We’ve just had a report in that Amazon.co.uk are issuing emails to customers who pre-ordered the EX475 a couple of weeks ago indicating that due to supply issues from the manufacturer (HP), orders will not be fulfilled until *after* Christmas.
Dear Customer,
We wanted to give you an update on the status of your order #xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Unfortunately, an unexpected delay from our supplier may prevent us from delivering some items in your order by Christmas.
The following items have been delayed:“HP MEDIA SMART SERVER” [Electronics]
Estimated arrival date: 28/12/07 - 10/01/08To ensure that any other items you ordered still arrive in time
for Christmas, you may wish to cancel the delayed item(s) from
your order or change the shipping option to ‘I want my items faster. Dispatch
items as they become available’ (at extra postage cost).
Please read the FAQs at the end of this email for more details.We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
To view your order or make any changes, please visit the Your Account
link located at the top of any page of our website. Through Your
Account, you can cancel items, change delivery addresses or make other
changes to your orders for any items that have not yet entered the
dispatch process.Once again, we are sorry that we will not be able to fulfill your
expectations for this important order. We value your business, and we hope that you will continue
to consider Amazon.co.uk for your online shopping needs.For your reference, here is a summary of your order:
1 of “HP MEDIA SMART SERVER”
On the date of dispatch, you should receive an e-mail message confirming
the date, contents and delivery method.Thank you for shopping at Amazon.co.uk, we hope to see you again.
Please note: This e-mail was sent from a notification-only address that
cannot accept incoming e-mail. Please do not reply to this message.Sincerely,
Customer Service Department
Amazon.co.uk
This is fascinating as I was at the UK product launch yesterday, and the UK Category Manager for HP told me that there was lots of stock available in the UK supply chain and retailers would be receiving units this week.
Will try to find out more, but this is a big disappointment for those people who placed early pre-orders.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Hmm - my delivery date from Amazon.co.uk hasn’t changed, and I’ve not got this letter … is it affecting all orders, or just some?
November 27th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Don’t know - have just asked HP PR for a comment via their agency, so hopefully we’ll hear more later today.
Cheers
Terry
November 27th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Ditto, I haven’t recieved the email, in fact I got one last week giving a shipping date of the next 7-10 days, indeed the amazon status page for my order says 29 Nov 2007 - 7 Dec 2007
If it is delayed then that’s going to bodge up the beta shut down date, I had been hoping to not be without.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I’ve not had a mail like this yet either. Mine still says “Delivery estimate: 23 Nov 2007 - 5 Dec 2007″. If it happens though, I’m not buying one. HP need to get these devices out before the beta shutdown (23rd Dec for me), or I’m forced to buy an OEM disk. I’m not paying for new hardware AND buying the OEM software.
November 27th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
My order is still reading “Dispatch estimate: 20 Nov 2007 - 5 Dec 2007″.
I wonder if this issue is affecting all outstanding orders or some? I wonder if it’s because some orders can still fulfiled with backorders while others not.
It was always rumoured that HP had released the EX475 too late for X’mas…
November 27th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Just to join the list… I pre-ordered from Amazon on the 12th, haven’t revieved the email, and my delivery estimate is 21 Nov 2007 - 29 Nov 2007 (which, as it’s the 27th today, means by Thursday.. not that I’m holding my breath!).
November 27th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Ordered on 10 November (day it was first live on Amazon UK?), the email confirmation from Amazon quoted - “Dispatch estimate for these items: 19 Nov 2007 - 26 Nov 2007″.
So as today is the 27th guess that’s why I did get the “unexpected delay from HP email”.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
No word back from HP at this time….
November 27th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Mark: Oh I see - So you got the message once the estimated dispatch date had past? I guess I can look forward to getting this message on Friday then!
November 27th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Adam: well either they have singled me out or others will follow. Perhaps by then the supply position will have been clarified/fixed!
