Would Dell delay delivering holiday orders?

14th December, 2009 by Adina
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Dell might have problems with its delivery system, according to multiple sources, and a delay in fulfilling holiday orders would be inevitable. People who ordered claim that their orders have already been delayed up to four times and many of them are rescheduled for January. Dell regularly claims that some parts are missing and systems cannot be finished and that the number of orders for the holiday season is too large.

These delays are believed to have their origin in Dell’s approach to custom-ordering systems. Instead of building a pre-configured system and then modify it, Dell adopts a “just in time” system that provides the components when they are needed for certain orders. Although creating greater flexibility, the method also creates problems when there are suppliers in trouble.

On the contrary, Apple and other vendors usually have the systems completely or nearly pre-assembled and modify them only if necessary and at the last minute. Although Dell has tried to bring some amelioration with retail PCs and pre-made, Fast Track configurations, delays have existed in the past.

Dell’s declining performance could compound if missed deliveries continue, by delaying revenue or worse than that, by steering its customers to rival companies that have quicker delivery.


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Readers Comments

  1. Vinod Kalathil says:
    December 14, 2009 at 10:55 am

    I placed an order with Dell in November only to find weeks later that my order has been delayed till mid Jan. The interesting thing is that if I go and configure a new computer on Dell’s website, it shows a Dec 24th delivery date. Go figure! I went and got an HP instead.

  2. Dave, Ottawa says:
    December 14, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Ordered a Dell Studio 17 on Oct 22. Delivery dates of Nov 18, Dec 4, and now Dec 22. Won’t let me cancel my order either. Brutal customer experiance.

  3. Marc W says:
    December 15, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Ordered a customized 546 on 11/24, original shipping date was 12/15. It’s now slipped to 12/22. After a 35 minute wait on their telephone order support line, no guarantee that it would be delivered by 12/22.

    This is a gift for a friend’s daughter. All I want to know is if it’s going to be delivered in time or not. If it’s not I’ll go elsewhere.

    Delayed order hotline rolls to a voice mailbox. This is not a way to handle business.

    I’m not pissed off about the failure to ship, I just want to know yea or nay.

  4. Jeff I says:
    December 15, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    I was one of many who Dell alienated. I called Dell support on Friday the 11th asking if my xps 9000 would be delayed. I was assured that everything was just fine. on Monday the 14th I got the notice it would be delayed until mid January. Dell is displaying a huge amount of hubris in this. Just by looking at the forums they must be loosing 10’s of thousands of dollars to HP amd Apple. And yet they are silent with no explinations or apologies. I’m just amazed at how supposedly responsible people can be so rude when people are trying to purchase 1-2 thousand dollars worth of product.

  5. Anon Ymous says:
    December 15, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    Ordered Dell Zino on 11/27 Black Friday sale with original ship date of 12/17.

    Notified on 12/14 that new ship date is 2/24/2010?!?!

  6. Jeff B. says:
    December 15, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Dell has a big problem. I ordered a Studio XPS8000 system in late October with an initial delivery date of Nov. 16, that was subesquently delayed to 11/24, 12/2 and finally 12/9. After the 12/2 date passed I told Dell to pack sand and ordered an HP. The HP arrived before the latest delivery date I had gotten from Dell. They are spoon feeding their competition.

  7. George says:
    December 15, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    I ordered a Studio XPS 9000 on 12/3. My estimated ship date has been listed as 01/01/0001 on the order status. So, based on my order status my computer has been delay for over 2000 years. I contacted customer (lack of) support about the glitch and was assured that my machine was still on-track to be delivered on or before 12/23/09. One doesn’t have to read too deeply into the forums at Dell.com to realize that the likelihood of it arriving by Christmas are pretty slim.

  8. George says:
    December 16, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    I was pleasantly surprised to see that my XPS 9000 shipped today and now has an updated estimated delivery date of 12/22. A few other people on the Dell forums also said their XPS 9000 machines shipped today. Unfortunately, it looks like the XPS 8000 delays are still rolling in.

  9. Michelle says:
    December 18, 2009 at 12:29 am

    I ordered on 11/29/09 and my shipment date has changed three times already (I ordered an Inspiron 17). They’re telling me that I might receive it on New Years Eve…Right! I’m very disappointed.

