You might only be able to give info/advice to US based customers.. but as you are a multinational company, it simply isn't good enough.

 In a situation where there are global problems, one thing us customers hate more than a problem (even if its one Dell says is unavoidable) is poor information flow..

Customer Service Reps that insist the situation is one way when it clearly isn't

Customer Service Reps contradicting each other

Customer Service Reps taking an unacceptable amount of time to reply to even the simplest query (and if you say they're snowed under with the unusually high demand?  HIRE MORE STAFF.. )

Customers are reasonable people, we don't like being treated as idiots however.  And as CSRs are our only point of contact with the Dell behemoth, its upto the management team to ENSURE THEY ARE PROPERLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH THE SITUATION... its not enough to just continue cutting corners, hoping the current CSR facilities/training/investment is enough.. even the comments posted on this site can tell you that what is in place is inadequate! 

Basically, the problem with the M1330 was an extra-ordinary one, USE EXTRA ORDINARY MEASURES TO RECTIFY IT!)

For me, the story is over.  I feel sorry for the poor Indian woman in Dell CSR who tried to help me but couldn't.. her hands were tied because she simply couldn't give me any info OR offerr any compensation (oh, why is it that US customers are offered "good will" gestures BEFORE their orders shipped, as a means to placate them but "Rest-of-World" get told to wait? Is our business not important enough?)

I've gone Macbook.. I'll run Parallels and BootCamp.. so even though I was happy to stay 100% PC, this is a completely viable alternative.  Dell want the M1330 to steal market share from Apple?  Not a chance in hell...

But yeah... you're job's safe mate.. so keep posting your little blog... it doesn't mean a thing.. ;-)
 

how could you guys have problems to produce all laptop "families"???

It is not the case that all products are using top technology... thus it can not be the case that you guys are having problems with suppliers... so, what is going on?

Thank you for FINALLY posting about the inspiron and vostro problems.I ordered Aug 6th and I'm still waiting( not that I'm complaining) for my 2 orders of the 1420 to be coming out of the building stage since the day i ordered ( ESD: 9/5)   People who have had their orders canceled unintentionally can now get their situation straightened out.

Oh! no. I just ordered THEN found these blogs. DOH! This is not good. I hope Dell steps up or I must go elsewhere. All I have is Dell products. I hate to change brands.

The recent delays for Dell are more than just unfavourable. The amount of bad publicity generated could possibly be irreparable. As a go-to-person for anything computer related I have lost confidence in recommending Dell from this experience.

I would not be representing myself honestly if I told them to go with Dell for their next purchase and I have to tell things as it is. That is not to say other competitors have not suffered similar problems, but based from my experience, the way it was handled was far more professional and the compensations for time lost and depreciation of the goods were accounted for fairly.

Lionel, as Digital Media Manager, I’m not sure if you realise the implications but as a graduate in marketing we were taught not to underestimate the power of word of mouth. Last thing you want is potential Dell customers saying to another person: “I’ve just heard from a close friend of mine not to go with Dell because of bad experiences he had” - and this just flows on to the next person.

Dell's back to school sale has doomed from the beginning. Canceled all my 1520 (black) and ordered a HP DV6000t with a 20% off coupon. Eat that DELL!

Yeah

You're all talk and no game. This is a problem that you have known about while you continued to accept orders for these laptops. I kind of wonder too, how much the new Dells at Walmart are clogging the factory lines, preventing loyal Dell customers from receiving their orders on time. Anyway, I've canceled my $1500 order, and I'm proud to say I will never buy a Dell laptop again.

What is most disgusting about the way Dell handled this is the lack of openness and honesty. This was a problem that Dell knew of when I placed my order, but they chose not to give me the slightest hint that there was a back order until the estimated ship date, when they pushed an already 3-week wait off another week, and I suspect it won't stop there. I understand that problems arise in production (although this appears to be a problem that should have been caught in testing), but what makes a company good or bad is the way it handles those problems. Dell has lied, deceived, and ignored its customers, and that is the biggest outrage.

Not to mention the fact that your television commercials are still running for a product you know you can't produce at the moment. The commercials include images of a discontinued white laptop. I think the latter two problems constitute false advertising.

