So much for my love of the Thinkpad. I ordered a new z61t a month ago. In that time, I’ve had three shipping date changes, at least one outright lie from a Lenovo rep telling me the delay had been resolved, and now my latest "estimated shipping date" is 3 more weeks away, with zero confidence in anything Lenovo says. This is apparently a tradition at Lenovo. They give a great promotion on a good product–mine was $400 off the retail price–and then claim all sorts of reasons why consumers have to wait months to get their computer. The shipment was held up by customs. Our screen provider had a production problem. We’re backordered on cases.
The result is not only a lot of angry customers, which I can’t imagine will do any good for the Lenovo brand, but real costs in lost orders and heavy traffic on their customer service lines. Since Lenovo keeps changing the ship date, and has lied to me about the ETA, I’m now dedicated to calling them everyday, letting my speaker phone keep me company with hold music until I get a live rep, and then peppering them with questions about why my laptop hasn’t shipped, and why can’t they give me a straight answer. I imagine that’s replicated many times over by other unhappy customers.
I’d cancel the order, but it was a good deal, and I can hold out on my desktop without any problem. I’m just disappointed that Lenovo is turning out to be such a lame company that it can’t even get its logistics in order.
Chris,
Please give me a call on my cell — 508 360 6147 or drop me a line at dchurbuck@us.lenovo.com and I’ll see what I can do to get to the bottom of this wrong-situation.
David Churbuck
VP Global Web Marketing
Lenovo
Well I would like to reiterate Chris’ comments about T61 ship dates. I personally ordered mine on 5/16 and had an estimated ship date of 6/4 (today). However when I checked the order status I saw that the ship date had been changed to 6/21 – No explanation, nothing. On calling customer service, I was told that 6/21 would be the latest it would ship, and could ship earlier. However, I am skeptical of this reassurance because the Lenovo representative failed to provide a concrete reason for the delay, and mentioned there was nobody I could talk to who might have a concrete explanation for the delay. What annoys me the most is that they had to wait until the ship date to push it back. And if it is pushed back another two weeks, then the company had to have known earlier that it was impossible to ship it today. This begs the questions, Why is a company like Lenovo being so unprofessional? And what is the real story with my laptop? Should I be taking my business elsewhere, or can somebody provide me with some answers?
Well I would like to reiterate Chris’ comments about T61 ship dates. I personally ordered mine on 5/16 and had an estimated ship date of 6/4 (today). However when I checked the order status I saw that the ship date had been changed to 6/21 – No explanation, nothing. On calling customer service, I was told that 6/21 would be the latest it would ship, and could ship earlier. However, I am skeptical of this reassurance because the Lenovo representative failed to provide a concrete reason for the delay, and mentioned there was nobody I could talk to who might have a concrete explanation for the delay. What annoys me the most is that they had to wait until the ship date to push it back. And if it is pushed back another two weeks, then the company had to have known earlier that it was impossible to ship it today. This begs the questions, Why is a company like Lenovo being so unprofessional? And what is the real story with my laptop? Should I be taking my business elsewhere, or can somebody provide me with some answers?
I too have had problems with my T61 order. I placed it, then it was delayed. Then after trying to update my order it got corrupted because options were no longer available. Lenovo had to then cancel my order I placed on May 9th and now my order date is June 1st….so basically I lost 3 weeks and now have to wait even longer for a laptop that I should have received already.
Has anyone received any resolution or answer or better yet…has anyone even received their laptop they ordered?
Brian
Wow. I’ve gotten a lot of email about this issue, and more comments than average. I’m going to blog on this shortly, but here’s a basic update. Dave Churbuck from Lenovo was quite quick in responding to this issue, which impressed me. At least Lenovo is firing on all cylinders in their Web marketing department. Dave passed me on to someone in their customer service department, who offered to switch my z61 order to a t61 order, which I accepted. It was actually $100 cheaper because it was on sale. They didn’t offer me any special incentive–which a number of people have inquired about–like a nice bonus upgrade to change my blog, or to pipe down. They simply offered to change my order to another comparable product on sale. They also told me quite candidly that they weren’t expecting to ship the new product until the end of the month, as they’re having supply challenges for wide-aspect laptop screens. I appreciated the candor, which is the first time I haven’t been blown a lot of sunshine. It’s all about managing expectations, and I’m willing to wait a little longer for the computer I want.