  10. Steven says:
    December 18, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    Ordered my Dell Zino with Blu-Ray upgrade. was suppose to arrive Dec 14th, now it says delayed until Feb 24th 2010!!!

  11. Bennie says:
    December 18, 2009 at 9:48 pm

    Ordered a XPS 8000 on 11/16, with EDD 12/07. EDD slipped to 12/14, 12/21, now 12/30. Trying now to cancel order but working with Customer Support a nightmare!DELL has never advised me of delays, won’t answer my emails (except automated replies…”Thank you so much for asking.” Great, now when will they actually answer. I am trying to cancel my order now. Try to call and expect a long, long wait and then the support person will begin to read from a script. I am finished with DELL. I ordered a keyboard from DELL about four months ago and they sent me the wrong keyboard and the one they sent was a “refurbished” one. I should have learned my lesson then.

  12. Simon says:
    December 21, 2009 at 6:30 am

    I ordered an XPS13 on Sep 16th.

    I have had 10 delivery dates, currently 4th Jan 2010.

  13. Fiore Bendotti says:
    December 23, 2009 at 12:31 am

    I ordered a Dell computer on November 27, 2009 I have since received three e-mails stating that there will be a delay in shipping. The estimated arrival date is January 6, 2010. I paid for the order with an American express Dell coupon for $350 that I received with my rewards program.
    I am forced to wait for the order to be shipped. I was told that if I canceled my order that my coupons would no longer be valid and my $350 would be forfeited .that is crazy. I tried to contact American express and they said they could not help me.
    They told me that Unfortunately it is Dell’s policy. This will be the last time I ever order any product from Dell.

  14. David says:
    December 23, 2009 at 11:33 am

    E-Ordered an XPS9000 in early Dec. They were happy to take my money. Then got a notice giving a delivery date of Jan 21– over 7 weeks. E-mailed Cust. Support– no reply. Finally phoned after 2 weeks, waited 30 mins. and got a hack who was clearly covering for Dell. Asked for another option that could be shipped sooner– but no, mine was “already in production”. I am waiting for the order delayed notice next. Reading these I realize I am getting off lightly with Dell. NEVER AGAIN. Dell, you have big problems. Wake up.

  15. DellCheatedMe2 says:
    December 24, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    Dell is fraudulently promising delivery dates to get an order, and then refusing to cancel the order once placed. I configured a Power Edge server for my midsized business. After configuring the system, the delievery date was Dec 29. Ten seconds later(after entering my cc and submitting the order) the delivery date magicly gets delayed by 1 month. This is how Dell is padding their revenues for Wall Street but it is completly dishonest. Where are the State Attorney Generals on Dells fraudulent conduct?

  16. EffDell says:
    January 16, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    My Dell Desktop order has now officially been delayed a grand total of 5 (FIVE) times and the best part is that they haven’t had the common courtesy to notify me directly of these delays (they have my email and direct phone line on record). Terrible customer service! This will definitely be my last Dell purchase.

  17. de00llrect9um says:
    January 30, 2010 at 4:30 am

    Dell has become tremendously unprofessional. I have now first hand experience with that fact. I ordered a computer as a Christmas gift on Dec 2, 2009. This was a Christmas gift. It might as well have been Halloween because this was where my horror story began. Since then I have not received well-wishes from my gift recipient. Rather I have been receiving delay notifications from. Dell.

    I cannot pass on delay notifications from Dell because I don’t think my niece would think it an adequate Christmas gift.

    On Jan 25th I received my SIXTH (6 TIMES!!!) notification of my order delay. Just like the prior 5 times, I notified Dell to continue with my order. Later that day, I received notification from Dell that my order was to be continued. Lo and behold, today on Jan 27th I checked my order and found that my order has been CANCELLED!. What the heck is going on here?

    I received no email from Dell notifying me of that situation. If I just was checking my emails and not the actual Dell Order webpage I would have never found out that someone at Dell decided to ignore my wishes and cancel my order.

    Dell has to fix this problem

  18. apached says:
    February 27, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    Just what is going on at Dell? So many delays. Vostro 430 ordered Feb 12. Tracking still says Work in Progress dely now Apr9.
    Come on Dell. WAKE UP !!