Every week my order gets delayed.

[TwoBrainCells]

I just need to vent a little, but i have the impression they are building a rocket and not a desktop pc.
On 5th of june i ordered my desktop, just the unit, and they said around 18-20 working days. Fine.
Paid by debit card, FULL amount, no questions asked.
Now each day i'm looking at my order the days are increasing, like WTF?
They just sent me an e-mail where they tell me "estimated build time 10 of july", that means it's going to stay in building for a few more days, and then 2-3 more days in testing, and only after that they will pack it and send it.
By my calculation that's going to be the end of july. And now i'm like "what the actual f...they have 2 people working there?"
So i'm not gonna receive my desktop for my birthday on 12 of july.
The most annoying part is that they are straight up lying just so you don't cancel your order.
BUT 2 MONTHS TO ASSEMBLE AND SEND A UNIT?
I know you guys don't have anything to do with the people working there, you are just volunteers with a vast knowledge about pc's and IT.
But this is the last time i'm using this company. Maybe their service is really good. But what if i want to upgrade my unit? Do i have to wait for another month or two if i want to change the processor or put some extra ram or fans?
I'm dissapointed, when i get it i hope it flies and talks to me...

 

[Scott]

Your frustration is felt by many customers right now but please refrain from claiming anyone is lying to you. This is completely unsubstantiated and unfair. I do understand where you are coming from and I totally understand if it puts you off in the future. This is a very unique situation right now though and not in any way indicative of how PCS normally operate.

The initial estimates are all automated by the system based on a snapshot of the WIP vs the amount of dispatches that particular day. Over the course of the last month there has been significant changes across the entire process.

This has been recognised by PCS so, for the time being, they are putting a more manual process in place with regards to the estimation.

I do not know what the WIP levels are right now but I do know that PCS deal with 1000s of orders rather than 10s. As you can imagine, the logistical complications of this paired with 2m social distancing, difficulty receiving parts, difficulty sourcing parts and all manner of other complex processes puts a strain on the efficiency of the building.

With regards to upgrades, they will be difficult to accommodate right now, there's no doubt about that, and there will be long lead times. During normal times, when the world isn't on lockdown and everyone isn't demanding their new PC to keep the furlough boredom at bay, you would have a normal 10 (or so) day turnaround of upgrades.

It's unprecedented times right now unfortunately. Noone actually knows or can predict anything with any certainty. Just take it day by day knowing that everyone is in the same boat and you are in line to receive your system at the soonest opportunity.

 

[TwoBrainCells]

True, but at least they can send an e-mail where they say "our system is wrong, and during those times it will take around 2 months to receive your order. Do you agree with that?"
Thats the least they can do...

 

[SpyderTracks]

True, but at least they can send an e-mail where they say "our system is wrong, and during those times it will take around 2 months to receive your order. Do you agree with that?"
Thats the least they can do...

That’s what they’ve just done, and what they’re doing going forwards.

 

[Gorsty]

I just need to vent a little, but i have the impression they are building a rocket and not a desktop pc.
On 5th of june i ordered my desktop, just the unit, and they said around 18-20 working days. Fine.
Paid by debit card, FULL amount, no questions asked.
Now each day i'm looking at my order the days are increasing, like WTF?
They just sent me an e-mail where they tell me "estimated build time 10 of july", that means it's going to stay in building for a few more days, and then 2-3 more days in testing, and only after that they will pack it and send it.
By my calculation that's going to be the end of july. And now i'm like "what the actual f...they have 2 people working there?"
So i'm not gonna receive my desktop for my birthday on 12 of july.
The most annoying part is that they are straight up lying just so you don't cancel your order.
BUT 2 MONTHS TO ASSEMBLE AND SEND A UNIT?
I know you guys don't have anything to do with the people working there, you are just volunteers with a vast knowledge about pc's and IT.
But this is the last time i'm using this company. Maybe their service is really good. But what if i want to upgrade my unit? Do i have to wait for another month or two if i want to change the processor or put some extra ram or fans?
I'm dissapointed, when i get it i hope it flies and talks to me...

I have had an email this morning further delaying my build time.. appreciate the way the world is at the moment but i was given a build date of 22/06/2020 then it was moved to 28/06/2020 now it has been moved to 10/07/2020. I am not confident at all the this build date will go ahead i will be contacting them directly Monday morning. Spending over £2000 on a new system and its looking like i will be waiting at Least 10 weeks for it to be delivered Covid or no Covid it is an unacceptable service.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I have had an email this morning further delaying my build time.. appreciate the way the world is at the moment but i was given a build date of 22/06/2020 then it was moved to 28/06/2020 now it has been moved to 10/07/2020. I am not confident at all the this build date will go ahead i will be contacting them directly Monday morning. Spending over £2000 on a new system and its looking like i will be waiting at Least 10 weeks for it to be delivered Covid or no Covid it is an unacceptable service.

