Frustrated...

[marvir]

When you order from PCS your order is put at the bottom of the pile, you slowly move up the pile as orders ahead of you are built. Sometimes you will get to the top of the pile and be missing a component, in that case i presume you go into a pile marked 'waiting for x component'. Sometimes while your waiting for the component to come back into stock you are caught out again by a 2nd component going out of stock and you need to wait for that. That seems quite rare but it's all down to the way PCS have decided to use their stock.

As far as i understand, when you place an order you don't reserve stock for your machine it just marks you down as wanting those components. If it comes time to build and any of those components are out of stock then your a little bit stuck. Why they do it that way, im not sure, i would guess that it allows them more efficient stock control. The last thing they want when your ordering for the first time from an internet company you have never heard of before is "sorry A,B,C,D and E items are out fo stock" people will just move on. If PCS can keep minimal stock of items and provide the majority of orders on time i see no problems, but possibly a bit more of a visable explantion might be helpful.

Ahh see this is what I was looking for. Like I mentioned before, I wasn't really complaining because I myself don't know the specifics of how they operate. As a general customer of any product though, ordering and getting your parts "reserved" is what I would assume would happen. After you explained this, I do understand and agree that it does help them maintain good stock levels without over-ordering anything and in turn losing profit if they find it hard to sell the components.

The downside is for people that do need it in a certain amount of time, it is near on impossible to have a 90% successful estimate of how long it would take if there are pre-sold components, up until you are very close to the building stage in the queue. That also causes a problem like, for me, I've always wanted to order the Fast Track if I could, but since I can't until all the components of my build are present and assured to me, I can't get the priority service which I need, and still makes me every bit as vulnerable as someone who ordered the standard delivery and has no intention of fast tracking whatsoever, to have a component go out of stock before I get to my "turn" in the building stage.

Apparently my build could start tomorrow, so that's good, and if tomorrow all the parts are indeed present, I can order the Fast Track to make sure I get it before I go abroad. The thing is, it's very painful to shell out at least £39 more for something I've already waited almost 2 weeks for to start building. I guess that's just down to each individual, and how important it is to get their orders ASAP. I'm unhappy with that, and am still undecided if I should go for the Fast Track, but to be honest there's nothing I could do about it, and again it's down to the individual to make that decision and I don't fault PCS for that.

Now it's not officially a complaint, it's more I saw the pros and cons of the system, obviously with the information that I have until the guys at PCS can give a clearer picture.

 

[Maestro]

Yes, and we value all our customers. However at the end of the day only if you order a fast track is stock reserved for you. All non-fast-track orders simply go into a pile of orders and when yours reaches the top its gets built. However if it reaches the top and a part is out of stock then the order will be prioritised for build when that item returns to stock.

So, only if you call us when your order is the next to be built can we accurately tell you if an item is missing or not. If your order is 100th in the queue then there might be items out of stock at that time which you will be informed about but this will have changed by the time your order is the next to be built.

It is all very fluid, at any time we have in stock or on order everything we need to satisfy every order. However, there are delays, constraints, etc. which mean that sometimes we will overshoot our estimate. And of course we cannot judge how many orders we will get on a day to day basis and will get surges in orders and quiet spells.

 

[Maestro]

I wrote this post in the run up to xmas last year, but it is still relevant as we are are still crazy busy.

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.

 

[captcha]

hold ups

Got my GTX680,surrounded by a computer ,last week.
Noticed the 1600 mhz memory was showing as 1333mhz in BIOS.
A bit worried that under all the pressure PCS are under they're not having time to test properly,unless they tested it at 1600 then reverted to 1333 for delivery?