Heads better role in the upper management because the ineptitude and ignorance shown in this fiasco demonstrate a company unable to deal with its customers, and the decision to rush an invisible product in a multi-million dollar ad campaign will ultimately lose money for the company. So Dell, have a good life in the same traps that claimed the IT industry in California. Dude, I'm getting an HP Pavilion!!!!!! 

I understand your explanation concerning the delays/cancellations, but that is NOT the way it has been working for me.  I originally ordered an XPS 720 a couple of weeks ago.  The estimated shipping date was 7 days after the order.  On the 8th day (1 day after the original estimated ship date) the status of my order was changed to cancelled.  This was not due to finances since my credit card had already been charged.  I never received any notification of delay or asked if a delay was OK.

I then started the process over again and re-ordered the system.  The estimated ship date has now passed (My Order Status page still shows past date) and it still shows "in production" and I haven't been contacted about any delay.

Would it be possible to give a more detailed description for the causes of the delays?

I called Dell Customer Service about a week ago regarding the shipment of my Dell XPS m1330 laptop.

 After conveying my situation, informing the rep. that I needed this laptop before September, the rep. then transferred me to the manager.

 The manager told me that Dell will try to ship out many of it's XPS m1330 laptops before Labor Day.
Hopefully, I will be among the lucky ones that will receive the product.

 

I second the motion by Michael above. This update really didn't cover the laptop at all. It didn't cover any computers for that matter.

Elaborate on the shipping details. They better updated from the last update from weeks ago. Tell us what is being done about this company wide problem. It seems to be coming along at a snails pace and a kind update every few days would be greatly appreciated.

 -Thank You
 

Well, to me this all looks like a great fake.

Here in germany, Dell is still promoting and selling the M1330 like there were no problems at all.

And the best: I ordered 6 weeks ago and got my ESD delayed ANOTHER 7 WEEKS now! (Oct, 2.10.), while on the website during ordering there is a message "Shipping the M1330 can take up to six weeks!".

So does this mean, cancelling my order now and ordering it again immediately will result in a quicker shipping?! Dell, you are cheating your customers and many of them won't forget this.

I was thinking about ordering a desktop from you, too. Forget about it!

 Cheers,

 Ralph

The whole M1330 debacle (delays, supply chain failures, communication confusion, badly educated CSR's with no authority to help, more delays, even more delays, blogs that Dell doesn't seem to read or respond to ..... All of it .... it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion !!!

Dell have really dropped the ball and ticked off a lot of people, this will bight them badly, especially if a competitor steps up to fill the void. 

     This explanation makes perfect sense.  Two out of ten of us received our M1330's, the other eight being canceled and most of us don't have a stateside number, so unless you guys really go out of your way, we wouldn't know it was delayed.  I'll let the guys know, though they'll have to wait until March to order again.

   Also, with the M1330,  I ordered the Soundblaster Audigy being told something like the Sigmatel or the Audigy card as an option.  I was surprised that it turned out to be a software attachment onto the Sigmatel card through either a creative chip or compatible chip.  That was a bit of a surprise but not disappointing.  I do have an issue with a 64 Bit Vista not allowing it to install, through.  I wasn't told anything about that incompatibility but I really hope the word would pass up to build compatibility for it.

   Just a little addition onto that: if you do get it working, my system will function 100% under Vista 64.  I've already managed to see up to around 90% performance increase in the applications I run.  Please, please, could you do this?  :)  Have a good day.
 

To everyone posting here.  Cancel your orders.  Dell is completely disorganized, does not understand the scope of their problems, and they are playing you.  You are all collectively correct.  I went through 6 weeks of lies, tens of Dell staff including Executive Escallation teams, gave them the benefit of the doubt (I checked back on this blog because I thought the shipping issues would be fixed by now) etc.  I'm not surprised now.  

Dell is having deep financial and administrative problems.  Wall Street Journal reported last week that Dell sales teams are overstating sales production to try and tell the financial world they are doing well enough to hang on, mostly due to their new line of colored laptops (which some they can't even produce now as they still run commercials and press marketing).  They spent too much marketing the XPS M1330, screwed up the manufacturing, lied about sales figures, and the real losers are the loyal customers like you all are that are being lied to and cheated.  I was on for 10 years, but no more now.  .

