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AT&T Updates Some iPhone 5 Pre-Order Wait Times

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In addition to letting some customers know that their iPhone 5 pre-order will be arriving on September 21st, the iPhone 5’s release date, AT&T has also begun confirming bad news to some customers saying their iPhone 5 won’t be available for 14 to 21 days.

We’ve received several emails from readers informing us that AT&T has let them know that their iPhone 5 pre-order, which they presumed would arrive on September 21st, will not be arriving for two to three weeks.

Several of these readers claim to have placed an iPhone 5 pre-order early on September 14th, the day Apple began taking pre-orders, so it’s unclear where AT&T’s cut-off is. We’ve heard from other pre-ordering customers who said they ordered at around the same time only to receive an email stating that they would get their iPhone 5 on release day.

Read: AT&T Confirms iPhone 5 Release Date Delivery for Some Pre-Orders.

Screen Shot 2012-09-19 at 2.41.45 PM

AT&T is now telling some customers they won’t get their iPhone 5 on launch day.

Here is the email that AT&T is sending out to some customers:

Dear [Redacted],

Thank you for your recent purchase from the AT&T Premier Online Store. We’re pleased that you chose AT&T as your service provider.

We wanted to confirm that your order is reserved and will ship in approximately 14 to 21 business days.

As a reminder, you will receive an email from the AT&T Premier Team confirming shipment along with the carrier information and tracking number to track your shipment online.

Your web order number is: [Redacted]

Your order(s) will be delivered to the following address:

We appreciate your business.

Thank you for choosing AT&T,

The AT&T Premier Team

So, it’s looking like at least a few people who pre-ordered on Friday morning aren’t going to be getting their iPhone 5 on its release day. We assume a similar email is going out to those who pre-ordered late Friday or over the weekend.

Read: My iPhone 5 Pre-Order Nightmare Came True.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xNsGNlDb6xY

This is also another example of the confusion that has plagued AT&T’s iPhone 5 pre-order since it became available last Friday. The iPhone 5 sold out within hours at AT&T on Friday and shipping times were pushed back to 14-21 days on Friday morning. However, up until at least 8AM PST (I placed my order at around 7AM PST), AT&T’s website still said that the device would be delivered by September 21st.

Anyone else get an email from AT&T saying that your order, placed on Friday morning, won’t be coming for two weeks?

We should note that these emails are coming from AT&T Premier which means they are being sent to those who ordered iPhones with accounts associated with a company.

34 Comments

34 Comments

  1. Mo

    09/19/2012 at 4:01 pm

    I ordered mine and within minutes ordered my wife’s. Got an email stating that 1 was ready for shipment then the other email said 14-21 days…. Originally they were both ordered under the “release date of Sept 21”.

  2. Nava

    09/19/2012 at 5:51 pm

    I just checked mine order status and it said it is shipped but there is no any tracking number and shipping date. When i checked a while ago afternoon, it said processing. So i hope they shipped mine. I had placed an order on 9/14, 5:30 am PST.

    • Eddie

      09/19/2012 at 6:00 pm

      Check UPS by reference number and Under shipment reference enter your number plus fill in the rest. If it was shipped It might come up. If not try FedEx the same way.

    • Chais

      09/19/2012 at 8:47 pm

      That’s normal. Just like last year. So many phones they can’t update the info fast enough. Most of the preorder phones are already sitting at FedEx and UPS waiting for a destination. they overnight it to your house. :)

  3. Chais

    09/19/2012 at 8:44 pm

    I ordered three phones. 2 black 64gb and one white 64gb. I ordered one black from the apple store app from my iPhone 4s at 3:00 am eastern time. That one is being shipped to me now. The other two I bought from AT&T. One I bought from there site. I was emailed a confirmation by 4:55 am that my order has been processed and will deliver on 9/21 and canot be cancelled at this time. The other I ordered by calling AT&T by dialing 611 on my phone. I was told this phone should arrive on 9/21 too. It was 11:22am eastern time when I was text my confirmation number and completed the transaction. Using a debit card to pay for it I may add. This was over 6 hrs after they sold out on the website. As of 6pm today 9/19, both phones have shipped!! While on the phone with the att rep ordering the phone, she informed me unlike last year during the 4s preorder there were only 15 people on hold waiting to order the phone at the time of my call. Last year there were hundreds on hold according to her. Apparently no one called in to order. So att iPhones didn’t sell out completely till sometime after 11:30am eastern time. Thought I’d share my experience.

