I too almost cancealed my order when I recieved a phone call that it was going to be delayed by 23 days, and this happened on the day it was suppose
to ship, then I recieved a email that it had shipped the same day (not sure what had happened), so hang in there I am glad so far I had not cancealed, this Aurora
My system is close to it.....but I got mine a few months ago.
Like the others had said, this is probably the worst time to order the system, as they get short on parts and shipping companies are extremely busy this time of year, and delays are inevitable.
Just be patient and you will get the system soon. I would bet that the RAM is what is probably delaying the system, because they just released the 1866Mhz RAM for the Area 51 ALX. You can always call and find out what part is causing the delay.
I am in the same boat. My PC stats are in my signature. Very close to your build. I ordered on the 29th of July and mine is still in production. I called yesturday to find out the GTX480 and the i7 980x is on backorder. Not happy. You'd think Dell would reorder parts the second they ran down to thier last 50 pieces.
I feel your pain. Now we can feel the pain together.
Now for the Rest of the Story: Good News…Order Update…The Alien Has Landed
As I said previously the order had been delayed yet again:(Quick Recap)
Original order: Jul-7 with delivery Aug3, delayed->Aug 10, order cancelled by Dell.
Re-order: Aug 3 with delivery Aug 25, delayed ->Sep 01.
If you have read my previous posts about this order you are aware that while my order experience has not been as bad as some, never the less the frustration was mounting. Frankly I was very near cancelling the whole order myself and just going in another direction. Actually, I did request for Dell to send me a Return Authorization for the 3 Dell U2410 monitors that I purchased for use with the dual ATI 5970’s and I was just going to cancel the Area-51 ALX purchase altogether. But then something happened!!!
Something Happened Along the Way:
On Aug 22, three days before the Aug 25th original delivery date for the re-order (that had been delayed to Sep 01) I got a call from Mr. Chandler P. He said that he would look into the order but he could not guarantee a delivery date. At this point I figured ok; give them one more shot at it since he did call. Actually he called and sent and responded to several emails.
I don’t know what he did but after talking with him, the next day the Dell website order status changed to a new EDD of Aug 26 (1 day past the original date). The system was in fact delivered on Aug 26.
Reasons for the Delays:
Frankly, I don’t have a clue, although I have been given several; I guess you can pick the one you like.
The first reason I was given was Customs. Yep, I was told that customs often holds up shipments depending of the price. Strange, because I have ordered server systems for companies I contract to that cost many times this amount without a hitch. The next reason I was given was given was the strangest of all; perhaps the system had been stolen or hijacked in China. Because none of the Dell personnel could locate the original system, this was the reason given. While I have no clue about this particular system order, I have heard this same thing in connection with a totally different order from a different company. Other reasons I was given involve the normal stuff; parts shortages, pick the one you like (Intel i7-980x, ATI 5970’s, or the 1866MHz memory).
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly; or the Death of a Thousand Cuts:
Along the way there were some pretty cool people that work in a pretty lousy system.
The original order was with Tyrone T & his supervisor Timothy C. I was actually amazed that Tyrone actually knew so much about the Area-51 ALX. He knew the specs, the options, and many of the games to expect great performance with this system. Timothy actually helped me get the long sleeved Alienware T-shirt in a size larger than is available on the website. Why would Dell not sell men’s shirts in 2x sizes? Great, Great, Great is all I can say about both Tyrone & Tim.
Evan P was also very helpful along the way. And of course Chandler P. This guy actually saved Dell a very good customer. While my business alone certainly won’t make Dell and the lack of my business won’t break Dell, but frankly how many $8,000 Home/Small Office customers can Dell afford to lose?
The problem is these guys represent the face or rather the voice of Dell to the consumer. As helpful as they are, they are let down time and time again by a production system that is driving away loyal customers. It appears to me that if the sales people could get accurate information as to the order / production status, a lot of grief and customer angst could be eliminated.