I am typing on a Fujitsu Lifebook 6410 with better specs than the XPS M1330 and same size and weight.  Got it in 7 days with no lies or hassle.  Same price.  I'm SO pleased I cancelled with Dell.  Do yourself a favor and do the same.

There is NO WAY Dell can ship thousands of these on August 28th (my old shipping date too).  They couldn't even handle the first 10% of orders in the first 6 weeks.

Good luck to all but you are being played and lied to because Dell has no other choice now.  They won't tell you the truth that if you all cancel, Dell will be in really big trouble then.  In the end, they won't care about you, your needs, or anything, as long as you give them your money.  Wait until you have to call them back if/when you ever get your laptop....you'll see.

Sorry for Dell employees but you can't treat SO many people like this and just get away with it.

I placed my order for an M1330 knowing well of the delays.  This will be my third personal Dell laptop and I have been nothing but satisfied for years.  As a personal and business customer I stand by Dell.  I like their products, I like the fact that they are trying to keep things green and I have always received good customer support.  I am not saying others frustration is unjustified, nor am I saying that others have not had an unacceptable number of issues.  Production problems do happen and as a consumer we have the option to either ride it out or take our business to another company.  I just wanted to post my support as others seem to be doing the opposite.  The delays are frustrating, but I will stand by and wait patiently.  Thank you Dell for having an open forum to your customers.

I've had quite a nasty experience with Dell over my laptop order. Here’s the history:

1.       I placed an order on 07/04/07 for a Pink Dell Inspiron 1721 and a Dell All-in-One printer 946. These were both placed as one order, but displayed a separate order number for each.

2.       I received emails from Dell the same day acknowledging the orders.

3.       I received email from Dell the same day confirming the orders. The laptop order had an est. ship date of 07/23/07 and the printer had an est. ship date of 07/17/07.

4.       On 07/23/07 at 12:59 PM, I received an email from Dell that the laptop had been delayed because Dell was experiencing an unexpected delay. New est. ship date of 07/30/07.

5.       On 07/24/07 at 8:25 AM, I received an email from Dell that the printer had been delayed because Dell had experienced another delay with the order. New est. ship date of 07/31/07. Please note there was no reference to the laptop – only the printer. This email also included a paragraph that said "Due to this additional delay, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires we receive your consent to continue with this order. Please contact us as soon as possible with either your consent to continue with the order or your request to cancel and receive a refund."

6.       That afternoon, I contacted Dell at 877-868-3355 and communicated my consent to the new est. ship date.

7.       On 07/25/07 at 11:43 PM, I received an email from Dell that the printer order had been cancelled as Dell was unable to get my authorization to continue the order despite the delay - imagine my surprise. Also imagine my surprise when I found out the laptop order had been cancelled as well.

8.       On 07/26/07 at approx. 4:30 PM, I contacted Dell at 800-289-3355 in order to re-instate the order. I was shuffled through a minimum of 3 departments and finally ended up in Sales (I think – it was hard to follow where they were forwarding me to). I spoke with a rep who indicated the best they could do was put both orders back in with a new est. ship date of 08/22/07 for the laptop and 08/14/07 for the printer. After I complained repeatedly about them canceling the order, they said they would expedite the order and it had a very good chance of shipping by 08/10/07. The reason this date is critical was that I ordered this for my daughter and she leaves for college then.

9.       I have subsequently been communicating by e-mail with a Customer Care Specialist in India. I started e-mailing on 08/02/07 expressing my frustration and the request to have the laptop delivered by 08/10/07. In his email from 08/03/07, he did a lot of apologizing and said he had forwarded my email to “concerned” department – he also said they would do everything they could to expedite the order.

10.   I followed up with another email on 08/06/07. He replied on 08/07/07 and gave me the same song and dance.

11.   I immediately replied to his last e-mail indicating he must have limited authority in what he could do and requested to speak with his manager.

12.   He replied on 08/08/07 at 05:21 AM that he had escalated my issue to “concerned” department and that I would receive a call back within 24 hours.