In that case if you’re unhappy waiting I suggest you cancel.

 

[Gorsty]

In that case if you’re unhappy waiting I suggest you cancel.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Scott]

I have had an email this morning further delaying my build time.. appreciate the way the world is at the moment but i was given a build date of 22/06/2020 then it was moved to 28/06/2020 now it has been moved to 10/07/2020. I am not confident at all the this build date will go ahead i will be contacting them directly Monday morning. Spending over £2000 on a new system and its looking like i will be waiting at Least 10 weeks for it to be delivered Covid or no Covid it is an unacceptable service.

I believe you can contact them today if you are looking to cancel. I think the office is still open on Saturdays.

There is no such thing as acceptable or unacceptable during unprecedented times. It's frustrating, of course it is, but we are where we are.

We use some HPC terms in my work (High performance culture). For the most it's buzz words etc, but one that always sticks with me is assume positive intent. Calmly consider the position of everyone surrounding your order. Assume positive intent, they are trying their best. There are people putting themselves in difficult, and potentially hazardous, situations in order to get peoples orders out for the good of the customer and the company. There is no malice, no intent and there is absolutely no good that would come from being deceitful or delaying your order.

I will contest that I wish the stance on manually intervening with the ETA came sooner, but where do you honestly think that would lie in the priority list of things that need done? The frustration has been mounting so there has had to be a change put forward to let people know what's going on as this has became a priority over working on the actual orders.

The world is a cauldron right now, be one of the people trying to cool it down rather than trying to stir it up. It doesn't help anyone, or your blood pressure

 

[Gorsty]

I believe you can contact them today if you are looking to cancel. I think the office is still open on Saturdays.

There is no such thing as acceptable or unacceptable during unprecedented times. It's frustrating, of course it is, but we are where we are.

We use some HPC terms in my work (High performance culture). For the most it's buzz words etc, but one that always sticks with me is assume positive intent. Calmly consider the position of everyone surrounding your order. Assume positive intent, they are trying their best. There are people putting themselves in difficult, and potentially hazardous, situations in order to get peoples orders out for the good of the customer and the company. There is no malice, no intent and there is absolutely no good that would come from being deceitful or delaying your order.

I will contest that I wish the stance on manually intervening with the ETA came sooner, but where do you honestly think that would lie in the priority list of things that need done? The frustration has been mounting so there has had to be a change put forward to let people know what's going on as this has became a priority over working on the actual orders.

The world is a cauldron right now, be one of the people trying to cool it down rather than trying to stir it up. It doesn't help anyone, or your blood pressure

You and your moderator friend seem to assume i am cancelling or are you advising me to cancel ? If my build time is going to be 10 weeks+ i will be receiving some form of compensation. As when i was handing over £2000 there was no explanation that i would have to wait over 10 weeks.
Also i do know your guys don't work for PCS but some people may not understand that when reading your replies. Another thing that will be being mentioned on the phone Monday morning. You may not work for them but you are indirectly representing them on here and people could not be blamed for thinking you do work for them. So lose the attitude and cocky replies.

 

[maha]

They are not, the cancellation process is under your responsibility, you already waited weeks, one or two more will not kill you. If you go elsewhere, all the process will begin from scratch again and they are as busy as PCS are, so you will add weeks to your wait.
I consider Spydertraks, Scott and others more animators than moderators, they are trying to help like all of us.

Just my opinion, it would be nice if Mustapha or other sale representatives seen on trustpilot to also be here to redirect customers to emails with references such as they are doing on trustpilot.

 

[SpyderTracks]

You and your moderator friend seem to assume i am cancelling or are you advising me to cancel ? If my build time is going to be 10 weeks+ i will be receiving some form of compensation. As when i was handing over £2000 there was no explanation that i would have to wait over 10 weeks.
Also i do know your guys don't work for PCS but some people may not understand that when reading your replies. Another thing that will be being mentioned on the phone Monday morning. You may not work for them but you are indirectly representing them on here and people could not be blamed for thinking you do work for them. So lose the attitude and cocky replies.

This forum is not the right place for this, we can't comment on what PCS may or may not owe you, you'd need to speak directly to PCS.

We're not giving cocky replies at all, I'm not sure where you're getting that?

From your response here:

I am not confident at all the this build date will go ahead i will be contacting them directly Monday morning

waiting at Least 10 weeks for it to be delivered Covid or no Covid it is an unacceptable service.

