Vodafone have never been overly reliable for providing accurate information… I don’t believe a single thing I am told until I get the text messages/emails etc (as described above).
Dispatch of the devices is out-sourced to a third party - at the point someone physically puts your allocated device into a shipping box (plastic bag nowadays) an automated process begins and starts the notifications/updates/plan & device changes etc etc. This is why you get a different story from everyone you speak to at Vodafone - the reality is they genuinely don’t know the answer!
What I will say, the queue/pre-order deliveries appear to be in order (in the sense of who orders first, gets the first deliveries) - which is a positive for those who order early to try and avoid ‘disappointment’.
Unless things have changed since I spent time consulting in the logistics industry, Vodafone (and all other carriers) will have ordered ‘X’ amount of each device variant - for example they may have ordered 50’000 units of iPhone 16 Pro Max Black 256gb (probably more for what they forecast to be the most in demand variant), but Apple may only be able to supply 20’000 units for launch - as the days/weeks go on the supply chain will become less ‘stressed’ and more stock becomes available. This is where the 1-2 week, 3-4 week 4+ week predictions come from for delivery. Sadly there is little transparency from the companies as they want to ‘lock’ the customer into a new contract - if you decide to cancel your order and go somewhere else, the wait time will likely be the same, or longer… You can guess who likely wins (it’s not you!).
Obviously, as the hype dies down from a new product launch (especially Apple products), stock is available for next day delivery in most cases - come January you can almost guarantee you’d get 90% of the models delivered next day.
If you’ve already had the dreaded ‘delayed email’ I wouldn’t expect delivery tomorrrow sadly 😞 Saying that, stranger things have happened - fingers crossed for you!
