T4XX/T5XX Shipping Thread

[Ken]

X301. Price error on website, so order was cancelled.

[zenit]

how much of a price mistake was it?

hearing about these orders being cancelled left and right due to lenovo's web site screw-ups makes me
kinda nervous about my own order.

[archer6]

X301. Price error on website, so order was cancelled.

Thanks for the clarification.

The reason I asked is due to my recent experience of the last three months during which I've placed some orders for new ThinkPads. I have noticed the frequent and consistent fluctuations in all aspects of pricing and availability of components, on the "Customize & Buy Pages" where one chooses the component upgrades for the CTO computer they are purchasing.

Here is an example: On April 10th, I ordered an Elite ThinkPad T500 with discrete graphics. The default processor was a T9400 2.53GHz, the one and only upgrade choice was the T9600 2.8GHz for an additional $230.00. I chose to stay with the T9400.

The very next day my best friend decided to order a T500 just like mine, when we went to the site the price had changed on the T9600 2.8Ghz upgrade to a mere $30.00. I pointed out to him that it was an error, but he insisted on choosing it. Upon completing his order online he received an email confirmation with an estimated ship date of April 28th. Lenovo accepted and processed his credit card, the order went to production and the computer was built. He received a notice that it had been shipped on April 24th, then later that day received a call from Lenovo saying the order was canceled due to their error in pricing, and for him to refuse the package when it arrived as it was being sent directly to him from China.

That was a fair cancellation in my opinion, as the price was obviously a mistake.

The unfortunate part was how long it took Lenovo to discover the mistake and contact him. But it is what it is and Lenovo does not seem to care. The only reason I make this statement is that when I've called to inquire on a few occasions they brush it off as out of their control because it's the "Internet Departments" problem, to use their words. I did a search on this forum to find this type of problem dates way back more than six months. So apparently it's just a fact of life, not something that will change.

[zenit]

well it seems like Lenovo did beat the June 5th estimate for shipment for my T400 and it is listed as "shipped on 05/05/09" on the order status web page. I still can't see the tracking info however.

[archer6]

well it seems like Lenovo did beat the June 5th estimate for shipment for my T400 and it is listed as "shipped on 05/05/09" on the order status web page. I still can't see the tracking info however.

This is normal. Usually the tracking number follows the next day. If you chose two day shipping you may even receive the computer before the tracking number. I've had that happen twice in the last three months. Usually if the computer ships at the beginning of the week so no weekends are involved. Once shipped it arrives very quickly. So you will have it soon.
.
Cheers...

[kkapoor]

Ordered 2 Thinkpad Elite T400's for my engineers on the Lenovo Canada site yesterday. They were coming in at about $1310 a piece after coupon which I thought was a great price.

Website says shipping in 2 business days, however, having phoned in to confirm my order they are stating 10 business days. Hope this is not the case as I have to leave on a business trip and carry these machines with me at the end of next week.

[archer6]

<snip>Website says shipping in 2 business days, however, having phoned in to confirm my order they are stating 10 business days. Hope this is not the case as I have to leave on a business trip and carry these machines with me at the end of next week.

Yes, this is the unfortunate reality of the Lenovo system. I've ordered four ThinkPads so far this year and in each case the site said "ships _within_ 9 bus. days". After placing my order the typical "estimated shipping date" was between 28 and 41 days. And choosing 2 day shipping only speeds up the delivery after it's actually shipped from China. The one exception was my IdeaPad S10 Netbook. It said 2 days, and arrived in six. One of the rare instances where they had a small inventory in China, and also attributed to the fact it was a model where the configuration was fixed.

Cheers...

[zenit]

Today i received the t400 i ordered. The initial order was placed on 4/24 via educational ordering, but it didnt go through due to my screw-up with shipping address. The actual order went through on 4/29. The computer was built on 5/4/09 and shipped on 5/5/09. It got here to my office on 5/7/09. I am very impressed with speed Lenovo built my laptop and got it to me, considering I ordered the WXGA+ LED panel which caused all those delays in the past.

