QL delays grow day by day

SINCLAIR QL computer delivery schedules seem to be lengthening miraculously every week.

First customers for Sinclair’s new computer have now all been sent a letter advising them that the company hopes to fulfill orders before the end of April. With the 28-day mail-order delivery deadline already up for some orders, this could mean a wait of a further nine weeks. Says managing director Nigel Searle: “We realise that the time between now and then will be frustrating (for customers) but we are confident that the QL will be worth waiting for and, of course, we will do everything possible to beat our target date for dispatch.

Sinclair is blaming “phenomenal demand for the delay. However, it is hard to see how even the most staggering response could have affected the very first orders placed.

Some of the 400 customers who had ordered their QL inachines by the end of the first day it was announced (January 12) have received letters indicating delivery by the end of April. But Sinclair still firmly denies any production problem with the QL.

Meanwhile, cheques from customers are now being cashed and payed into a special “Readers Trust Account-. It remains to be seen what Sinclair will do with the interest accruing from their customers’ money, while hopeful owners continue to wait.

Popular Computing Weekly’s own OL order was placed on January 12 and was effected on January 20. Six days have passed since the 28-day mail- order deadline has passed and our cheque has been cashed.