Confused about the "Build Time"

[Shaktimus]

Hi all. I got my first PC from PCspecialsit as per details:

Production Dates
Processed Date 19-06-2010 (Saturday)
Pre-Production Date 22-06-2010 (Tuesday)
Build Date 28-06-2010 (Monday)
Test Date 30-06-2010 (Wednesday)
QC Date 05-07-2010 (Monday)
Awaiting Dispatch Date 05-07-2010
Dispatch Date 05-07-2010

That's 11 working days for my PC to be built and sent to me which is exactly what they said " Build Time: Between 9-11 Working Days"!!
I didn't choose the faster build times because I was in no rush.
Everything great since then.

Now I have paid for a Laptop and chose the "Build Time-Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days"

Production Dates
Processed Date 31-08-2012 (Friday)
Pre-Production Date 04-09-2012 (Tuesday)

Today is the 7th Working Day. They have 2 more days to Build it, Test it, Quality Control it and Dispatch it! This better not be rushed... because I won't be happy with poor;y assembled equipment.

My question is "Has this happened to anyone else?" "Is it normal?" I mean going on from my first PC...this looks like they forgot about my laptop altogether.

I read somewhere Pre-Production can take like 30 days or something? Well why would that be? I mean If I chose the Fast 3 day build surely they would have gotten it ready in those 3 days, so why take so long on a Standard Build Time? 30 days? seriously? that's not how a company survives surely?

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EDIT 1:
Update: 14-09-12

Proccessed Date: 31-08-2012
Pre-Production Date: 04-09-2012
Build Date: 13-09-2012
Test Date: 14-09-2012 (12:41)
Awaiting Dispatch: 14-09-2012 (12:52) --- (11 minutes testing??)

Build, Test and awaiting Dispatch in 1 day. Completely missed the Quality Control stage.
Told you it will get rushed but nobody believed me.
Where as my first PC they made in 2010 had the full works.

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EDIT 2:

Update: 19-09-12

I have an update for you guys!

Laptop arrived. /cheer
Installed OS /cheer
Installed Drivers /Cheer
Installed Guild Wars 2 /Cheer

Ran Guild Wars 2 . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .5 FPS MAX.

I thought.... no way!?!?!

Did my own tests, nothing changed. Forced to call PCS. Spoke to tech person and he even took control of my laptop and said that the NVIDIA graphics card is there, being recognized but for some reason the built in graphics chip is taking priority over the Nvidia 660M and not running it.

SO more tests the next day (today) with re installing windows and using only the drivers PCS sent me (no updating graphic drivers) it still gave me MAX 5 FPS.

So the tech guy said to do an RMA and hopefully someone is gonna pick it up tomorrow... I sold my old laptop cause I knew I would get this in hope to play Guild Wars 2 and now I wlll be laptop less again for possibly 2 weeks while my friends play and I stare at the Guild Wars 2 Box.

I told you all that it was rushed but you didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I guess they just wanted to process more builds that day

Hopefully when I get it back I don't get another dis functional laptop or I will be asking for a refund.

Thanks

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EDIT 3:
UPDATE: 29/09/2012

Laptop arrived Friday 28th after getting repaired.
Came back in a much smaller box than the original i sent back.
Ok turned it on, installed everything and prayed the game plays properly and it did.
Hooray!
So end of the day I turn off the laptop and go to bed.
This morning I turned it on and straight away noticed the screen was flickering horribly, ON and OFF. I was like WTF!?!?!
This can't be real. So i let it load and I am on my desktop with the flickering still happening.
So I reset and hope it was a minor glitch.
Guess what.. it wasn't....
So i recorded it for evidence. The battery was full as well.
So just as I was about to turn it off my brother suggested to plug in the charger.
And amazingly that stopped the flickering. But as soon as you remove it, the flickering starts up again.
Seriously... what?!?!?!
PCspecialist first sends me a laptop with a broken graphics card, then repairs it and sends it back with what I am guessing is a faulty battery....
It's not acceptable that the screen should flicker that horribly like that when not connected to the charger.

I will be asking for a refund this Monday as they are not at work on weekends i believe.

Searching online, it would seem that it may be a faulty Screen and not Faulty Battery... either way.. I am asking for a refund.

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EDIT 4:

UPDATE: 27/05/2013

Ok guy, didn't update anyone of the end result so I will do that now.
I was fuming on the phone saying everything I wanted and wasn't holding back.
How the company has gone the opposite direction from what I knew back in 2010 when I first got my PC from them (which is still glitch free)
I told the guy I did not believe they carried out the tests they claimed to do on the laptop otherwise I wouldn't have had to send it in so many times.

The guy was understanding and I told him that my work has been piling up since i have had to send it back so many times. I he said something that I was not expecting.

