Release date is 8/19, but some may get theirs on 8/18 and some on 8/19, even though they can't ship before 8/19?
Unless that T-Mobile representative was the director of US distribution, I wouldn't believe any of it.
I am not saying we won't get them on 8/18 or 8/19, but imagine if they didn't deliver by 8/19.
The pre-order sales of the S8 would go down significantly. That said, most people wouldn't expect them before 8/19.
We have a select group of people on this forum that are not the norm.
That being said, they would not ship any later than Thursday so as not to deal with any weekend deliveries.
UPS would never accept all of these packages and then sit on them over the weekend.