XPS 9000 and XPS 8000 delivery delay issues

I ordered my studio xps 8000 on 10/11 and the original est. delivery date was 10/26.  This was delayed to 11/2 and then again to 11/9.

I called customer support and they were really unhelpful, just said the expected lines and would not upgrade my shipping.  I noticed the xps 8000 at all my area Best Buys.  I guess they are busy building for them and all of us internet orders are paying for it.  I just wish they would be honest with the ship dates.  My experience is that calling was not helpful; I can only patiently wait.

I just ordered  mine today with an expected delivery of November 16.  If it's going to be ANY later, I will call and cancel the order.  When it comes to technology, especially computers there is no need to wait, the price keeps on dropping.  Besides, I'm already having second thoughts on my purchase too.  I could spend a hundred dollars more and have a much more upgradable system and a much more powerful power supply. If my order is delayed, I'll look at this as an omen (don't buy Dell), especially since Dell's language barrier with those in India is huge.  The Philippines aren't as bad.

I ordered my XPS8000 on 10/7 with a surprisingly quick initial delivery date of 10/12. On 10/13 they bumped the date to 11/4 and on 10/20 they changed it again to 11/25. The last two dates were not posted on the order status page so I actually had to call to get them. It has been very frustrating. No one at customer care has any information that is in the least bit reliable.

When I called on 10/13 I was told that the 11/4 date was a worse case scenario and that I should receive my computer no later than that date. He said he upgraded me to next day delivery.

When I called on 10/20 after receiving another delay notice from Dell I was told by customer service the new expected date and when I asked to confirm that I had been upgraded to next day delivery I was told that I had not been and it was not company policy to do so. That customer care person was a little on the rude side and might have actually taken the upgrade off just because he felt like it.

On 10/21 I was looking at systems to see if I could maybe get a better deal than the one I had ordered, I decided to do something radical and use the Dell Chat and find out what the delivery date on a new order with the exact same build would be. Here is a quick paraphrased summary (I do have the whole chat session saved but the person was actually very polite and seemed to be shocked at the lack of real information they were given - obviously they were new)

- how long to receive system - 9 to 11 business days (remember this is the same configuration I am waiting for)

- heard that there were delays on XPS8000, please confirm - checking ... within 12 business business days and if it gets delayed a maximum of 13 days

- then I told him about my actual order and that the dates that he provided did not match with what was actually happening - checking ...

the customer care person then took my order number and actually went through a fair bit of effort to find out what was happening with my order before finally responding. While the person was doing this they were missing commission sales that they could have been getting had they been taking orders. In the end they were unable to help and suggested I call customer care as they would more information. Which they don't.

Yes, there are some very rude people in Dell Customer Care, but I don't believe they have any access to the information that they require to answer any of our queries honestly. They are being told one thing when we know that the truth is something else. It is a shame since if we all had accurate information we would have realistic expectations and could make informed decisions on whether to place an order / whether to wait / or whether to move on. In all likelihood if I had been made aware of the real situation I would wait patiently for my order as I did receive a good deal and at least one competitor, HP, is having quality issues with a comparable product.

Another thing (please read this Dell), if we (the customer) had the option of upgrading / downgrading a delayed or backordered part in order to get our system earlier we would be much happier. I realize that the delay with this current order was likely the processor (although no one can confirm). When I suggested this to one customer care representative they told me that once a system enters the build stage the order can not be modified. Something you might want to reconsider.

Information is king in this day and age. For a tech company to not have all the information at their fingertips is downright embarrasing.

Delays of six weeks within an 8-day period with little communication and no details is not acceptable and will certainly make me think twice before I place another order for myself, my company, or any of my clients.

I don't think the delay is just on the XPS systems, as I have ordered a Studio 15 laptop on the 10/22 with an delivery date of 11/1, just logged on now to check and they  have delayed the delivery until the 11/24. I think it has been delayed because I asked for the Intel i7 core, I say 'guess' because only the Sales department is open 7 days a week, I do like the way once Dell have taken your money the phone lines suddenly go 9 til 5, business days only.