Overall laptop feels better built than my old t400 (build date 12/08), which I dont have any more. The hinges feel more solid and the lid is perfectly alligned with the body (old one was 1mm or so off). The battery also fits alot more snug than my older one, resulting in less wobble in the back). This particular specimen has the dreaded Samsung LED panel, while my older one had LG LED. I dont have an operating system installed yet (ordered with PC DOS), so i cant comment on quality of the panel. So far in windows installer it looks the same as LG, which didnt impress me to begin with. The new one has crappy swiss cheese keyboard, which does flex a bit, pretty much the same amount as my Asus G1S. I do have a t60 keyboard ready to swap in, but I think i will hold off for a while, as the stock keyboard is not that bad.

[kkapoor]

I placed my order 2 days ago and found out yesterday that T400's I ordered were "Released to Manufacturing". I don't know what that means and I just hope they ship by tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

[archer6]

I placed my order 2 days ago and found out yesterday that T400's I ordered were "Released to Manufacturing". I don't know what that means and I just hope they ship by tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

"Released to Manufacturing" means that the administrative work of processing the order is complete, your method of payment is approved and they have "sent an OK to manufacturing" to have the computer built.

If they have all the components in stock to build the computer than it will go very quickly. If not then there will be a delay of unknown length until they do. This is why on the "customize and build" page of the web site, you will often find notes in red below a certain component choice saying "this may delay your order 4 weeks or more". Now, what's important to remember is that they build a massive number of new ThinkPads each day and it's a fast moving process. I ordered a new T500 with the warning in red about a delay of 4 weeks, but by the time mine was released to manufacturing those parts had arrived and I got my ThinkPad just five days later.

As far as shipping, if you chose the two day option for an additional charge, it only speeds up that part of the process. Otherwise, the standard free shipping adds about seven to twelve days to the total time before you receive your computer.

Cheers...

[kkapoor]

That's very interesting. Well there were no delays on any of the options that I ordered and I have confirmed this with them on the phone. So hopefully I will receive the machines sometime next week. Unfortunately in Canada we do not have an option for 2 day shipping. On another note, since I placed my order the ships in "2 bus days" has gone to "12 bus days" on the Lenovo website. Well all I can do is wait and see.

[archer6]

On another note, since I placed my order the ships in "2 bus days" has gone to "12 bus days" on the Lenovo website.

That's normal, see this link that explains it:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 65#p506465

Cheers...

[kkapoor]

Well, I had to cancel my order with Lenovo for the 2 T400's due to the inaccurate shipping info. I ended up ordering through CDW which had some configurations in stock (Topseller models) and will therefore receive the machines tomorrow. I picked up model # 2765PAU.

Downside:

- Had to pay C$1425 instead of C$1310 per machine.
- 2.4Ghz instead of 2.53Ghz

Upside:

- Extra 1GB of RAM (3GB instead of 2GB)
- 9 Cell battery (Not 6)
- 3 Year Warranty instead of 1 year.
- 7200 rpm drive
- No wait!
- Can leave on business trip as scheduled.

I thought it was worth it.

[dysnomian]

T500

2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
Vista Business 64
Integrated graphics card
4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
160GB HD, 7200 RPM
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer
Bluetooth
Wifi link 5100

$1013.20 for the computer itself.

Can't wait for it!

[Performa636CD]

T500

2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
Vista Business 64
Integrated graphics card
4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
160GB HD, 7200 RPM
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer
Bluetooth
Wifi link 5100

$1013.20 for the computer itself.

Can't wait for it!

Where you able to order this today? From the Lenovo website?

[archer6]

Well, I had to cancel my order with Lenovo for the 2 T400's due to the inaccurate shipping info. I ended up ordering through CDW which had some configurations in stock (Topseller models) and will therefore receive the machines tomorrow. I picked up model # 2765PAU.