Overall, Lenovo gets terrible marks in supply chain management and setting reasonable expectations with new customers. But I’m impressed their Web team has been right on top of the issue from a social media standpoint. I hope someone at Lenovo realizes that situation is untenable–you can’t drive a business model out of making people happy after you’ve seriously pissed them off.
I called today to find out if my order – placed on 5/17, scheduled 6/5, last minute change to 6/22 – is going to ship anytime soon and the CS guy says all he knows is that there is a delay in manufacturing and i’ll have to wait till the new estimated date.
I asked him if he can expedite shipping when they finally get around to doing it and he said he doesn’t think thats a good idea because it would delay the order even further since a request like this will change its place in the queue.
How can Lenovo’s system be so badly prepared to handle customer service requests like this ? I don’t know of any other online business that could not just upgrade your shipping to make up for their mistake. Do you ?
Well I think I can certainly back up the general theme. My order was on May 25 and my ship date is August 29… yes three months. To make things worse they sent the case this week. I feel they did that to lock me in.
Very disappointed in the great IBM/Lenovo name, never again.
More information for you.
http://www.lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=84
They’re having supply challenges for wide-aspect laptop screens?
Is it BS? Lenovo gives us too much BS reason and still no public announcement. They just dig out different excuse and cheat their customers.
We are not bloggers like you so we be took cared. Hope you can let as many people know as what they did and do RIGHT.
Omission of bezel? It takes one week to know and still don’t know how to solve. It is just like Ford announce a new type car and fially find it forget to order bump AFTER ONE MONTH.
hullo, am looking forward to making an order for a lenovo (IBM)T61
how do i make all my specifications satifactorly and ensure safty and efficent delivery to Uganda,any help given, will be highly appreciated
thank you
eric
I currently have been waiting since 4/30/07 for one laptop order to be fulfilled, a T60 and have 3 other sets of 2 laptop orders waiting in row (5/31, 6/5, 6/8 all dates I ordered systems). I have a case number, but still no resolution. I’ve been told my oldest order will ship, and my orders have been set to be expedited, but I am weary of believing that.
I don’t see the point in continuing to order from Lenovo if I am not getting any satisfaction from quick orders. How am I expected to supply my employees with hardware if it takes almost 1 1/2 months to order ahead what I know they will need? I’ve gotten a horrible feeling that my money is all that was asked of me and I should just be patient and wait for my laptops to arrive. I’m sorry, but I don’t prefer to put my job on the line by trusting Lenovo.
If this is a pattern of behavior from Lenovo, what can be done about it? Who can I complain too?
I ordered T61 on 5/10 and ship date of 8/30-although saying it will ship by 6/26. Unacceptable….
Here’s something even crazier. So I ordered a T60 and my first order was back in 4/30 and I haven’t gotten it, yeah, that was my first post on here.
So early last week I found a similar Lenovo on sale at Microcenter (T60p) with a nicer graphics card, and more memory, bit smaller HD. I bought it, albeit a bit more $$, had it shipped next day and it’s in my hands today. Saved me my job considering a VP had been without laptop now for 2 weeks or more.
Still waiting on my first order however…not to mention the ones after that.
Ordered a T60P on 5/15 and a T61 on 5/20. Both were to ship on 6/8. Got an email on 6/9 that the T61 was delayed until June 21st and the T60P was delayed UNTIL 7/29!!!!!!
Emailed them Monday and told them to cancel the T60P (bought it from CDW for $40 more -had it next day).
Today they notified me that they shipped the T60P on TUESDAY (yes, the one delayed until 7/29).