 

[Maestro]

all memory is tested by the manufacturer and set at the default spd which is 1333mhz. If you want it to run at 1600mhz, simply enable xmp in the bios. It makes almost no difference wether memory is tested at 1333 or 1600mhz. if a chip is faulty it will fail wether running at 1333 or 1600mhz

 

[marvir]

Maestro,

Thanks for the info. It was really good that this was all clarified for me, as it clears it all up and takes away any assumptions I may make because of now knowing. I guess I've found it difficult simply because I can't get a Fast Track due to the lack of components in stock. I wish there was some way I could've gotten like a Fast Track that applies to pre-production as well so components can be reserved for me as soon as shipments arrive, but even for me that doesn't feel quite fair to the other customers who ordered before me but decided to be patient, although I could've really used it.

With that question all answered, I'd like to ask: If my order does indeed go into the build stage tomorrow, would you personally recommend getting a Fast Track of that, or would the difference in time be negligible, and perhaps not quite worth the £59?

 

[Rakk]

If my order does indeed go into the build stage tomorrow, would you personally recommend getting a Fast Track of that, or would the difference in time be negligible, and perhaps not quite worth the £59?

Generally speaking if its about to go into build anyways, fast tracking wouldn't be worth it, mostly what fast track does is just mean you skip the long pre-production stage.

 

[mantadog]

Generally speaking if its about to go into build anyways, fast tracking wouldn't be worth it, mostly what fast track does is just mean you skip the long pre-production stage.

Although it would mean that your order would be tested and QC'ed asap as i believe their is a short wait for those stages too. Getting a fast track would atleast mean your machine would be sent out in 2 days rather than maybe 4 days.

You could also request PCS hold it back for deliver once you get back from abroad if that would help you out any? Not ideal i know, but better than letting a courrier attempt delivery, get sent back to PCS then have to be re delivered again, thats asking for trouble.

 

[marvir]

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately I need the laptop before I go as I have to keep up with my online course while on holiday (from work), but it's what has to be done, and I simply can't be a week behind on it otherwise I'll be playing catch up from here on out, and I have enough problems keeping up with deadlines as it is.

I still have a bit of time before it turns desperate, but I want to make sure I get it in good time to make sure everything's in working order after I move about 2 drive's worth of back up onto my new rig, plus downloading everything that I need with a crap net connection, then catching up to whatever it is I may have missed during this time, so if a Fast Track will get me my laptop before Wednesday or Thursday next week, I guess I'll have to suck it up and spend the money.

 

[captcha]

all memory is tested by the manufacturer and set at the default spd which is 1333mhz. If you want it to run at 1600mhz, simply enable xmp in the bios. It makes almost no difference wether memory is tested at 1333 or 1600mhz. if a chip is faulty it will fail wether running at 1333 or 1600mhz

Odd that you would say" if you want it to run at 1600mhz"
Having paid you extra money for 1600 rather than 1333 surely it's obvious that I want it to run at 1600?

Is there anything else I need to know about enabling various settings on my new computer that have not been tested properly or is it just memory that is excluded?

I assume that Intel and Nvidia test their stuff before shipping,but it's the combination of Motherboards,Processors,Graphic cards,memory etc,that I assumed you tested.

That said,PCS have really put together a great machine,thanks for the good work.

 

[Maestro]

all your hardware has been tested. it is not unusual to set any component to its default setting. the default setting of your memory is 1333mhz. if you want to run it faster at 1600 simply enable xmp (xtreme memory profile). if you want you could probably set it higher than that. same as your cpu, it is running at default but can be comfortably overclocked above that.

all that being said you will not notice hardly any difference in real world applications running 1333 or 1600.

 

[BinaryBoy]

Arrrrgh - 24hrs later and my order status is still "Pre-Production" (either that or the image is burned onto my retinas after nearly 3 weeks of looking at it)

Did my 3930K not arrive or am I to assume from reading how the order process works that you gave it (or one of my other components) to someone who (unlike me) was able to select fast track and pay an additional £39/£59 when they ordered...?

If so, that makes me a saaaaad panda :-(

 

[mantadog]

Still 2-3 hours before they shut for the day, who knows what could happen in that time.

 

[Maestro]

yes 3090k arrived, we are just going through the backlog now.