13.   I received a call from his manager (couldn’t understand the name) on 08/08/07 at 3:00 PM. This was even worse than the e-mails. Basically said the same thing and that there was nothing they could do because pink laptops were on backorder. After 25 minutes of extremely frustrating conversation – where this individual demonstrated no willingness to accept the fact that Dell screwed up and should be fixing my problem, I finally asked him to have his supervisor contact me.

14.   To this date, his supervisor nor anyone else, has contacted me.

15.  I then sent another message to the customer service rep on 08/15/07 asking the name of the "concerned" department he was escalating my issues to as well as a person to contact within that department.

14.   To this date, he has not replied.

15.   I followed this up with a couple of e-mails highlighting my problems to the Customer_Advocate group on 08/09/07. I received a notification from that group on 08/16/07 that I needed to go through Customer Service to resolve this problem. Honestly, I was grasping at straws trying to find someone that cared and wasn't surprised that I received this message.

16.  On Tuesday, 08/14/07, received automated voicemail from Dell that the printer was back-ordered again and the ESD was now 08/21/07. No e-mail was received to indicate the back-order.

So – a long story, but an extremely painful one. A couple of things I just wanted to highlight again.

·          I followed Dell’s process and they cancelled the order anyway. It would have been different if Dell had said they could not meet the order at all, but their reasoning for canceling the order was that they supposedly never received my confirmation. I’m not sure how the order got messed up, but it was definitely in Dell’s hands that the error occurred.

·          No one that I have communicated with has done anything other than saying they would expedite the order. I am not just a person who had an order get a revised ship date and is upset about it – Dell cancelled the darn thing after I had communicated to them my desire to continue in accordance with the mail order rule! I think there should be a greater priority for Dell correcting their mistake than somebody who just got backordered.

·          There appears to be absolutely no willingness on Dell’s part to correct their mistake.

·          On a negative perspective, the ads for the colored laptops are still running strong on TV. You would think that if Dell was having such significant problems with backorders (I’ve seen blogs that have people waiting since June), they might stop aggressively soliciting orders.

I have previously ordered 5 desktops from Dell over the years and have never experienced this type of frustration – that’s one of the main reasons I decided to order through Dell. It’s especially upsetting when all the representatives from Dell apologize profusely, but are unwilling to correct Dell’s mistake.

So - now I'm crossing my fingers that the laptop and printer will be shipped on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I don't think I'll be holding my breath. I won't be at all surprised if they back-order both again. We'll see if Dell can finally step up and deliver.

ordered white m1330 with LED on july 15 and ESD is sept 5.   

just got an email that it shipped out aug 17. 

wow!!!  feel like winning a lottery.  hope the unit is as good quality as all the previous dell units.

hope every one on the blogs get lucky as i am.

As someone who's patiently stuck in the waiting line for his system (like most everyone else here), I've been following these blogs rather closely.

 I've noticed a very funny situation developing: several people have said that, sick of waiting for their Dells, they've cancelled their orders and have gone with BETTER and CHEAPER alternatives from Apple, HP, et al.  Wow!  Didn't any of them bother to do any research before placing their orders?  I mean, you order a 1330 or 14/1520, when all along there was a "better, cheaper" MacBook Pro out there, which you finally decided to get because of Dell's manufacturing delays?!  Had it not been for those delays, you actually would've spent MORE, for a "LESSER" product from Dell?  And then you put up with several weeks of customer service hassle before deciding that, yes, it really might be a good idea to go with that "better, cheaper" system from Dell's competitors.

I dunno, but I think that's just a little bit funny.  Actually, I think it's something else, but I don't wanna be mean :)

Me...I'm waiting for my 1330. 'Cause I have yet to find anything comparable (as I've spec'd my system) at anywhere near the cost. 

NO NOTEBOOK FOR COLLEGE

Same old story - from a European perspective (Northern Ireland) - i had a lovely experience with the Dell sales person in India negotiating the product/specification I wanted. I need my Inspiron notebook for my college course starting next week. I shopped around and decided I liked the Dell deal although I nearly bought a Sony Vaio. The salesperson was good/friendly/helpful and when the deal was done told me I'd have my notebook Aug 22nd.

