Dude, you're not getting a Dell: shipping delays hound PC maker

For those of you who've recently placed a Dell laptop order only to find yourself high and dry on shipment, rest assured you're not alone -- not by a long shot. Of course, there have been problems with shipment on the XPS M1330 for some time -- problems so severe that a thread on NotebookReview's forum concerning delays for the laptop has had over 9,000 replies to date (a record for the site), but apparently that's not the only system affected. It would seem that customers who've placed orders for the Inspiron 1420, 1520, and 1720 are also feeling the burn of Dell's little stop-up. Some of the disgruntled purchasers have even gone to the trouble of breaking down Inspiron delays based on lid color, which, for the 1520 (for instance) runs the gamut from no delays for a black lid, to a whopping 11-day delay if you want to go red, green, or pink. This phenomena has even led to buyers forgoing their desired color choices just to get a laptop in a timely fashion. With the continued slowdown in production and increasing heat from the competition, Dell and its customers may find that this minor bump in the road is turning into a major headache.

[Thanks, Paul]

[AdvWar @ Aug 10th 2007 9:21AM]

Here in the UK there is a long delay on Vostro laptops as well.

[rock99rock @ Aug 10th 2007 12:20PM]

Engadget: You forgot to mention that the cost of the specialty colored lids rose from $19 for the first couple a weeks, to a whopping $50. Supply and demand indeed!

My girlfriend's pink 1420 was supposed to ship on the 3rd. She received an email on the 4th stating that it would be delayed until the 28th. Sounds like a little more than 11 days...

[Paul @ Sep 4th 2007 12:46PM]

Until I got around to Googling "Dell delays," I had no idea this was affecting so many Dell models.

As I understand it, production problems with the D630s (shortage of and/or bad video cards) began with or perhaps even preceded the model’s introduction to market and have continued for some three or more months now. This is the first time in four years that I have not been able to count on Dell computers to arrive about ten days after they’re ordered-—which was traditionally one of Dell’s great advantages. The D600 series is the sweet spot in terms of weight/performance, and I had previously come to rely on it as a mainstay in providing IT equipment and services to my small business clients.

This and the Vostro marketing message that tells my target customers that they don't need a server, network or IT consultant have me thinking it might be time to find a new business partner.

[Khris @ Aug 10th 2007 9:22AM]

Original order date of July 13

Original order canceled on July 20

Replacement order entered July 27

Ship date of August 3

Delivered to my door by Purolator on August 8th!

Sure beats the estimated delivery date of August 23rd!!

[AlexP @ Aug 10th 2007 12:53PM]

They didn't promise, but what pisses me off is that I wasn't EVEN TOLD that it was suffering from delays, I HAD TO CONTACT DELL to know what the heck was going on.

My iMac has shipped YESTERDAY, it's customized and I'll be getting (well, should... I trust FedEX with that) sometime next week... And it's not like they pretend it isn't shipping from somewhere in Asia, as it's the case with Dell, it clearly says it's in Shanghai right now.

They delayed it a few days further (your 11-day mark really seems about right) earlier this week, if it gets delayed EVEN FURTHER I'm simply going to cancel it, it's just not worth the wait and the ridiculous interest rate they gave us for financing (my mother - yes, it went on her account because until this month I had no credit history and Dell was simply refusing to give me financing - has a credit line with the bank with a stable (doesn't change) interest rate of 6% - Dell gave her 16%, so I'm paying a total of approx. $600 in interest... I think I'm probably going to ask my mom if I can put it on her credit line and set an auto-payment from my account to her account... I mean, as long as Dell allows it).

[AlexP @ Aug 10th 2007 12:57PM]

Guess why I bought mine at launch - I knew there'd be an incredible demand for it.
I'm tellin' ya, it was worth waiting from 4PM to 8AM... In the cold... Man was I unprepared for this. :V

It was an experience.

[AlexP @ Aug 10th 2007 12:58PM]

Weird, that was meant to be a reply to the popularity 'thread'.

[7of7 @ Aug 10th 2007 9:28AM]

That's the price of making popular products. I don't see anyone bitching about Nintendo.

