This is exactly the script they follow on the phone. Notice, the rep. didn't say your notebook would ship that date, but that "the computer says" it will. In my experience, the ship dates given before you order, in the initial and subsquent emails and in conversations with CS reps are all completey arbitrary and often are in conflict with each other. No one in CS knows any more than you,. The basic pattern I observed is that they give you a ship date, and then when they fail to ship, they give you a date two days away. Instead of honoring the new date, they wait until the end of the day to inform you that it hasn't shipped. The CR people have no idea about why delays occur, although some will make something up. the only way to know if you have been told the truth in this case is to call back a few times and ask the same question to see if you get the same answer. If you press for an answer as to when this problem will be resolved, they either won't know the answer or will read back the ship date on their screen. If you ask them if they are sure the notebook will ship on the date they have given you, they will say yes, even though they know full well that the date is as likely as not to be completely arbitrary and every bit as wrong as the date another CS rep. assured you was also firm. But the good news is that have notes about every time you call. You need to call every day or so, press them for answers and at the end of a scheduled ship day, call them again. If you need to cancel soon, you need to give a deadline after which you will need to go to another company that is capable of shipping in a timely manner. It doesn't hurt to get angry, either. They will tell you that they are putting you on a priority list, but I suspect that this also has no meaning and is only a way to appease upset customers. Most of all, insist that the CS person you are dealing with contact those on the supply end and get you an explanation as to why you notebook has been delayed and an exact date that it will ship.