Dell emailed me at the weekend to say it wouldn't be delivered until Sept 27th!!!.

I need it next week. I phoned Dell and again spoke to someone in India - the experience and lack of customer service was distressing. Dell just dont care. The person I dealt with offered nothing to help my situation. Even the platitudes sounded weary and false. From a great purchasing experience to this shoddy situation destroys any confidence I have that Dell are worth me investing £750 ($1500) in a notebook. Is there no one answerable or prepared to compensate me.

My need for a notebook may just force me to purchase that Sony afterall.

got my m1330 last wednesday. well worth the wait. wht a fantastic machine.

ordered the standard screen though so whether that helped delivery i dont know.

also to my supprise, it arrived with the boimetric fingerprint reader on it which i didnt order!!!!

 then 2 days later i gt a call from dell asking if i was happy with my product and to compensate for the late delivery they were knocking £30 off the price.

 superb!!!

cant fault the system now i have it, however, itwould be nice if the customer service team new exectly what was going on and didnt bull people as to what is happening.

all i can say to those who are waiting for their 1330 HANG FIRE, the system is excellent and well worth the wait

i shall try and post some pics for you later today or tomorrow

Well, I soooo wish I had read this stuff before I rodered a DELL (or as my mom calls it a "DUD")

I have had the absolute WORST customer service EVER with this company.  As many of you, I ordered a notebook with a promise of a two week ship date, only to receive an email (not a courtesy call) that it was delayed another week... then again another email with a delay of 5 additional weeks.  What the heck?

Of course when I tried to call and discuss this problem, I couldn't get a rep that truly understood ENGLISH.  I finally found out with a sales rep that 90% of all tech support is out of India (go figure).

So when I compained online, a customer serv rep CANCELLED my order!!!!!!!!!!!! So now I am back to square one....maybe it's for the best, my hubby says "It's a sign!"

"I know that many of you have waited weeks for your orders ..."

This line makes me feel that your unaware, or not facing the fact, that many have waited months for their order.
 

I ordered mine on the the 5th July and still haven't received it.  I'm annoyed that I'm seeing people receiving there laptops with the exact same stats as mine and they've order well after me.  I was actually talking to a person who ordered the exact same stats, down to the tuxedo black case 3 weeks after I did, and He has already received it.  That's just wrong.  I won't be receiving mine for another 3 weeks either.  Thats a 2 month wait!!!  If this has ANY problems when I receive it, there will be hell to pay.

@Jason

You are perhaps Dell's biggest fan. I cannot believe that after having read the various posts here on this blog about the unbelievable screw-ups coming from Dell that you have the nerve to shake your pom-poms and pat Dell on the back. Do you honestly think that Dell cares about your cheering?

I wonder if your love affair with Dell will get a bit rocky after you have waited 7 weeks for your order?

It would be different if you had placed your order, received it and were pleased...but you simply gush and coo about how you think Dell is the greatest thing since sliced bread...and you haven't even started to wait!! I especially like the part about you placing an order knowing full well that there are problems...you are too much.

I ordered a 1330 on July 5th with an estimated ship date of August 22nd...been waiting patiently all this time. After reading all of these posts and what others are saying on the notebook forums I am skeptical. I expect that I will either receive notification that my order has been delayed or canceled. If it ships I will post that info here...though I recommend that nobody hold their breath...someone said that having one of these actually ship is like winning the lottery.

Agreed. 

I have a problem with this issue because I keep getting thrown back to that excuse.  BUT I called and replied EVERY time to the emails and calls that I received for the delays in shippment.  But I got cancled anyway.....so my order that I put in on 7/8/07 was cancled even though I did what I was supposed to do and the Dell computer system disregarded all of my coraspondance or.....the bad customer service communication dont know which.  Anyway now my reorder was placed on 8/9/07 so I am behind a whole month in the build and shipping que.  Wondering when I will ever get my computer that I am waiting on.  I was very dissappointed that my order was cancled even though I did everything that I was supposed to do.  So Dells excuse that the FCC caused orders to be cancled is rubbish because every time that I was contacted I replyed and my order was not supposed to be cancled.  But it was anyway....so give us some more crap.