[Anonymous.Skull @ Aug 10th 2007 9:50AM]

Your comment may have been witty if it made sense. Many people order laptops for jobs or work-related projects, and need them within a reasonable time. I don't see people foaming at the mouth for the Wii because they need it to get their TPS reports done.

[fistpittingnork @ Aug 10th 2007 10:04AM]

Wii orders aren't being processed and customers given delivery dates only to be told "sorry, we're kidding, wait 2 more weeks".

[compubasic @ Aug 10th 2007 10:13AM]

Don't see anyone bitching about Nintendo? Are you f#$king joking? Take it from someone who searched weeks to get one, people bitched. When I woke up at 6am to get on line to purchase one, each and every person who opened their mouth had something to complain about in terms of how much of a pain-in-the-ass it was to find a Wii.

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 10th 2007 10:43AM]

Yeah, but it's not like Nintendo's promised to get you a Wii by a certain time.

[E-Rock @ Aug 10th 2007 9:29AM]

Also having the problem on the corporate side with their Latitude laptops. Placed an order for 2 D630s with the new SS drives July 11th. Monday they canceled the order on us. After a few calls to two different account reps, we're being told that there is a 'global' shortage of the glass used in the high end screen and on the N wireless.

Resubmitted the order, new estimate is 16 working days. That would be a 2 month delay from order to delivery, if they even make it by then.

[Joonas @ Aug 10th 2007 9:48AM]

We have also had problems with Latitude delays at our company, a colleague tried to order a bunch of D420s which, as it turned out, are on a very long wait list. We are now looking at a possibility of ordering D430s which are apparently more readily available (whatever that means). At least that will force the I.T. management to make the move to the D430 as a company standard faster.. ;)

[sirius @ Aug 10th 2007 9:32AM]

I placed an order for a Vostro and I'm not gonna get it any time soon :) (I'm in Estonia)
But unlike most of the ppl.. I'm not in a hurry :rolleyes:

What seems to be the problem anyway? My friend from Dell Estonia didn't know what's the problem.

[dave @ Aug 10th 2007 9:45AM]

I ordered a 1420 maybe 5 weeks ago, said it would take a month to ship, and I got it within 2 weeks. I couldn't be happier and its a great machine. That being said, it seems that I got lucky and now I feel like an idiot for saying Dell was great. Hopefully everyone gets what they need.

[Kevin @ Aug 10th 2007 10:06AM]

Your luck is better than mine apparently. I ordered my 1420 on July 26. As I was checking out, it estimated the ship date as August 8 but in the confirmation email it listed the ship date as August 22. Looks like the latter option is going to end up being the reality.

[EngadgetFanBot @ Aug 10th 2007 9:47AM]

I really like Dell as a company, but these delays are getting pretty ridiculous. I ordered an m1330 July 29, but its not coming until August 31 (which means I won't have a laptop for a few days at college - not fun). Shouldn't they have ramped up a few thousand units before they made it available?

[samnesral @ Aug 10th 2007 9:48AM]

why is the link to the competition an article about alienware, dosent dell own alienware?

[Jon @ Aug 10th 2007 9:50AM]

"With the continued slowdown in production and increasing heat from the competition

[Brad @ Aug 10th 2007 9:51AM]

Dell's official blog has been on this for a while (maily the M1330 issues). You can read about it at www.direct2dell.com

[Jon @ Aug 10th 2007 9:51AM]

Alienware is owned by dell so how is that competition ?? ( goes along with the post i made above )

[Jon @ Aug 10th 2007 9:53AM]

damn you samnesral you just beat me to that observation

[Andrew @ Aug 10th 2007 10:01AM]

A co-worker of mine bought a 1420 and had it in his hands 9 days after purchase, and this happened 3 weeks ago.

[Scott @ Aug 10th 2007 10:03AM]

I actually find this quite hilarious. My new 1720 was supposed to ship today, and of course it hasnt. tThen I get online and check Engadget like I do every morning and see this. Talk about timing. Perhaps if I didnt order a new laptop every 6-8 months it wouldnt be a big deal ;-)

[tenzintsewang @ Aug 10th 2007 10:10AM]

I think Dell is pretending they are only having delivery issues with M1330, all the latitude that I have placed ordered are having shipment delays.