Downside:

- Had to pay C$1425 instead of C$1310 per machine.
- 2.4Ghz instead of 2.53Ghz

Upside:

- Extra 1GB of RAM (3GB instead of 2GB)
- 9 Cell battery (Not 6)
- 3 Year Warranty instead of 1 year.
- 7200 rpm drive
- No wait!
- Can leave on business trip as scheduled.

I thought it was worth it.

I agree that (for me) it's more than worth it. I've ended up doing a lot of business with CDW and found in some cases the deals are every bit as good as on the Lenovo site and more. If they are higher it's only by a very small margin with is more than offset by next day delivery. Plus as you experienced, most of what they have has 3 year warranties, 7200 rpm drives, and they get them to me the very next day!

So far I've ordered 10 from them this year. I've not had one single problem with sales or delivery times. By 10:30am the next morning I have the order in my hands. Can't beat that! Even more amazing..... there is not a single error on their web site. Everything that appears on the site is in stock, and the customer service and sales people are super professional, fast and reliable. They will even go out of their way (when you call) to find something that has just arrived, but not yet posted to their site.

Hands Down CDW put's Lenovo to shame....

Cheers...

[dysnomian]

Where you able to order this today? From the Lenovo website?

Yeah, used the USPWEEKEND 15% off coupon.

[liteswap]

@ liteswap This is indeed, good news. I'm so glad you shared it with us. To think that Lenovo did the right thing on their own is incredibly encouraging.

What would add to this great news would be for Lenovo to get serious and fix their site. One should be able to visit the site at any time and find that, like Apple and the others, it's a stable site. The information is correct, the pricing is not subject to fluctuating as wildly as it does, as frequently as it does, and that finally they can be trusted to deliver. As it stands, each time something changes, it's treated like a rarity and no sense of urgency seems to applied to correcting it. Denial reigns supreme and in many cases supported by users passive "oh well" attitude, or worse, they claim it's a one of a kind event, and out of Lenovo's control. Therefore they should not be accountable for misleading the public. Some of the followers even suggest it's the customers fault for expecting Lenovo to do the right thing.

Perhaps this is a step in the right direction? Only time will tell.

Cheers...

Final post on this saga. On Friday 22 May, some six weeks after ordering, I took delivery of a new 15.4-inch T500 (it arrived Monday but I was away on biz for the week). A week before, I took delivery of an IdeaPad S10e that Lenovo sent -- unasked-for, gratis and for nothing -- in compensation for the messing around that I'd suffered. So I'm happy - and that's customer service!

The full saga is on my blog here.

[dysnomian]

Bah my T500 is in a UPS distribution center about 30 minutes away, and has been sitting there since 830am. I could have driven out there and picked it up myself!! The expected delivery date still says tomorrow though so I guess I can't get my hands on it until then.

But its sooo closeeeee

[archer6]

Final post on this saga. On Friday 22 May, some six weeks after ordering, I took delivery of a new 15.4-inch T500 (it arrived Monday but I was away on biz for the week). A week before, I took delivery of an IdeaPad S10e that Lenovo sent -- unasked-for, gratis and for nothing -- in compensation for the messing around that I'd suffered. So I'm happy - and that's customer service!

The full saga is on my blog here.

Impressive..... very impressive. What a great way to set things right.

Cheers...

[godbreath]

i had a saved cart from jan with a t400 configured with a wxga+ LED
on 5/19 I was able to checkout using that cart
estimate ship date says 6/23

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor P8700 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
1 Year Depot Warranty

for $956 before tax and $1,052 after tax in CA

[archer6]

The full saga is on my blog here.

Kudos for the nice job on your blog.

I especially enjoyed the link to James Allen on F1. As a long time F1 enthusiast, I follow the sport very closely, and found his blog refreshing and quite interesting.

Cheers...

[liteswap]

Kudos for the nice job on your blog.

I especially enjoyed the link to James Allen on F1. As a long time F1 enthusiast, I follow the sport very closely, and found his blog refreshing and quite interesting.

