been told yet again yesterday that I would hear by end of day about my order, no one contacted me
• 11/1/07 - My first call was answered by an agent in Canada who looked up my order and said "he didn't know what else he could tell me". I asked for his supervisor, and he said I would need to be out on a long list of call-backs that single supervisor was making - I see I am not the only customer having issues!
• 11/1/07 - I then called the "Complaint" number published on the Lenovo site. I spoke to someone who had no interest in taking my complaint and was only interested in telling me the status of my order was that it was "Out of Stock" - how this could be given this was an order for a specific item in stock, I am not sure
• 11/1/07 - I then emailed the agent who took my original order using the email address contained in the order confirmation I received by email - that email address bounced back as undeliverable.

Does anyone know the contact details for their corporate/executive office in US? I am going to start calling the corporate office until I get som resolution to all of this sh*t. I am also tempted to call tomorrow and be put on hold until someone speaks to me with details of my order - how much would they be charged for 5 hrs on an 800 number

Any other ideas?

 

cool man!
fighting for the customer

 

So today I call again and after some time on hold I am told my system has been sold to someone else and I'm not getting it. I am incredulous - so they tell me I have a system assigned, make me wait 3 weeks telling me not to change the order or cancel it as I will lose the one i was assigned, and after 3 weeks (and all other outlet items now gone) they tell me my system was sold to someone else I just cannot believe this! I have always had Thinkpads, but based on this I am going elsewhere. How do they intend to stay in business if they're going to operate like this?

I am also considering suing them in small claims - we had a contract and they haven't fulfilled it. Either they fulfil it or pay me damages as to the additional amounts I now must pay to obtain the same product.

 

Have they charged your credit card or do you have some sort of quote on them

 

My order has been delay for 2 month i ordered my oct 11 and not it been pushed nov 30. I should have ordered it through work but i was too lazy. Usually business orders get their orders a lot fast. I am really pissed at Lenovo but the sad part is that I am still willing to wait to get a thinkpad

 

thats plain unacceptable not being told the outlet item was sold to someone. At the very least they should have told you that and not make you wait 3 weeks. Considering how one has to order outlet items from a rep I'm not surprised wires can get crossed but not telling you it was sold is just plain bad. Btw that IBM number is probably correct...you do know that IBM handles part of Lenovo's service in the US. and probably what you want too instead of a Lenovo number.

 

@ alect: Have you considered contacting the Better Buisness Bureau?

 

Its too late now and water under the bridge but the only acceptable resolution in your case is for Lenovo to ship you a brand newthinkpad with the same specs as the one you ordered at the same price.

The fault is clearly on Lenovo and they have record of the order. I would be using that IBM number to get a rep on my side, explain the whole situation and then maybe if I'm lucky get me a new thinkpad at outlet prices. Or go the BBB route...I've seen needless issues brought up with the BB but this is not one of them.

 

That's exactly my stance right now. I am waiting for an escalation manager to call me to sort this out. I am going to suggest that they honor the original specs and price from their normal sales channel - their fault they should eat the profit margin.

And yes I will be contacting the BBB in case I get nowhere (which is what I am assuming). Which BBB would I contact - one here in LA? or in NC where Lenovo is HQ'd? I have the same question as to Small Claims - as far as I am concerned we had a contract and they are not honoring it.

What part of sales/service is handled by IBM? I assume I would get better service but what pull would they have with Lenovo?

 

I never had direct experience with IBM support but based on general opinion here on NBR is that IBM support is more approachable and agreeing when it comes to making concessions compared to Lenovo. If they decide that you should be compensated they have all the power to make that happen.

Be polite but firm in your dealings, you want to get a rep that's assigned to your case, get a name, rep id if possible under the pretext that that rep will be your liason not as another person to complain on to the higher ups. Once you've establised a good rapport on the phone, proceed to ask if its possible to get a system configured to your specs as 'replacement' for your outlet order. Tell them that if you had known that the outlet unit was sold way in advance you could have picked another item that would still be in stock from the outlet. But given the runaround and delays that wouldnt be possible anymore. If the rep doesnt have the power to authorize that, ask to speak to the supervisor.