  4. Scott

    09/20/2012 at 9:58 am

    I tried to order right at 12 am PST but the website was so overloaded I couldn’t get through. I tried till 3 am until I finally gave up.

    Friday morning I got the order to go through about 9 am PST and was told the order would be delivered Sept. 21 on the website. Still no tracking number, the only email I received was that it had been processed and was sent to warehouse for shipping. I have not had any other communication since. I just called customer service and they said 14-21 days which is BS. They really have no clue whats going on over there. Don’t promise something to your customers and then not deliver on it. I spent hours trying to order the damn thing and wouldn’t have wasted by time if I wasn’t going to get it for 3 weeks.

    • Jaclyn C

      09/20/2012 at 10:21 am

      I have the exact same problem, Scott. I called AT&T on tuesday and was told the same thing. I checked my orde thir morning and all it said was shipped. No tracking # or anything. I hope the CSR I spoke to at AT&T had no clue what she was talking about. I would have much rather have gotten a good night sleep last thursday instead of dealing with the BS on the apple and at&t website if I had known I still have to wait another 14-21 days to get my phone!!!

  5. Brent

    09/20/2012 at 11:29 am

    No rhyme or reason to this madness!! I ordered 8:30AM EST Friday, had the 21st. Odered my dads at 9:30AM EST and his was shipped. They are a joke!! Are they using the lottery system? Many have claimed to purchase much later, some Friday evening are getting theirs. ATT has had this for 5 years now, why cant they just get it right? Bad thing is, I had the same issue when I tried to get the Galaxy S3. Ended up having way too many issues, never ever seeing the issue fixed and didnt get the phone. So with ATT, they screw you again when you call to cancel so you can go wait Friday somewhere to get it as they CANT cancel the orders. I am thinking about taking my 5 lines over to Verizon after many years of loyalty and no love returned.

  6. Sean H

    09/20/2012 at 11:34 am

    Just got off the phone with AT&T. what a failing company for customer service… i placed and got my confirmation email at 3:14 am EST. Kept calling each day and was assured, yes you will have your phone. then i call today and they tell me, “well technically you placed your order at 3:14 but it wasnt processed until 2:38 p.m.” now i am pushed back to October 4th because some moron at AT&T cant do their job. The supervisors all refussed to do anything to help me aside from reccomend i go sit and wait at an apple store… Excellent customer service AT&T! great job! glad you care about your customers and do what is right to fix issues when you are the ones that have screwed up!

    • g

      09/21/2012 at 1:49 am

      jow do you want them to fix it if they dont have a phone to give to you..? how? shit happens bro..its BOUT HOW YOU REACT TO IT THAT MATTERS..dont be a pussy.

  7. Tim

    09/20/2012 at 11:45 am

    I am completely on board with Brent.
    I ordered mine at 4:00 AM CDT over the phone with AT&T (the Enterprise support AKA Premiere line).

    I received the terms of service acceptance right away. I did not get a status update on the order until 1:00 AM CDT Saturday morning saying that it will be 14-21 business days before I get mine.

    I’ve called and talked to reps and supervisors, etc, multiple times and they all said I’d get it on the 21st based on when I ordered. I have yet to get a status update that it is, it still says “In Progress”.

    When I called AT&T today, the rep said it “probably” would ship tomorrow morning after 8:00 AM CDT from Ft. Worth.

    I just don’t get it. I order at 4:00 AM CDT and I’m not getting mine tomorrow but Brent’s dad is getting his after it was ordered a full 6.5 hours later =p?

    I guess first come first serve was relative in this =p.

  8. Gordons

    09/20/2012 at 2:49 pm

    I woke up at 2:45 AM Friday to place my order at 3. I placed it at 3:09. I got my confirmation e-mail and I´ve been checking my order status since then. It said that my shipping was processing, not a tracking number or anything.

    Today I called AT&T and they´ve told me that my order went through much later so I´m going to get my phone between the 4th and the 15th of October, and I also found out that I cannot cancel my order.

