Ship Times Accurate?

at last. it shipped on the 5th of November.

 

Mine too. Within the expected time of 3-4 weeks stated with the DVD option when ordering.

I carried on like a pork chop, bellyaching about my order. Huffing and puffing, throwing my rants about when everything was really OK. Lenovo would have saved them and me a lot of grief had they not put Jan 8 as the expected delivery date. They also need to get their call staff up-to-date on how to handle customer complaints. They say the same thing to everyone which only makes everyone mad because everyone is chatting with everyone so everyone believes they are being shafted.

Sigh. Back to my winter nap. Note to UPS driver: "Nudge me when package arrives"

 

Many people have the same specs or similar specs as me on thinkpad forums, yet they are receiving it weeks earlier. One person ordered the same exact day as me and had the same ESD, and theirs shipped on the 3rd of November. Mine still says In process, but I think it will say that till it actually ships.

 

I ordered my T61p on November 3, and I just received an email and invoice today saying it has just shipped (Nov. 6). The original ESD was 11/29, so I'm just flabbergasted. Not only did they beat that by over three weeks, they soundly beat any other manufacturer's average build time. I suspect that perhaps putting my sales rep number on my online order may have helped. I had called Lenovo earlier to ask whether they were using GDDR2 or GDDR3 video memory, but my rep didn't know. He still gave me his rep number, and I still used it. Maybe he pushed it through somehow, or maybe they are just catching up on order fulfillment. Either way, pretty sweet!

 

UGH you guys are killing me! Mine still hasn't shipped! Ordered October 3rd. =(

 

Been there, done that. I endured a month of pure torture seeing people order the exact same system as me well after I ordered mine (even people ordering on the same day) and them receiving theirs while mine kept having the date slip all the while being told it was because of this and that being "constrained". Well, I was fed up and ready to cancel. I called to check the status and was told it was shipping that day. I got an email confirming the shipment later that evening. All in all, the Lenovo CS reps were rude and had me on the verge of cancellation. But....I must admit.....the T61p is awesome and I have no regrets. I even went down the "price match" road and got $450+ back in refund due to sale prices that came out after I got my T61p. If I needed another laptop, I would order another Lenovo, but with less "rose colored glasses" on this time.

Hang in there....I think it will be worth it.

 

I know it'll be worth it as this is the only laptop I want. If I can't get a custom Lenovo I wouldn't even be getting a laptop. I've had Alienware and Toshiba and they both crapped out on me after a year. But it's so annoying. I got mine for really cheap so I'm not worried about a pricematch but I did hear people got discounts and free accessories for waiting.

 

Free Accessories lol, just how?

 

Here is an update to my saga. I researched lodging complaints with CA AG, Dept of Cons Affairs and BBB. Re the BBB, i found that most of the Lenovo complaints were lodged with the Raleigh, NC branch (rather than local branches such as my local Los Angeles branch), whose site also showed me a "Reliability Report" for Lenovo - some interesting info. It suggested that before lodging a complaint with them, customers should contact a specified person at Lenovo whose job it is to handle such complaints:

http://easternnc.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=66&bbb=0593&firm=90064256

I emailed the following email to:

Bonnie Brannen Biciunas
Manager, Customer Satisfaction
Customer Relations Management, Executive Relations
Lenovo Americas Group
[email protected]

I received an email response within 2 hours:

Within 3 hrs one of her team contacted me by phone and again apologized for my experience and asked whether I was told this was a "while supplies last" item. I explained that's not exactly what it was, and reiterated the history and detail. He told me given the circumstances he would try to get a comparable system shipped to me. I emailed him the exact specs of the item I had ordered, together with my original order confirmation email.

I will report as soon as I hear anything further.

So if you feel you have gone as far as possible with the telephone reps, and have also lodged a formal complaint (escalation) and still have not moved closer to resolution, this seems to be at least a responsive Lenovo department who take ownership of the issue. Obviously I am yet to see whether they will do the right thing by me, but at least they called me back and are doing something - which is more than I can say for anyone else.

I would suggest not abusing this process by bombarding them with all and every problem. You should use them as a last resort. I posted their contact details only because they are already public on the BBB site.

Fingers crossed I actually get the system I ordered!