For BBB go NC.

 

I ordered my T61p on Sept 28th and finally received it on Oct 29th. Apparently the main delay was the T7800 2.6 GHz processor.

 

Tonight was a delight as I called India again.....I mean Lenovo customer "support" and spoke with Christopher? Real name? Hmmm. I asked for an update on status. Fouth call since Oct 27. Order placed 10/8. Estimated ship date 10/25. On 10/27 moved to 1/08. Christopher said he would look into it and get back to me within 48 business hours. Ah, but I've heard this before and told him that. He said, hmmm, looks like your order was to ship on 10/28 and offered to look closer. Nope, not buying it. I insisted that I wanted to know what's going on. Not the same old answers. He said, "I understand and if I were you, I'd be saying the same thing." (Great training in empathy) I asked him to be truthful and tell me why the orders are delayed. He finally said the 9 cell batteries are backed up for months. I said Lenovo needs to work on customer service. BE TRUTHFUL! A 6 cell battery is fine - I'll buy an 9 cell later. He said that might help but still couldn't give me a firm ship date. (remember earlier when he said, "hmmm, looks like your order was to ship on the 28th." ?) He said the wait for the 9 cell could be 6 - 9 months? He's out of his mind. I built another T61 online and see they still offer the 9 cell battery. I feel like Satan is pulling puppet strings and tormenting us through Lenovo. It ended with Christopher telling me that he'd call me back within 48 business hours. I think I'll take a nap for the winter.

 

Lenovo is apparently having problems keeping any of their parts in stock. The 9 cell battery if you look right now is finally back after being off the site for approx a week but also before that they had a serious delay with the T7800 2.6 GHz processor and now also if you look on their site it now says may delay your order by 3 - 4 weeks for just a DVD burner which is absurd. I'm lucky I got my laptop with all the parts I wanted within a month.

 

Oooo, DVD burner delay too. Ouch. That's two out of three for me as I ordered the T7300 processor. I'd be interested to know what the execs at IBM think about all of this as it must have some ripple affects on thier reputation, regardless if "IBM" is no longer on the machines. I sent them an email expressing my disappointment. I received back an expected form "Thank you" letter. I think my next tactic is to fly to China and get to the bottom of this. Eeeeer, maybe not. OK, then perhaps I'll enlarge a photo of a T61, tape it to a cardboard box and pretend I have a T61. I'll even make the 9 cell battery project out the back so I really feel accomplished in my efforts. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Let me see......what high quality paper should I print this on......glossy or matt.....oh, definitely matt. I'll use the glossy for my HP so I can have two computers. I could start selling them......to pay for a trip to China. It's all coming together. YES!

 

ur spec just exactly as mine. T7300 and a DVD burner slim.
so far they tellin me will be sent on the 2nd week of november.
but honestly i don't really put my hope on that. let see how it goes....

 

Did you call them? I just emailed them asking if they still have shortage on the dvd rw.

 

What date did you order? I ordered:

42V8190 SBB INTEL CORE 2 DUO PRCESST7300
46P4166 VBB MICROSOFT WINXP PROFESSION
42V8376 SBB MS WIN XP PROF.US ENG.
42V8287 SBB 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
42X0819 SBB NVIDIAQUAD FX 570M W/WWAN
41W2063 VBB 2GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 2DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V8297 SBB UN(TRCKP TOUCHPAD)FINGERRE
42V8169 SBB 100GB HDD,7200RPM
42V8172 SBB DVD REC.8XMAXDUAL LAY UB-S
42X0805 VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT
42V8177 SBB INT.WIRE.WIFI/LINK4965AGN
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
39T6651 SBB 9 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
39T6442 SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA
42X1487 SBB LP US ENGLISH

 

im ordering at 4th of Oct.