At what point will Dell realize they are destroying a golden customer fan base. People that purchase high-end systems are very well aware that delays happen. Just tell them the truth. Build into the order system at least one chance to change an order without cancelling the whole order. If a part is going to cause a delay over a 7 days, allow customers one chance to change the order to a part that is currently available; video cards come to mind.
In the enthusiast class of PC’s there are few real players. HP & Voodoo appear to have died on the vine, nobody wants to game on a Gateway, that leaves Dell, homebrew or the boutique system builders Falcon-NW, MainGear, or Orgin PC. I had decided to go with Falcon-NW until Chandler called me.
Dell desperately needs to fix its customer service problem. When asked by family members and friends for normal PC suggestions I no longer automatically say Dell; nowadays I point people to Best Buy. For high-end purchases I will now shop the boutiques, if they are within a few hundred dollars of Dells price I will probably give them a shot. This Christmas season I know I’ll be in the market to replace my XPS M170 laptop. In the past the automatic choice would have been between the M15 or M17 inch Alienware laptops, now I will really give careful consideration the Sager and Toshiba Qosmio machines.
Dell should step up and support their customers and sales teams or both will continue to suffer agonizing order ordeals until the customers just decide to go elsewhere.
Danor
72 Posts
0
August 10th, 2010 09:00
I too almost cancealed my order when I recieved a phone call that it was going to be delayed by 23 days, and this happened on the day it was suppose
to ship, then I recieved a email that it had shipped the same day (not sure what had happened), so hang in there I am glad so far I had not cancealed, this Aurora
is a really nice unit.
tonyman262
37 Posts
0
August 21st, 2010 04:00
Oh Well, yesterday, Friday Aug 20, 5 days before the Estimated Delivery Date I got the dreded email-- ORDER DELAYED
The new EDD is September 01. At this point I cannot say that I am surprised.
Does anyone really have Area-51 ALX with
CPU: i7-980 Extreme
Video: Dual ATI HD 5970overclocked to 4GHz
Memory: 6GB 1866Mhz DDR3
Hard Drives: 600GB RAID 0
SSD Drive: 256GB SSD
Sound: X-Fi Xtreme
19 n 1 media card reader
I'm just wondering if this system really exist.
m3th0d1c4l
265 Posts
0
August 21st, 2010 07:00
My system is close to it.....but I got mine a few months ago.
Like the others had said, this is probably the worst time to order the system, as they get short on parts and shipping companies are extremely busy this time of year, and delays are inevitable.
Just be patient and you will get the system soon. I would bet that the RAM is what is probably delaying the system, because they just released the 1866Mhz RAM for the Area 51 ALX. You can always call and find out what part is causing the delay.
Moggle69
39 Posts
0
August 21st, 2010 14:00
I am in the same boat. My PC stats are in my signature. Very close to your build. I ordered on the 29th of July and mine is still in production. I called yesturday to find out the GTX480 and the i7 980x is on backorder. Not happy. You'd think Dell would reorder parts the second they ran down to thier last 50 pieces.
I feel your pain. Now we can feel the pain together.
Moggle69
39 Posts
0
August 24th, 2010 13:00
Just found out my system is delyed for another 2-3 weeks
tonyman262
37 Posts
0
August 29th, 2010 13:00
Now for the Rest of the Story: Good News…Order Update…The Alien Has Landed
As I said previously the order had been delayed yet again: (Quick Recap)
Original order: Jul-7 with delivery Aug3, delayed->Aug 10, order cancelled by Dell.
Re-order: Aug 3 with delivery Aug 25, delayed ->Sep 01.
If you have read my previous posts about this order you are aware that while my order experience has not been as bad as some, never the less the frustration was mounting. Frankly I was very near cancelling the whole order myself and just going in another direction. Actually, I did request for Dell to send me a Return Authorization for the 3 Dell U2410 monitors that I purchased for use with the dual ATI 5970’s and I was just going to cancel the Area-51 ALX purchase altogether. But then something happened!!!
