This is just to follow up on my last post and to give you all a little hope! There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that, while I was promised to hear from a level-III support manager at AT&T before 9pm tonight as to why I can't track my order on the site or on the automated phone system, I never got a call. Don't worry. I wasn't holding my breath. BUT at a quarter past 9 I called in to follow up and before I could even channel by firm-but-courteous voice, the CSR told me my phone had shipped and gave me my FedEx tracking number. Sure enough, I was able to track my phone, a 32GB white 4S, to Fort Worth, TX and it's still scheduled for delivery here in Connecticut tomorrow by 3pm.
So if you've been in the same position as I've been in, i.e., unable to access your order status when you try to log in to AT&T's order status system, it's not necessarily a sign that your order is lost or delayed. Just for the record, AT&T's order status system still can't find my order. But with the info tracked on the FedEx site, I feel sure the phone is on it's way!