Spaz888, I will be amazed if you get yours on that date, mainly because it would mean it would arrive before mine which I ordered last month.

Its amazing how much I agree with all the comments above, they only give you an estimated delivery date so that you confirm the order, I can tell you if they had told me it was going to take over 5 weeks to build my computer when I ordered, I would not of ordered. I do believe Dell catch a lot of people out with the system as there is nothing much you can do about it.

I will try and ring 'customer care' tomorrow to see what they say but I'm not expecting any information from them. I'm just hoping it arrives before xmas as i'm guessing xmas orders will start getting processed before long and cause even longer delays.

I can't say how angry I am today, was looking forward to getting my laptop tomorrow and now I don't have a clue when it will turn up. I could of spent a bit more money and got the same spec from my local pc store and I would have had it by now.

I will let you know if my computer ever does turn up cos i'm not holding much hope for the 11/24.

Im in the UK here so unfortunately Best Buy isn't an option for me. I guess when I said sales was 7 days a week, that's just new sales.

You know it would be nice if they just said why there were so many delays, if they told me they didn't have the chipset in stock then I would understand but just changing the delivery date so late on with no reason.

It is hard to believe though if the stock levels for the Intel i7 are low then why not state that on the website when you are ordering and say there will be a delay in the delivery date. Someone really needs to look at the overall customer service that Dell offers, communication is key Dell.

Hi Spaz,

I really thought about cancelling my order and buying the same computer at Best Buy.  However, I got a good deal when I ordered through Dell and the one I am waiting for has slightly better specs at a slightly lower price.  This decision would be a lot easier to make if I knew exactly how much longer I need to wait.  This is the real reason why I am so angry with Dell's customer service.  I don't know if my computer is shipping tomorrow or a month from now.

Here's my Story,

I first ordered the Studio XPS 8000 on October 1(shipped from NC), it processed and shipped the next day.  it took about 4 days to recieve it (oct 5th) .

Once i recieved it, i was very dissappointed with it, so i sent it back the next business day (not before spending 4-6hours arguing with customer service/ order mgnmt/ my sales agent etc for them to waive the15% restock fee.)  and dell scanned it back to the warehouse on the 9th. My refund was then applied on the 10th and i placed a new order on the 11th for the Studio XPS 9000.

After the new order was placed, i had a delivery date of 11/10/09. I thought it would take the full 4 weeks for it to ship after reading the forums, but i got my shipping notification(from el paso, tx) on october 29th. I should recieve it by nov 3rd- needless to say, i will have it 7days before the orginial ship date.

I hope to give a review and post some pics of my setup.

My Build - Studio XPS 9000-

Window 7 Pro 64bit,  I7-920 CPU. 6GB OCZ 1600/12800 XMP Triple Channel Ram, Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128Bit GDDR5 Video Card,  Diamond ATI 650 PRo Dual HDTV Tuner,  250GB/500GB/1 TB HDD, Samsung TOC 240HD 1080P 24"TV/monitor,  Samsung Syncmaster 2233w 1080P 22" Monitor, Belkin N1 wireless PCI Card, X- Rocker Pro II Gaming Chair

My original post wad deleted by the mods.  Let's give this one a go.

It's quite tempting to keep one's order in the queue.  However, we need to remain focused that the price of PC components and builds wil be dropping in price and specs getting better.  In my case, the Dell rep also sweetened the deal a bit but didnt lower the price. It's good to read that they have the authority to do so.  But I am glad I called to cancel.  Each person's experience varies.  Still, it was quite an annoying and grueling process due to the poor telephone connection and speaking to people who have a thick accent especially when there is a delay with the voice.

Suffice to say, I sent Dell and email and two follow-up phone calls. I dont know if they (Sales) are truly working 7 days a week because I was told I HAD to talk to my sales rep.  I went ahead and left messages cancelling my order.  Now, I will pay a bit more (or not) for a much better and larger case, better and stronger PSU, more memory upgrade options, more SATA ports,  USB 3.0 and SATA 6G (all new for 2010), and a real big thing for me- the ability to add more than 2 Hard drives.  I want a system to grow with me but with all the Dell lines, you're pretty much stuck with what you get from the initial install.  Having said that, the case for the XPS 9000 is a tad bit bigger and it seems that it'll will allow three hard drives...at least according to supremefive.

