X1 Carbon Shipping Thread

Per "Mark" from Lenovo (on Lenovo's Forums)

If you paid via credit card, when you process the order (submit it) there is a charge hold placed on the card to verify it, but it is not the actually charge. The charge hold will drop off after a couple of days.

We don't actually bill your CC until the order ships.

If you paid by debit card or money order, I believe those are processed up front..

Mark​

X Series Laptops Shipping discussion (2012) - Page 6 - Lenovo Community

 

Ok, I rechecked my account and the charge did drop off. Thanks for the information.

 

I canceled my order this morning because of all the stories and also its been a day since my estimated shipping. I found another site that sells the x1c, it's excaliberpc.com - they only have the high end one available with 256gb ssd/ i7 processor/ 4gb memory for $1850. apperently it comes with 3 year depot warranty which I'm a little iffy about since lenovo didn't offer that. anyways, I ordered it this mornining with 2 day shipping and I already got a tracking number. hope this helps anyone who still wants the ultrabook , but canceled due to shipping delays.

 

I just got my order expected ship date changed to 8/30 (it was 8/26) and delivery 9/9. September 9th is a SUNDAY!!!!!! Unless Yang Yuanqing is delivering it himself I bet it doesnt come.

Delivery is supposed to be 5 days.

 

Question to "ieatlint", Could you please tell me what Lenovo telephone number you are calling. It sounds like you are at least getting some straight answers.

 

Now I understand!:thumbsup:

 

Im thinking about buying a mac book air....Never owned a mac before so Im a bit nervous, I may give lenovo another day or two before I jump off that cliff. Im not sure how I feel about not having a track point, but Im also not sure I can wait any longer on lenovo. I also feel like I need to prove a point by canceling my order.

If the computer ships before I decide to cancel, I think this will be my last lenovo. Im completely disgusted with lenovo. I hope this thread makes its way onto the desk of some upper manager somewhere, so they can see how many people canceled their orders and how may lenovo loyalist they upset and potentially lost.

Unbelievable!!! Of all the botched launches I have seen this could be one of the worst. Not one computer has left production in 14 days!!!!!

 

1st World Problems... people are acting like a family member died. Relaaaax. If you want to see a botched launch check out Apple's Retina display MacBook launch...

 

Tmperez your post states how I feel completely! right down to the MBA.

 

Ha I think I have a post for another forum (1st world problems)

I dont know about you, but when I spend 1200 dollars on something and told my purchase will be ready to ship and its not over and over again, I have the right to voice my displeasure. Even more upsetting is being fed wrong information. If I handed a car salesmen cash for a car and told it would be ready on Monday, then its wasnt and than told Wed, and it wasnt I would be mad (like I am now)

 

Thanks, good to know there is someone else.

 

What was botched about it? I ordered on Monday, I received on Friday. The second order, due to high demand had a 30 day lead time. I received it in 32 days primarily because it shipped on a Thursday. But the expectations were set properly.

tmperez, or anyone else for that matter, can contact me via private message if you have questions on using a Mac. The Mac forums here aren't very friendly towards folks that want to run Windows via a VM or bootcamp. And obviously this thread and forum isn't a good place for the discussion.

If someone starts a thread somewhere neutral, let me know and I'll jump in. At this point I have pretty extensive experience running last years 13.3" MacBook Air, this years MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM, and the Retina MacBook Pro.

 

I may take you up on this. Need to get my head around switching, and get home from this business trip. Thanks.

 

^^ This guy gets it. 99% of us who ordered them aren't cancelling. This machine is gonna be fantastic... we're just upset because we want them in our hands already. Expectations weren't set properly for shipping, but as someone who's waited years for an adequate thinkpad upgrade... I'm not sweating another week... or two. There is nothing else out there I would want.

 

zackiv31- I don't think you can speak to what 99% of the buyers are going to do. Everyone here feels like the machine is going to be fantastic and yes we want to get our hands on it, that's why we are trying to get it. What some of us (1%) are not ok with is being lied to and strung along like this! This is not a good business practice and it is very frustrating.