I read Daves comment above Aug 19th and it sounds like the same story that I have to tell to the tee!!!!  How many other people are going through this issue and not commenting on it.  Dell needs to get on the ball to save face with their customer base I have a dell desk top and a daughtor that is going to need a computor for college next year do you think that I am going to order from dell again.....probley not if I dont get some satisfaction on this issue. 

I am an Italian student and I have purchased a Dell Vostro 1400 notebook. I am very very angry because my commercial affirmed that the date of consignment was 24th August but today He calls me and He says that the date of consigment is postponed to 7th September...

Where is the earnest of Dell ????

PS: In Italy a lot of peaple have the same problem... 

Another unhappy customer. I too have started college WITHOUT my laptop. I'm very disappointed in how this is being handled. Another poster mentioned US customers being babied when their orders don't ship. NOT ME, I wasn't even offered free next day shipping when I called to complain. I never got a call from Dell saying that my order was delayed UNTIL after I called to find out where it was.

So now the race is on. I'm waiting for my disbursement of student funds and if I have them in hand before my laptop ships I will be cancelling my order and making a store purchase.

 I agree with the others that Dell really should STOP taking new orders and work to get what they already have placed filled.

Oh and the CSR's are clueless! I called to find out why it was delayed and the first person told me it was the yellow casing so I offered to get a different color but then I would have had to completely cancel my order and therefore push back my shipping. Then I was told no it was the LCD monitors.

 So which is it?

I have had orders pushed back multiple times by Dell before and never had to do this.

Yet recently I ordered 4 of the now defunct E521s. Three were ready to ship and one was holding them back.  When I called about the order the first time, I was told the rep would email me and then would be in constant contact with me in regards to this order.

After never hearing from the rep again, I checked the order the day after the estimated ship date to see that it had slipped AGAIN but there was a new notice there.  I confirmed that I did not want the order canceled regardless of delays.  The next day, the order shipped. 

However, the REP never got the order to the upgraded next business day.  So, after waiting 3 weeks for some computers, I have to wait 3 more days due to her incompetence.   But it is the incompetence of Dell that has me worried.

 I NEVER RECEIVED ANY NOTICE AT ANY TIME THAT MY ORDER WAS DELAYED! I NEVER RECEIVED ANY NOTICE THAT I HAD TO RE-APPROVE MY ORDER EITHER!

Had I missed that little notice on their website, I would have been in a very interesting ordeal.  I already have the monitors, so how could they cancel the order?  I can't re-order the hardware since it is a discontinued line!

 My M1330 did show up last week finally.  SSD, LCD LED ... but it was missing the headphones and a power cord.  They had 6 weeks to put this together and they forgot the power cord.
 

After reading a little bit about your problems delivering other customer's Desktop and notebook computers I sort of understand why now my order has been delayed SEVEN times from July 24 until the latest Aug 28. This on top of the original delay since my order was PAID on the 2nd of July.

The funny thing is my order isn't a laptop or desktop - it's a third party lens for my DSLR. So, there is no excuse about waiting for parts to build it. At least you could blame Sigma for having an available lens. The problem with that is, that I know there is stock available at Sigma and at least one online camera store. All you guys need to do is get on the phone to either of these two and purchase it - they have it in stock. Sure the price is higher but that's not my problem, I paid what YOUR site advertised. If you plan to undercut the competition you must at least ensure deliverability. I'm beginning to suspect Dell is purposely delaying my order in order to get me to cancel my order so they won't lose money. Well, I'm willing to wait you out a little longer. I, too, will start writing to camera site blogs and highly recommend that users steer clear of Dell for third party sales AND for computer sales. 

Get your act in order. 

Ordered red 1330 on August 9.  Estimated ship date 9/14.  Keeping fingers crossed and checking the order info page daily!  No CSR involvement yet and trying to keep it that way if possible, no need to piss anyone off and delay this thing any more.