It seems clear that to you the wait is unacceptable, therefor the obvious answer is to cancel, there's nothing preventing you doing so.

Also i do know your guys don't work for PCS but some people may not understand that when reading your replies.

It quite clearly states in all our signatures that we don't work for PCS and our view are our own.

 

[TwoBrainCells]

Anyway i made this topic from different reasons, i didn't wanted to turn people agains't the company or agains't the moderators.
Whoever made an order can cancel or wait, it's easy, BUT, let me break it down for you guys so maybe you will understand why we are so frustrated.
As i see it i don't have any other option. I just have to wait, if i go to some other company i have to wait for the refund, make another order and it will take another 3 months, BUT.
I work for an IT corporation, so i know my way around. I don't want to say anything about their system because i'm not entitled to do that, but if they put down the real time for orders, 90% of them will cancel, and that's a fact. It's not money wise, they already know people won't wait 2-3 months for a unit.
This is the main reason i'm saying they are misleading us.
Also, if they rly wanted to be honest and bla bla bla, they can change a few lines in the code and give us the REAL times, i'm sure it's something like 5-10 minutes of work since i'm a web designer.
Also based on their times i made some plans, and since i'm working from home i took some personal projects, now i have to cancel them or delay my customers, most of them will search for someone else.
My old rig was a gift to my nephew for his birthday, explain to me how i'm gonna go back to him and tell him "mate, i need the rig back for a month or two" while he waited almost 2 years for this gift.
Now besided the fact that i paid 2800£ for something i can't use, i also lost around 4-5k£ from the projects that i can't do.
So let me ask you again.
They said 18-20 working days, with a little bit of delay i was expecting my unit at the beginning of july.
Considering that the building date is 10 of july, and i'm sure they gonna delay it again, i'll end up having it at the end of july or middle of september.
It's that misleading? Yes.
Is it money wise for them to tell me the thruth? No.
Do they care how much money i have lost because i made plans after their system? No.
Will i see something in return for making me wait for so long? No or maybe an apology.
Does that gonna make me feel better? No.
So please tell me again how they are not lying or misleading customers.
What they are doing now with us is basic business for profit. So whatever you guys say just stop defending them.
I know you guys don't have anything to do with them, but this is gonna leave a mark on the company in the long run.

 

[stegor]

I understand your frustration but why would you ditch crucial equipment before you had a replacement when there's a pandemic going on?

 

[ubuysa]

Anyway i made this topic from different reasons, i didn't wanted to turn people agains't the company or agains't the moderators.
Whoever made an order can cancel or wait, it's easy, BUT, let me break it down for you guys so maybe you will understand why we are so frustrated.
As i see it i don't have any other option. I just have to wait, if i go to some other company i have to wait for the refund, make another order and it will take another 3 months, BUT.
I work for an IT corporation, so i know my way around. I don't want to say anything about their system because i'm not entitled to do that, but if they put down the real time for orders, 90% of them will cancel, and that's a fact. It's not money wise, they already know people won't wait 2-3 months for a unit.
This is the main reason i'm saying they are misleading us.
Also, if they rly wanted to be honest and bla bla bla, they can change a few lines in the code and give us the REAL times, i'm sure it's something like 5-10 minutes of work since i'm a web designer.
Also based on their times i made some plans, and since i'm working from home i took some personal projects, now i have to cancel them or delay my customers, most of them will search for someone else.
My old rig was a gift to my nephew for his birthday, explain to me how i'm gonna go back to him and tell him "mate, i need the rig back for a month or two" while he waited almost 2 years for this gift.
Now besided the fact that i paid 2800£ for something i can't use, i also lost around 4-5k£ from the projects that i can't do.
So let me ask you again.
They said 18-20 working days, with a little bit of delay i was expecting my unit at the beginning of july.
Considering that the building date is 10 of july, and i'm sure they gonna delay it again, i'll end up having it at the end of july or middle of september.
It's that misleading? Yes.
Is it money wise for them to tell me the thruth? No.
Do they care how much money i have lost because i made plans after their system? No.
Will i see something in return for making me wait for so long? No or maybe an apology.
Does that gonna make me feel better? No.
So please tell me again how they are not lying or misleading customers.
What they are doing now with us is basic business for profit. So whatever you guys say just stop defending them.
I know you guys don't have anything to do with them, but this is gonna leave a mark on the company in the long run.