 

@billj32
I've been calling (866) 426-0179, which always drops me to a real person and not a phone tree. That said, in the two times I've called, the guy that answers seems to immediately transfer me to someone else when he asks what I'm calling about.
The first time I called, I got no useful knowledge. My list of people I talked to today was, in order of who they transferred me to:
1. Guy that answers and redirects me
2. A customer service rep that tells me he has no updated shipping info
3. A credit card service center rep that told me it was my banks fault, and I should take the issue up with them. He was "Jose", who would give me no more identifying info and then insisted I could do nothing more today. Eventually, he suggested sales might be able to help..
4. Sales rep, who listened to me briefly, and told me again it was my bank's fault and gave me the infuriating gem "Shipping dates aren't guaranteed" as an explanation for the dates being missed. He then said he could arrange for a manager to call me back, which I said great. He put me on hold, and then a manager who had already been informed of the situation answered..
5. The manager, whose name I won't specify since he was awesome and I don't want to incur random people asking for him. He was very helpful, promised to get back to me tomorrow morning about the credit card issue, and later in the day about the shipping date (sometime after this meeting).
He actually had customer service skills -- ie, was decent, and actually seemed to realize that holding $4k of someone's account was not just a minor issue. Assuming he follows through to the best of his ability, I'll follow up with a letter commending him, because he'll have single-handedly saved the sale.


For everyone else thinking about a MacBook air.. they're great. I'm typing on a 2010 model right now. Hardware-wise, they're absolutely fantastic, and are in fact the real inspiration I wanted the X1C. My complaints have been:
- Keyboard layout isn't really to my liking
- I never got to liking OSX much.. I'm a Linux guy, and just didn't want to deal with getting Linux working right on this hardware (I also previously needed Xcode for work, which was the original motivation for the purchase)
- 4GB of RAM was just too little (current MBA model offers up to 8GB)
- If you close the screen, the computer goes to sleep; no way to stop this (the keyboard is the fan exhaust, so it'd overheat)

But man, the form factor and build quality are great, and the magsafe power connector is just undeniably fantastic. I'm still anxiously looking to switch though.. and have been waiting for a competitive Thinkpad for a full year now..

 

Well you get what you think you're paying for. I don't expect an online CSR or even a phone one to understand the complexities of components and suppoy for the largest thinkpad launch in recent history. We're the first adopters and will have to go through a little pain. Whatever issue is happening is temporary, we just so happened to be right at the beginning of it. A month from now, you'll be able to order any config you want and get it to your door in 5 days.

If you're capable, just wait. If there are other things that interest you, go check them out. Don't be upset for the lowly tech support CSR who really doesn't have any more info on a screen than what you and I are seeing. They can't give any better answers then what the screen is telling them. Sure, haggle your discounts, but be assured your machine is coming.

 

Wow, in years gone by, calling Lenovo to cancel meant that your order would ship later that day, almost without fail!
In other words, rather than lose your money, the next unit on the line would go to you.

Apparently they just can not get it together with this launch, and they don't have any production line going for this machine at all.

That would be the only explanation.

 

I also agree with this post. People need to take a breather, calm down a little. Things will be all right eventually.

Also, for those that are thinking of jumping ship (especially coming from Thinkpads), I am actually moving back to PCs since using Macs since 2008. the grass is always greener and all that but in my view, the apple ecosystem continues to become more and more restrictive with each iteration of OS X (yes, they have even dropped the "Mac" name from the operating system name). It appears that the directive over there is to develop an operating system for an appliance rather than a programmable device. I also was disgusted when they changed their keyboards from their very good original Macbook Pro ones to the "chiclet" style keyboards they now use. I own an original X1 (not the Carbon version) and this X1 keyboard is miles better than the current Mac keyboards. I am very happy to have moved back to the PC world where I am free to run Linux/Windows and are able to do whatever I want to my programmable Thinkpad computers (X220, X1, T410). However, I understand we all have different needs and if you feel that product suits you best then go right ahead, just know that the world of Apple is not all roses either.

That is all I am going to say about that because this is now offtopic (though there are certainly many more reasons why I am leaving the Mac platform).

I am (just like everyone here) eagerly awaiting the X1 Carbon. Lenovo (and IBM before it) has never let me down in the end. They make awesome products (the Thinkpad line) that are focused on usuability and quality. There is nothing else out there I would want other than a Thinkpad now or the foreseeable future.

 

Completely agree with this post!

 

Just got an updated shipping estimate... 8/30 now. Still shows "In Production" as the status.
I don't believe it.. there seems to be a very specific pattern here. Two days after a shipping date is missed, the system seems to just set a new date two days out.

My first shipping date was 8/22. On 8/24, they changed it to 8/26 -- a Sunday, which made no sense. Now, 8/28, the system says 8/30. At this rate, on 9/1, I'll get a ship date of 9/3...

