Customers begin to receive apologetic, yet reassuring emails from management

Sep 24, 2012 09:31 GMT  ·  By

iPhone fans placing their orders through the likes of Best Buy and Walmart hoping to get an early hands-on with Apple’s latest smartphone, are receiving apologetic emails from the retailers which state that stock is constrained at the moment.

Best Buy notified one of the very first people who placed an iPhone 5 order with the retailer that his package may take up to a month to ship.

Shawn Score, senior vice president of Best Buy, took the time to write a very personal email to this customer, in which Score stressed, “I know that you're excited to get your new iPhone 5 and you can be sure we are as excited to sell it to you.”

“Unfortunately, as of the night before the official launch, Best Buy has not received enough of the specific model phone you ordered, and we will not have it available on launch day,” reads the email.

Score assured the customer that the retailer is working around the clock “to get you, as quickly as possible, the exact iPhone 5 model you pre-ordered.”

“It could take as long as 28 days to find the iPhone you want,” Score then noted, undoubtedly disappointing the eager customer.

“Trust us, we will be able to get you the phone you want – maybe not as fast as you might want, but likely as fast as anyone else at this point,” Score added. “I really appreciate your patience and willingness to shop Best Buy. We look forward to getting you the phone you ordered with us.”

A person ordering their iPhone 5 through Sam's Club got a similar response from the retail store’s management, which said, “Thank you for your recent iPhone 5 reservation. You may have seen some news reports today regarding shipment delays from Apple for the iPhone 5 launch.”

“Unfortunately, this includes some of the anticipated shipment to our Clubs, resulting in reduced initial quantities of iPhones available,” this company spokesperson reportedly said.

The Club rep then clarified that, “Reserved iPhones are anticipated to arrive approximately 7 to 10 business days from the original September 21 release date.”

The customer was told that they would have to reschedule their pickup date and time when they receive the phone, and that a Club associate would contact them to assist.

“We apologize for the inconvenience,” the message ends.

MacRumors also found out that Walmart is experiencing similar shortages.