My local John Lewis told me that they expect stock next week. Phoned the John Lewis order line today but they said I couldn’t place an order until it was visible on the website and to keep looking.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Mark: Thanks for the info. I may try the John Lewis route if Amazon let me down. I’m assuming that Terry will have a post on WeGotServed pretty much as soon as someone has stock!
November 27th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
I’m keeping my head down, because up to yesterday, I had two of them sitting boxed up in my spare room! One from HP for review, and one sent on long term loan from Microsoft. No, I’m not telling you where I live
November 27th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Hehe. That’s perfect. One for Mark, one for me!
November 27th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
La la la. Sorry, did someone say something?
November 27th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
No help for amazon.co.uk, but here’s what happened on amazon.com. I ordered my EX475 on November 6 on first learning that they were taking orders and it was hitting #1 in electronics pre-orders. I cancelled my order on November 9, and re-ordered, to take advantage of a $20 discount that I was unable to add to the existing order. I feared this would lose my place in line, but the shipping estimate (sometime after December 12) and delivery (late December or first week of January) didn’t change.
More recently, after learning that others had received shipping notices, I checked my order status. There were no changes to the estimates, but there was an added line that said the item would not be received in time for Christmas. Also, they were no longer listing the devices as available for pre-order, but as not in stock with a promise to notify anyone who orders now that they would be advised later when stock is available and shipping can be estimated.
Now, amazon.com has always bested their estimates in all of my recent orders. So I simply hung tight.
This morning, November 27, I received an e-mail notice that my order has shipped. The United Parcel Service tracking system doesn’t have it yet, so I don’t know how much they will improve on the estimated December 7 delivery. Naturally I will be away at the time and will need to make alternative delivery arrangements! Unless it arrives sooner, …
My understanding is that this kind of better-than-promised performance is not so common with amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk, but one might hope …
PS: On amazon.com, the EX475 is still listed as “Not in stock; order now and we’ll deliver when available.”
November 27th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I cancelled mine, and just placed an order with cconline. Want this so much and been running the 120 eval on a vm on my pc, and I am so pleased with it.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Is there any way Microsoft could extend the beta, even for a couple of months. So many people are waiting for the HP servers, ready and willing to part with the cash at a moments notice, it seems pretty unfair that they’ll effectively have to buy the OS twice to get the hardware they want without losing their existing services.
By the way, HP Australia are still not even showing a mention on their web site, so it looks like I’m stuffed anyway. I’d hate to have to go and buy kit that I’m not going to be totally happy with just to keep using WHS for the sake of a couple of months.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I’d say there was zero cance of a beta extension, and from what I know, HP haven’t got any announcements re: OZ and NZ availability right now. Fingers crossed they push out into Europe & Australasia next year, or you could find a friendly American or Brit to buy one and ship it out to you in OZ…
November 27th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Hi all,
It appears may be having delays in the US. I ordered my unit on November 8th. The order status page has indicate that the Shipping estimate: December 7, 2007 - December 21, 2007 with Delivery estimate: December 11, 2007 - December 26, 2007. After reading Terry e-mail, I checked my order. None of the dates have changed. But, my order has a note that states “The following item will arrive after December 25, 2007.” After is underlined and hightlighed.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:51 am
I just got my delay e-mail too. HP, you messed up big time. OEM software on my existing hardware seems to be the only way to go now.
We wanted to give you an update on the status of your order #####
Unfortunately, an unexpected delay from our supplier may prevent us
from delivering some items in your order by Christmas.
The following items have been delayed:
“HP MEDIA SMART SERVER” [Electronics]
Estimated arrival date: 03/01/08 - 18/01/08
To ensure that any other items you ordered still arrive in time
for Christmas, you may wish to cancel the delayed item(s) from
your order or change the shipping option to ‘I want my items faster. Dispatch
items as they become available’ (at extra postage cost).