Cheers...

Thank you sir!

[dysnomian]

Lenovo said my estimated shipping date was 5/28 when I ordered it (5/20).

I had the t500 in my hands on 5/27.

Not too shabby.

[archer6]

Lenovo said my estimated shipping date was 5/28 when I ordered it (5/20).

I had the t500 in my hands on 5/27.

Congratulations on your new ThinkPad!

Write a report when you have a chance, it would be nice to hear how you like it.

Cheers...

[roofghost]

Anybody has any idea when am I getting my new T400?
I am scared after read some posts around the internet about the lenovo shipping...


Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
US 06/24/2009 9:52 A.M. CARRIER AND CUSTOMS RELEASED
CN 06/22/2009 8:01 P.M. DEPARTURE
06/22/2009 4:00 P.M. RECEIVED INTO UPS SCS POSSESSION
06/23/2009 1:11 A.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

[archer6]

Anybody has any idea when am I getting my new T400?
I am scared after read some posts around the internet about the lenovo shipping...

Greetings and Welcome to the Forum!

There is too little information in your post to answer your question. Did you order directly from Lenovo and when? What was the estimated shipping date when you placed the order? Have you been notified the computer has been built and shipped? When was it shipped? Based on the info you did provide it looks like it's only a matter of a few days before you receive it. But that's only an estimate.

[DeAnna]

I configured (see below) and ordered mine through their website site, on Monday, June 8. Even though the site said to give them 11 days to ship it, they actually shipped it the very next day. It arrived in Dallas that Friday afternoon, the 12, and was at my door here in Frisco (a Dallas suburb) the following Monday.

So mine was here almost a week to the hour after I submitted my order.

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
  Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
  Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD Recovery Disks
  14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
  ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
  2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) (I added 2 GB Crucial from Newegg)
  Keyboard US English
  UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
  160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
  CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
  Express Card Slot & 7-1 Media Card Reader
  Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
  Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
  4 cell Li-Ion Battery (I'm plugged in 99% of the time)
  2 Year Depot Warranty with 2 Year ThinkPad Protection

[archer6]

So mine was here almost a week to the hour after I submitted my order.

In a word... Amazing!

What luck, what a story, what a great configuration, simply amazing.

Congrats on your new ThinkPad...

Cheers...

[roofghost]

There is too little information in your post to answer your question. Did you order directly from Lenovo and when? What was the estimated shipping date when you placed the order? Have you been notified the computer has been built and shipped? When was it shipped? Based on the info you did provide it looks like it's only a matter of a few days before you receive it. But that's only an estimate.

Oh, Sorry...
I order the system last Saturday, which is 20th,
originally the estimated shipping date given was 28th September.
I felt it was kind of terrible.

But Monday my order information has been updated and I received email from "Lenovo Direct Sales (ediadmin@directlenovo.com),
it says "all or part of your order has been shipped. blahblah...".
And I was able the track the unit through UPS website after few hours.

I order the t400 with following configuration from lenovo.com

1 7417CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
42X6335 SBB INT.CORE2DUOPROCP8400
42V8012 VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC
44C1269 SBB GEN WIN VIS HOBAS 32 US E
42X6317 SBB 14.1 WXGA +TFT
42X6313 SBB INT.GRAPH.MEDIAACCELX4500
42X6305 VBB 2GBPC3-8500 1067MHZ2DIMM
42X6355 SBB KYB US ENGLISH
42X6322 SBB ULTRNAV(TRACKP+TOUCHPAD)
42X6348 SBB 160GB HDD/5400RPM
42X6344 SBB CD-RW/DVDCOM24X24X248XUSL
42X6312 VBB EXPR.CARDSLOTXN7-1M.CARDR.
42X6324 SBB INT.WIFILINK5100
42X6328 SBB INTG.WIR.WIDENET UPGRAD.
42V9338 SBB 6 CELL LI-ION BATERRY
41W1787 SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA
42X6388 SBB LPACK US ENGLISH