Can Dell provide basic statistics on production so at least we have context on delays?  Are there 1,000 or 10,000 1330's in the queue?  Has the average order to ship date increased, decreased, and by how much?  Is it the backlog of delayed components causing the majority of delays?  Or is it the manufacturing (painting) process that is still slowing things down? 

Is this a case of already having fixed the problems and working through the backlog, or still trying to correct problems while actively taking orders?

I see that Dell is still marketing "back to School Specials".  Perhaps they should make it clear that they really mean it to be a Christmas special for School in January.

This is a disaster and I don"t know why it isn't getting more public and media attention.  I intend to do my part.  It is incredibly unfair that a comapny the size of Dell, with an otherwise good reputation will jeopardize the first weeks of school, college and university for so many.  It will not endear the company to those, who in the future, will be buying systems etc for business.

Somehow I think we're all getting pushed to the back of the queue behind Schools that are placing their huge orders at the last minute. my Inspiron 513 just got delayed as well, tho you wouldn't know it from the order status page, only thru an e-mail I received.

I've heard from many people that Order Status page is useless, perhaps this should be something Dell could focus on as well - from a developer point of view, how hard is it to write a properly functioning status page when you are already sending out e-mails when the status changes? My ship date got pushed back a week, says an e-mail that was sent to me, but the order status page maintains its previous ship date.

Regardless, the birthday present for my wife is now delayed, when it was going to be shipped and have an est arrival right on time. sweet.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

 I've been postponed twice.

 After this, I can promise I will never buy from dell again. The product should not have been offered if you didn't have the parts.
 

Not good, Dell.  Not good at all.

I am a Dell Reseller, and you are making me look bad.  I can't get straight answers from anyone in your company.  Just empty promises.

I've had to tell dozens of customers to not even bother trying to order a Dell right now.  They have gone elsewhere.

I am trying to be patient and not lose the orders I already have, but any more delays and I'll just cancel them all.  Way too much grief, on my end.

Dell Reseller.

I am frustrated because I received the notebook ahead of the delivery schedule and it is not working...AT ALL.

A part was ordered and then I was informed that there was a backorder on the part...yet the technician received the part the day before I got the call...

The technician came out to repair the notebook and guess what it was the wrong part...The issue was not with the LCD as technical support had indicated...

The technician could not order the needed part because Customer Care told him to leave immediately because the notebook was reported stolen.

Finally we got that cleared and the part that is needed was ordered only for me to get another call to say that this part too is on back order...   

I said forget it...I want a new notebook...and I was told I have to wait for 3 to 4 weeks...

I am just hoping that Dell will be sympatheic enough and understanding and at least not send me a bill.........

How did some of you get a free Timbuk2 bag or some form of monetary compensation?? I placed my order july 17th and it's been delayed til the 28th but I get nothing. I even called today to complain, thinking they'd offer me some sort of consolation, but no such luck. All I've gotten is free next day delivery, which seems everyone else got as well.

I WANT SOMETHING FOR FREE OR SOME MONEY BACk FOR MY PATIENCE>>> any advice???

Everybody is in the same boat as I am.  I have spent countless hours on the phone with Dell.  Spoken to over 40 representatives in several countries: India, Manilla, El Salvador and when I finally got thru... to someone in the United States.

No one can help.  No one gives anymore information than what is listed on your "order status", no one at dell is the least bit interested.  I have escaladed my order to the executive offices in Texas.  They are not even interested in helping.  I ordered my laptop on 7/15/07.  My order has been canceled without my permission twice (even though I responded to the phone calls)  I still have not recieved it, nor has anyone offered to help.

I wonder if Dell would mind if we all called our local papers and news stations with information from this blog and our stories.  I bet a big news story about how they can't keep up, how they're still advertising and selling, and how they have broken promises of ship dates would give them a big kick in the pants to try and figure out a solution to their problems.

I don't think Michael Dell cares about his company.  Why else would everyone of his employees refuse to give me his address or phone number?

I am a customer service manager at the 4th largest retailer in the United States.  My locations sell Dell computers.  They won't be selling as well if I am asked by a customer "What do you think about this computer?"

To Ranya:

Just send them a box with a dog turd in it. That's what we have been getting over the email and NET from them.

