Dell Inspiron Shipping Delays…Still Frustrating Customers
Dell’s having a difficult time keeping customers happy, with what appears to be near endless shipping delays on its Inspiron notebooks. Dell’s blaming delays on parts shortages and difficulty with the company’s new painting process. Sure, the new bright colors look pretty in its marketing materials, but picking a pink or green model can lead to some serious frustration.
Several hundred customers have sounded off on Dell’s Direct2Dell blog post on the subject, where some are saying their orders have been delayed by more than a month. Those who complain loudly enough have received up to $100 in rebates and expedited shipping. However, many Dell customers have had their Inspiron orders delayed multiple times and have had to send their children off to college without a notebook.
According to Lionel
To date, color options are the main source of delay on Inspiron notebooks. Basic colors like black are easier to produce. Premium colors and finishes like we use on the Inspiron models introduce complexity into the process, and that’s holding things up. Just as Alex mentioned in his post about colors on the M1330, producing smaller quantities is not the issueâ€â€Âit’s mainly an issue of scale. We’ll continue to work directly with suppliers to ultimately increase our production on color notebooks. Besides scale, we are also focused on maintaining the levels of quality we established when we designed these notebooks. In other words, we’re not going to relax our quality standards to ship more products.
If you’re waiting on an Inspiron and want to share your frustration, head over to Direct2Dell and leave a comment. There’s been more than a thousand comments posted so far.
Here’s what some Dell customers are saying:
Harry said:
Black isn’t any better. I ordered my black Inspiron 1520 on 8/14/07. Estimated ship date was 8/30/07. When I checked status a few days later, I saw a link indicating “Why is my order delayed?”.
This freaked me out, so I called Dell, and was assured that my order had not been delayed, and that the link was there just in case it did get delayed at some point (hmmm).
At 4:00 on the day it was supposed to ship, I got an email indicating that the ship date had been moved out to 9/14/07.
What really angers me is knowing that they knew all along that the order was going to be delayed, but waited til the last possible minute to tell me. They’re just stringing customers along trying not to lose orders.
This was supposed to be a computer for a college student. I have no choice, but to cancel my order. I’m purchasing an HP dv6563cl from Costco. My first non-Dell computer in over 10 years.
John N. said:
Well, I called again after my Sept. 5th ship date was AGAIN pushed back…this is the FIFTH push back to the ship date! I originally ordered a Spring Green 1520, 9 cell battery, webcam, etc, on July 17th! That’s Forty-Four days and counting!!! When I called customer service, I was told that there is already an “expedite” flag on the order…for all the good that seems to be doing. I asked them if I could expect the order to be filled this fiscal quarter!
Maybe Dell should outsource the painting process to these guys. They don’t seem to have any problem painting a Dell notebook black…
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I ordered a Dell inspiron 1520 notebook computer on Dec.10, 2007; Today is January 15, 2008 and it’s still in production, every time the estimated ship date arrives Dell sends an e-mail notifying me of a new delay in shipping; they still have not tell me what is causing the delay. customer service is very rude! notice says today they will have to cancle my order due to mail order rules unless I autorize them to delay it even moore!
I ordered a Dell inspiron 1520 notebook computer on Dec.10, 2007; Today is January 15, 2008 and it’s still in production, every time the estimated ship date arrives Dell sends an e-mail notifying me of a new delay in shipping; they still have not tell me what is causing the delay. customer service is very rude! notice says today they will have to cancle my order due to mail order rules unless I autorize them to delay it even moore!
I too ordered an Inspiron 1525, ruby red. The initial shipping date was 22nd Sep 08 and after three consecutive delays, I requested for a cancellation. They gave me $50 rebate. I am still giving a last chance. My new shipping date is 13 Oct 08 nearly one month after I ordered.
I too ordered an Inspiron 1525, ruby red. The initial shipping date was 22nd Sep 08 and after three consecutive delays, I requested for a cancellation. They gave me $50 rebate. I am still giving a last chance. My new shipping date is 13 Oct 08 nearly one month after I ordered.
Dell Delays 2008 Holiday!! Dell Disappointment – Delayed Orders Again!
I am so utterly ticked-off, I can hardly contain myself. I ordered a Dell laptop for a holiday gift for my little girl…I ordered BEFORE the mad holiday rush, and BEFORE black Friday. It has been delayed 4 times…I have emailed Dell 3 times…each time only getting an automatic response. I have called them 6 times, and was transferred thru the same department customer care center 11 times. Never leaving the same department – just going around in circles. It got to the point I actually had to laugh out loud…so obvious. They could have at least transferred me to different departments.
I have to say, this is by FAR the worst customer service experience I have ever had!! – bottom line. They could give a X#@(. They don’t try to help you replace your product with something else they may be ready to ship – or at least ship earlier. They don’t tell you why your order is delayed. They don’t even want to talk to you.
You know; if one looks thru history. Looks at how many companies have gone under because of severe poor customer service – or because of promoting an item, and not being prepared for delivery promises…or even posting ‘guaranteed’ shipment dates, then not following thru…one would see Dell is going to have some serious issues.
