Waiting for Velocity Micro computer to arrive

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Vlad2

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2 weeks ago I made a plunge and ordered new computer from Velocity Micro, in part because of good reports on this forum.

For a long time I thought that I will get my next computer from MonarchComputer.com. They have an excellent online configurator, with many choices (for example they offer about 50 different cases, from different manufacturers). There are not very expensive, and they used to have very good customer satisfaction rating. However, recently their satisfaction rating took a deep dive, so I decided to look at other vendors.

I never heard about Velocity Micro before, buts stumbled on a couple of good reviews of their computers, and decided to take a look at their website. At first, I was not impressed. Online configurator did not have many choices, pricing policies were difficult to understand – depending on what system template you start with, identically configured computers could have very different prices. (In Monarch, each component has a fixed price, and the price of the whole system is always the sum of the prices of all its components). Available choices seemed to be arbitrarily limited – components available in one system template were unavailable in others, even though they would be perfectly compatible.

However, I found that starting with “Campus edition” computer, and upgrading hard drive, CPU, and memory, I can get practically the computer that I wanted to buy, with a reasonably competitive price. No good sound card was offered with this system (I wanted X-Fi), but I can get it myself independently. I called VM, was connected to a live person quickly, and was really impressed with her knowledge. This was a good sign! Online reviews of VM computers were mostly good too. So, I decided to order from them. This is the computer I will be getting:

Silver case with side window,
Intel E6400 CPU,
2 Gig memory,
GeForce 7600 GS craphics,
320GB WD hard drive
Floppy and Media reader combo

I even got couple of “free” upgrades I have no need for – speakers with subwoofer and a non-trial version of McAfee antivirus. Do not know yet what I will do with them (I already have very good Klipsch speakers which I have no intention of changing, and I use ZoneAlarm rather than McAfee) – but there was no decrease in price for not getting them, so what the heck, I ordered them. Some other upgrades were rather expensive (e.g. I had to pay $100 for upgrade from E6300 to E6400 CPU). Still, the final price of the system was very reasonable – about $1200.

I ordered on September 24, with estimated ship date Oct. 16. The next day I got order confirmation email, and another funny email saying “congratulation with making a payment to Velocity Micro” :). (Yes, they charge the credit card immediately on ordering, notwithstanding how far in the future is the shipping date). Now I am impatiently checking order status every day. So far, it is still in “payment approved” stage. I sort of hoped that it will be shipped early – some people on this forum were lucky in this respect – but I guess it will not happen. But, VM can still ship it on time, which I hope will happen!

I will update this thread when I get any new information – hopefully it will be to say that my computer was shipped on time, and arrived in a perfect condition :)
 
Mine was supposed to ship on the 4th, but ended up shipping on the 6th. It was disapointing that it didn't ship on time (or early), but not a big deal. It is supposed to be delivered on the 10th- I can't wait.

I called the morning of the 6th and was told that there would be a delay on my system until the 15th or so as they were out of the black case I ordered. 10 minutes after I hung up I got an email saying it was assembled and heading to shipping.Go figure.
 
I ordered on September 24, with estimated ship date Oct. 16
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heh, consider yourself lucky. i ordered a system on the 29 and my estimated shipping date is oct. 24. i also ordered the campus edition, pretty much barebones. oh well, just a few more weeks...
 
Yes, they continue to increase lead time. If you order today, estimated ship day is November 13. Not a good sign :)

On the other hand, most of other VM systems have smaller wait time. Not sure why Campus edition has the longest wait - originally I thought that they want to discorage people from ordering the system offering the most bang for the buck on their website, but they do not actually need so much time, so mayby the waiting will not be so long ...
 
Vlad2 said:
On the other hand, most of other VM systems have smaller wait time. Not sure why Campus edition has the longest wait - originally I thought that they want to discorage people from ordering the system offering the most bang for the buck on their website, but they do not actually need so much time, so mayby the waiting will not be so long ...
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We are experiencing very high order rates at the moment, and we are running low on a few components expected later this month, including black GX cases. We regret the delays, and are trying to be realistic in our estimated ship dates. Sorry for the wait, but I hope it will be worth it!

Randy
 
Randy,

My estimated ship date was 10/7/06. The order was placed on 9/19/06. I contacted customer service, and Trace told me that there was a problem getting the x1950 video cards. I hope this can be resolved as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Velocity_Micro said:
We are experiencing very high order rates at the moment, and we are running low on a few components expected later this month, including black GX cases. We regret the delays, and are trying to be realistic in our estimated ship dates.

