Current lead times

There have been a lot of posts recently about people agonising over waiting for machines etc.

At the moment we are quite busy (yay!) following an unexpected rush at the end of the school holidays (and maybe the launch of the forum contributing to this?).

So i would expect the lead time of 9-12 days (09/09/10) to be towards the 12 working days rather than the 9. Anyone who is going to be waiting longer will / should have been contacted via email to inform them of this.

Barring the odd stock shortage (anyone affected by any stock issues will be emailed, no real issues at the moment) we are catching up fast though and appreciate everybodys patience.

If you are after information on the progress of your order please log into the main page and email us, please do not post it on the forums or ask via live-chat as an answer via these methods cannot be guaranteed!

I blame you lot advertising in PC Gamer, lol. I just hope the lead tine doesn't increase any further... =Ø

I'd put it down to the forums

what's the difference between processing and pre-production? I mean what are you doing during the processing?

When you place your order it is at the bottom of the pile, in terms of the queue to be built. From the moment your order starts processing it is moving up the queue to be built. However during this time we carry out things such as fraud checks. We also make sure we have the parts for your order, and order them if not.

We keep most items in stock, but there will always be a couple of components that are in constraint. Components that have just been released for example. This can affect a particular orders delivery time. Once all this has been done, then your order enters pre-production. The time taken until your order enters pre-production is largely determined by how busy we are. Please note that the approx lead time that you are provided with when ordering is approximate. This time frame is determined by the average time it has taken to dispatch deliveries over the ast two months. Most orders will still be dispatched within this advertised window but it is not guaranteed, it is just a indicator. Some orders will be dispatched earlier than this, and some will take longer.

Pre-production means that all processing of your order, fraud , stock check is complete and your order has been printed by the spec picker (the guy who physically picks the stock of the shelves to be built). Again, this can be a waiting game while your order sheet moves up the pile. Once the sheet is at the top, it is picked and built. The whole process is very fluid, and actual lead times can change daily. We only have a set number of staff, so a surge in orders will will cause the lead time to grow, while a quiet week will see it shorten.

As stated above the last few weeks have been extremely busy, which is feeding through to the lead time advertised. A few weeks ago it was 6-8 working days and is now 9-12 or something like that. Traditionally this period of the year right up until Christmas only gets busier, so I would expect the lead time could still grow.
Please however rest assured that we do all we can in such busy periods to deliver your order as quickly as possible. I understand it is a frustrating period waiting for your dream machine.

During busy times such as these we get the team working overtime to keep the lead time down as much as possible. What we cannot do is simply go out and employ more staff on a whim because we have had a busy few weeks. The reason why we are so competitive on price is because we are very efficient and keep overheads down. We have to strike a steady balance on staff numbers because it is not busy week in week out all year round. There are traditional quiet periods.

For those customers who require a PC urgently then there is the fast track service. All checks are done immediately and your order goes straight to the top of the pile.
Finally, I would ask all customers to be patient. Remember the less staff we have to use answering emails and taking phone calls regarding status of order the more staff we can use in production building and testing your computers. If your order is taking longer than you expected then there is a reason for this and you can rest assured it has not been forgotten, but it just simply means we are busy.

Expand your business ? hire more people!.

oh if only it was as easy as that!

Thing is my Pre-Production date was about 10 days ago. i was hoping it would be much further than this, I have been informed that the 650W PSU was being ordered but that takes more than a week? as i got told this on Monday.

Pre-Production Date 19-10-2010

Pre-production is typically the longest part of the order. Currently we are looking at MORE than 12 days for your order on average i'm afraid. PCS are insanely busy at the moment and things don't look like they're gonna get quieter, especially with xmas creeping up upon us.

9 to 12 days is too optimistic,it needs to be extended,but dont let that put anyone off buying from here.I searched the web on & off for over a year,you wont find better than this for price,quality or support.

Gone up to 13 atm

Are we still looking at 13 or has it risen?

Also, excuse my ignorance but is that 13 working days from processing to dispatch?

mackem1973 said:

Are we still looking at 13 or has it risen?

Also, excuse my ignorance but is that 13 working days from processing to dispatch?

Click to expand...

looking like being more than that for me. I think it means average

Average, it can go over depending on how many of a certain build type are going thru

I was expecting my PC to take longer to arrive as I ordered just before Christmas so thought maybe there would not be many people there over the holidays. I wish it spent longer in testing though as it would have saved me a long time and a lot of phoning and fixing.

I was just waondering on the Pre production stage is it ok to get info on what is taking time on your pc in detail for example if you waiting for parts, or its in a que etc

Express service

Hi there

I ordered my pc last Monday. It's in pre-production right now, as you'd expect. I'm off work for a couple of weeks from Monday and I'd really like to get it so I can have some time to play before I get back to work.

Do any of you guys have recent experience of the 5 day Fast Track service? I'd like to have it for the week after next and doubt that'll be the case if I stick with the standard service.

Any thoughts, advice, experience gratefully received.

3 day and 5 day fast track service has approx 96% success rate. Give the call centre a bell on monday and they will give you all the info so you can decide to go for it or not. Dont forget to check here first so you can call when phone lines are quiet.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/call-waiting/

Thanks for the quick response Maestro. Much appreciated.

Called this morning. My case is out of stock at the moment. I only changed it last night to the Coolermaster Sileo! (Think that's probably worth the wait though - should be in later this week).

Would just like to say that the chap who answered the phone could not have done more to help and advise me. My first experience of PCS' telephone support and I have to say I was very impressed. Thanks very much for that.