If any of you poor souls are stuck in this hell (as I was until about an hour ago), there may be hope for you!
I preordered at my local ATT store on 10/7 at 12:30pm PDT. Salesrep "promised" that I would have it by today "or possibly sooner." I was still holding out hope that my phone would arrive until Wednesday, when my status changed to backordered and stayed that way. No tracking number, just "in process" and "pending shipment."
I called the 800 number this morning to check shipping status. They told me that since I didn't purchase online or over the phone, I had to call the store I preordered from. So I called the store about 9:10am and asked for status. The lady I spoke to said that I would have my phone in 2-3 weeks. I said that was unacceptable as one of their reps promised me I would have it no later than today. It took her a while to find my order, but when she finally did, she said that I could come down to the store, and if they had the model I wanted (16GB black), they would cancel my order, restore my upgrade eligibility immediately, cancel my pending c/c charge and sell me an iPhone from their stock.
Needless to say I hauled butt down there, waited about 15 minutes in line outside (they had a DJ and were giving away cupcakes, bottled water, Monster energy drinks and smoothies), got inside and they took care of business. All told, it took about an hour for me to walk out with my new iPhone, but I consider that time well spent as I'd be waiting another couple weeks minimum if I had just stuck with my preorder.
So if you ordered from an actual ATT store and are in backorder hell, I suggest at least calling them to see if they can do it. The worst they can do is say no, but if they truly want to give excellent customer service (as was the case with my store in Huntington Beach, CA), they will do it.
Good luck!
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I am living proof that this is legit. Don't give up hope. Go back to the store and talk to the manager.
However, if your order has moved to "shipped" status, that may be a problem. Mine hadn't and that's why they were able to do it for me.
Ha! Thanks for the advice, but I did that. My AT&T manager in Westfield NJ is an ass and just says "no soup for you".