Randy
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No problems, my estimated shipping date is still one week in the future, I have no grounds for complains ;) (I ordered a silver case by the way).


Velocity_Micro said:
Sorry for the wait, but I hope it will be worth it!
Randy
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I am sure it will be !
 
Yeah, I ordered a Campus Edition GX too (standard silver case though) on the 25th of Sept, and my Est. shipping date is Oct. 21.

Hope thats accurate, man i'm so excited, I'm sick of playing nothing but CS 1.6 on my windows me.
 
My GF's order date was 9/9/06, ship date 10/1/06 and it hasn't been shipped yet.

Vector™ GX Campus Edition

When we ordered the PC, it was delayed for the 1st week because the CC # didn't match the Billing address. I guess in the fine print it says it needs to be pre-authorized but we didn't get any notice of this via email. Only a week later where we contacted VM we were told that we needed to call the CC company.

The PC is still in Staged for Assembly status. We called about this a few days before 10/1 and we were told VM was doing inventory and sorry for the delay.

It is 1 full week after the proposed ship date and the PC isn't even in "In Assembly" status. My family had a computer store for about 8 years, I am currently a Desktop Engineer at an Enterprise level corporation (hint: One of the top Japanese Automobile Manufacturers) and I handle procurement/warranty issues with Dell & Verizon @ work so I know of how busy it can be but I am frankly disappointed with the lack of communication we have had with the delays after reading so many good things about Velocity Micro. On a side note, I work with Dell (with Gold Level Enterprise support) and ordered a Velocity Micro PC. ;)

Lastly, I'm not trying to slam Velocity Micro here but I feel that there are definitely some issues that can be improved on.

FYI - Order # 226765
 
Just called VM and asked them if they expect to ship my order on time. Was told that it may be delayed for a week :( - because they run out of silver cases. Do not know if this means much (see experience of Skinsfan above). It seems that cases are the excuse of the day :)
 
We really are sorry for the delay. We order chassis by the container - a whole heck of a lot each time. Those containers are on a slow boat from overseas, and if the manufacturer has an issue, it greatly affects us. We are spending a lot of money getting more chassis via air to fill customer orders in the short run. We appreciate everyone's patience on this - please call us if you have any questions.
 
OC 335i said:
Skinsfan, what case was in your order?
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I have the LX-W Black coming (on Truck for Delivery as of 8:38 this morning :).

My guess is that my pc was one of the last few to get a case before they ran out. It was in "Stage for Assembly" for about 6 days- I think. So I assume my parts were set aside and waiting for assembly. The person that responded to me probably saw my order and assumed I was being held up do to the case, when in actuality I was in the "Being Assembed Stage". Like I originally said, 10 minues later I got my shipping notice.

I'll throw VM some props- I sent two emails and both were answered almost immediately. I believe the guys name was Jason; very prompt, helpful and professional.

The one call I made (to clarify the case issue) was answered immediately by a live person who was also professional, friendly and helpful.

The worse part now is waiting for the UPS truck and praying to God the package wasn't mishandled in transit. I'll post back tonight with details on the PC (in a new thread- sorry for crapping on this one).
 
ChrisMorley said:
We really are sorry for the delay. We order chassis by the container - a whole heck of a lot each time. Those containers are on a slow boat from overseas, and if the manufacturer has an issue, it greatly affects us. We are spending a lot of money getting more chassis via air to fill customer orders in the short run. We appreciate everyone's patience on this - please call us if you have any questions.
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Thanks, Chris, for the good news. It is always impressive when a company agrees to extra spendings when necessary to satisfy their promises to the customers. When I called VM, I was told that you expect delivery of cases only on October 16, so my computer will be delayed by a week. But, if I understood you correctly, there will be no delays because you get the cases air shipped to you?
 
Thanks for the reply Skinsfan. I find it rather odd that your ship date was after mine and your PC was shipped out already (mine still in Staged for assembly). Well, that's good for you and bad for me. ;) If the PC ships out 10/15 vs. the original 10/1 I'd have to say that's a pretty significant delay.
 