Something Happened Along the Way:
On Aug 22, three days before the Aug 25th original delivery date for the re-order (that had been delayed to Sep 01) I got a call from Mr. Chandler P. He said that he would look into the order but he could not guarantee a delivery date. At this point I figured ok; give them one more shot at it since he did call. Actually he called and sent and responded to several emails.
I don’t know what he did but after talking with him, the next day the Dell website order status changed to a new EDD of Aug 26 (1 day past the original date). The system was in fact delivered on Aug 26.
Reasons for the Delays:
Frankly, I don’t have a clue, although I have been given several; I guess you can pick the one you like.
The first reason I was given was Customs. Yep, I was told that customs often holds up shipments depending of the price. Strange, because I have ordered server systems for companies I contract to that cost many times this amount without a hitch. The next reason I was given was given was the strangest of all; perhaps the system had been stolen or hijacked in China. Because none of the Dell personnel could locate the original system, this was the reason given. While I have no clue about this particular system order, I have heard this same thing in connection with a totally different order from a different company. Other reasons I was given involve the normal stuff; parts shortages, pick the one you like (Intel i7-980x, ATI 5970’s, or the 1866MHz memory).
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly; or the Death of a Thousand Cuts:
Along the way there were some pretty cool people that work in a pretty lousy system.
The original order was with Tyrone T & his supervisor Timothy C. I was actually amazed that Tyrone actually knew so much about the Area-51 ALX. He knew the specs, the options, and many of the games to expect great performance with this system. Timothy actually helped me get the long sleeved Alienware T-shirt in a size larger than is available on the website. Why would Dell not sell men’s shirts in 2x sizes? Great, Great, Great is all I can say about both Tyrone & Tim.
Evan P was also very helpful along the way. And of course Chandler P. This guy actually saved Dell a very good customer. While my business alone certainly won’t make Dell and the lack of my business won’t break Dell, but frankly how many $8,000 Home/Small Office customers can Dell afford to lose?
The problem is these guys represent the face or rather the voice of Dell to the consumer. As helpful as they are, they are let down time and time again by a production system that is driving away loyal customers. It appears to me that if the sales people could get accurate information as to the order / production status, a lot of grief and customer angst could be eliminated.
At what point will Dell realize they are destroying a golden customer fan base. People that purchase high-end systems are very well aware that delays happen. Just tell them the truth. Build into the order system at least one chance to change an order without cancelling the whole order. If a part is going to cause a delay over a 7 days, allow customers one chance to change the order to a part that is currently available; video cards come to mind.
In the enthusiast class of PC’s there are few real players. HP & Voodoo appear to have died on the vine, nobody wants to game on a Gateway, that leaves Dell, homebrew or the boutique system builders Falcon-NW, MainGear, or Orgin PC. I had decided to go with Falcon-NW until Chandler called me.
Dell desperately needs to fix its customer service problem. When asked by family members and friends for normal PC suggestions I no longer automatically say Dell; nowadays I point people to Best Buy. For high-end purchases I will now shop the boutiques, if they are within a few hundred dollars of Dells price I will probably give them a shot. This Christmas season I know I’ll be in the market to replace my XPS M170 laptop. In the past the automatic choice would have been between the M15 or M17 inch Alienware laptops, now I will really give careful consideration the Sager and Toshiba Qosmio machines.
Dell should step up and support their customers and sales teams or both will continue to suffer agonizing order ordeals until the customers just decide to go elsewhere.
Alienware Area-51 ALX
Intel i7-980x overclocked 4GHz
Dual ATI 5970’s
6GB 1866MHz memory
256GB SSD
600GB RAID 0
19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Dual DVD/CD RW
X-Fi Titanium
Alienware TactX Keyboard, TactX Mouse, & TactX Headset
3 Dell U2410 UltraSharp Monitors