We all of us on here understand your frustrations because every one of us has had to wait for our order to be built, some of us several times. I do understand that the delays and uncertainties at present are excessive and to be perfectly frank, I have no idea why that is. Neither does anyone else outside of PCS. I get it that you're angry and I get it that you want to lash out, but this is not the place to do that. I suggest you phone or email PCS customer services and tell them what you think of these constant delays. They might be able to do something about them, we can't. Nor can anyone else on here, save the few PCS employees who occasionally visit.

All the build dates you get from PCS are estimates. They are not guarantees and never have been. I agree that the estimates should bear some relation to reality and it is unfair and frustrating to have the estimates keep extending all the time. Calling that lying however is way out of order because that requires a deliberate intent to deceive. Calling it misleading also implies intent, which you can't substantiate.

It's clear that PCS's management of their build estimates and their management of customer expectations during the current emergency has failed and failed badly. These are unprecedented circumstances however and PCS are not alone in having been caught out by a situation that nobody could have planned for.

I understand (and this is supported by other posts on here) that PCS are manually emailing every customer with more accurate build dates, although these are still estimates of course. I also understand they will manually email everyone every 5 days to keep them updated. As I've said, I don't know what the problems are or why build estimates are so uncertain, but at least they seem to be temporarily abandoning the automated delivery estimates that have caused so much upset and annoyance.

I don't know what PCS's daily order volume looks like, but I suspect it runs into the hundreds. That means that there are several thousands of customers suffering the same uncertainties and frustrations, yet most of them it seems understand that these are difficult times and though I'm sure they are just as frustrated they are prepared to wait patiently.

 

[Scott]

You and your moderator friend seem to assume i am cancelling or are you advising me to cancel ? If my build time is going to be 10 weeks+ i will be receiving some form of compensation. As when i was handing over £2000 there was no explanation that i would have to wait over 10 weeks.
Also i do know your guys don't work for PCS but some people may not understand that when reading your replies. Another thing that will be being mentioned on the phone Monday morning. You may not work for them but you are indirectly representing them on here and people could not be blamed for thinking you do work for them. So lose the attitude and cocky replies.

Your unhappiness with the service and wanting to contact on Monday made me believe that you were calling up to cancel. You seem assured that you will receive compensation, where in your contract are you getting this from? Believe me there is no threat from you cancelling to receive anything. You are entitled to absolutely nothing from PCS and everything is well covered from the language of the estimates and the terms and conditions you have agreed to. Due to the first class customer service and knowledge I have no doubt you will receive an apology due to the unforeseen time-frames, but this is at the discretion of the persons you will speak to. If PCS decide to offer any blanket compensation it will be completely at their own choice and nothing to do with threatening to remove your order from their current workload.

Regarding working for PCS, I have no idea where you would get that idea from. What about my replies makes it appear that I work for PCS? I continually state that I don't work for PCS and all my views are based on my opinion, as per my signature.

I find it quite ironic that you look at this situation and consider me being the cocky one with the attitude. I have absolutely no gain whatsoever being here or replying to your messages attempting to give you perspective on what's going on in the world, and potentially with your order. With some people though, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. Reasoned, well mannered people don't direct insults at others through their own frustrations so I'm fairly certain you should take a look in the mirror at your attitude before taking aim at others.

 

[TomBerry]

It took me just less than a month from placing my order to receiving it - 21 working days. Yeah I'll admit I was impatient for it, but now I have it it's an absolute cracking build and it was so worth the wait. When I made my last order about two years ago I ordered the fastest build and shipping speed and it was dispatched on the second day, so I know they can perform well enough.

You need to realise that the employees at PCS are doing their absolute best at getting PC's sent out as quick as possible, because they don't want PC's to be stuck in their warehouse. I know that if I was working there and the amount of orders were coming in were increasing every day, I'd be doing my best to work faster so I can get that queue down, so believe us they're doing everything they can and they're not just taking the **** out of you.

It'll be worth the wait I'm telling you, you obviously have the rights to cancel etc but it'll only just put you to the back of the queue if you decide to reorder elsewhere. The company I work for used to be able to send parcels (for example) to New Zealand in 3-5 business days, at the peak of the pandemic it was at 20-22 business days - every company is affected and not just PCS

 

[nick_123]

If we’re all feeling let down, imagine how the mods must be feeling right now. It’s a tough gig, don’t forget that. It seems a cliched thing to say, but you don’t know how the person at the other end of the post/monitor screen might be feeling.

