Have you tried checking any local retailers to see if they by chance have an iPhone 5 in stock? Someone mentioned that in their area Radio Shack still had them in stock (I bet a lot of people didn't think to purchase from them because unfortunately, Radio Shack has completely lost their customer appeal over the years...so many people forget they even exist)? Try that and if someone has one go to their location....and while you are there call VZW to have them cancel your pre-order and ask that they make it so you can immediately purchase. This can be done as long as your device has not been placed in shipped mode (which could happen within the next day or so if you are supposed to be on the 9/28 delivery batch).
The whole ship by/deliver buy thing is very confusing.. They should stick to deliver on/deliver by and educate their CSRs who have mixed opinions on the matter.
The CSR probably said the phone would be shipped on the 20th or 21st because she was wrongly informed or just guessing. The tracking number is the real evidence here. If you don't have that, your phone probably hasn't shipped. If you haven't been charged, your phone definitely hasn't shipped.
You may not receive your tracking number quickly...but you can get it on your own if one exists for it by checking the carriers and searching for a package by reference (which would be either your cellphone number or the billing phone number). I did this with my iPhone and had my tracking number several days in advance (my iPhone had shipped but was being held as many were. Apple did not charge or send out shipped emails until 9/20 because they specified that deliveries were not to be made until 9/21....so they did not count the actual shipping until the day they authorized the carrier to begin the final legs of the shipping (ie from the UPS facility in KY for example). This works on any package you are expecting via UPS or FedEx as long as the shipping label has been generated and in their system. In this case, you will often know your tracking number before you receive an email from the place you ordered.
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