Waiting on your laptop? Memory backorder?

I got the story that the 1 gb stick was holding up my shipping, so I broke the ram out and had it sent seperate,

Computer still took nearly 4 weeks, but the ram showed up in 5 days.

I ordered in early october

 

My 11/16 order also says the 19th, but the sales rep says it should ship towards the end of this week. Too bad I need it by Friday.

 

Ordered 11/14 estimated ship date 12/8

Here is the reply I received:

 

I still say they have no idea. I ordered mine on 11/9 and my ship date is SUPPOSED to be tomorrow. We'll see what happens. It is frutrating, especially when you see other manufacturers not having these same issues.

And yes, mine had the 1G chip -- I asked if they could ship memory separately, and the answer was no.

 

***********UPDATE*****************

Just talk to someone named Jonathan at lenovo. I think his title was Midwest Supervisor or something of that sort. He is definately higher up then anyone working at the call center. The news is not good. We were on a three way call with a supplier supervisor and he informed us that they are completely 100% out of RAM. The shipment of RAM will not arrive until Tuesday of next week at the earliest so if your waiting prepare to keep waiting.

 

Now that's some bad news.

Edited to add: It's too bad my high-level IBM contact retired (and that IBM sold the PC division!), otherwise I'd have him light a fire. They certainly deserve it if they've run out of one of the components that every machine they build requires. Running out of a given size hard drive a particular CPU speed, or even a particular size and type of LCD, that's excusable, running yourself completely dry of all memory, however, is not.

 

I wanna speak Chinese to their CEO..Chair

 

How odd. I ordered my T60 on 11/30 and now 5 days later (12/4) it says it has shipped. They must be out of some specific parts and have an abundance of others, because yesterday my estimated ship date was 12/22.

 

40Y7737 and 40Y7738 are the two memory parts im definate about being delayed to early next week.

 

did you build yours from scratch?

 

OMG!!!

I really need this before 12/21 I am leaving the country for 3 weeks!!! I am going to HK maybe I can stop by and ***** them out at the factory! (hehe) I'll probably get beat down...

But seriously, I ordered 11/14, it's about time they ship this... Man I always order Dell desktops and they ship in 5 days max. I mean Lenovo just took over IBM all you gotta do is run it the same or try to make it better, NOT make it worse...

 

My Z61t ordered 11/1 and still not here ...

 

My memory part number is 40Y7742 ... So, is there hope for me?

Maybe they can call Crucial and have them send a batch over ...

 

Mine too. Oh Please Oh Please!!!! Ship my Lenovo!

 

I am waitting also.. my 2G memory is on backorder.
shoooot, they should get more from Kinstone , whoever make it.

 

Lucky me, my estimated ship date has just been changed to 1/5/2007!

So, if it holds to that date, it'll have been two months almost to the day.

That is an amazingly awesomely fast turnaround time!

Guess I am calling AGAIN. If it weren't such a hassle to order PC's at work, I think I'd cancel and start the process over. In fact, I still may.

 

What size are those memory modules? I got my w/ a 1 gB stick, and it's model number is 40Y7742. Maybe it has to do w/ which site you order through...education, government, etc.

I wonder if there are differences between custom configs and the "ship today" ones where you add an upgrade?

 

40Y7737 LENOVO THINKPAD MEMORY - 512 MB - SO DIMM 200-PIN - DDR II
40Y7738 LENOVO THINKPAD MEMORY - 1 GB - SO DIMM 200-PIN - DDR II

My name is "lucky."

 

All I can tell you guys is that according to the supplier I am really high on the list as one of the first people to be shipped out. I was told by the supervisor that WORST CASE is that my order ships on December 18th. So if your waiting I would assume that you should be looking around that date, If you ordered on or before 11/20. I did order from the educational department so that might make the difference.

THis is the time line I was given:

December 11 or 12 the memory should arrive to their supplier. Once it arrives it will be around 3 days to configure and TEST the product. The supervisor told me twelve times that the product needed to be tested, which i concurred by saying "yep hope that means no dead pixels." That would put my ship date by the 18th. According to him and the supplier theres no point to call them until the 11th at the earliest to see if the shipment arrives. The reason why I believed that ALL memory was on backorder is because he told me this without first checking my part number. Once he checked my part number he said its definately on backorder. The supervisor did guarantee me that the shipment of memory will be here Monday or Tuesday of next week. I have his number and will be calling him back next week and of course updating anything else I find on here.

 

Pleasant surprise this morning!

My order date was 11/14 and estimated ship date was 12/8

 

Congrats Iat you probably were part of last weeks shipment when it arrived. Sucks to be any of us that ordered after the 19th.

 

They went and cancelled one of the computers I ordered b/c of some mixup between different reps. Now I had to re-order completely, and I'm back to the bottom of the list!!

I was told that getting it before Christmas is still a possibility...we'll see. Fingers crossed.