 

[TwoBrainCells]

True, true and true. Like i said, i'm here just to vent.
And no, they don't do their "best"
I've talked to some friends who are working in the IT field, guess what. In no more than 10-15 working days you will have your PC. But that's not in UK.
Before i got into IT, i used to work in warehouses, called some friends, they run "normal". Sometimes they have problems with the orders but they manage. If they get overwhelmed by orders they just email the clients and tell them they gonna be late by 2-3 days.
I also worked in an online shop for tools, and a friend there just told me the orders are 5 times bigger than usual, and they can still deliver in 3-5 working days. But from 20 working days to 40 it's a huge difference.
****Removed as not appropriate for forum****
Working only with a few people in the warehouse. Why should they pay everyone when they can delay us as long as they want? U know, they already have our money and it's a pandemic. I've seen this already, and it went bad.
Now someone is gonna say "OMG, how can you say that, you are soooo meeaaannn"
Give me a break please, i was building PC's for my friends for fun.
Took me around 10-12 hours to finish it with all the testing possible.
But NO, we need 7 working days just to confirm your payment. A FULL payment by debit card. This means your money is already in our account and if you want to refund we will give you hell, and it will take you a month or more to receive your money back.
Now we gonna put you in Pre-Production, that means we can keep you there for as long as we want because you don't know what we are doing in the warehouse and how many people are working on the orders. Do we have 3 or 10? U'll never know.
After that we will put your status in building, another 5 working days.
Everything was in stock. When i did the build you gave me presets to choose from with parts that work well together and usually don't cause any problems. I had the option from a mid range build to a top build.
Then we gonna install your windows and test it. That's 5-6 hours tops, maybe 8 if they overclock everything and put it back to normal. You know like i know they already have the software to do everything in a few clicks.
But that's not the case since i didn't ordered an overclocked PC.
I can go on like this forever but i don't see the point.
Whoever has a little bit of knowledge in IT knows that whatever they are doing in that company is not right.
And if they have so many orders why they don't STOP the orders until they catch up?
Oh wait, i forgot, money.

 

[TwoBrainCells]

I understand your frustration but why would you ditch crucial equipment before you had a replacement when there's a pandemic going on?

Well, i took what THEY said for granted. It's a big company right? Keeping in mind that they already told me it's a pandemic and it's gonna take a while.
I took a margin of 2 weeks of delays and made my plans with "delays" included. But from 25 working days to 40...

 

[SpyderTracks]

True, true and true. Like i said, i'm here just to vent.
And no, they don't do their "best"
I've talked to some friends who are working in the IT field, guess what. In no more than 10-15 working days you will have your PC. But that's not in UK.
Before i got into IT, i used to work in warehouses, called some friends, they run "normal". Sometimes they have problems with the orders but they manage. If they get overwhelmed by orders they just email the clients and tell them they gonna be late by 2-3 days.
I also worked in an online shop for tools, and a friend there just told me the orders are 5 times bigger than usual, and they can still deliver in 3-5 working days. But from 20 working days to 40 it's a huge difference.
****Removed as not appropriate for forum****
Working only with a few people in the warehouse. Why should they pay everyone when they can delay us as long as they want? U know, they already have our money and it's a pandemic. I've seen this already, and it went bad.
Now someone is gonna say "OMG, how can you say that, you are soooo meeaaannn"
Give me a break please, i was building PC's for my friends for fun.
Took me around 10-12 hours to finish it with all the testing possible.
But NO, we need 7 working days just to confirm your payment. A FULL payment by debit card. This means your money is already in our account and if you want to refund we will give you hell, and it will take you a month or more to receive your money back.
Now we gonna put you in Pre-Production, that means we can keep you there for as long as we want because you don't know what we are doing in the warehouse and how many people are working on the orders. Do we have 3 or 10? U'll never know.
After that we will put your status in building, another 5 working days.
Everything was in stock. When i did the build you gave me presets to choose from with parts that work well together and usually don't cause any problems. I had the option from a mid range build to a top build.
Then we gonna install your windows and test it. That's 5-6 hours tops, maybe 8 if they overclock everything and put it back to normal. You know like i know they already have the software to do everything in a few clicks.
But that's not the case since i didn't ordered an overclocked PC.
I can go on like this forever but i don't see the point.
Whoever has a little bit of knowledge in IT knows that whatever they are doing in that company is not right.
And if they have so many orders why they don't STOP the orders until they catch up?
Oh wait, i forgot, money.

Quite frankly, from what you've said here, it's very clear you have no idea how JIT factory workflows are. Or what building and testing a PC entails. A RAM check alone is overnight for 12 hours.

I'm not entering into the discussion, if you feel you want to accuse PCS of things, you need to do that to PCS directly, not on this forum.

You're welcome to rant, but you know the forum rules and you are NOT allowed to make up rubbish just to tarnish PCS. And being unduely negative will also result in a ban.