Why do you want to know, anyway?

I placed an order for a Dell laptop on July 30, and after 3 weeks, as of now, I have not received it yet. But it’s definitely on the way.

For those of you who are not familiar with the process, Dell only starts manufacturing the laptop/desktop when your order is approved. However, I think I ordered at a wrong time: there’s (or was) apparently a worldwide shortage of LCD screens, and it coincided with Dell’s various promotions and the back-to-school season. So Dell was unable to promise me a delivery date, and it seemed like my laptop was “in build” (ie being manufactured) for the whole of 3 weeks.

The only comforting thing (to me, at least) is that I wasn’t alone. I found company in the Notebook Reviews forum, where other sufferers in Dell moaned and griped; I wasn’t a member, but I lurked around and I totally empathised with them, as I knew they would me.

There were a lot of complaints, and many were frustrated by the order status made available by Dell. Dell doesn’t say much, except to tell us general states like “in build”, “testing”, “shipping”. People wrote how they called up the (often-bumbling) customer service personnel and got non-answers. And there were replies by other people to call this hotline/check that website for order status because they provide certain information not available on the other. One person even wrote, based on his experience of working at assembly lines, on how orders could be delayed because factories tend to manufacture identical orders together, rather than produce them based on when the orders came in.

I too wanted to know what on earth was happening, but then I realised something:

It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how much detail Dell (or any other company) is able to tell you. Whether your computer is held up because the guy assembling it is out for lunch, or because there was a 15-min power outage at the plant, or because the truck carrying the LCD screens broke down in the middle of the expressway, and the tow truck is stuck in a jam…

You could call up the customer service officer (CSO), and he/she might be just as befuddled as you are, but you are asking for answers from them so they have to find out. They don’t work at the factory, and even if they were there I doubt they can walk to the assembly line to check. If you authorised the CSOs to walk out to the assembly lines, it would disrupt the production and cause even more delays. So the honest CSO would tell you the official explanation, whereas the more sympathetic CSO might tell you the same thing, but maybe phrase it in a optimistic or even misleading way. (Note: I’m not saying that all CSOs are lying, intentionally or not. This is also not to imply that companies tell wild tales to mislead their customers.)

Even if the automated systems are configured to tell you every exact problem, would it matter? There’s not much you can do. Firstly, you cannot verify. Secondly, you cannot do anything about the problem. Thirdly, you cannot make them rush your order. All you can do, is to worry. And check, and check, and check, and check…