 Perhaps then they will offer you something. I've also inquired about the bag and they would not give me one. I thought it was included with all orders but i was wrong. So now I get to wait 2 months for a computer and no freebies for my patience and most importantly my money!

-Kev
 

Recent Order Status:The system is undergoing routine maintenance. Please check back in a few minutes.

Does anyone else have that? Mine has said that for weeks now. I'm pretty pissed too. 

I keep reading blogs about the M1330 and about how good they are. I ordered an Inspiron 1520 in Spring Green on July 13th and of course like many of you guys, my order was delayed til Aug 28th. I am worried about their quality and am wondering if the laptop is indeed worth the wait. So can someone please tell me? =]

If my order is gets delayed I will certainly cancel it and buy somewhere else where my business is appreciated. Would be too bad, I bought my old computer from Dell and was so far satisfied with the service, but what they do now seems to be a joke. 

@z_man300, you "smart" guy need to understand that time is money.  Do not get me wrong it is great that you have the patience and time to wait but if you would get a higher education and be at a university without a notebook for several weeks you would  see it is no fun and therefore consider paying a higher price for an Apple, Sony or HP, too.

Well, I posted a comment earlier with my whole sad sorry story--but apparently the moderator didn't see fit to post it.  Long story short, I just cancelled my order tonight, after stopping by my local big-box office supply store and buying an HP.  I always thought that Dells were higher quality that HP, but a.) at least I have a computer to start school with next week; and b.) with the part shortage and all the pressure that's on Dell at the moment, I personally was worried that they would possibly compromise their integrity and use lesser parts.  Maybe I'm being paranoid, but if Dell cannot resolve this quickly, it looks like it could blow up in their face--big time.

 Everyone, cancel your orders.  Go elsewhere.  Don't support a company that treats its CUSTOMERS like this.  Maybe if enough of us do it, it'll hurt Dell enough to make them change.  Somehow I don't think all of us complaining on this message board will do that....

I placed an order on 7/7 and after being delayed 2X I received the automated call: "Due to FTC Mail order rule...press (1) to continue your order or (2) to cancel your order"

I pressed 1 and received a confirmation message.  3 days later, I get an email stating my order's been cancelled.

 After 3 hours on the phone with Customer Service, 5 different departments and 3 different managers later I find out that the order cannot be RESUMED, it has to be replaced and a new ship date issued.

I've had another Inspiron 1520 on order since 8/3 and after being delayed again, I'm on my way to the website now to cancel my order.
 

I placed my order for an Inspiron last night, 8-20-2007 @ 11:39 PM. It is now 3:20 AM on 8-21-2007 and I have spent the hours in between in reading all the  blogs of frustrated Dell customers. I will be cancelling my order TODAY and pursuing *ANY* other brand than Dell. This situation goes way beyond ridiculous and absurd to the point of monumental incompetence. I will *NEVER* buy anything from Dell *EVER* after reading all the blogs before mine. Let's see, that webpage was at HPShopping.Com, Right ??

Dear All,

Well, you've guessed it, the CSR's can't help (I guess a low paid call centre worker in India, Malaysia or China has apparent issues feeling your rich decadent westerner's pain at not being able to quickly get something that costs half a year of their salary) and the Dell execs don't care because .... well .... why would they, they already have their bonuses for the marketing campaign and for every disgruntled purchaser their are a dozen suckers willing to purchase if you dangle a bauble or two in front of them, offer a pretty colour on the case or introduce some new marketing buzzwords.

Just cancel your orders and move on. Forget Dell, don't brood on it, don't stress, just get your money back and move on. No on from Dell is apparently reading this feedback and if they are they're probably laughing at it. I know the inspirons and M1330's are sexy machines at a good price point, but you simply can't get them and if you're lucky enough to, they seem to have a lot of build issues (from what I've been reading, check google). You won't get justice, meaningful levels of freebies or answers out of them so ..... Dell is a company so it won't feel bad no matter how much you rant and rave, get over it.

I did !

There are a lot of other computer companies out there and the products just keep getting better ! Some even have in-country support from people that can actually help you as opposed to reading a script and saying an empty "Sorry" about thirty times a minute.