So I had to cancel the T61 order 🙁
Of note, my Dell rep told me that have 0 Dell LCD monitors available and do not expect them soon (this was early June). Also they had no laptops to deliver either – all due to LCD shortages. So I don’t think it is just Lenovo (even though their system of predicting dates is terrible)
@Doug,
That’s strange, becuase I had a delay on 2 of my widescreen 20″ monitors but after a call to my rep on Friday I got a ship notice.
Something about a shortage on glass involved in LCD production or so I was told.
I have been having the same exact problem with my T61, which I ordered on 5/15. I’ve been wanting a thinkpad for years, and finally decided to buy one since my own laptop is dying. I got the same exact run-around with shipping dates, first that they would ship by 6/19, then that they woudln’t receive the PARTS for the computer until 6/19 and that they would ship all laptops by 6/25. Yesterday (which was the day I should have received my laptop), I called a customer service rep after seeing online that my new ship date was 7/20!!!! She didn’t even call me back (as was promised by her messaging service). Instead, I got a CANCELLATION notice from lenovo later that day saying that I would need to confirm that I accepted all of these delays from Lenovo, or else they would cancel my order. Here are their exact words: “Due to the overwhelming demand for the Lenovo products you ordered, we have been unable to ship all or part of your order. You are a valued customer and we are working to ship your order as soon as possible. However, If we do not hear from you within the next 5 days, Federal regulations require us to automatically cancel your order for which you will receive a full refund. If you would like to keep your order open, just send us an email by clicking the link below. ”
WHAT TYPE OF SERVICE IS THIS? How come they don’t let us know about these delays, and just change the ship dates when they think we aren’t looking? This is my first time buying from Lenovo, and wow, what an initiation!
What can we do about this? Stampede the BBB? This type of company should not be in business if they don’t know what it’s like to actually provide a promised service to their customers.
I have had the same experience with my order.
Ordered on: June 3rd
Ship date online said: July 5th
On July 6th… Ship date changed to August 28th.
When I called, they said that the August ship date “was wrong” and that my laptop would ship in one-to-two weeks.
Who knows.
I’m still waiting for the t61 I ordered on May 10th. I have often been promised that it would ship “by the end of this week or the beginning of the next.”
It’s interesting to know that this happens often with Lenovo. I will avoid them in the future. I’m not cancelling my order now because I am curious to see how far it will go (and there’s that half price ram!).
I too ordered one back on 6/22/07 and the ship date has now changed for the THIRD time. As of today it is 8/3/07. This is ridiculous. Like the author said it is a good deal but 6 weeks for a build is getting too much. I wanted to evaluate mine to see if that is the brand of ultra portable we want to use in our clinics. A large order could ensue but their reliability in getting orderrs out is now beyond suspect. If someone from Lenovo would like to contact me please let me know. The customer reps are on the verge of rude when I call asking about shipping date changes. The last time I got a “display problems have held up orders… but it is alll straightened out now…” Yeah… whatever.
I’ll tell you my story here. I ordered Thinkpad X61 76763PM, which is an Australian model on 26 May. The lenovo rep, Theo, told me he would get it shipped within 3 weeks. I still had my Macbook Pro at that moment. 3 weeks later, I sold my Macbook Pro and expecting the Thinkpad. However, it was not there. I waited for a few extra days and checked my mailbox twice a day, still nothing. I decided to call lenovo finally. The rep, Theo, told me the ETA was delayed till the end of June. One week before their “ESTIMATED shipping date” I called up again. They told me that they were suffering from huge demand issues from their customers and therefore they would not be able to ship it till mid-July. After that, I was chasing him up every day and finally he provided me a link with my tracking code. Within 1 week, the “ESTIMATED date” changed 3 times. I was so pissed off. I am a reasonable customer. I do not mind waiting for long but I do care the way they change their shipping datelike my ex-gf changes her clothes.
I called an online dealer, and they told me that they’ve got the Thinkpad X61 in stock. I payed them money and they told me there was no stock left because someone bought the rest of stock on the day I purchased my Thinkpad. They were supposed to send it to me on 8 July and then delayed till 20 July. Two days ago, I was informed that the ETA would be on 14 August. The dealer sent me a long email with apology. I am quite happy with the dealer because at least they know how to treat a customer right. With Lenovo, they do not even inform me wtf was going on with their shipping.
