I guess Dell doesn't like my suggestion for Silver Zinc batteries which can be recycled.

Delays huh?  I'm in a perpetual state of heck with this.  My order was accepted for a new m1530 on June 4.  It's been automagically canelled and reordered twice and is now even further delayed in what seems like an unusually long "boxing" state with an ESD of July 1.

Two months to fulfill a single laptop order...this really leaves me (and I'm certain others as well) with a very bad opinion. 

Two months!?!  ...and I still don't have my notebook!  Not cool.

If Dell knows about a couple of month delay, Why are they giving a two week shipping date when you order?  After finding out that they know it will be a long time for delivery it sounds like I need to be looking elsewhare.. 

This wil be my third 1530 ordered.. The first is fine.. The second is waiting for a new hard drive. This will be the third in three months. I got a call this morning saying the replacement will be delayed. Has nothing to do with a battery. Makes me really wonder about Dell....

I guess you can tell I am not a Happy Camper.

I am very upset with Dell. i am a longtime Dell user and supporter, but after having my one year old laptop battery fail, Dell refused to replace even after i purchased the $100 extended warranty. I think this is poor customer service and know I would receive better service from Mac should I buy a new MacBook. Thanks a lot Dell.

Jacob

I have to agree with the comments above. I have just had my battery order cancelled despite promises almost three weeks ago that all was well. Interestingly the battery I require is still listed on the Dell website with a 5-7 day delivery. I am resorting to contacting the Office of Fair Trading as this is a clear breach of the Distance Selling regulations where Dell are aware of major problems with deliveries but still promise the moon to get your money. If they can't supply the goods, why accept the order?

Kevin

I agree with most of what you have said, especially about why the web site shows 5-7 day delivery when Dell knows that there is a back-log on these items.  However, Dell does not get your money until the item ships, so no ship = no money to Dell.  If you are not happy with the delay and can get the battery quicker somewhere else you can cancel your order,

Judy.....have you not trolled around the webitubes lately?  Google around.....tons of people are complaining about being charged (credit cards actually being charged.....bank accounts showing less money) while their system still sits on the line at Dell.

I kept up with my business purchase order and the money was transfered from my account (not just removed from the books) over a month ago, and only today (8/1/2008) has my system finally shipped.

Again, I say........Not Cool!

It would be nice if your customer service people had this information to educate their customers.  Following is the text I entered on another Dell blog, and I welcome any responses:

"Dear Sir / Madame:

I have been a loyal HP customer in the past, but advised my mother-in- law to try Dell as I have been impressed with your latest market offerings.  At this point, I wish I had advised her differently.

The online ordering process was smooth and seamless, giving me hope that we would soon receive the purchased laptop.  After a couple of rescheduled delivery dates, I decided to call customer service on her behalf to understand why these were occurring.

I was informed that the reason for the delay was a scarcity of batteries.  I then asked what I thought was a reasonable request:  as the laptop was significantly behind schedule, would Dell overnight the laptop to me at their expense?  I was immediately informed that Dell provides no compensation to customers and I would just have to wait.

I did request to speak with a Manager, and was finally forwarded to such an individual.  He reconfirmed the policy, and also provided me with no further means to escalate the issue.  When I asked to speak to his Manager, I was bluntly told that he was "the highest authority" I could talk to today.  When I asked him why I should remain with Dell, he simply told me that was my decision.

I am stunned that Dell would be willing to forego a $1,000 plus sale to save on overnight shipping charges.  What disturbs me more, however, is the inflexibility with which customer service approached resolving this issue.

I am still left with my question:  why should I keep my order with Dell, rather than cancel and shop at HP?"