I wish I had the power to single handedly force them to talk to their customers – to force them to have to deal with the issue – to show them, they cannot, nor should not be allowed to ‘BS’ the world.
Is anyone else having this 2008 issue?? – is there anything we can do?
Dell Delays 2008 Holiday!! Dell Disappointment – Delayed Orders Again!
I am so utterly ticked-off, I can hardly contain myself. I ordered a Dell laptop for a holiday gift for my little girl…I ordered BEFORE the mad holiday rush, and BEFORE black Friday. It has been delayed 4 times…I have emailed Dell 3 times…each time only getting an automatic response. I have called them 6 times, and was transferred thru the same department customer care center 11 times. Never leaving the same department – just going around in circles. It got to the point I actually had to laugh out loud…so obvious. They could have at least transferred me to different departments.
I have to say, this is by FAR the worst customer service experience I have ever had!! – bottom line. They could give a X#@(. They don’t try to help you replace your product with something else they may be ready to ship – or at least ship earlier. They don’t tell you why your order is delayed. They don’t even want to talk to you.
You know; if one looks thru history. Looks at how many companies have gone under because of severe poor customer service – or because of promoting an item, and not being prepared for delivery promises…or even posting ‘guaranteed’ shipment dates, then not following thru…one would see Dell is going to have some serious issues.
I wish I had the power to single handedly force them to talk to their customers – to force them to have to deal with the issue – to show them, they cannot, nor should not be allowed to ‘BS’ the world.
Is anyone else having this 2008 issue?? – is there anything we can do?
I have recently ordered a Studio 1537 on January 14, 2008. My first EDD was 1/28/09, then it got delayed until 2/4/09, and now the 3rd delay is for 2/11/09.
For myself, I would be a lot more understanding if I would have known upfront. If they would have told me that I would be waiting longer because I ordered a special color that takes longer than normal, I would have understood. Instead, they are making themselves look horrible.
When I call customer service, I get a very scripted response. In fact, you can hear their frustration in their voices when you are keeping them on the phone too long. (Perhaps they are being timed) The last lady I spoke to finally told me that my unit was in the last part of the “production” stage. When I asked her what stage that was, she started squirming. After I pushed the issue, she finally told me that my laptop was in the boxing stage. I found that quite interesting considering I had just called the automated system and it told me that my system was in the “build” stage.
I firmly believe the customer service people can not tell us anymore than what we can visually see on the internet. I also asked the customer care professional if there was anything that she could tell me about my laptop that I couldn’t figure out myself by looking on-line & she could not tell me anymore.
I was hoping since I ordered my laptop after the Christmas rush I would be a bit more fortunate in receiving it in a timely manner.
I am really trying to be patient through all of the delays, because I spent a lot of time picking out the color pattern I wanted and the system. This was my gift to myself for graduation from College. I wanted to have it in time for me to start my Master’s program. . . . not much luck!!
Now I am just wishing the unit comes in functioning properly and everything runs smoothly. . . . I will be very upset if it does not.
If anyone else is experiencing this problem with the Studio 1537, please share your story.
Thank you.
I have recently ordered a Studio 1537 on January 14, 2008. My first EDD was 1/28/09, then it got delayed until 2/4/09, and now the 3rd delay is for 2/11/09.
For myself, I would be a lot more understanding if I would have known upfront. If they would have told me that I would be waiting longer because I ordered a special color that takes longer than normal, I would have understood. Instead, they are making themselves look horrible.
When I call customer service, I get a very scripted response. In fact, you can hear their frustration in their voices when you are keeping them on the phone too long. (Perhaps they are being timed) The last lady I spoke to finally told me that my unit was in the last part of the “production” stage. When I asked her what stage that was, she started squirming. After I pushed the issue, she finally told me that my laptop was in the boxing stage. I found that quite interesting considering I had just called the automated system and it told me that my system was in the “build” stage.
I firmly believe the customer service people can not tell us anymore than what we can visually see on the internet. I also asked the customer care professional if there was anything that she could tell me about my laptop that I couldn’t figure out myself by looking on-line & she could not tell me anymore.
I was hoping since I ordered my laptop after the Christmas rush I would be a bit more fortunate in receiving it in a timely manner.
I am really trying to be patient through all of the delays, because I spent a lot of time picking out the color pattern I wanted and the system. This was my gift to myself for graduation from College. I wanted to have it in time for me to start my Master’s program. . . . not much luck!!
Now I am just wishing the unit comes in functioning properly and everything runs smoothly. . . . I will be very upset if it does not.
If anyone else is experiencing this problem with the Studio 1537, please share your story.
Thank you.
Hi,
same story here. I have placed an order for Dell inspiron 15, and it has already been delayed, even before production began. I have mailed Dell thrice but haven’t received satisfactory reponse yet.
Hi,
same story here. I have placed an order for Dell inspiron 15, and it has already been delayed, even before production began. I have mailed Dell thrice but haven’t received satisfactory reponse yet.