Look what you’ve done Lenovo, I am now without a computer for 7 weeks.(I started questioning why IBM wanted to sell their PC department to a company without any credibility).
Update from my last post on July 21st. Still no laptop and the estimated shipping date has changed again. Let me boor you with the shipping dates. First it was July 4th then it was July 22nd… then August 3rd… now I am at 2 months bc new shipping date is August 22nd. As far as i am concerned I will not even look into purchasing Lenovos for our Drs since they have lost all credibility with me. I will wait for mine until August 22nd and if it changes again I will cancel my order. I contacted Dave Churbuck at the number in the his post and he assured me he would have someone contact me but that of course also never materialized. This company is now a joke. Many people must be dumping stock as I type.
Signed…
One pissed off customer.
Brian Smith
I called about 7 times regarding to address change. My address has never been changed. The package was sent to my old address. A customer rep told me that it would be re-sent to my updated address in two days. A week waiting, it is sent back to its return center. No one has ever sent it to my updated address. LENOVO IS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. IT HAS HORRIBLE OPERATION PROCESS. IT IS WASTING MY TIME AND ENERGY. If there is other choice, DON’T BUY FROM LENOVO!
Still waiting for mine…. I just want to see how long it actually does take a company to ship out a product to a paying customer. By the time I do get it all technology will be obsolete… Thanks again Lenonvo. You are top notch at being a disappointment.
My experience with Lenovo consisted of receiving a laptop with no battery & power cord! I promptly purchased an alternate Thinkpad from a local retailer and called in to make arrangements to return the incomplete laptop that was mailed to me through Lenovo directly. A customer service rep gave me completely inaccurate information as to how to go about returning their equipment to them. (“Just write ‘return to sender’ on the original package and drop it off at a UPS store” was what I was told – only to find out later that this violates every single return procedure ever put into place, and no one can explain to me why this person gave me such misleading information)
This mis-information left me without a tracking number, and lo & behold Lenovo claims they never received my laptop back at their warehouse. I asked for a physical audit to be done at their warehouse, confident that it’s in there *somewhere* but I was told by Mr Bumarch that that request is wildly unreasonable. (But apparently charging a customer for a laptop that was mailed back to them is completely reasonable)
I’ve been speaking to Tony Bumarch (Direct Phone Number: 919-543-6681) and have been given the run around over and over with the end result being Lenovo can do absolutely nothing for me. I’ve also CC’d all my correspondences with Tony to David Churbuck, in the hopes that he might be able to assist in some fashion, but apparently my complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
So to sum it up, Lenovo lied to me, stole my money and told me to go away.
I’ve been an avid Thinkpad fan for countless years and even have an old P166 Thinkpad in my closet that still runs, (It’s built like a tank) but I have pretty much lost all faith in Lenovo’s ability to properly deal with even the most simple of tasks such as a customer return.
I’ve placed a x60t order from lenovo.com at Oct. 2nd 2007, the first ETA is Oct. 23 2007 which was OK, and today Oct. 23 2007 I check order status again, it changed to Dec. 31 2007, WOW, 3 months to ship my order and no reason, no e-mail or phone call to notify me this delay. Too bad for lenovo.
I placed an order to Lenovo on 09/25/07, There was a delay, and I was told it would take until 10-31-07. Ok, I am a patient guy, I can live with that. Today I was told that there is no real way to know when it would arrive, and it could take up to 50 more days. It is not acceptable to wait 3-4 months from a purchase date from the time you place an order for a laptop. At 4 months, you could get something significantly different for your money as computer technology is constantly upgrading.
If it is the case that I end up waiting like a lot of people here did for 3-4 months, I will just cancel my order and go with another company. I ordered many Dell’s before and never had a problem on the order side like this.
