I had a similar experience with the blue 13 Pro Max recently. I got through to someone at 13:00:05 on 17/09 (I was looking at the front of my old phone when it connected), ordered the phone and was expecting delivery on 24/09, but didn't get it until 30/09. I don't mind considering what's been going on with components, but it's the fact I wasn't told about it until nearly 6pm on the 17th that it might be up to 28 days. If EE had just said "it won't be on launch, but it will a few days after", or even "it won't be on the official launch date as we don't have the stock to deal with demand", at least my expectations have been managed. Others who ordered later that day (and even a few days later) received notifications the night before, and their phones on launch day. Different models, and therefore different stock, but if I'd known I wouldn't have been as 'excited' (I'm nearly 42 now, sadly I don't get as excited as I used to as the days of the 3G, 3GS and 4 etc).
Same thing has happened today with the watch. I was on the phone on 08/10 at 1pm, eventually got through to someone around 1:20, and after I raised the question of delivery again, the very helpful woman said it should be with me next Friday (today). Again, I know they only have information given to them from Apple / EE, but it got to this morning and I'm ringing 150 to see why my order still says "your order is confirmed", and no text from DPD. Again, the helpful guy said it could take up to 28 days, but hopefully much sooner. He even gave me his email address to ask any other questions if I had them about it in a few days to avoid having to phone.
As a business owner, I'm well aware of the need to manage your customers' expectations. If you promise a date, and you know you're not going to make it, you need to tell them ahead of time. There's no way EE only knew they wouldn't be able to ship my watch yesterday, and even if they did...they should have contacted me to inform me.
My wife ordered hers directly from Apple at the same time, and managed to get everything sorted around the same time I completed my phone call, and hers is scheduled for the first week in November. Again, fine...at least she has a date and it can only really get better than that.
EE's communication has always been really good in MY experience, but these last two items have been pretty poor. I wonder if I'll get the text later today (since I still haven't had official word) about the watch?