Please read the FAQs at the end of this email for more details.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Yup. Got mine too
HP MEDIA SMART SERVER” [Electronics]
Estimated arrival date: 28/12/07 - 12/01/08
Strange that all these estimated arrivel dates are so different.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Had a note last night from HP’s PR agency - they’re trying to get a statement from HP to clarify the situation.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:31 am
So aside from a night raid on Terrys spare room
what do people think of the alternatives?
I like the Tranquils low power consumption but only 2 internal HDD bays puts me off (and its more expensive). Alternative could be a build your own solution using for example an Icy Dock MB-455SPF for the drives in a suitable chassis, downside is the overall system size compared to HP.
Given the comments above even a quick trip to the US to buy an HP wouldn’t work!
November 28th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Yep - received my delay mail as well - expected arrival date 28/12 - 12/01.
This reminds me very much of trying to get an XBox360 HD-DVD drive from Amazon this time last year. Again, they seemed to open up for orders earlier than most and were competitive, but come release day they didn’t actually have any and the delay emails started!
I’m sure at the time I said something about not using Amazon for electronics again - oh well, I guess some of us never learn.
The most annoying thing is that it feels as like Amazon wait until they’ve missed the promised ship date and *then* say they have a month’s delay. If they were able to tell some people about the delay yesterday, then why the heck couldn’t they tell the rest of us (and, presumably, they actually knew earlier, anyway).
November 28th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I’m just going to hang on with Amazon, unless I see it on sale elsewhere in the meanwhile.
Personally, I’m only going with WHS because I was after a larger NAS, and I like the fact that WHS is so flexible with disk storage (always a problem with RAID 5). I’ve run the beta, but don’t rely on it (IMO, you should never rely on beta software anyway), so to be honest, the delay isn’t causing me any problems other than wanting it “now”! - I’ve also got an MSDN sub, so the OEM version may well be on there (haven’t looked yet, but MSDN subs are only for development and testing, so shouldn’t be used in a “live” situation anway). The main reason for going with the HP is because I like the form factor, and especially the fact the drives are hot swapable. I’ve yet to see another manufacture’s WHS which looks like it meets my needs (for me, 4 internal drives is a must - I really don’t want to hang external drives from the box indefinitely). I also want something which ‘just works’ out of the box.
It is a shame though. My guess is that it’s out of Amazon’s hands. But that seems odd from Terry’s comment about the UK product launch, and HP saying there were lots of stock. It’ll be interesting to see if HP get back to him… If they’ve got lots of stock, where is it?!
Mind you, I’m getting used to these delays… I’m also after one of those v2 Media Extenders, and they keep getting pushed back too .
November 28th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Well something is strange is going on, clearly HP communicated at the launch on Monday there was stock available as journalists are reporting availability from 1 December!
Kelvyn Taylor of Personal Computer World wrote on 26/11/2007: “HP’s long-awaited Windows Home Server (WHS) products, the Mediasmart Server EX470 and EX475, will finally go on sale in UK shops from 1 December after a succession of delays.”
Full article:
http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/news/2204353/windows-home-servers-finally
Now he does say will go on sale in “UK SHOPS”………….
November 28th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
I guess it’s possible that Amazon have just found out the number of stock they’ll get, and it doesn’t come near the number of pre-orders they’ve got. But that would be odd as I ordered mine on the 12th, and you ordered yours on the same day there were listed at Amazon. I can’t imagine they’ve got so many pre-orders as to not be able to fulfil an order made on the day of listing – I doubt the HP is that popular, we’re not really talking about a main stream product.
Oh well. I wonder if PC World will get any in. I can almost see a PC World from my office. Maybe I’ll keep an eye on their website (I recently bought an N1 Vision router from there, and there was no mention of it on the website until the day they had it in stock at my local branch).
