I wanted to throw my money at Dell last year. I wanted the top of the line XPS laptop with Linux. But I needed it quick. At that point, at least, Dell were building them to order in China. Two weeks plus shipping for the UK market. I'm not sure if this is the same for their other models but I bet there's a big pile of Windows machines sitting in an EU warehouse. To add insult to injury, I asked if they could improve…
It's a pity they're not stocked more by third party retailers, that would have sorted your issue out. I had a similar issue with the warranty, because I was a bit uncertain about the coil whine issue, I preferred to buy from a retailer rather than directly from Dell (who don't have a clear no-questions-asked return window), but the Linux laptops aren't available from other major shops in the UK. There must be a lot of people who have bought the Windows laptops and installed Linux themselves. The oddity is those purchases are based on the existence of the Sputnik programme, but Dell presumably won't be able to account for them on that basis.