The real problem is not the shipping of your batteries it is the fact that they will die on you shortly after the warranty runs out.  I have an E1505 Inspiron.  I had the computer for slightly over one year and my computer popped up a message that said your battery needs to be replced because it will no longer hold the charge.  Mind you this is after the battery was holding charge just fine the day before.  There were no indications of the bettery slowing down on performance.  So to continue, the battery was only able hold its full charge for 30 mins if that after this message first popped up.  So I follow the website my computer instructs me to go to on DELL's website to order a new battery.  I get there and I find that the batteries ( at the time) for the 6 cell is $200 (now brought down to $135) and 9 cell at $300.  After screaming at the screen "WHAT!!!" I promptly called Dell customer service.  After sitting on hold for 30 mins I got through to someone.  I was told that the battery needs to be replaced and it is only under warranty for one year.  So I ask why it is happened so suddenly right after the warranty ran out?  No logical answer for that, the CSR even spoke to a tech, and I was told that because I had the computer plugged in when the battery was charged it killed the battery , essentially it is my fault.  So after getting that response I do further research.  I find I am far from alone on this issue and many more people are having the exact same problem. 

Basically I have recieved no answer from DELL as to why their batties are only lasting one year.  I have an Inspiron 8000 and the battery in that computer is over 3 years old and I did nothing different with that machine that I did with the E1505.  I have changed the battery once in that machine and the first time was after 3 years.  So I am not convinced that having the power cord in when it is fully charged killed the battery, and if that is it why did it happen so suddenly?  Also to further complicate the theory of the techs why did it happen to so many other people in the same way, I am sure we all do not plug in our computers for the same amount of time every day for a year to cause it to fail at the same time.  I feel this is a big problem at DELL that I have yet to be solved whether the CSR and techs believe it is because they tell me I am responsible.  There is no logic to telling me that every year I need to spend $200 to replace the battery on my computer, it is ridiculous.  In 5 years I would have paid for a $1000 computer all over again which is usually the length of time it takes for me to get a new computer.  DELL needs to take the blinders off and realize there is something wrong with their batteries.  I do not want to hear about suppliers or anything like that, because this problem has been going on for sometime and yet it has been brought to their attention and they contniue to sell these batteries.  It is a scam and just another way DELL is squeezing money out of their consumers. 

To heck with the small people. "Let them eat cake"!

My dead, useless, 1 1/2 year old battery isn't even on the recall list. But now, my 5 year old HP is still going strong. That's what I'm using now. Come on DELL help us out here.

I have a Latitude D820.  I use it as a desktop replacement, and rarely travel with it.  It is 2 years old, and my battery just died.  (Yes, it warned me about 2 months ago that death was imminent.)  Today I went onto Dell's site to buy a replacement battery, and was shocked by three things: 1.) the price was outrageous - $200 for the smaller 56Whr battery, $300 for the 85Whr battery, 2.) the delay was incredible - a 3 to 5 week "usual" shipping time, and 3.) every customer comment associated with the replacement batteries was a complaint about unusually short battery life.

While I applaud Dell for their honesty in letting such customer comments remain on their website, I am perplexed that they would allow such overwhelming customer dissatisfaction exist, and seemingly do nothing about it.  I decided to do a little research on this subject, and quickly found that the internet is covered with complaints from Dell laptop owners about this very issue.  Most, if not all, had an experience like mine - greatly diminished charge life after 6 months, and little or inadequate charge life after 12 months.  At 12 months, I could not use my laptop for more than 30 minutes without a power adapter.  After 18 months, my laptop battery held just enough charge to start up and promptly shut down.

Why is Dell making no (apparent) effort to provide better-performing, longer-lasting replacement batteries for their existing laptops, even if a higher-cost option?

Well, today is supposed to be my ship date for an xps 1330 that I ordered over 3 weeks ago, and it still hasn't shipped.  But I have to say, I have had zero battery issues with my 4 year old Inspiron m700.  I had a spare battery that I never even needed to use.  While I'm primarily a Mac user and use my Dell for gaming, I've had numerous issues with Powerbook and Macbook Pro batteries.  While I'm disappointed with the delay on this new Dell, I have to give a shout-out to Dell for my flawless experience with my batteries.

I canceled my order for a Studio 1535 today.  An additional 2 week delay was added to 2 - 1 week delays already endured is enough.

I was not informed of shortages/delays for batteries during the order process - what gives?  The ordering system shows when other components may affect delivery.  Had I known I may not have placed the order in the first place.  Why not batteries?  DISAPPOINTED