November 28th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
If you did order a HP server - it’s a shame there seems to be another delay from the HP camp. Tranquil have come to the rescue, and have offered their T2-WHS-A3 (500GB) model now @ £397 (incl VAT) and the 1TB version for £495 (incl VAT) - these 64 bit ready units look great, and save cash too every day, due to low power operation. The tiny T7-HSA units have also seen just a little price reduction too. I’m sure the HP unit is great, Terry did give us a brilliant review…. But if you want to have a Home Server for Christmas - you still can - quietly.
http://www.tranquilpc-shop.co.uk/acatalog/HOME_SERVERS.html
November 28th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
I decided to pull out of my Amazon order after my confirmation email arrived.
I just cant believe HP can get their act together and honour all outstanding orders in time for Christmas and although they declare that some orders may arrive in time I cannot possibly waste my time and money hoping I will be part of the lucky few!
With this in mind I placed an order with http://www.Tranquilpc.co.uk for their T7-HSA (It has worked out significantly cheaper and with a RAM of 1024MB and HDD-Type: 500GB!) on Monday26th and shock horror, the system arrived on my doorstep today!
Excellent Service, Excellent Machine I cant Thank Tranquilpc enough!
My worries are finally over, along with my trust of HP!
November 28th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
“d”, I’m guessing you are associated with Tranquil, so I’d love to give you some feedback. I was really excited when I saw your PCs, because I think the low energy PC is a timely idea. If you supported more than 2 internal disks, I’d be buying one of your servers today. The bare minimum you need in a WHS machine is 2 disks - to get the duplication. To have no future expansion in a server beyond the basics just isn’t good enough. When I run out of space, I want to add additional internal disks, not replace the existing ones or plug in external ones that the kids or wife can unplug. Bring out a 4 slot machine before HP and you will be on to a winner.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I’ll second Martin’s coments.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
and “thirded”…..
(Perhaps an identical looking chassis with say another 4/6 bays with neat eSATA cabling could do it)
November 28th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Look’s like the vote is carried - watch this space
November 28th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Terry - any news from Mr Butler or the PR agency?
No news sounds like bad news.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Email from PR agency about 6.30pm tonight saying they’d had nothing back from HP yet. Not good enough, really, is it?
November 29th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Out of interest I called PC World. The “home” section said it was a business product (!) and put me through to business. Business couldn’t find it so put me through to business pre-sales tech support. They found it on Amazon (not sure why!) and then eventually found it on their system - no stock and the supplier status was - no stock! They also checked their store systems and it is not listed there.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Well cconline seem to have come up trumps, ordered Tuesday night and just got a text message to say it’s been shipped. I’ve been stung on so many Amazon pre-orders in the past, I really don’t know why I bothered this time. They are currently showing 2 of each model in stock.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Well cclonline seem to have come up trumps, ordered Tuesday night and just got a text message to say it’s been shipped. I’ve been stung on so many Amazon pre-orders in the past, I really don’t know why I bothered this time. They are currently showing 2 of each model in stock.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Sorry for the double post, i corrected the company name, its cclonline (www.cclonline.com).
November 30th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Nigel - looks like you made the right call switching orders to cclonline. So has it arrived yet??
Noticed that Play.com are now showing as in stock.
Did go into John Lewis today (seem to remember they were named as one of the retailers who would stock them by HP), the sales person had not of heard of them but persuaded him to phone their buyer. The buyer said that tkey may stock the EX70 but that they had not yet reached agreement with HP!
We haven’t heard back from Terry if there has been a response from HP. All seems very strange.
So has anyone seen them in a retailer yet?
November 30th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
I’ve cancelled my Amazon order, and ordered from Play instead. Little more expensive, but I don’t think I could wait until the New Year! - They *say* they’ve got them in stock, so I hope to recieve it early next week… We’ll see!
November 30th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
I’d have definitely bought a Tranquil too if I could have put more HDs inside, but as a photographer I need space, lots of space and as you can only add HDs directly and not through a hub it’s limiting. A shame as it’s a lovely piece of kit.
December 1st, 2007 at 8:48 pm
despite all this and receiving an email that it would be delayed till between the 28th Dec - 11 Jan I have just received another email notifying me that it has shipped!