I purchased a Lenovo X61 on October 5. I was told it would take a couple of weeks to ship out. I figured a small price to pay to a computer that I really wanted. Today (October 25) I decided to check on the status. A Lenovo rep told me a Panasonic warehouse burned down and all the batteries were destroyed. Oh, and the estimated shipping date is now January 7, 2008. So I asked if they could just send me the computer minus the battery, since I could probably buy one on Ebay. NO WAY!!! So Lenovo took my money and is now holding my computer hostage. They never sent me an email about a battery issue. I didn’t see anything online about a warehouse fire that destroyed all its batteries. This company thinks: (1) the customer is stupid and will fall for some B.S. story about a battery warehouse burning down, and (2) the customer can be screwed over and it will not hurt business. Yeah, okay. I’m cancelling my order.
Steve,
Expect some clarification from us soon on your order status.
As for “B.S.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/01/business/AS-FIN-COM-Japan-Matsushita-Batteries.php
“Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the maker of Panasonic-brand products, has suspended production of lithium-ion batteries at a factory in western Japan following a fire, officials said Monday.
The fire broke out around noon Sunday at a factory for Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. in Osaka and was put out about seven hours later, Akira Kadota, spokesman for Matsushita Electric said. There were no injuries, and officials are investigating the cause of the fire and assessing the damage, he said.”
I ordered a t61 on October 8th and was given a October 25th ship date. On the 24th, I was told it would ship by the next day, the 25th. I called on the 29th and was told that it would ship by the 30th. On the 30th, I checked the order status online and it then said that the EST. SHIP DATE was JAN. 8th!!!! I had been lied to online when I placed the order (which was done with a salesguy over the phone), I was lied to when I called to check the delivery status!! This is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. I called the SALES department (figuring that they might know which part was causing the problem). I was told that the 7 Cell li-ion battery (extended life)was causing the delay to JANUARY and if I switched to a 4 cell battery, the machine would be delivered in 2 weeks. I am APPALLED at how lenovo can “bait and siwtch” and can outright lie. While attempting to have the battery change made, the call disconnected and the change was never done. I called back and they were unable to locate the salesperson. This has been a disaster.
I posted my comments on October 25 and got a call from Mark Hopkins of Lenovo the next day. Today is November 1, and I am writing this comment via Lenovo X61. It’s comforting to know that there are those who can help with what seems at the time to be a hopeless ordeal. I urge anyone who is having issues with Lenovo to contact David Churbuck above. There was absolutely zero delay on his end. This website is a lifesaver. Thanks again.
I am a hopeless customer wants to give it a last shot/
I ordered my Laptop Z61t on Oct-15. EST was on Oct 27. On Oct 27, order canceled. I called hundred times to argue with Lenovo rude representative, Finally, I talked to a nice guy. he helped me replaced my order. However, I was told I would get my laptop 2-3 weeks. During that time, EST changed 2-3 times. Currently, it shows EST Dec 14. and my order still not ship out yet. I was told my order will shipped out on Dec 6th.This shopping experience with Lenovo has been a headache,
I found out this delay is not only happen to me coincidentally, Lenovo has this problems for years. I really hope Lenovo will fix this problem and have a better future. however, Lenovo already disappointed so many angry customers. I truly dont want to be one of them.
I called in Dec 6 canceled my order, I got a email asked me if I chang my mind and agree to the delay. I haven’t decided yet, I am not sure if I want to go through that again. plus, I am leaving my place on Dec 18th, I cant wait any longer than that.
My order # 2CDE57
Great, I called today, Ryan told me my order was canceled without notice me after I waited more than 2months. Lenovo , Screw you !
Dear Mr. Churbuck,
I am writing this letter to possibly find answers to my current Lenovo order. Order: ******
My order was placed on November 30th and shipped December 11th. When checking online via the UPS tracking number provided, it is not able to find the package. There is no recollection of the package or origin scanning/billing; nothing. I have called UPS numerous times with the tracking number and they are clueless. UPS made it aware that Lenovo has not shipped my order.