 

I wish... went from 8/26 to 9/25... On Monday (8/27) Still no change since.

 

omarcastz, well put, I completely agree. and heck, since we're all sitting around here complaining about shipping issues we might as well go off topic for a bit.

I've had the Air since 2008 and have most recently been using the 2011 Air. Earlier this year I started using a Windows 7 dual monitor desktop for work on my PhD and decided that I could be perfectly happy, and actually better off, in a completely Mac free world. the Air has been great, and like everyone says it is a very well made machine. but I also don't like the direction Apple is taking with their computer OS, walled garden approach, and higher prices. also, long-form typing on the Air sucks, IMO, to the point where I don't like to work on my thesis on my Air.

Given that I'm working on the PhD and doing a lot of typing the Lenovo keyboard was the #1 thing that originally attracted me to the X1C. I purchased a mechanical keyboard for my desktop and have been in typing heaven with it ever since.

However, I'm a little concerned that that the X1C keyboard won't be as good as the normally great Lenovo keyboards, let alone the original X1, given early reports from Laptop Mag and others that paid particular attention to the subtle differences in the travel of the X1C's keyboard. However, I decided that a not-as-great X1C keyboard would probably still be so much better than the Air's, and good enough, that I went for it.

But given the delays I think I'm going to need to cancel my order for now as I was timing my order with a friend traveling from the U.S. to Europe, and it looks like we're going to miss that window. Pity.

 

You pretty much nailed it on the head, at least for me. I started using Macs in '86, and went back and forth between them for a while in the 90s, but had OS X machines from about 2001 on. The litigation, control of the OS, and direction of the OS to a restricted environment is starting to grate on me. Obviously, I'm okay spending the money, I put money down on an X1 Carbon. No Apple machine beats the ThinkPad keyboard and trackpoint, and that's why I'm still waiting on this machine.

I've seen Apple botch a few launches over time, especially with laptops. I've spent weeks waiting for PowerBooks and MacBook Pros before, so a little delay isn't going to bug me. The lack of communication sure does, though, and I'm hoping they figure it out soon.

 

I agree with your every single word.
Thinkpad builds their brand for decades to household words by providing a solid post-sale services & tech support. Their productline are designed & built for business users' requirements seeking reliability & security, not for fashion guys. A true business guy never wears a silver suit.

 

I spoke with customer service rep. It looks like these will ship out today August 29th or after Labor day weekend.

 

Hopefully, Lenovo gets this SNAFU worked out soon but you could see this coming a mile away.

 

Anyone else seeing pending charge on their Credit Cards?

 

I had one pending the night I ordered; it disappeared after a week. I have another one that started yesterday, which is still active. Pretty neat, considering my shipping date has been pushed back to "the first two weeks of September."

 

Seeing some communication today.. This is what I got on twitter from Lenovo Forums: "These should start rolling out faster now, and I believe we expect to clear up the backlog by Mid Sept. "

 

Pre-authorization on credit cards normally expire between 5-7 days. (Pre-auth puts a hold on funds, but does not yet charge the credit card, and is the reason why Available Balance != Credit Limit - Current Charges)

I think Lenovo probably has an automated system to pre-auth a second time after a week, based on the expectation that the first pre-auth has "dropped off".

How does it feel to have my Thinpad X1 Carbon shipping delayed?
Imagine that on Dec. 23rd, you find out that Christmas has been delayed to Jan 3rd. Then on Jan 3rd, you find out Christmas has been postponed till February. Sucks.

 

Then you find out there is no Santa Claus and your parents still give you presents. Life's tough.

 

and all you get is clothes from your parents that promised you a new car! That does stink!

 

As of this morning, the pre-auth charges from 8/14 had not disappeared from my credit card. I had this corrected this morning with the Lenovo Credit Card Department and my credit card company on a conference call.

 

Well, I'm pleased to say that the Lenovo manager did indeed get back to me this morning (10am his time) to inform me that he contacted my credit card issuer and had them remove the first credit hold. He called the double-auth issue an error in their system.

As for an update on shipping, he had no new info this morning. He says he'll get back to me either late today or tomorrow about it, and while continuing to refuse to make any predictions, he was optimistic that it'd all be resolved soon.