Makes a nice change and I should get it before the RC runs out in the next 15 days or so
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:52 am
Yeah, Im the same as Pete - got my email saying it was delayed until January, then got one this morning sayings its shipped. Exactly the same thing as the Xbox 360 HD DVD drives last Christmas!
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Same for me too - just checked and mine was dispatched yesterday.
I was hoping this might happen, which is why I didn’t cancel the order last week. I’m surprised Amazon don’t have a better mechanism for tracking what’s going on though. From the comments on this site, there must have been quite a few people who did cancel their orders. On the other hand, as Amazon seems to be cheaper than most, maybe they aren’t making much profit anyway, so are quite pleased to have lost orders!
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:39 am
I ordered from Amazon.co.uk on 11 November. The delivery date is currently showing as 30 Nov - 7 December and shown as shipping soon so i cant cancel or amend the order (not that I want to(. They took payment from my credit card at the weekend so expect it anyday now.
I did NOT recieve and email to say it would be delayed so hopefully any day now.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:35 am
My order (placed 10 Nov) changed to “Items dispatching soon” on Friday evening and they authorised the money on my credit card but since then it has been stuck in the same status, very frustrating!
Fingers crossed.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
My shipping email arrived yesterday - expected delivery of the 5th. Here’s hoping!
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Forget Amazon. Got mine from CCL computers in Bradford, ordered on 27th Nov, delivered today, 3 days ahead of the due date. Cheaper than Amazon too!
http://www.cclcomputers.co.uk
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Umm, except that it isn’t …. inc VAT price from CCL is 499 (RRP), and Amazon has it up at $449.99 as we speak (17.54 03/12)
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:58 pm
At last got my email from Amazon saying it has shipped, expected delivery tomorrow.
JeffP - thanks for the tip on the price reduction (from £456.61 to £449.99), have sent them an email asking for a credit (and for the shipping which should have been removed as I joined Amazon Prime).
Seems strange to reduce the price when they are in short supply but I am not complaining.
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Received mine today, just setting it up now
Glad I didn’t have to wait till the new year
December 4th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Just received mine from Amazon. Am sure I have had laptops delivered in bigger boxes!
Even received a credit for the price reduction after sending them an email last night.
So now the fun begins….
December 4th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I was kicking myself for cancelling my Amazon order. I must have cancelled it a few hours before the status changed to “shipping soon”.
I ordered it from Play instead, but then after noticing that Amazon had dropped the price even further, I thought I’d just re-order from Amazon, save myself the 50 quid, and just wait until January… Effectively I’d simply put myself at the end of the queue again .
Then this morning, I noticed that LambdaTek had them in stock, and were selling at virtually the same price as Amazon (£451 inclusive of VAT and delivery), so I ordered from them (errm, and cancelled my Amazon order *again*!).
I’ve just received a phone call from LambdaTek saying it’ll be with me tomorrow!
December 4th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Mark, how did you word your e-mail? I was not aware of any Amazon policy to price match pre-order prices with post-release prices, so would be interested to know if there is one.
Thanks
December 4th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Martin, I knew they had a policy of lowering the price on your order if it changed before shipment, but from their email it looks like they will do it within 30 days…..
“The discounts we offer for items on our website do vary from time to
time. I’ve checked your order xxxxxxxxxxxxx and found that we
now offer a greater discount on “HP MEDIA SMART SERVER” than at the
time you placed your order of 6.52 GBP.
We are only able to adjust the price of an order in instances where
less than thirty days have passed between the date on which an order
was dispatched and the time that an item is reduced in price on our
site.
……….. The refund should appear as a credit on your next bank statement.”
December 5th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Ordered mine on Sat from CClOnline, none in stock but 5 were due to arrive at store on Tuesday, so I took a chance of them living up to their promise and was pleasantly surprised . I got mine first thing Wednesday morning. So no complaints about false promises there.
I bought the 1×500G version as the 2×500G version was pointless as I’m going install bigger drives ASAP.