"Ok mate, I tell you what. We are going to make you another laptop from scratch and send that over to you by tomorrow. This is only being done because of how serious the situation has gotten, We wouldn't do this normally."
I was gob smacked!
He said he is going to get on it himself and make it himself and have it done today so it I can receive it the following day.

Now this can be thought of 2 ways.
1) You would think wow, PCS is so awesome they doing this, we can forget about all those repairs then.
2) What I have been thinking all this time was true. If this guy can build and "test" my new laptop to be fully functional in less than a day and get it delivered next day then it clearly shows that previous laptop had received next to nothing attention each time it was sent to repair. Took a week each time for the first laptop to be repaired only to return with another problem. So not much care was shown on that laptop. I am forced to use Balance of probabilities and say that I stand with my thoughts. I'm sorry if you feel different about PCS. Also I have been reading recent posts about people saying that they have much more orders than before and but not enough staff to meet it properly.

Well Anyway the new laptop did come; they took the old one and all is good. but just a while ago it started to make a horrible sound.
Long Story short, they sent a replacement fan and I had to replace it myself and its been fine ever since.

Now I am looking to get a new PC for myself (laptop was for my brother) and having doubts about PCS.

 

[keynes]

The 7-9 working days is an estimate and if I remember correctly before placing your order you need to accept the T&C (could take up to 30 days), I guess it depends on how busy they are as well as items being in stock.

 

[Shaktimus]

That's what I am saying, this 30 day thing seems to only happen for people who have chosen the standard build time. Anyone who has paid extra for the fast track has had theirs done on time. Otherwise its money back to the customer for delaying over the agreed build time. Which is bad rep for PCS, and they won't let that happen. So i don't believe that they are soooo busy that it will take them 30 days and its also bad for business to advertise equipment only for it not to be in stock. How frustrating would it be that they email you on a 25th day and say ...sorry we can't get that graphics card anymore, would you settle for so and so?

So i absolutely don't believe they are busy or have stuff out of stock..when the 30 day thing doesn't apply to fast track customers.

If this 30 day thing does occur then I wills strongly believe they purposely put their standard build customers to one side and just deal with the fast track customers until they have finished all the fast tracks on their list.

 

[keynes]

I think the fast track works on demand and items could get out of stock due to unforeseen circumstances. I also chose the standard build time and it took around 23 working days but I was never contacted to change my build to speed up the process and I was happy with that since I was determined to get my first choice. I have no idea how may systems PCS build a week/month but I would expect them to get busy and this being the cause of delays as well as suppliers not releasing enough stock, I know that was the case with some NVIDIa cards when they are first released.

 

[SneakyRussian]

I am in "In Bulding" stage and PC had been built. 14th working day.. would be a great shame if this goes to 30days

+ If it does.. Next time I will go to someone else

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

14 working days? No need to panic Sneaky! Have faith and if in doubt, call them up

 

[Lappygamer]

It really bugs me when people start moaning at PCS about build times! it clearly states in black and white when ordering your system the build times they post are estimates 7-9 working days is a lead time ESTIMATE!!! but this can infact take up to 30days to complete your order that is why they have it in there t&cs FOR ALL TO READ AND TO AGREE TOO BEFORE PURCHASING!!
rant over : ). Plus Shaktimus of course the fast track systems will be built on time (well mostly anyway) other wise why would they offer such a service and then never prioritise these systems i mean you pay dearly for this service as i did but i got mine built and out in 3 days perfect working order! so if you want it fast put your hand in your pocket and pay for fast track if not then please be patient and wait for your awesome system to be built by PCS : ) and i think most people get them before the 30days is up too as pcs are trained killers at build comps imho!

over and out

 

[Shaktimus]

Lappygamer, im only comparing the timing with the first PC they built me in 2010. As you can see the said 11 working days and it was 11 working days. Just want to know as they were both standard build.

 

[Rakk]

Lappygamer, im only comparing the timing with the first PC they built me in 2010. As you can see the said 11 working days and it was 11 working days. Just want to know as they were both standard build.

Remember that a large amount of the time is spent in pre-production is just waiting behind everybody else in the queue, times are a bit longer at the moment (I think) because PCS are very busy, so it's just the queue is longer this time.

 

[Shaktimus]

Well as long as they don't rush it in the last minute or something and end up sending me something poor.