Vlad2 said:
Thanks, Chris, for the good news. It is always impressive when a company agrees to extra spendings when necessary to satisfy their promises to the customers. When I called VM, I was told that you expect delivery of cases only on October 16, so my computer will be delayed by a week. But, if I understood you correctly, there will be no delays because you get the cases air shipped to you?
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OK, I just got the whole skinny on what is going on right now - I've been gone a week and have old information...there was some air freight going on, but it was for something completely different.

It comes down to the fact that there was a delay getting the chassis on the boat in China, then there was a delay getting it switched to another boat in Panama. We were expecting these chassis a week and a half ago.

I have been told that if your projected ship date was up to the 15th (so this would include you) - an email has been sent out offering a free upgrade to the blue chassis or we would include a $25 Best Buy gift card. If you have not received this email, please contact me cmorley AT velocitymicro DOT com and I will make sure you get one.
 
ChrisMorley said:
I have been told that if your projected ship date was up to the 15th (so this would include you) - an email has been sent out offering a free upgrade to the blue chassis or we would include a $25 Best Buy gift card. If you have not received this email, please contact me cmorley AT velocitymicro DOT com and I will make sure you get one.
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I did not get an email. When I spoke with VM representative today, they told me that I can switch to blue case, but without side window. Frankly I do not consider this an "upgrade" to silver case with side windows that I ordered. And I would gladly give you $25 Best Buy gift card myself if you build my computer on time and problems-free :)
 
I ordered the Gamer's Edge with the LW-e Chassis - Silver - and no side window. My order is currently in "Staged For Assembly!" Will this chassis delay my order that's estimated for shipment on Oct 14th? I have not received any information about a delay.

Thanks. :)
 
Got a call from a VM representative today. This time they told me that they have a blue case with side window, and offered me a choice to wait until silver cases arrive (which should happen on October 18), or go with the blue case. If I go with the blue case, I was told VM will make their best efforts to meet my original shipping date of October 16.

I agreed to go with blue case. Would be interesting to see how good VM best efforts would be :) So far my order is still in "payment approved" state.

(And I hope they would not be in such a hurry that they would forget to check whether the computer boots :) )
 
Vlad2 said:
Got a call from a VM representative today. This time they told me that they have a blue case with side window, and offered me a choice to wait until silver cases arrive (which should happen on October 18), or go with the blue case. If I go with the blue case, I was told VM will make their best efforts to meet my original shipping date of October 16.

I agreed to go with blue case. Would be interesting to see how good VM best efforts would be :) So far my order is still in "payment approved" state.

(And I hope they would not be in such a hurry that they would forget to check whether the computer boots :) )
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Thanks for your patience, and you can be sure that we do proper testing and burn in of every system that we build.
 
ChrisMorley said:
Thanks for your patience, and you can be sure that we do proper testing and burn in of every system that we build.
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Just joking, please do not take offence. I have no doubts that you test the systems.
 
Vlad2 said:
Just joking, please do not take offence. I have no doubts that you test the systems.
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NP dude. =) Those slow boats from China are killing us in the chassis department - did you know that Lian Li promised us that they would be on the boat August 31st? That's how far ahead we plan our orders. They didn't get on the boat till a week and a half later (there's only two boats a week going out) - then they got held up in Panama being transferred to the one boat a week that heads to Newport...ugh.
 
ChrisMorley said:
NP dude. =) Those slow boats from China are killing us in the chassis department - did you know that Lian Li promised us that they would be on the boat August 31st?
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No, I did not even know that you use Lian Li cases :) I remember reading good reviews of them. Do you use some known model of their cases, or it is something completely customized for Velocity Micro and not resembling any of their publicly available models?
 
ChrisMorley said:
NP dude. =) Those slow boats from China are killing us in the chassis department - did you know that Lian Li promised us that they would be on the boat August 31st? That's how far ahead we plan our orders. They didn't get on the boat till a week and a half later (there's only two boats a week going out) - then they got held up in Panama being transferred to the one boat a week that heads to Newport...ugh.
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When I bought my speakers through av123.com I had the same problem. They are assembled in China, and were stuck in a Customs warehouse for two stinkin' weeks. Since 9/11, Customs has made making a promise on delivery dates very much a nightmare for companies.
 
