Looooooong Alienware Delivery Times

Patience is a virtue, or so we are told. Wait times are almost a tradition with customer build systems. GO to any site that lets you customer buidl (including razer) and you will have a long wait time. The reason is because it is custom built, and companies cannot simply have massive amounts of inventory for each possible part on hand. This would simply not be cost effective. They cannot simply return back unused parts to the manufacturer in all cases. So they keep on hand what they expect to use, and sometimes this creates shortages. Its like when you go to the store. You don't buy 10 gallons of milk just in case you need that much, you buy what you need, and sometimes that means you run out early, but you do your best to judge what you will need.

As for the change in dates, the system does show you the estimated times based on generic builds, but as you customize the device it updates. Ive done this a number fo times before, and it is important to check the EDD before you oficially click order. It does change depending on what you do from initially pulling up the site to when you place the order. Its to base on the availability of parts.

It is a wait, but the truth is that its worth it. Trust me. I waited over a month for my system. Its an r3 model (we have r5 now) and it still outperforms the new razer systems. Its worth it.

PheonixBennu

Thanks for your reply, and I can see the sense of some of what you have written, however, I did not customise the laptop but ordered a base one with no add ons, so in theory at least this should not necessitate special parts being ordered.

Secondly, it is reportedly the hard drive and keyboard which are in short stock, all variants of this laptop require the keyboard and I would have thought a very large proportion will also have the standard 750 GB hard drive and both should therefore be standard parts. I would have hoped that standard parts are ordered in larger quantities and held in stock otherwise every order would be subject to these protracted lead times, or maybe that is the real issue and the real reason for the delay.

I appreciate that these are built to order and not held in stock as a finished unit, and I can accept waiting longer than you would for an "off the shelf item", but nearly 6 weeks???, sorry but that strains credibility in my opinion.  You are of course entitled to your opinion and I am sure when it eventually arrives it will have been worth the wait as you say. You are obviously a much more patient person than I and many others on this forum seem to be to be content to wait this long for what is after all just another consumer electronics product but I find a 6 week wait even for a bespoke item to be unacceptable.

happend same to me , i ordered the new 18 , on 23/06 ,the base one without to add any options , with a EDD on 13/07 , i saw very late on track order that the EDD is not 13/07 anymore and is 29/07.  today 3/07  the track order status  for me is still pre-production , and today 3/7 on alienware site the EDD are 15/07 for new customers. . i thought that maybe bcz im from uk :) , but seems is not just me .

anyway i have posted a similar tread few days ago and lucky my a very kind tehnician have promise me to keep me up to date

Razvanbonzo

Sorry you are having the same issue but unfortunately  it comes as no surprise as I have heard back from Dell support saying this " To be transparent - All Alienware system models are affected with shortage and this is a global issue we are having."

It goes on to say "I will ensure to keep you updates with regards to progress" this is not my bad grammer, it is exactly as it is written in the mail from Dell support by the way.

So, in other words, they have a shortage and it is affecting all of their models if they are telling me the full facts, looks like we may as well settle in for a long wait or else cancel the order and buy an equivalent MSI or Razer product or similar. I have asked about cancelling but as yet have had no response to my question, will let you know when I get one.

Razvanbonzo

Just to advise you I have cancelled my order with Alienware as they were unable to even guarantee the 29th July date. I have now ordered a Vortex IV LE laptop from PC Specialist in the UK, I will receive this within the next 7 working days. Its not as pretty as the Alienware 14 but is more powerful and cheaper, shame but there you go.

Yeah, that's me. I ordered my alienware 14 on 6/14/13 and it says it will get to me on 7/19/13. What's the problem with that? It takes less than 30 days to build a car. I absolutely love alienware, but please speed up with the building.

Just wanted to throw my statement out there.  Ordered June 30th.  Estimated for July 5th.  Same as Davichc, it was immediately delayed until July 12th.  I was like okay.  Once that time arrived it was delayed again until July 18th.  It is now July 18th checked in and they said that they are just now handing the package over to FedEx (Ground btw)  and it will arrive around July 28th.  I'm trying not to be rude or upset but I did try to cancel and they said I would have to get the unit and send it back.  After a bit of fussing I was able to get 100 dollars off the computer.  I also asked him, should they not over night it since it's their bad it's so late and he said he'll try but no promises.  I am tempted to just get something from amazon and send their computer back when it get's here.  Here's hoping July 28th is the last push back. :\

Be careful returning a computer back to amazon,They are very strict on computer returns.

It seems this is a REALLY old thread.  But since its brought up I too am waiting on a Area 51 BASE and it has an estimated ETA of 8/8.  It was ordered on the 11th if I remember right.  Seems like an excessive wait time on what IS a mass manufactured computer.  I reckon it might have to do with the fact it is coming with a i7 6800k which is pretty new.