I forgot to add: Dell's been steadfastly losing ground in terms of customer service and support amongst it's customers. There have been many surveys out there that have reported the same thing: unsatisfied Dell customers.

Sorry I keep bombarding this topic but I am really angry at the moment.

I just went in one of Dell's chat windows and asked for a estimated delivery for the same laptop I ordered on the 10/22 and they said if I ordered it today it would be on or before the 11/17. I said thats quite impressive, can you explain to me why the latop I ordered 2 weeks ago has been delayed until the 11/24.

The guy went quiet for a bit then came back saying "The estimated date sometimes gets changed and you would get the update on that", so I told him I did get notified but what he was saying was that if I ordered a laptop today (11/02) i would recieve it before the one I ordered on the (10/22), how could this be possible. Unforunately al he could come back with was that I had to call the "customer care" department.

Kind of makes me laugh, even though there is a known delay on some part of these Dell computers, they are still telling new customers that they will get them within 2 weeks of ordering which is quite blatantly a lie.

Dell and honestly do not go in the same sentence (apart from this one of course)! ;)

Looks like I may have to build after all.  I ordered an XPS 9000, and shortly canceled it seeing the delays.  I expected 1 week, not a month...or so.  Frustrating, as it seems like a decent build for a good price, but it isn't any good if the customer can't access it.  For some reason the monitor was shpped right away...??  That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  Something else to send back.

Hey,

What makes Dell even more of a joke is that they have started removing mine ands Spaz888's posts on this topic because we have apparently violated the Dell Community Terms of Service, or perhaps it is because we are talking the truth and they don't want everyone to hear about the problems. "Terms of Service" now Dell are haveing  laugh considering what we are all complaining about.  Perhaps instead of them spending time removing our posts they should spend the time finding out what is causing the delays on our products.

I'm not sure if this post will stay up long but if your having the same issue as use please post so that we can really make the community aware of this issue and maybe, just maybe something will be done about it.

I will continue to update as I things happen!

peterjharrison, Spaz888,

There was no "apparently" about it. Your post were deleted because of offensive language.

Ok I wouldn't called it "offensive language" excatly but maybe inappropriate, but at least it got some from Dell's attention to what is such a issue from many of your customers. As mm_64 says we do like the Dell products but we would like a bit more transparency when it comes to issues with our orders.

Now that you are here and obivously monitoring this topic, is it possible for you to give us some sort of feedback on this issue, I do not believe that is to much to ask when most of use are spending around £1000 with you. I mean when I speak to sales they say I can have my laptop within 2 weeks if I order it today but then I'm told i have to wait almost 6 weeks now on the laptop I ordered 2 weeks ago.

Please do help us as we really do want to use Dell and don't want to go elsewhere like many people already have, as you can tell from this forum.

Chris M,

Glad to see that someone from Dell is monitoring these forums. Since you are here perhaps you can answer a couple questions for us.

We obviously love Dell's products or we wouldn't be here. However, we are experiencing some frustration with the disconnect between sales and what actually happens. From my experiences it seems as if information regarding shortages / back orders are not made available to your sales staff or the systems that give us our initial delivery date. Which is odd because sometimes when configuring a computer I see messages indicating that if I choose a certain option my order may be delayed. I like those warnings and use them to configure my PCs in a way that will give me what I want in the time I want and if I want I can choose to wait the extra time for those options that are in low supply. What I don't like is configuring a PC and then being told a week later that the original estimated delivery date is off by 6 weeks.

Based on various threads in various forums it is apparent that these type of delays / communication problems have been occurring more frequently and have been getting worse since about February of this year.

Are you aware of anything that Dell is doing to improve this situation?

Of more relevance to this group, do you know what is causing the current delays with the XPS 8000 and 9000s? Is it delays in motherboards, cpu, optical drives, ...? Any information you could give us would help reduce the frustration. It's the not knowing what is going on that is driving us crazy!

Thanks