The Laptop has landed

More details to follow.

I can collect it...

If I go to the Parcelforce Depot and pay the additional charge, I can collect the laptop. So I am going down there this afternoon.

I will then have to sort out the fees afterwards with HMRC, Parcelforce, and Bytewize.

It's all going off...

I received a letter this morning from Parcelforce demanding £19.15 additional charges. This is made up from £5.65 V.A.T. and £13.50 Parcelforce Clearance Fee.

This is on top of the £20 I paid to Bytewize.

The tracking information says:

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event
05-10-2006 11:21 Reading (Satellite) Depot Awaiting payment of charges
05-10-2006 06:23 Reading (Satellite) Depot Arrived at delivery depot
05-10-2006 00:46 National Hub Sorted in hub
04-10-2006 22:27 International Hub RELEASED WITH CHARGES
04-10-2006 21:13 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES
04-10-2006 20:18 International Hub Arrived in destination country
04-10-2006 20:10 International Hub Arrived at Hub
03-10-2006 10:12 Delivery Agent - TORONTO Left origin country
02-10-2006 15:35 Delivery Agent - CANADA Collected from customer

I will need to clarify with Bytewize exactly what charges they paid.

Fantastic news

It appears that Bytewize have not been totally truthful with me.

It may be that they made guesses when they didn't know and made it sound as if they did know. Or they may have just bare faced lied to me about where the package was.

This is the latest conversation on their chat system:

Customer_Service: How may I assist you?
Visitor: can you please help me with order 17711
Customer_Service: Certainly, one moment.
Visitor: i still haven't received it and i need a reference so that i can chase it with royal mail
Customer_Service: ok
Customer_Service: Ok, I have confirmed you will receive delivery by Friday. There is a new reference # associated with it since the update for the fees but shipping did not note it in the order and it will (is supposed to) provide actual progress tracking within the UK. They are going to email this over to you once the locate this detail in the system.
Visitor: can you email me this conversation please

I have also finally received the tracking number. This is thye e-mail I received, which is clear as mud:

Hello Matt,

The information prior to the Oct 4 date are likely just because paperwork was done on this end as the details are not in line with what we were informed of. Having said that, as you can see, this item is updated for delivery as of today (Oct 4) by Royal Mail with the new waybill number EE086323663CA. I am making the assumption that you should receive the delivery at some point on Oct 5.

You are supposed to be able to check this on both the Royal Mail site and the Canada Post site. However, I just tested it and it is only working on the www.canadapost.ca website.

So I should receive it today, or tomorrow.

Check the link here

Still nothing

Going to have to chase this up...AGAIN...as it has been 5 days since it was supposedly released from Customs, and yet it hasn't arrived. If Bytewize ask me for more money I will be sure that this is an elaborate 419 scam.

Come on Royal Mail...I'm getting a little perturbed now.

I must make sure...

...that i check up on that customs bill to make sure that Bytewize were not just making an extra £20.

Customs problems

After much more chasing with Bytewize I found out that the laptop was stuck in customs somewhere and that they need a payment of £20. I was able to pay this by Paypal to Bytewize and they were able to instruct their couriers to pay the customs bill so the package is released.

Now all I have to do is wait for it to arrive....again..

It had better be perfect when I get it...or I will be very disappointed after all this time.

Laptop has landed in the UK

I have just chased the laptop again by chat with Bytewize in Canada. They have told me that it arrived with Royal Mail on the 23rd September, so hopefully I should be receiving it soon.

Inconsistent listing at Bytewize for Asus Z71v Barebones

I have noticed a few inconsistencies in the listing on the bytewize site (see link on the right).

The graphics are described as WSXGA+ in the title, but then WXGA in the detail under display, although it does show the resolution as 1680 x 1050 which is definitely WSXGA+.

Also, in the detail section it describes the product as ASUS Z71V 15.4 WSXGA+ 915P Sonoma Centrino WB Notebook, whilst the chipset is described as Intel 915GM & ICH6-M. Now bearing in mind that the laptop comes with descrete graphics in the shape of an Nvidia 6600, I assume that it has to be 915P, as the 915GM comes with integrated graphics.

And another thing...the hard drive capacity that it can support only goes up to 80gb in the listing whereas the drive I already have is 100gb. Although this is the 'company line' I have seen many built with 100gb drives on the net, so I am not sure what the limitation is.

So I am hoping that when it arrives it will be WSXGA+, 915P and that my 100gb drive will be supported and I will not be forced to go through a protracted RMA process with a company 3000 miles away.

I have two other concerns which can only be answered when it arrives.

Firstly will the power supply be in two sections. The bottom half of which can be replaced by a UK version plug? And finally will it come with a facsia for the optical drive that makes it look nice when installed?

I have found that there really is no point in asking any of these questions on the phone or via chat with the companies, as firstly they look at the same listings on their systems as we do, and therefore just read back to you what it says on your screen. And secondly when they do give you an answer, there is no reason to suggest that the answer they give has any relation to the truth.

My conversation with Ebuyer when they delivered a barebones laptop without a keyboard illustrates this:

EB: "No sir they don't come with keyboards"
Me: "They should have a keyboard. Even though they are 'barebones' they should still have a keyboard"
EB: "Hold the line, I will just check for you.....[long pause].....no I've just checked with the technical department, and they say that they definitely don't come with keyboards"
Me: "Ok, do you sell the keyboards seperately? Or do you know of anyone who does"
EB: "Hold on sir I'll check.....[long pause].....no sir we don't sell them and we can't recomend anyone else"
Me: "The reason you don't sell them and neither does anyone else is that they come with the system, they are a particular shape and size that fits an individual system"
EB: "Hold on sir, I will check with my manager.....[long pause]....my manager says that they don't come with keyboards"
Me: "Well he is wrong, and so is your technical department"
EB: "I'm sorry sir but they don't come with keyboards"
Me: "Ok....(getting a little perturbed at this point)...can you show me where in your listing, that clearly shows the product with a keyboard, that it says that it doesn't come with a keyboard? It clearly says that it doesn't come with a processor or memory or hard drive or optical drive. But it doesn't say no keyboard"
EB: "Hold on sir......[long pause]....would you like to return the product to us?"
Me: "No"
EB: "Sir?"
Me: "I would like you to collect the laptop from me and refund all my money including any costs incurred in delivery...."

I'll cut it short at that point, but you get the picture, it is impossible to get an answer that you can trust, so you just have to cross your fingers and wait to see what you get.