I'm going to hope that means a shipment by the end the week.. but that's just hopeful guessing on my part here

 

just got this from the rep

Abhishek Rai: Thank you for your time.
Abhishek Rai: I see that you have placed an order for the X1 machine and I would regret to inform you that these orders has been delayed due to constraint on some parts.
Abhishek Rai: As per the updates, the orders should ship in mid September.
Abhishek Rai: However, the supply team is working to fulfill the order and ship the orders as soon as possible.
Abhishek Rai: I request you to contact in 2-3 business days for better updates.

 

I think I feel more comfortable with the comment posted on lenovo's forum regarding the shipping delay by one of their admin rather than from some of these CSR. Let's just hope they send the units of those who ordered first. First come first serve......actually I do hope all of you get your orders shipped in the next day or so.

FYI:


All,

As an update on X1 Carbon orders - these should be starting to move in the next day or so and I'm told that we expect to clear up the backlog by mid Sept. Apologies for the delays that you have experienced so far.

I hope to have a further update on our progress at the end of this week.

Best regards,

Mark

 

I just chatted with a rep also, took 20mins because he said his "application kept freezing". I ordered 08/18, was supposed to have shipped 08/27, then 08/28, and is still listed as "in process".

He gave me a "firm" ship date of 08/31, and when I asked whether a single X1 Carbon has hit North America yet, he said several of his customers have had theirs shipped out already. Not sure whether he was stringing me along based upon the experience of the bunch here, but I'll wait until Friday to decide whether to cancel or not.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I ordered the i5/8gb/128gb model.

 

Would you mind linking us to your source for this please?

 

Here you go:

X Series Laptops Shipping discussion (2012) - Page 6 - Lenovo Community

 

Wow, after 10 days, Lenovo has finally updated my status on the order information page.

Here's what I have:



For reference, I ordered the i5/8gb/256gb configuration on 8/19.

 

I'm a little jealous and confused. Ordered 8/16, same config +3yr Onsite +3YR Thinkpad Protection and my order status says Esitmated Ship Datae is 9/25.

 

That is strange; how did you order? I used a corporate purchase plan through my employer (CSC), so maybe it's possible corporate-affiliated purchases are taking a higher precedence?

 

My order also shows the estimated ship date as 08/31/2012 with estimated delivery as 09/09/2012

1. Date Ordered: 08/16/2012
2. Configuration: Core i5 CPU/8 GB RAM/ 256 GB SSD + 2 Year On Site warranty
3. Shipped-To Location: Los Angeles, CA.
4. Estimated Ship Date (Original/Updated): Original date was given as 08/23/2012, changed to 08/27/2012 (which did not happen), now updated to 08/31/2012
5. Actual Ship Date: N/A
6. Estimated Arrival Date: I think the original estimated date was 08/31/2012, it was changed to 09/04/2012, it is now updated to 09/09/2012 (which is a sunday, probably won't happen on this day).
7. Actual Arrival Date: N/A

 

you are not alone. same configuration. same purchase date & estimated ship date. Hopefully the waiting is worth it .

 

Posted my info before but let's try this again using omarcastz's format.

1. Date Ordered: 08/14/2012
2. Configuration: Core i5 CPU/8 GB RAM/ 256 GB SSD
3. Shipped-To Location: Orange County, CA
4. Estimated Ship Date (Original/Updated): Original date was given as 08/21/2012, changed to 08/25/2012 (which did not happen), now updated to 08/29/2012
5. Actual Ship Date: N/A
6. Estimated Arrival Date: The original EAD was 08/27/2012, then 08/30/2012. Now it is 09/06/2012.
7. Actual Arrival Date: N/A

So the ship date is today but I have not received any confirmation. The same thing happened with the 08/25 date and it was moved back, so that's what I'm expecting again. My rep said he would get back to me about it after contacting the manufacture dept. but I haven't heard back. They're closing in about an hour so I'm trying to talk to an agent now.

 

Same update here. Ordered 8/14, ship date just changed in the last hour from 8/27 to 8/31, i5/8gb/128gb.

 

My order status was just updated an hour ago to the following:

Order status: In Production
Estimated Ship Date: 2012/08/30
Estimated Delivery Date: 2012/09/09

Lenovo websales also just responded to my email inquiring about my order status, so perhaps this caused the update. The response was well-versed, and apologetic, so I have no issues - all things considered. I just hope it arrives well before the ninth of September. That's forever away!

 

Ordered: August 19
Old Ship Date: August 27
New Ship Date: August 31
Arrival Estimated Date: September 9

I expected it to reach by the 31st so that I have it ready for college and now this. Pissed.

 

Identical config, identical dates and status. Ordered on 8/17.