Toshiba Direct order

Has anyone had many issues with ordering from Toshiba Direct? I activated a quote (their term for placing the order) Monday and have had several delays in even getting the order in the build queue three days later. First, I got an exception when submitting the order on line and was asked to call customer service. I did and they said everything was okay. Then I got a call from my sales rep that helped me with the quote indicating that my credit card number wasn’t associated with the order, so I had to give it to him over the phone. Two days went by and the order was still in the “waiting for credit card verification” status, so I called call only to find out they forgot to release it after I gave them my card. Supposedly it was released late yesterday afternoon but last night I got a voicemail indicating another issue. I called in this morning and they indicated the phone number I gave them was associated with someone else. This verification is to thwart fraud, so I can appreciate that, but it’s just another delay. I never had this happen before with an on line order.

Three days later it’s finally in “order being processed” status, but I’m disappointed that it took this much effort and lost time. Just wondering if this is the norm for them or if there is anything else I should be concerned about. The person this morning indicated to me that it was being reconfigured Monday and would ship soon, but it’s a custom order which has always had the 8-10 day build time disclaimer on it, so I doubt that comment as well.

 

I just found this … a lot of good feedback on ToshibaDirect, but a number of others have had initial delays getting an order processed because of their credit card verification process against a phone number. I commend them on their anti-fraud efforts, but in this day in age where a lot of us no longer have home phones and aren’t going to give out our cell phone numbers makes me question if this is the best approach. I haven’t had this happen with any other online retailer.

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Online_S...reviews/pp_~1/sort_~date/sort_dir_~des#survey

Here’s hoping they get the order back on track, processed and shipped quickly! Toshiba has great products ... I'm just getting a little frustrated trying to get one!

 

I seem to be running into the same issue. Twice the charge was pending on my credit card, but so far the payment has not gone through. This is now more than two weeks since I ordered (X505-850) - no wonder there are no detailed reviews as of yet, since it seems very few people manage to get one?!

Or could there be a problem with limited parts availability?

Furthermore, there is no explanation on their web site explaining what the Order Status Message means (e.g. mine changed 2 days ago to "Order being processed")

If they tell me it takes three weeks (as e.g. Dell may do), fine, at least I know what to expect. I am currently not sure whether I can get this box within a reasonable amount of time - of course the laptop bag and the extended warranty went through, so now I am the owner of an 18.4" laptop bag and have a 3-year warranty on a non-existing laptop (gallows humor)

shall I lough or shall I cry?

 

I was going to wait a few more days until I actually receive my complete order to provide an update, but now that you are asking …

Right now my order looks back on track. As soon as I called Toshiba Direct back and straightened out the credit card and phone number mismatch concern, the two line items in the order immediately went into the “Order being processed” status. An external 320G hard drive that I got free as part of a promotion actually shipped the next day and I received it last night. The laptop itself changed from the “Order being processed” status to “Estimated ship date: 11/05/09” a couple days later.

If it does indeed ship today like it’s indicated since earlier this week, I should receive by mid next week and Toshiba Direct will meet the expectations they laid out (8-10 days to build and then the time to ship, whatever method you choose). If it ships today like they indicated, the actual build days is more like 5-6, so if things hadn’t gotten slowed up from the get go with the credit card issues, they would have been ahead of schedule.

When items actually ship, the status will change to “Shipped – Invoice #nnnnnn” and provide a tracking information hyperlink. In my case with the hard drive, it went to UPS’s site, which is always good at estimating what day it will arrive on your doorstep!

Noting that you’re past their credit card snafus, I would expect that your order will change to show a ship date real soon now! I’ll post a recap of my total experience with Toshiba Direct once I actually get the laptop.

 

I have had nothing but headaches with toshibadirect. I had that same problem with credit card verification. They told me it took 24-48 hours to verify. After over a week and several phone calls (and many excuses)they told me they did not have the laptop in stock. I told them I would not wait and to go ahead and cancel the order. Well that was a lie,they shipped it out the next day and i got an email the day the UPS was to deliver. I gave them another call and the Tech told me to "deal with it". I refused the package called them up and asked for my refund, they told me it would take a week. They actually got the week part right too bad the refund amount was incorrect. I have been since fighting for the remainder of my refund. I dont recommend toshibadirect, BBB & many other websites give low ratings for the customer service, yes their computers are great but not worth the headache I have. IF you want one go thru bestbuy or a local retailer.

PS I got my L505D-S5983 for only $300 locally compared to the $539 they advertise

 

My suspicion about limited supply of the X505-850 (at least in the US) seems to be correct. Here is what I got from a very helpful person at ToshibaDirect:

While I would have loved to get my new machine earlier, at least I know now what to expect, and I believe it is worth the wait (and it looks I will own what at that point is still going to be a rare species!)

Maybe at that time the Toshiba SSDs will be commercially available as well - thinking about replacing the secondary drive with another SSD (256 or 512 GB) ... (I don't care so much for graphics performance, I will use it for software development - speed and screen real estate & readability is what I am looking for)

 

Just thought I’d give an update on my Toshiba Direct order experience …

My custom laptop never shipped on 11/05 like was noted on the site. When that date passed with no tracking number, I called them and it took until this past Monday (11/19) to discover that it was delayed because of parts until 11/12 (the new ship date). The site never changed to the new date until five days past the original date passed. I wasn’t notified of the delay except by making several phone calls.

I just found out that it shipped 11/11 and I have the FedEx tracking number. Unless there is a problem with the shipping or hardware, I should have it on 11/17.

Because I had two delays and neither was communicated to me until I took the initiatives to probe, I asked for overnight shipping. They couldn’t honor that. Apparently custom laptops are built and shipped directly from Shangha China (the FedEx track confirms this) and they said getting the shipping method changed would be impossible. Probably not impossible, but I didn’t push it.

I did get one e-mail shipping confirmation back from Toshiba Direct after asking four different times, but all other communications on the status of the order I had to initiate. The order status on the site still shows 11/12 for the ship date, even though it shipped yesterday.

All in all, the order only took about a week longer to ship than what was advertised. If they were more proactive in keeping me informed on the two issues and delays, I would have been happier. My advice for anyone ordering from Toshiba Direct is to just keep close tabs on your order to keep things moving.

 

Just thought I should give one more update about my Toshiba Direct order ...

My new custom built laptop arrived today (11/13) - four days earlier than the FedEx tracking estimated delivery date noted. What surprised me most was that this came directly from Shanghai China in two days (it was shipped 11/11).

The Toshiba Direct order status still shows the estimated ship date as 11/12. That site never did update to give me the tracking number - I had to call them and request it.

The laptop is in good shape and was built as I requested.

My advice would be to keep an eye on your order and call them for updates if your order status doesn't change or look correct off the web page.

 

I ordered my X305 from Toshibadirect.com last year and had problems with it. I called and got a quote of $1750, it was retailing for $1999 at the time but they added tax which brought the price back to near retail. When I ordered the website said, "usually ships within 1-2 business days". A couple days later it said, "usually ships in 1-2 weeks". A couple weeks later Toshibadirect was telling me it would be 2 more weeks so I cancelled my order and bought from Newegg at $1999, no tax, free shipping. Recieved my Qosmio two days later.