Further, after dozens of calls to Lenovo, I have heard that my order has shipped and then I have heard I may have to cancel and reorder. On the Internet, there are a lot of other people who are posting forum threads who are experiencing the same exact problem. Here is a thread that is full of at least 20 Lenovo customers who are experiencing the same problem and extremely disappointed: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=197646.
Ultimately, I am not looking to cancel my order because I am an avid Thinkpad fan; however, I am extremely disappointed with Lenovo. I have no idea what is going on with Lenovo’s Operations Management but whoever is making the decisions is obviously not doing his or her job. We have even studied Lenovo’s Operations issues with order fulfillment and now shipping in our Decision Science course at the University of San Diego Olin School of Business. It is just horrible and unprofessional that I have to take my time to contact someone who works for Lenovo directly to find answers.
I want an answer and I need my laptop. I am sitting here empty handed with my credit card already charged. If you can address this issue and find some real, legitimate answers for us that would appreciated. We are all tired of getting the run around from the customer care department. One person says white, the other says black.
I hope Lenovo fixes their act and their entire operations. I appreciate your help.
Very truly yours,
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader
Yikes, I’ve had a Lenovo x61 on order for almost a month and have had the same runaround from Lenovo reps…doesn’t sound particularily promising at this rate. I guess this is typical Communist bureaucracy 😉
I ordered an x61 on Dec 28th, 2007. Its Feb 3rd, 2008 and I have yet to receive it.
It takes at least an hour on hold to reach a sales agent in Canada. This makes it very hard to track down issues.
The first time I called was around the 14th of Jan, when I received an email from Bizrate asking how I like the notebook. I called Lenovo and they told me “oh sorry, there was a billing problem, and it never got to manufacturing”…
I’d tell you the rest of the stories but they are all similar. The point is that:
on feb 4th, I call again, and its STILL on its way to manufacturing. The notebook will not ship until Feb 14th.
Thats over 6 weeks to get the notebook shipped out the door. Many customers have been more vocal then me, and they received their notebooks within 4 weeks. I sat on the sidelines and only called them 3 times to bitch, and now it looks like I will receive it 7 weeks after I ordered it.
I’ve sent 2 emails to Lenovo over this time as well, but neither have receieved a response.
I placed an order for a docking station and power supply for my T60 in December ’07 and received information in February ’08 that my order would be shipped from different locations so would probably arrive on different dates. I received the P/S shortly afterward, but still no docking station.
I figure the only way to get things from Lenovo is to go through a dealer and pay a little bit more to avoid the hassle. The dealer will either have it in stock or not. If not, I just go to the next dealer, etc.
That’s how I originally acquired my T60 – through a Value Added Reseller. In the case of Lenovo, I emphasize the Value-Added.
My two cents.
Christopher
ordered dec 28th, still waiting feb 18th..
The little girl who loved Lenovo, but was
forced to break up.
My girlfriend was understandably happy when she came home with her brand new Lenovo IBM Thinkpad, even if it had cost her most of her student loans, but her previous one had collapsed mid-semester after four years of loyal service. She clutched it to her breast, and for reasons best known to herself dediced to call it Nói (Noah).
At this time I was having a lot of success in my work as a writer, and there was barely a cloud in our sky. We were enjoying our stay in Tartu, Estonia. However, the computer did not work properly and I could sense her growing frustration as she went down to Tartu’s Photopoint every day and the repairs dragged on and on. This was beginning to put a strain on our relationship, as well as distracting us both from our work. Finally, after 19 days, it came back. And still did not work properly.
At this point I decided to go down there myself and simply ask for a refund, since this computer had already caused us so much grief and my girlfriend had taken to calling it
“ugly” or “junk.” I was shocked to find out that Nordic Digital/Photopoint did not care the
least about consumer satisfaction or even, it seemed, fair play. Having repeatedly denied my
request to refund the computer or talk to a manager, they left me no option but to talk to a lawyer. When you have a problem with your new computer, you should be able to talk to the shop, not a lawyer. Alas, they have left me no option.
Therefore, I emplore IBM Lenovo to compel Nordic Digital/Photopoint to solve this problem.