 

Late yesterday I called and got a rep who seemed to honestly care and he cc'd me on a message to someone from order fullfillment (or something like that ) yesterday. Never heard back. So, I called this morning and got told it'd ship in 2-3 days. Called again at the end of the day just to see if I'd get the same story and was told it looked like 12/26. The latest rep attributed the delay to the RAM and the shell. I guess they just spin the wheel of poor customer service and tell you whatever you want. I asked for a price adjustment or some other compensation and was told he could only file a formal complaint on my behalf and that a supervisor would contact me by phone/e-mail. By the time this **** thing comes, they may as well pre-load Vista since it'll be launched by then.

Can't wait to see what this supervisor has to say. I get the feeling they're all just running interference until they get their act together and all the backorders worked out. At which point they assume everyone will be so enamored with their machines that people will forget the problems they had getting them. And the sad thing is that's pretty much what will most likey happen. Argh.

 

That's absolutely true at least with my friend. She waited for 1 1/2 month for her thinkpad t43 two years ago (through a corporate sales rep)... I remember she was plenty mad at the time, that's why the sales rep gave her an additional battery for free. I asked her now about her experience, and she was a lot less negative about it... more like "oh.. I don't really remember how long I waited. It was okay."

kinda funny actually, just not to the people who are still waiting.

 

So after my long wait for a laptop, can I ***** at them a lot and get free stuff?
I want a free: internal wireless n card, a 6 cell battery, or a dock

 

Here's to hoping coz007 is just being told a bunch of crap to get him to stop calling.

(I don't think that's likely, but my rep did say my laptop should ship tomorrow or the next day, but that was on 11/30, obviously I'd rather my sales rep be correct )

 

They are definately sick of me calling....

So today I sent emails.

 

i am missing ppl on ebay.
hehe .

 

Uncool.
My ship date still says 12/6, so I expect in the morning it will have been pushed out.
What to say when I call? If the system had truthfully told me the ship date would be between 12/20 and 1/6, would I still have ordered? I don't know. That Sony sure is more expensive. And the Dell was just too ugly. Was so happy when I figured out I should obviously order the Lenovo.
Stuff happens, but the substandard customer service in providing information is really frustrating.

 

i called again, nothing new. supposedly my ship date is the 19th, im guessing that will be a big day for everyone (probably more like a week since so many orders are backed up)

 

these ppl answering our calls are pissed.
they must get this kind of calls thousand times.
So I decide to call them on weekend because on last friday I called them 3 times, and one time on Monday.

 

So, what kind of response are you getting from them when you call? Any differences? Are they being a bit hostile now toward you? When I've called, they've been nothing but professional, though completely unhelpful.

 

no, not helpful
"From my system, I can not see why your machine is dealy."
"your machine is waitting for memory"
"I am sorry, I dont know.please check back 5 days later"
well. I have no comment on them.

 

Ordered 2613-HJU (c2d 2ghz, 512mb, 60gb, sxga, x1300) on Nov 17. Shipped Dec 3, received Dec5. Original estimated ship date was Dec20

 

Well the supervisor pretty much told me that there is no reason to call back until next week Monday or Tuesday. So next week Tuesday I will be calling back the supervisor to make sure that the RAM is in. I should have some how got the number to the supplier since he knows more then anyone about when our laptops will be shipping. Its a lost cause until next week guys.

 

Here's my summary of the situation: It appears the issue is that there's truly nothing they can do...i.e. the shells and the RAM just aren't in stock. The T's seem to moving a bit better, but the Z's are still way behind schedule. It sucks, yes, but that's the way it is and no matter how much we all protest the parts won't magically appear. The reps we talk to have their hands tied and seem to really not have any accurate information at their disposal, and the order status website isn't even worth the effort. From a business perspective, they need to seriously make some MAJOR changes in their supply chain or their sales will continue to suffer (since Lenovo's profits have been way down the last two quarters already). If they lose cancelled ordered from this episode, it's their own doing. If people can't wait for their machines I think cancelling is the best way to show your frustration, and the only true way they'll hear your comments.

The main problem is the lack of information they're giving out and their apparent annoyance at the frequency of customer inquiries. This is NOT okay and downright insulting. So far it looks like the only "compensation" they're offereing people is upgraded shipping (although even regular shipping appears to be pretty speedy) and the promise to move an order to the front of the line (which I honestly think is nonsense since by next week they'll have moved all of us to the front of the line).

I filed a "formal complaint" with a rep yesterday after being told that was the only thing the rep could do for me in response to my complaints. I was told I'd be contacted by a supervisor by phone or e-mail within 24-48 hours. Who knows where that will lead.

 

I agree dave not only does the lack of supplies worry me, as does my place in line. If everyone gets moved up to the front how does this affect everyone's shipping date? Or is no one really getting moved around?


All I can say is that my LEAST two favorite words in the english dictionary EVER are:

IN PROCESS.

 

Who knows...I highly doubt they're playing musical notebooks everytime someone calls. I'd hope that at the least, once the overdue components come in, they'd clear out all the old orders before working on any new ones. How they prioritize those old orders is beyond me.

Despite what the Dell TV commercials show, I doubt there's a fancy assembly line somewhere staffed with workers all just standing around with nothing to do but wait to add the shells and RAM to our systems.