 

Alect, very, very well done. Concise, polite and detailed. I hope everything works out.

 

I emailed the woman alect posted, and got an automated response. Oddly enough, two hours later my laptop shipped. I emailed saying it was ironic and the person that responded, that wasn't Bonnie, said that Bonnie actually expedited my order for me. Whether or not that's true (I'm inclined to believe it isn't), I'm happy they shipped it. Woohoo!

 

I'm happy things have worked out for you! I wouldn't be surprised if they did help. I am getting the distinct impression that systems and processes are VERY broken at Lenovo. So things fall through the cracks, orders are left unfilled and don't progress because workflow isn't established or working. Through my now 4 weeks of interaction with Lenovo, Bonnie and her team have been the most responsive, and the most willing to listen in the entire company.

BTW - the automated response was also what I received - she was out of the office for a couple of days. I read it and forwarded my email to one of the backups her email mentioned. 2 hours later she did return my email. Later last night or early today, her backup person also replied to my email and said he had assigned it to the Corp Relations team. It's almost too much - I've gone from no one caring to two of them pursuing the matter for me (thumbs up)

 

I wrote in my email that while the customer service representatives were polite enough to me, it was obvious they were reading from scripts and had no real information nor power to expedite or investigate delayed orders.

Thanks for posting that information alect, I really appreciate it. Hope your order works out for you.

 

Well I take everything back. I was called today by Lenovo complaints team. The gentleman said Lenovo was not making concessions in these cases (and there were many customers in the same shoes). These items were "limited supplies" and the order confirmation included legal terms saying Lenovo were not obliged to ship the items if they became out of stock.

I corrected him on several counts:

• these were not limited supplies - these were pre-boxed surplus items, of which there was a finite list, and when my order was placed and accepted it was for a specific item/part number, and not for a set configuration of which there were limited supplies
• the terms contained in the order confirmation were not part of our contract since they were provided by Lenovo after the contract was agreed (order placed and taken) and thus not agreed to by both parties.

He offered that at best they can give my 10% off (great anyone can find that coupon online) or a couple of hundred dollars off.

Sorry but that won't do. At no point did they dispute the facts as I stated them, nor did they dispute that all the fault lay with them and that i had done anything wrong.

So to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. This is extremely cheap on Lenovo's behalf - basically although they f**ked up they are not willing to sell me an equivalent system at cost (which is what the outlet items were) and forego their profit margin on that system.

The gentleman from Lenovo told me my BBB complaint would just end up on his desk. So that would be pointless.

I have thus completed and sent off complaints to the NC and CA Attorney-Generals' offices.

I am also considering filing a suit in the CA Smalls Claims Court - would need to serve the Lenovo agents here in CA.

I would welcome any hints as to who to contact in the media with the story. Also I would like to post this in as many online forums and sites as possible, as clearly Lenovo does not consider their brand/reputation as very important.

So now I guess I have no computer (and need one). Even if this ends up going my way, by the time it does will be too late for a computer for me. So what do I do?

• Get a Dell 1520 with similar specs for around $1000 - problem is I love the TouchPoint and have this history with Thinkpads and think they are good machines.
• Get a Thinkpad with similar specs - although I really love the Touchpoint and hate the TouchPads, it really irks me on principle to now still give money to Lenovo after this

 

Regardless of what he says, you should still file the BBB complaint even if it does land on his desk. The complaint will be on file with the BBB and just maybe it will create more work for this buffoon since he has to respond to the BBB to try and clear the complaint.

 

Yep good idea - will do that this morning.

 

My T61p shipped yesterday! 11/8/07. I had an ESD for 11/30/07.

I even ordered the DVD burner that said 3-4 weeks delay. Looks like there was no delay because it took them 1.5 weeks to ship.

When I track my package it says "express" but I picked "ground" I dont if it is really express though.

 

Sorry to hear it alect, good luck with your case. I'd suggest ordering perhaps from another vendor, not directly from Lenovo.

 

I also ordered ground and it said express. It only took 2 days to get from China to California.

 

Me too got the conformation today, it says it shipped yesterday to, which was my birthday !!!! I contacted Bonnie a day or two prior, and I got an automated response. Im not sure if she may have anything to do with it otherwise, did you contact her?