If they will not, I suggest that IBM Lenovo do so themselves, as a gesture of good faith to
two very loyal customers. We are still young and have many computers left to buy in our lives. We always thought they would be Lenovo’s, but now we are not so sure.
We want this settled as quickly as possible. My girlfriend has to concentrate on her studies
and I look forward to writing other things than complaints letters. But at the present moment,
we feel very wronged and are unable to think about anything else.
Regards,
Valur Gunnarsson
I placed an order for a T61 with a high cell battery on 4/21/08. At that time they said my battery would ship later than expected on 6/02/08. My laptop arrived as expected, but well it’s already June and my battery hasn’t arrived. I checked the status today to find it won’t ship until 8/25/08 !!!!! WTF ??? 4 months for a battery? The company can output full fledged T61 in about a week or two, but it can’t output a battery for over four months??? I called them today and basically didn’t get an answer other than, “there is a global constrain on the orders of the high cell battery”. That’s a load of crap I say. If it was the laptop, maybe it it’d be difficult to arrive on time, I could expect that. But a freakin battery??? Give me a break.
One year later, and no improvement… I ordered a lenovo workstation 6/11 estimated ship date 7/2… lo-and-behold, the morning of 7/2 I check the status website, and the new “estimated ship date” is 7/23. No explanation. Completely useless “order status” webpage. No satisfying explanation from phone support. (why can’t they just tell me if a part’s back-ordered?) So I thought “wow, this is pretty awful.” and I did a google search… alas! This problem has been ongoing for over a year! How are these guys still in business??? The practice of delaying an “estimated ship date” on the day it’s supposed to ship is disingenuous at best. I ordered this machine to coincide with a computer rendering course, and it’s starting to look like my course will be over by the time this thing ships. Very dissapointed and looking at alternatives.
I placed an order for a Lenovo ThinkCentre desktop from their factory outlet website last Thursday. I received an email confirmation a couple days later, with details of my credit card authorization, order details, and a weblink to check on the order status. I clicked on the link, and and everything appeared to be in order. Yesterday, I checked the weblink again to check on my order status, to see if the ship date had changed, and lo and behold, the website indicated that I didn’t have a valid order number! Then, I contacted the 800 number for Lenovo, and was told they cancelled my order because the charge couldn’t be authorized, and I “should contact my bankcard for more information”. Hello!?? I’ve never had a problem with my Visa card, nor experienced anything so perversely ridiculous as a cancelled order without any notification of a problem beforehand. So, if I had waited until my intial estimated ship date on 7/17, I would have waited and waited in vain, with no clue that my order had been cancelled on me! Amazing. I’m never ordering from Lenovo again, and will make it my imperative to warn my friends from even considering them. And I’m a loyal IBM customer, since 1996 with my first Thinkpad 365X.
Well, my situation is even worse. I ordered a Y460 on december 14, 2010 and i checked the shipping date the first time and it said december 17. Great, that was 3 days. However, when i checked it on the 16th, the est. shipping date disappeared. Three more days passed by and i checked it again. Guess what it said. EST. SHIPPING DATE: 03/28/11. SERIOUSLY?! IT TAKES 4 MONTHS TO MAKE A COMPUTER?! This is not the first time but the more serious one. The time when i became a victim, the laptop was delayed for about one whole month. So im guessing the next time i order a lenovo computer, it would be 4 times longer than the second time which would be 1 year and 4 months? If so, i think lenovo is going to be broke very fast.