 

well all these orders are batched so the assembly line is always humming along.

 

To address the "front of the line" -- that is standard CS speak for "please get off the phone." You'll here variations of it in all industries, unfortunately. No one is getting moved around, because they'll just annoy even more customers than originally would be annoyed.

IN fact, I have pointedly asked if it was possible to get an order moved up, and the CS Manager said "No. They're built in the order they're received."

So, if you're fed that line again, call them on it. I did.

Luckily for Lenovo, I really want the Z61M -- and can live with the Dell 6400 I am using in the meantime.

 

I thought about this. Let's assume 50% customers ordered 3+ weeks ago (group A). 50% customers ordered less than 3 weeks ago (group B). Let's assume no new customers for simplicity's sake.

Assuming supplies are limited, coming in batch on a weekly basis and every batch can fulfil 50% of the orders at any one time. Consider two fulfiling priorities and their effect on customer satisfaction:

1. FIFO (First order In, First Out)
Group A gets fulfiled. But they've already waited for 3+ weeks, so they are already unhappy and are just glad it's not even longer. 100% Group A unhappy.
Group B needs to wait for another week. They may or may not be unhappy in week's time. Let's say 50% group B will be unhappy.

--> So the total is 100% * 50% + 50%*50% = 75% of total customers unhappy.

2. FILO (First order In, Last Out)
Group A gets further delayed. But they've already waited for 3+ weeks, so they are already unhappy. 100% Group A unhappy.
Group B gets fulfiled within a short time. Everyone's happy (ie no one is unhappy.)

--> So the total is 100% * 50% + 0%*50% = 50% of total customers unhappy.

-----------------
Lenovo's prioritization logistics is probably somewhere in the middle of the two. And I think this is why some people who ordered it later (non-preconfigured) got it sooner than others.

I also checked the retail prices for UPS global shipping. "express" is like $20 more than "expedited." (Funny thing is, in order to ship oversea, you need to put it on a plane, so essentially no one will have to wait for more than 48 hours, period.) I am assuming the volume can cover the loss in extra shipping, plus it keeps the customer just a little bit happier.

 

Great Theory, but doesn't make much sense, because you're assuming that they had the supplies to build group A and group B. If group A becomes too unhappy, they cancel and lose money. It's safer for them to stick with the original order date on B.

However, those that have received their laptops have almost ALL been something other than Z series. I'm starting to believe it may be the shells that are the hold up.

 

Mine shipped on 12/06.

 

only some of group A will likely to cancel. And in those cases, you can compensate them on a case by case basis. Very much like when the airline overbooks seats, they gives free tickets to people who volunteer to give up their seats. The amount of money lost on those compensations can most likely recovered through the increased volumes of order.

Corporate bulk purchases are most likely to be preconfigured models. So they would not be included in this analysis.

Of course, this a "short-term" analysis. Lenovo's has been building a bad reputation with regards to their order fulfilment to the point that I've seen numerious reviews that will take it into consideration A PRIORI of purchase. And it's difficult to gauge what the long-term effect this has on sales.
[/quote]

that may very well be true.

 

as expected, my 12/06 ship date became 01/08 overnight. glad I knew about the system adding 1 mo or I would be just freaking now. wish I had not tossed the info for other notebooks so I could reevaluate. my sharp mm10 quit booting and I'm reduced to this nokia 770. which is cool but not a real notebook.

it sounds like t60 people can get off this thread now

--
Sent from my Nokia 770 wireless internet tablet

 

Congrats RONAN I know you've been waiting forever. I still think that most of us are looking to late next week and the week after for ship dates. But who knows this could all work out in the end. I wish I could cancel but I got A REALLY REALLY REALLY good deal that I just cant pass up. Ive spoken to lots of reps and they all say its the cheapest price they've seen.

T60
Core 2 duo 7200
14.1 SXGA+
80G hardrive
x1400 ATI
a/b/g/n Atheros card
1.5 G memory
CD-RW/DVD drive
fingerscanner

$1115

 

Wow! That's a great price, even better than EPP.

 

the shipping saga continues...


PAMPANGA, PH 12/06/2006 5:47 A.M. OVERFLOW VOLUME CAUSED THIS DELIVERY DELAY
KOWLOON BAY, HK 12/05/2006 10:00 P.M. PICKUP SCAN
HK 12/05/2006 5:47 A.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Type: Package
Status: Exception
See description below
Rescheduled Delivery: 12/11/2006
Shipped to: VIENNA, VA, US
Shipped or Billed on: 12/05/2006
Service Type: EXPEDITED
Weight: 4.50 Kgs

It is nice that they made it expedited although I got the free ground shipping.

 

I know it is. Thats why I cant just get up and leave because Im getting this laptop for cheaper then a comparable one at circuit city or best buy. The point though is that no matter how cheap it is the customer service should never falter and for many of us on these boards it has.

 

Yea That may be a UPS problem and not a Lenovo problem. Either way more disasterous results. The funny thing is that my lenovo rep tells me that it was much much worse last year.