One Example
Latitude D630 (I doubt 120 GB Hybrid Drive is causing this issue)
Order Date: 7/30/2007
Estimate Ship Date: 8/30/2007

[Shawn Garringer @ Aug 10th 2007 10:16AM]

All of our laptop orders at the place I work have been delayed by a few weeks. Dell told us its because SONY has quit selling them the LCD panels needed to assemble the D420 / D620 laptops we normally purchase. They're switching us to D430/D630 laptops because these use other LCD panels... Along with this replacement LCDs (to fix a cracked, damaged, etc) have skyrocketed to over $700. We've switched to purchasing all replacement LCDs from 3rd parties. I'm not sure why the LCDs have gone up so quickly in price, but I think thats where the keys to this problem lie.

[Richard Lai @ Aug 10th 2007 10:19AM]

I have just heard today there's a 6-week delivery time for the Dell 1420 in Hong Kong, and also some reported delays for the M1330. Dell's got a worldwide problem this time.

[bry @ Aug 10th 2007 10:36AM]

My company uses the Latitude series. We have resorted to ordering the 820/30's because the 600's are on back order for whatever reason. Also a while back the LCDs 19" were not available for a week or two.

[westsidekef @ Aug 10th 2007 10:40AM]

11 days?!? I ordered mine on July 4 and they told me it would ship on July 18. On July 18 I called them for an update and they told me it was shipping August 15! When I asked about the delay, (and lack of communication about it,) they told me it was because I ordered a new model. Nice to know it's my fault for ordering something they are advertising on every newspaper, billboard, and bus stop in the city.

[paragraph @ Aug 10th 2007 10:44AM]

I ordered an Inspiron 15 something (it was last years model, with Ubuntu!), on July 17th, the original ship date was Aug 6th, i called and they told me that because they didn't have my processor in stock it was put on hold, the new ship date became the 13th.

After some fighting, i managed to get a free bump to overnight shipping.

If you fight enough, they will give it up, but from what I understand from my tech all Centrino Duo and Core 2 Duo systems that are custom order will be delayed because they just don't have the processors (thats like buying a dodge charger, and finding out you'll have to wait another week because they don't have any engines -_-)

anywho, they were actually pretty cool about giving me the upgraded shipping once i fought with them :\ if it doesn't come by the 15th there will be hell to pay!

[paragraph @ Aug 10th 2007 10:47AM]

double-post

come to think of it, if you combine all of the excuses everyone got here it leads to one conclusion:

dell no longer sells computers, they just sell lies (hah)

obviously they stopped selling computers and just didn't let anyone know, why else would they not have processors, LCDs, New models. It makes perfect sense -_-

[johnzilla @ Aug 10th 2007 10:46AM]

They should have bought a Mac!!! I kid, I kid. Well, not really.

[jRockman13 @ Aug 10th 2007 10:53AM]

DISCLAIMER: I am a Dell Sales employee.

I think the reason why Dell is having so many issues with the Inspiron & XPS M1330 models is the different colors. As noted here & on www.direct2dell.com, they are having issues with the painting. Granted, they are a multi-billion dollar company who SHOULD know how to prepare for this, but let's face it: Dell hasn't been "innovative" is a long time. They have never, to my knowledge, done the multi-color case designs. Their cases have all been identical, drab, and plain FOREVER!

The long delays on Latitudes, and even on "vanilla" Inspiron models, is due to
LCD shortages. Hasn't anyone been paying attention to tech news?

http://www.sda-india.com/sda_india/psecom,id,102,site_layout,sdaindia,news,19728,p,0.html

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspxarticle=41281

http://www.laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=2839

[ericdano @ Aug 10th 2007 10:59AM]

Is it me or do these look like Apple PowerBooks.........

[Richard Lai @ Aug 10th 2007 11:27AM]

It's just you, I'm afraid. Maybe it's just the photo.

[Sushi @ Aug 10th 2007 11:31AM]

It does have a MacBook Pro look.