To all who are considering ordering from Lenovo directly — DO NOT!! You have been warned. I originally ordered a Z570 i5 on June 18th. It wasn’t until July 10th (after many phone calls, emails and LIES FROM LENOVO REPS) that I finally found out that the configuration I ordered had sold out and they wouldn’t be making any more of them. I was then offered two substitute laptops (both with inferior specs — one even had “Better graphics” where the graphics card information should have been). I refused both offers and finally said that I would like to upgrade to the U400 i7 for the same cost or I was going to cancel the order. I was told that would be fine and that it would be put on “the priority list”. The back and forth with the foreign reps ate up another few days. By this time the ship date on the website for the U400 said July 18th. I said fine and was given a new order number. Checking the order status a couple days later showed a ship date of the 19th. One more day, no big deal. The 19th comes and goes, then the ship date changes to the 23rd. Now I am being told the 3rd of August due to LCD supply issues. So almost 2 months to even get a laptop to ship. Its not worth the hassle having to deal with Lenovo directly. I have loved their products for many years (starting back when they were IBM products) and have been a loyal customer. No longer. Sad for them. I own a technical services/consulting company and have also recommended their products to my clients, family and friends. I can easily account for hundreds if not thousands of sales through my company and my customers. All that good faith gone in a matter of weeks. I am going to wait until the 3rd of August to see if my laptop actually ships. But only because I am getting it for about 60% off. If it ships then MAYBE Lenovo could still retain a portion of my business (but only through other 3rd party suppliers).
I wish I could have read this posts before! I ordered a Thinkpad as a present to my son who is starting college this year. Right now I don’t even have an estimated ship date. All reps are well trained to lie to their teeth. Many of them made promises that they knew they couldn’t deliver.
WILL NEVER ORDER FROM LENOVO AGAIN!!!!
I too have placed order for
IdeaPad Y580 Laptop – 209945U – Dawn Gra
When i placed the order on 25th Aug 2012 it said the estimated delivery date will be 28th aug … then it said 3rd september … then 6 .. then 9th september ….. i dont know when they will ship my laptop….
After days of calling Lenovo on my order status.. I get an email today on shipment delay upto 30 days.. I ordered a think pad Twist.. I could have gone to staples and bought it.. Still trusted Lenovo.. So first the order status webpage don’t work.. Then they say and make promises never fulfilled. I am on the go all the time. Estimated ship date was 01/08/12 and now delayed upto 30 days.. Or hold on a sec.. They just remembered to fulfillment of a huge Walmart orders so individuals like us are forgotten.. Thanks Lenovo.. Even if I want one.. I won’t even think of ordering it online.. I am canceling my order today.. Infact anyone I meet and see am going to preach these news.. Word of mouth is the oldest an the best marketing tool around.. This experience has not only made me mad but loose hopes on Lenovo.. Like a wiseman told me once.. A good experience is hate with only few upto 2 people.. But a BAD experience is hated on the news channel.. Meaning a lot of people.. Thank you for lying.. In days I can buy and return 2 laptops..
Their website is a joke… 😐
Wisemans words: a good experience is shared only with a few, but a BAD experience is Shared in the news.. A lot of people.. Meant to say that in my comments..
I wish I did some online research before ordering my laptop. Lenovo’s shipping process is notoriously slow and the company completely lacks accountability and responsibility towards their consumers. I have been waiting for over 5 weeks to get my laptop and still do not how long will I have I wait. As Mr. Kenton wrote, “it is a tradition” and sadly nothing has changed over the years. It is such a shame their messy logistics and supply chain management is diminishing the value of their products. I swear, I will never make the mistake of buying a Lenovo product again.
Same ol’ same ol’. Yeah, I should’ve done some research before ordering a computer directly from Lenovo. Everybody raves about the Thinkpad, and I have no doubt that it’s a quality machine, but the endless shipping delays are so frustrating.
I bought my T530 computer on March 29th, and was told at the time that it was expected to ship on April 8th. I tried to check the order status page several times, but received errors. Finally, when I was able to access the page a week later, it still hadn’t even been released to manufacturing yet. I checked on April 8th and saw that it was bumped back to April 12th. Checked on the 12th, it had been bumped back to the 16th. Checked on April 15th, and now it has been bumped back to the 25th.
Based on what I’ve read above, it appears that the delays have only just begun. I’m contemplating canceling my order if it gets bumped again.
You know as a first time customer of Lenovo, It’s sad that i had high hopes for this company. I’ve waited a week or so for a email but the best thing about this company is that they hold empty promises.