Vlad2 said:
No, I did not even know that you use Lian Li cases :) I remember reading good reviews of them. Do you use some known model of their cases, or it is something completely customized for Velocity Micro and not resembling any of their publicly available models?
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Totally customized, or you can be sure that we'd all whip out our credit cards and hit up some e-tailer. ;)
 
ChrisMorley said:
Totally customized, or you can be sure that we'd all whip out our credit cards and hit up some e-tailer. ;)
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You could always be a [H]ard ass and review the shipping company online... Always seemed to get results when you did it with OEM's :D :D :D

Have fun with the new system :p

Chris, did you guys upgrade him to the blue chassis for free? If so, i have another eason to recommend VM to people :LOL: "if theres a problem with supply, then upgrade components for free sometimes!" lmao
 
0mega said:
Chris, did you guys upgrade him to the blue chassis for free? If so, i have another eason to recommend VM to people :LOL: "if theres a problem with supply, then upgrade components for free sometimes!" lmao
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They did not charge me. But whether this is an "upgrade" is in the eyes of beholder :) All being equal, I would prefer silver - easier to get color-matched drives etc. But getting computer one week earlier was more important for me than the color.
 
Vlad2 said:
They did not charge me. But whether this is an "upgrade" is in the eyes of beholder :) All being equal, I would prefer silver - easier to get color-matched drives etc. But getting computer one week earlier was more important for me than the color.
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Why, out of curiosity? A computer is a rather long-term "investment".
 
General Crespin said:
Why, out of curiosity? A computer is a rather long-term "investment".
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Well, there are things I need to do, and my current computer is a limitation. Also, I do not think color is a big deal. I am even somewhat curious how blue computer would look like - never saw one :) So on the balance silver or blue is a wash for me.
 
The blue really is pretty - I have one sitting under my desk at work. And it does cost us more, which is why we offered it as an "upgrade." No, it's not like getting a 7950 GX2, but we're just trying to satisfy customers who need their computer...we also offered $25 BBY gift cards to those who chose to wait.
 
Chris, I am curious - does your production department work on weekends? Just curious how you are going to ship my computer on Monday if so far it has not even entered "staging" phase...
 
Vlad2 said:
Chris, I am curious - does your production department work on weekends? Just curious how you are going to ship my computer on Monday if so far it has not even entered "staging" phase...
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There's a certain amount of information I'm not allowed to disclose about our operations.
 
ChrisMorley said:
There's a certain amount of information I'm not allowed to disclose about our operations.
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Wow, did not know I stumbled on a sensitive area here :) I did not intend to pry your production secrets, just wanted an extra confirmation that my computer can still be shipped on time. But I guess having VM promise to put forward their best efforts to do it, I should not have any doubts in the results :)
 
Vlad2 said:
They did not charge me. But whether this is an "upgrade" is in the eyes of beholder :) All being equal, I would prefer silver - easier to get color-matched drives etc. But getting computer one week earlier was more important for me than the color.
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there are anodized drive covers for a reason :p the color will have no issues matching with anything
 
I'm sorry you had to go through this ordeal. Reading this thread made me a little nervous my VM system would be damaged by UPS.

However, it arrived last night in perfect shape...AND six days early!! :D

I had to call VM and ask a question, it was so great to be able to talk to an american who clearly had a technical background, and was not reading from a script, Dell-style. It's only day 2, but I'm a very satisfied customer.

If your cooling system is still not quite right, don't settle. Keep working with VM to get it 100%.
 
Holy crap 6 days? WoW


Mine is supposed to ship a week tomorrow (the 21st), and it's still at payment approved :(


im so anxious, and afraid it'll break before I even get it started up
 
silenteye said:
Mine is supposed to ship a week tomorrow (the 21st), and it's still at payment approved :(
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Mine is supposed to ship 16th and it is still at payment approved. It is becoming hard to keep faith that VM will ship it on time, but I am trying to :) Maybe they want to pleasantly surprise me on 16th, and my system status will jump from "payment approved" to "shipped" :)
 
Vlad2 said:
Mine is supposed to ship 16th and it is still at payment approved. It is becoming hard to keep faith that VM will ship it on time, but I am trying to :) Maybe they want to pleasantly surprise me on 16th, and my system status will jump from "payment approved" to "shipped" :)
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Hmm, let's see, looking at my emails: (Maybe this will help)

Ordered on Sept. 29, Estimated shipping date was Oct. 17
Payment approved on Oct. 2
Staged for assembly on Oct. 6
In assembly on Oct. 9
Completed and shipped out on Oct. 11
I received it on Oct. 12

Of course the assembly and completion times depend on the machine you ordered -- I picked the ProMagix home office model. They must have had all my parts on hand, considering the quick turnaround.
 
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