How does 9/24 get moved to 10/7?

[stevezilla]

Received an email last night (9/24) at 9:04pm that due to high demand the new estimated shipping date for my order is now 10/7.  The original "Ship By" date was 9/24.  I ordered two iPhone 5s phones at 12:03am PST, received confirmation at 12:15am PST.  I did not contact Verizon until today since the "Ship By" date had not passed.  Keep in mind, Verizon did not state 9/24 as an estimated ship date... They stated that the phone would ship BY 9/24.  Given this information I assumed that Verizon had stock of the phone I had ordered and was simply offering a few days as a buffer.  The local Verizon store actually had iPhone 5S in stock that I could have purchased, but I waited simply because I figured waiting a few extra days was better than cancelling my existing order.  If Verizon had offered more accurate information I would have made a different decision about waiting.

I'm a new customer and I would have ordered from Apple directly but was unable to do so since I was ordering two phones for a shared plan.  Ordering from Apple directly only allows creation of a single line of service.  I've never had a problem with Apple failing to meet their stated deadlines, I find this type of activity by Verizon unacceptable. 

Even more frustrating is the fact that Verizon did not notify me until the very last moment.  You'd think they would have had visibility about a supply shortage before the actual day of shipment.  Leaving customers in the dark about their orders is no way to do business -- I've had lines with AT&T and Sprint over the last two years.  Both of those companies communicate with their customers quite well (their service just has problems).  As AT&T and Sprint continue to expand their networks, this type of customer service oversight is going to start taking a significant toll on Verizon if they don't sort it out!

Look at the attached image, does it give any indication that there was the possibility my order would not ship by 9/24???

[stevezilla]

As an indicator of Verizon's inefficiency, their online order status still says my order is expected to ship by 9/24.... 

[EndersRapture]

I wonder if they promised these thousands of iphones to people and are communicating poorly so we don't go buy through Apple or some one else.