Dell intentionally deceives in its "estimated ship dates"
 

I ordered an Axim a couple weeks ago, which was supposed to ship today. Today they sent me an e-mail saying, "sorry, it's not shipping today. Here's your new estimated shipping date - three weeks away."

Nice that they waited until the last possible moment to tell me. The Web site and telephone systems had been telling me as late as last night that it was shipping out today. Reminds me of the airlines that know your flight isn't on time hours in advance because the aircraft hasn't even left the previous airport yet.

Except it's worse than just a last minute surprise - Dell was knowingly lying to me for at least the past week about the shipping date. I called in last week because I saw they had me down for ground shipping instead of overnight. I said to the agent, "it says a ship date of June 1, but the delivery estimate is June 5-8 - that doesn't sound like overnight shipping."

She said under her breath that it was showing a ship date of June 21 on her screen, but that she needed to have another agent switch it to overnight shipping.

I didn't think much of her off-hand comment about the June 21 ship date because the next agent and the Web site kept up with the June 1st estimate. It wasn't until today when I got an e-mail saying my new estimated ship date was June 21st that I realized that it said right on her screen that this thing wasn't going to ship on June 1st, but they lied to me for another full week before they were forced to fess up. :mad:

I checked the Web site to see what the estimate is on new Axims purchased today - June 9th. The agent I spoke to today assures me that it's a main component of the Axim itself that is the hold up, not any peripherals. So Dell is now lying about the estimated ship date to new customers, as well.

I realize that it's an "estimate," but Dell's practice is flat-out and intentionally deceptive.

Ordered a Canon SD630 from Dell last week. It shipped out of Waco before the estimated ship date, and arrived via Airborne/DHL Ground a day earlier than estimated (3 days in transit instead of 4).

And I'm still awaiting a tracking number ("In Transit to Local Carrier") for a computer I already received. :D

Weird absoultly every machine I've ever received from Dell has been delivered before it's estimated ship date.

Several years ago the FTC imposed regulations requiring all mail order and e-commerce customers to be provided with estimated ship dates. Further, it required all of the companies to send revised ship dates should they not be able to ship as originally promised. The FTC calls this regulation "The Rule." It's what drives companies to do these silly estimates that half the time don't make sense.

Companies had to update their systems to accommodate The Rule quickly, so most plopped in some quick and dirty code that doesn't really integrate well with their existing processes or systems.

That's why we see the things we do with these estimates. Most companies do attempt to base their estimates on something realistic, but it doesn't always work. ;)

Pretty much the same here. I try to avoid Dell to be honest as I dont care for them on many levels but I have a few clients that are sold on them and I dont remember a machine shipping after the ship date.

Sadly I had a worse experience with Axim. They "delayed" the shipping date a number of times then cancelled the order b/c I didn't respond within a few days (I was out of country and didn't have access). They knew all along that they wouldn't be able to fulfill the order b/c it was during the phase out of the previous model - so my cancelled order could be replaced - but at an additional cost to me of about 100% over original price...... Yech!

Last month I ordered an Axim X51V on a Sunday; I got an estimated ship date of some 2 weeks later. I had in my hands by Thursday night the same week, though. Go figure . . .

I ordered a special build desktop from Dell about a year ago and it arrived 2 days before its scheduled arrival date.

MisterNice

I just recently, last month ordered a laptop from dell and it shipped nearly a week early, however they shipped it to the wrong address and took a month to finally get a replacement shipped.

By the way their customer service in india sucks!!!!
every answer is " sir you can relax your problem has been solved"

Maybe Dell just doesn't like me then.

What I can't explain, however, is why they're telling new Axim customers on the Web site that their estimated ship date is two weeks earlier than mine, after I've already been waiting over two weeks in the first place.

I've asked the agents a number of times if there's an accessory that's holding me back and they keep saying no.

I seriously doubt the are INTENTIONALLY deceiving you, that would mean someone at Dell HQ has decided to pick your order and mess around with you... These things are all automated, and clearly something is messed up with (part of) the order.

I have ALWAYS received my orders on time, usually at least a couple of days before the expected shipping date.

Shipping?
 

A hundred miles from the coprporate HQ in Austin, with orders filled from the warehouse there, my last three Dells have all arrived before or on the designated shipping date, the last one actually before the e-mail advising me of the shipping date.

All in all, I can't fault Dell over almost 15 years of buying from them, one of the first times from the old, now gone and lamented, Austin "retail" store where the "reconditioned" machines and surplus peripherals were discounted. I bought a system, carried it home, discovered a missing component, called and had it arrive the next AM.

I wish I could be as comfortable with the shipping practices and "dates" of some others, including the receipt Wednesday of a small mail order from March 13, delay unacknowledged during the 2 1/2 month lapse (but on one of the few occasions when I had to use a "paper" check, at least the check wasn't presented until the order shipped.

Rumor has it that on a couple of occasions, "new" Dell models have been delayed in shipping after a bug was discovered and all similar machines in the logistics trail underwent a bench test or "fix". That's a simple enough answer to make sense, but not as simple as a more likely cause, a late arrival of a VLCC at Long Beach or cargo container delayed/temporarilty lost in rail or truck transit.

yes,
 

I wouldn't say this is intentional.
I think they have estimates (and of course we think that things that are DELL branded would have the best estimates) but these are based on trends, inventory, manufacture time, promotions, etc.

For dell products like computers, their timing seems to be spot on. For PDA's that are coming from other sources, I think it can slip.

And it OFTEN slips when there is a perfect storm deal, like 25-35% off and then come $$ off 100's coupons that make the purchase and purchase PRICE a no brainer.

All the accessories products, canon cameras, routers, etc. that are coming from third parties, where I have gotten simply CRAZY deals, I expect them to take time. Even though one day on order the canon 20D digital SLR says, ships in 24 hours, then the next day there is a CRAZY deal it is costs 1080$ instead of 1500$, I get in on the deal and expect it to take a WHILE to arrive. Dell just gets totally overloaded with orders and responsibility to fullfill.

Add to that that the system is in NO way perfect. We think, that there is some perfect connection between the orders system, the warehouse or fullfillment center and/or manufacturing, but there just isn't.

As noted by many, and I am no exception to this, the dell status site will show DELAYED, or IN PROCESS or something other and yet, I HAVE THE ITEM IN MY HANDS!

If the delay gets really bad, give them an email and they will email you a 35 or 100$ off coupon for your next order. these are GREAT items to get, for no effort other than waiting.

For mission critical items, or a camera I would have to have for a holiday or trip, I would place my dell order, but have a backup somewhere.

the dell DEALS are great, but to get the deal one has to sometimes wait.

Most people have mentioned that they have received their Dell systems on time. Same here.

But I had similar delays as the OP when I was trying to buy an Axim in December 2004. I ordered it about two weeks prior to a five-week vacation, with an estimated ship date that would have gotten it to my door in plenty of time. Like the OP experienced, the estimated ship date was pushed out at the last possible minute, and the delay meant the Axim would arrive after I had already left the country.

Also like the OP experienced, a brand new order had an earlier ship date than the revised date of my original order. Since time was running out, I ordered a second (identical) Axim with overnight shipping.

The second one was shipped about a week before the first one. I got it the day before taking off. Fortunately I didn't need to use it much (it was a vacation, after all) but what a mess.

I should note this was right around the debut of the X50v, so I could expect some supply chain issues, but nobody at Dell seemed to have a clue.