    This is ridiculous.

    Is there anything that I can do to fix this?

    Thanks!

    • DS

      10/07/2012 at 5:02 am

      All I can say is they cancelled mine and I did not even want them too. I asked then to reinstate the order and they could not and told me to go to the store and I would get it faster. So pissed at AT&T customer service. Maybe if the had customer service in the US this might not have happened. Bring these jobs back to the US

  9. MikeD

    09/20/2012 at 3:28 pm

    Use this site (https://www.wireless.att.com/order_status/order_status) with your order number from your confirmation email. It gave me a FedEx tracking number and I could see my phone in NJ. The other site (www.att.com/wirelessorderstatus) gives the confusing “In Progress” status and no tracking information.

  10. Tony

    09/20/2012 at 5:20 pm

    Ordered one for myself and one for wife (different accounts) within minutes of each other around 6AM EST on 9/14. One will arrive as promised, the other will be delayed. I did not receive any email notification of the change. Called customer service and was told “the servers crashed”.

    They would not provide any discount for not being able to deliver on time – but they had no problem charging my credit card for both within hours… Finally complained enought to get a statement credit of one month of data ($90).

    I don’t really care about getting the phone on day one, but I am upset they gave information that was wrong and didn’t notify me.

  11. Danielle

    09/20/2012 at 6:52 pm

    Went to Best Buy and preorder this Monday….received email, today, that my iPhone 5 will be ready on Sept 21… Then received a call from Best Buy, to make an appt to help set up my iPhone 5!!! I love Best Buy!! It was meant to be!!

  12. pax

    09/20/2012 at 9:24 pm

    I’ve got a UPS tracking number and it is one it’s way for deilvery on Friday/21st.

  13. Josh

    09/21/2012 at 3:27 am

    Im soooo sick of waiting…ilove apple but this is bull they should have know the demand the new iphone would have with the bigger screen ext.

  14. AT&T LIES

    09/21/2012 at 6:36 am

    I am glad that I am the not the only one that was lied too (4 times to be exact). Nice service AT&T! I can’t believe I have stuck with this POS company for as long as I have, especially when their coverage sucks in my area. More bars in more places? Must be places that I am never in. AT&T sucks!

  15. David

    09/21/2012 at 7:23 am

    Ordered a black 64 GB at 8 am EST on Sept 14 and have gotten conflicting information on the order details. The delivery date was clearly marked as Sept 21. However, website still says processing, but phone and email says in warehouse, pending shipment. After talking with a rep on the phone, it is indeed processing and backordered for 14-21 days. I am one of the unlucky, unhappy customers who rush-shipped the case, screen protector and accessories in advance to have it the same day in fear of having a brand new, naked iPhone. So, if you have gotten an email, disregard it and follow the website’s information. SHAME ON YOU ATT.

  16. Jesse

    09/21/2012 at 9:13 am

    So, I just got off the phone with AT&T customer care. Apparently I am in the worst case scenario department. I pre-ordered two iPhone 5s on the 14th, one for my wife and one for myself at my local AT&T store here in lovely seacoast New Hampshire, I placed my order at approximately 11:30am and was notified by the represent that it may be 2-3 weeks until I receive my phone, in retrospect this is the moment I should have paused and reconsidered. The representative told me he was required to say that but I could quite possibly see it sooner. So here it is on release day and my co-worker just got back into the office with his new iPhone 5, he had gone down to the same AT&T store I had visited a week ago and picked up a brand new iPhone. He said there was no line at all. I took a few moments and went down myself; I also found no lines and available representatives. I inquired about the phones and was told that they still had 16GB in white and black, the same phones I had pre-ordered the week before. I asked if there was a way to cancel the pre-ordered phones and walk out with two new ones today, the representative was very quick to tell me that I had already signed my contract and that the order was in process and there was nothing that he could do. I then called the customer service number in my order confirmation email to inquire when I could expect my “pre-ordered” phones, which I will now be waiting for longer than somebody who may have walked into the AT&T store on a whim and purchased today. While the representatives were quite nice, the information I received was very disheartening, apparently AT&T sold out of their allotted devices around 10:30am last Friday (not too long before I made my order), so anyone ordering prior to that will get there phones today. I was also told that the expected delivery on all pre-orders made after that time is between Oct 4th-15th, meaning the 2-3 week delay will be from today/release day, while I was under the impression that it was from when I pre-ordered. So right now even with the Iphone 5 being available only two short blocks away I am handcuffed to wait several more weeks to get mine. I guess it is a lesson learned to either order very early on pre-order days or not at all and brave the “lines” on release day. Do I sound sour? Maybe. I just wish my co-worker would stopped trying to show me all of his new features!! :)

    • Jesse

      09/23/2012 at 8:10 am

      Received an email from AT&T yesterday, the phone is supposed to be delivered by FedEx on Monday! Not bad!