[mark @ Aug 10th 2007 11:00AM]

buy a mac. thats what i did when i cancelled my dell. my mac came on the day i ordered it

[Sean @ Aug 10th 2007 11:01AM]

Alienware is considered a competitor still because Alienware has long had a reputation for being top notch, whereas Dell has only recently come close. They still miss the mark with weird configurations and custom ordered irreplaceable components on many models. I can name at least 3 other places I'd buy from rather than Dell, but when you're corporate you need the bug guys Dell or IBM, although CDW while pricey is pretty good and you're not locked into one crappy vendor and it's foibles or another.

[Nightsky5 @ Aug 10th 2007 11:03AM]

Ordered a Vostro 1500 on 7/31 (options: XP, WXGA+, larger battery, a/g wireless)
Estimated ship date - 8/17 (+3-5 days shipping)
Received - 8/9

Over a week early ... I'm still in shock.

[Former employee @ Aug 10th 2007 11:24AM]

Don Carty Used to be an executive member of the Board of Directors of Dell. Then he became CEO of American Airlines , which he nearly bankrupted, and completely ruined as far as airlines go. he was ousted over secret pension plans for the executives, while forcing pay and benefit cuts on employees.
then he went to Hawaiian air and did the same thing, then he became a non-executive of Dell.
anyone see a pattern? this bastard screws up the businesses he takes over and doesn't care about the workers OR CUSTOMERS. It's all about stuffing HIS pockets.
Dell is going to Hell because of Carty.
Dig deeper to find out WHY the delays are happening.
you'll find Carty is responsible..

[Adrianj @ Aug 10th 2007 11:31AM]

Does anyone know if there are shipping problems with the 1330 in Canada? I was planning on ordering one (with a black lid) but if it really does take 4 plus weeks, I might just go to the mall and grab a Vaio.

[Craig @ Aug 10th 2007 2:15PM]

I ordered a black m1330 on Aug. 7 and estimated ship date is Sept. 3.

[APE @ Aug 10th 2007 11:55AM]

I ordered a vanilla 1521 (just the basic model, didn't need anything better) sometime in late July and got it on the 3rd of August. Originally they said it would be shipped tomorrow and after it shipped it was expected to be delivered on the 5th of August.

Guess I got lucky.

[Jaxon @ Aug 10th 2007 12:03PM]

What's all the bitchin??? 11 day delay for a product that is delayed because it has shown to be extremely popular? C'mon.....Dell is finally building cool notebooks again that people are lined-up to buy.

[cmdawest @ Aug 10th 2007 12:23PM]

Dell - 1521
Ordered: July 20
Promised ship date - August 1
Ship date changed to August 8
Ship date changed to August 28.
Still waiting . . . . .

This is simply a case of not wanting to invest in inventory, ordering the parts to build the notebooks after the orders are placed, to limit their risk and cash outlay.

When you hear a recording on hold, "due to heavy call volume . . . . " What that really means is
"We do not want to invest in an adequate number of employees to give you good service, so your call will be answered in 12 minutes."

Would it be refreshing to hear that message while you wait! At least it would be honest.

Dell knows that if they told me that I would have to wait five to six weeks for my notebook, that I would have ordered a Macbook pro. So, they lie.

mjm

[AlexP @ Aug 10th 2007 12:54PM]

They totally do, it takes Apple two days to ship a customized product, on average.

[Ellianth @ Aug 10th 2007 12:51PM]

I've never seen a company go from a 'high' to a 'low' so fast. Ok well maybe sony... I remember a couple weeks ago when they showed the m1330 everyone thought it was hot and wanted it. Now there seems to be a lot of anger. I always thought the screen-cover-color-thing was a cheap piece of painted plastic. Pretty sad to have your customers lose faith in you over a piece of plastic.

Well whenever I have enough money I still want a M1330. But I'm glad I'm not one of the people who had their money happily taken and still have no product.

[Doug @ Aug 10th 2007 1:13PM]

My XPS 1210 was supposed to ship on the 6th, but now it's scheduled to ship on the 13th. So it is delayed more than two weeks since the original order date. Not as bad as the 30+days for the 1330, but still... I've never had to wait this long for a Dell.

[nobody important @ Aug 10th 2007 1:30PM]

My dell sales rep told me it was a shortage of panels and HHDs. They started offering the HHD before they had adequate stock of them, and the panel delays are affecting many manufacturers, not just Dell.