After leaving Hewlett-Packard, I ordered a new laptop from Lenovo: model SL300.
I was pleased with the laptop's specs, the price, and previous experiences of Graham, Chris, and Matthew. I placed my order on August 27th. To the best of my recollection, the Order Status page indicated that my scheduled ship date is September 10th.
About a week after I placed the order, I received a phone call from Lenovo's credit verification department, telling me that I cannot use a PO box as my shipping destination, and I must call them to change the address to my street address. It took me several days to reach anyone there: the phone number they provided would ring a few times, then go to voicemail. The multiple voicemails I left, which included my name, order number, and phone number, went unheeded. Finally I reached someone and got my address changed.
A few days later—I am checking my order status almost every day, mind you—the ship date on Lenovo's order status page mysteriously changed to September 23rd. I called them, and they reassured me that it has been September 23rd all along. Since I was not expecting the ship date to ever change, I did not really memorize it—I just kept looking at the "in process" status of the order. So I cannot be 100% certain that it wasn't September 23rd all along. Because of this, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, updated my calendar, and laid the matter to rest.
As of September 23rd, the order status was still "in process".
On the afternoon of September 24th, the ship date mysteriously changed to October 7th.
I called them. Indeed, my shipping date changed, and they are unsure why. One representative guessed that it's likely because Lenovo has a supply problem with the 4-cell battery that's part of my order. They cannot, however, ship me the laptop without the battery now and the battery later. Also, they cannot guarantee that my ship date won't get pushed back for the third time.
There are two positives: first, my order is now on their "critical list", whatever that means. I fully expect that this is simply what they say to get customers like me off the phone. However, theoretically it means that my laptop will be built and shipped quicker than otherwise. Whatever. The other positive is that my three-year warranty doesn't start until the laptop is shipped.
Thus far my experience with Lenovo has been very negative. I will keep this webpage updated.
Update 09/30: Today I called and canceled my order. After a 30-minute hold time, the cancellation took only about one minute—as painless as can be. I can only wish for a speakerphone on the phone I used to call in.