Alect, good luck with your case man, I hope everything work out for you

 

To the OP,

Sorry to hear about your story. Although my (now) 2.5 month old T61p arrived w/o any incident, WAY faster than expected, and I'm so far satisfied... I really have to wonder about the competence of Lenovo's sales, marketing and order fulfillment.

See my post about their reseller locator at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2279103&highlight=intuit#post2279103. They still had the same stupid wrong info up as of earlier this week.

To top it off, my dad, myself and a friend of mine (she wanted a 889L3A2188) wasted a whole bunch of time this past Sunday looking thru seemingly great deals at http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...ngPage=/All/US/Portals/Lenovo_Outlet/T-Series (list has FINALLY been updated now). For some dumb reason, you can only call to order and they were closed. So, we did our research, called first thing the next morning and were told that they were ALL sold out since Wednesday! Why the hell do they leave items up when they're gone? Why isn't the list dynamically updated based on inventory? Why doesn't the list have any indication of when it was last updated?

I called them myself to test and of course, they were sold out. I gave the operator the above feedback and he hardly cared. I sent feedback to their website as well. Yet, a WEEK after they sold out, they STILL had the old list up!

Talk about a bunch of apathetic morons! Sometime between 11/8/07 2:10 AM Pacific and now did they decide to finally take down the old outdated list.

It guess they don't care about their (lack of) retail presence and sales of single units/low quantities to consumers.

 

Great........! I was going to order straight from Lenovo's website.... I think I will give that a miss. There is a local supplier here that have them in their warehouse, with a 3 day delivery to their shop. I might just do that.

You guys should consider tracking down a shop/retail store the stock IBM's. May be easier to drive say an hour, rather than waiting a month!

 

Just order through Lenovo. Check out my sig. My T61p had an ESD of 11/30. I even picked the 3-4 week delay dvd rom drive. I'm getting my t61p on Monday! Less than 2 weeks to ship.

 

Mine took almost exactly a month, including a delay in customs. I was almost driven insane by the UPS tracker.

 

In my previous career, I worked at a now-absorbed computer company, and they functioned the same way.

You may wonder why the lack of concern. I was told "We sell NEW computers. That is where our profits are made. We only sell used machines to cut our losses on returns."

You are right. They don't care. I would be surprised if any computer company puts much emphasis on the disposal of used machines. If they do, they are eating into their TRUE business, which is selling new machines.

 

The outlet notebooks are not used nor refurbished. They are configured for customers who then either cancelled or did not take delivery for some other reason. If Lenovo doesn't sell them they lose money. If they don't want to sell them, they shouldn't put them up for sale. I wasn't asking for much (in my case) - they put it up for sale, i ordered it, they confirmed my order, and then they decided they wouldn't ship it. That's not "putting emphasis" - that's basic sales channel processes. If they can't do that i don't trust them to do anything else either.

 

The funniest thing i found about talking to their support is that they have to give them fake names, we all know darn well this is all outsourced to india, yet i remember speaking to scott, evan, and nina. They were friendly but they need to be more informed as to what is actually happening in the building and shipping department.

 

I don't want to quibble about the exact state of the computers. The point is that these machines are no longer wanted by the customers for which they were originally intended.

Perhaps to avoid compromising their reputation, Lenovo should sell these units en masse to a third party, who would then dispose of them as needed.

 

I ordered my non-outlet T61p direct from Lenovo's site. I was VERY satisfied with how quickly it came. I ordered around 8/24/07 and it arrived the morning of 8/28/07! IIRC, this was WAY ahead of the estimated delivery date. Even though it was supposed to come "UPS ground", the UPS shipment originated in Hong Kong and definitely went by air.

Regarding your second point, LOL! That's easier said than done. When I was in the market for a T61/T61p, it was impossible to find ANY retailer which had them on display or carried them. I don't live in the boonies either as I live and work in Silicon Valley. See my thread and posts at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=148141 and http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2364137&postcount=22.

Some of them said that they could order them but that'd be pointless as I wouldn't get the benefit of Lenovo coupons and discounts.

 

Thats fair enough, it was only a suggestion. I am not sure what IBM is like on the international side of things, but over here in Australia you pretty much got an IBM retailer in every capital city.

