I'm just as frustrated as you (my 64 GB graphite pending forever) so don't shoot the messenger. I read further back that one CSR admitted that all pre-orders are tied to specific IEMI so until that specific IEMI comes in it doesn't matter if they have 10,000 on the shelf they won't send you one. Stupidest order fulfillment plan ever! Hopefully yours (and mine) isn't lost or stolen in the shipment from China to here or we could wait a year while getting the standard CSR BS.
Yes I read that as well. It made the most sense of what we heard so far. I can also see how that could work very well.
If you start if with a bunch of pre orders, coming from multiple sources, but want to insure they are shipped in the order received, you need to tie all of those different orders to something at the factory, so they are built in the sequence they were purchased. It wouldn't be perfect, and you'd need to batch them in manufacturing, and that's fine. Most buyers understand that different configurations won't be available at the same time. As I understand it, IMEI Number is unique to each phone and assigned at the factory, so good choice.
Unfortunately, if early units did have manufacturing flaws, your pre orders would be impacted and I could see it playing out as it has. Here's where "it's all automatic and nothing we can do" does it's damage. There needs to be a mechanism to change the IMEI assigned to an order, and a robust process in place to do it consistently and quickly from the beginning. "There's nothing we can do" isn't an answer - it makes it so much worse.
If they were using the IMEI Number in this way, they should just say that officially, explain where the process broke down, and explain how they're fixing it. It's really that simple. If they explained that, they'd get far more goodwill than the $25 refunds, and for less money. It's always nice when the smart business decision is also "doing the right thing." I guess we'll see what happens, meanwhile I'm not holding my breath until I see my order in the FedEx system.