 

[SneakyRussian]

It really bugs me when people start moaning at PCS about build times! it clearly states in black and white when ordering your system the build times they post are estimates 7-9 working days is a lead time ESTIMATE!!! but this can infact take up to 30days to complete your order that is why they have it in there t&cs FOR ALL TO READ AND TO AGREE TOO BEFORE PURCHASING!!
rant over : ). Plus Shaktimus of course the fast track systems will be built on time (well mostly anyway) other wise why would they offer such a service and then never prioritise these systems i mean you pay dearly for this service as i did but i got mine built and out in 3 days perfect working order! so if you want it fast put your hand in your pocket and pay for fast track if not then please be patient and wait for your awesome system to be built by PCS : ) and i think most people get them before the 30days is up too as pcs are trained killers at build comps imho!

over and out

Yes it does. It also states in clear black and white that "estimated AVERAGE lead time for a laptop is 13 days" yet many wait for it up to 30. Times should not include fast trackers. It only gives wrong impression and more unhappy agitated customers. - Before you agree to t&c.

Don't get me wrong I got time to wait.. otherwise I would have paid for a fast track. But when you think of 30 WORKING days which exclude previous bank holiday and weekends.. Its actually a long wait. I ordered bespoke white leather 3 piece sofa with electric leg supports - they took 2 weeks to make, up to my specification (weekends incld).

PCS are no longer a small company. If they took up too many orders they should send emails stating so. Why do I have to chase up to find out the information?
At the end of the day, most are paying at least £1000 for their product. I got more info from Selfridges the other day and a phone call, I was only ordering a damn 15quid coffee pack.

 

[Rakk]

Yes it does. It also states in clear black and white that "estimated AVERAGE lead time for a laptop is 13 days" yet many wait for it up to 30. Times should not include fast trackers. It only gives wrong impression and more unhappy agitated customers. - Before you agree to t&c.

Remember that the ones with extended times are going to be the ones where stock has been an issue.

And when you say many wait for upto 30, I'm not sure where you are getting your numbers from, looking at the current dispatch percentages, 100% of laptops and mini pc's have gone out in less than 28 days and 99.3% of desktops have in that time as well (for less than 21 days its 82% for laptops, 90% for mini pcs and 85% for desktops)

 

[SneakyRussian]

Remember that the ones with extended times are going to be the ones where stock has been an issue.

And when you say many wait for upto 30, I'm not sure where you are getting your numbers from, looking at the current dispatch percentages, 100% of laptops and mini pc's have gone out in less than 28 days and 99.3% of desktops have in that time as well (for less than 21 days its 82% for laptops, 90% for mini pcs and 85% for desktops)

Mate, if you include weekends (that most of us who are super-excited about new gaming machine find very frustrating) then technically it gets up to 30 days


Anyway rant over. I know its not a perfect world and if I am so impatient I should had gone with fast track. Just saying, if PCS were so proud of customer service, more emails would had been welcome just to make it a touch more personal.

 

[SneakyRussian]

Ok, I apologise for ranting. To my very pleasurable surprise got a notification saying order awaiting dispatch.

I am a happy customer and will write a review with pictures after it comes! :wub:

 

[Lappygamer]

lol Sneaky i feel your pain even waiting 3days for my fast track was hard lol but im glad ur system is awaiting dispatch : ) happy gaming : )

 

[Shaktimus]

Well I think PCS noticed this thread and has given me an email and stated it has been built. So now just testing and quality control then dispatch. Should Have it by next Friday i think?

 

[Lappygamer]

nice one Shaktimus all ways good if you can get it before the weekend : ) plenty of time to test the new baby out !!!

 

[Olterior]

My build's has been in pre-production since tuesday, not too bad and pretty normal, and I didn't go for fast track. Only unfortunate thing is 2 days after I placed my order my laptop conked out and now has trouble running any of my games, only managing to get Team Fortress 2 running with just bearable fps by setting the graphics options to the lowest possible. Every night checking the status of my new rig is torture

 

[Zynced]

My build's has been in pre-production since tuesday, not too bad and pretty normal, and I didn't go for fast track. Only unfortunate thing is 2 days after I placed my order my laptop conked out and now has trouble running any of my games, only managing to get Team Fortress 2 running with just bearable fps by setting the graphics options to the lowest possible. Every night checking the status of my new rig is torture

I'm in the same position! Assuming you meant last Tuesday anyway.

My laptop handles WoW at 1280x800 and... well that's about it as far as games go. It's like my laptop noticed the PC get ordered and just gave up as it knew it's retirement days are coming. After all, it's been through years of torture trying to play the latest games, and years of stress doing 3D editing.

But the way I see it is the worse my laptop is now, the better my PC will turnout, and the more happy I will be I decided to wait so long

But buying Skyrim on Steam when it was on offer certainly didn't help! xD

 

[Shaktimus]

I know what you mean Zynced. My first PC which i got of PCS in 2010 can and has handled all the games I have played up to date. However my brothers laptop couldn't even keep up with WoW unless it was low settings and now that he wants to play Guild Wars 2, it was just not happening. So decided to get him a new laptop. I'm sure PCS will deliver like they have before.