  17. Jay

    09/21/2012 at 10:43 am

    “A seller can be sued by the Federal Trade Commission for injunctive relief, monetary civil penalties of up to $1[0],000 per violation of its shipping and delivery rules. The FTC has 3 years to bring claims against sellers on behalf of aggrieved consumers, but the statute of limitations on actions to enforce the Mail Order Rule is five years for civil penalties.” https://www.safeselling.org/fulfillment.shtml

  18. Kevin

    09/21/2012 at 9:52 pm

    I got mine at 7:07p today from UPS even the delivery guy was like its the sh*t! So many deliveries he had on em…

  19. Mickey

    09/22/2012 at 8:30 pm

    I pre-ordered my iPhone 5 at my local AT&T store on the 14th and was told it would arrive on the 21st. Then I got the same e-mail about taking 14-21 days. I just check the status and it has been shipped and is expected to arrive on Monday. While I was wanting it Friday, Monday ain’t so bad.

  20. Dave

    09/24/2012 at 1:38 pm

    I ordered my phone on 9/14/12 before 11:25 a.m. EST. At that time I was quoted 14 – 21 days. I get a response from Premier AT & T wireless confirm my purchase by 11:31 a.m. For 10 days my order number states it is processing, so when I call AT & T today, they tell me that my credit card was declined even though I have the receipt and confirmation. I needed to wait 40 minutes so they could re-run the same credit card that has been on file with AT & T U-verse for 3 years. The service was pretty poor, and then the customer service rep couldn’t tell me if my original order date of 9/14/12 was still good, or was my order going to get pushed out an additional 28 day from today’s date. Pretty disappointing that the customer service, emails communications, and sales process is so poorly managed. For being a global brand, AT & T is really falling short. They are making other brands start to shine a little more. I know Apple is pushing out to several more countries, but wouldn’t they want to execute the delivery of a new product right in the first countries and work out the supply issues before showing the rest of the work crude ERP practices? Not a shining day for American companies.

  21. Sam

    09/25/2012 at 8:58 am

    These stories sound so sad…that is, if you have never really had tragedy or strife in your life.

    Look, patients is a virtue. I did the pre-order and my order status is still processing. People think about what you are really complaining about? Life will go on and you will get your phone. Now suck it up and get back to work!

  22. Michael Cura

    09/25/2012 at 8:22 pm

    My iPhone just shipped. So I assume all 2nd batch should arrive tomorrow like mine. 9/26/12 delivery date

    • Christina Tran

      09/27/2012 at 4:16 pm

      What company did you order it from?

  23. ASingh

    09/26/2012 at 11:14 pm

    – I ordered mine on Sept 14th. The confirmation mail came at 12:04pm (PT) stating that I will receive my phone on 21st.

    – Then on 19th I received a mail stating that the order will be delayed by 14 to 21 business days (3 to 4 Weeks). Not clear if it’s 3 to 4 weeks from 19th or 21st. But it hardly matters.

    – It’s 26th today and no updates on the order status page. Cant get hold of customer service. This sucks should have just went to Apple Store like I used to in the past.

  24. Susan delRosario

    10/01/2012 at 8:43 am

    I ordered my iPhone 5 on sept 21 st and it still says processing

  25. Ty

    10/01/2012 at 8:28 pm

    I ordered mine confirmed 11:21 AM on the 14th, still says processing… Sucky ATNT

  26. Dic

    10/11/2012 at 11:43 am

    I ordered mine on Sept 20th still says processing?

  27. ben

    10/18/2012 at 6:35 pm

    i ordered mine the 23rd, its been 26 days and still saying processing.

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