I would like to reccommend one store in particular, Leading Edge Comptuers. Their service is fantastic. They have a base model of the current computers out on the market on display so you can see the design, quality etc, then have a list of all the models that come with it, with the extra's. They are friendly and helpful, not pushy, and their prices are cheaper than the ones on the Lenovo site.

I guess it would be good to have this everywhere, especially with IBM's because they are such highly wanted.

 

finally!!! im typing on it rite now.
taking about one month to wait. but i should say it's worth to wait.

 

Also note, when you were (speaking to the person who was) looking at the outdated and already sold list of outlet machines, the list was outdated because the machines had already been sold and thus they have already made their money back.. Thats where they stop caring. They gain/lost nothing by keeping a list of already sold machines up on their website. When they get enough gathered together and inventoried that they can set up a new list, they'll do just that, and that new list will sell out just as fast.

 

They lose something. They end up having to have enough staff on hand to answer the phone due to people seeing the list and calling to order. If the call volumes were lower, they don't need as many people on hand.

They also end up with a set of pissed off potential customers who've wasted a bunch of time doing research. A percentage of these will not buy Lenovo because of the sour taste left in their mouth.

 

No instead they'll have to set up some sort of dynamic database and hire someone to take care of it. $$$ I imagine they are probably saving money doing it this way. Since the list seems neglected and is left up even after the machines are gone, its apparent that not a whole lot of recourses is sunk into selling outlet machines.

The rest of that percentage, they'll just go ahead and buy a brand new machine. Re-seller or not.

 

So an update - I got a call from the Corp resolutions people last night - but wasn't home and my wife took a message that they would call back this morning. This morning I get a call from a sales agent, telling me he is calling on behalf of the resolutions team regarding my issue. He tells me that they are going to be getting a new list of Outlet thinkpads some time this week, and before it is posted on the site they will be calling me and giving me first bids at picking one out - was I still interested? I said yes. he told me it would be before the end of the week (a note to others waiting for more outlet laptops)!

So I think that's a fair resolution IF I am able to find another unit which is either the same or very close to the one I ordered and what I need. Ofcourse there is not guarantee. In a way Lenovo has redeemed themselves, although I don't see why it took me filing a BBB complaint and a NC AG and CA AG complaint.

My only problem now is that I had given up on them (and also was angry) and went ahead and ordered a Dell Inspiron 1520 with slightly better config for basically the same price ($60 more). It's in production right now. I guess I wait till Lenovo calls me and see if there is anything I like. If there is I will have to make a decision and cancel my Dell order before it is shipped?

It's funny now I had my heart all set on the 1520 with WSXGA+ screen, mVIDIA video card, in-home warranty and a $200 gift card from dell which would come in very handy

 

My T61P arrived 11/12 from a 10/8 order. With the DVD recorder it shipped within the estimated time.

My earlier posts I was going crazy as they had an estimated ship date of Jan 8, 08 listed on their order status page. They are costing themselves way too much money in telephone time as they aren't servicing customers. They need to get an experienced manager there who knows how to direct their call center.

 

My Last order from Lenovo.com

Thinkpad R61
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz 800MHz 2MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
14.1 WXGA TFT
Intel GMA X3100 GM965 w/ 1394
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
120GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Enhanced
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Microsoft Office Professional 2007 - English
ThinkPad 90W AC/DC Combo Adapter (US/Can/LA)

Ordered: 11/17/07
Estimate: 12/06/07
Shipped: 11/22/07

 

i just ordered a T61 widescreen today. With all the shipping horror stories ive heard so far tho, im getting a little nervous about my purchase. Since I just ordered a few hours ago, no estimated ship date has even been posted. I assumed, it would take maybe a week to build and then another week or so to ship. Is it unreasonable to expect that I will receive it before christmas?

 

lenovo ship times is not always accurate.. if you're lucky like me you're order will be home in 1-2 weeks.. however expect delays during holidays such as thanksgiving and christmas

 

I ordered a configured T60 for my girlfriend last Wednesday. It's on the plane to L.A. as I type.

I'm amazed!!

 

I checked the status of my t61 that i ordered last monday, and it says it's in transit! Am i getting my hopes up or is it safe to assume it will come in a few days?