Best Buy Delaying Some Apple Watch Series 1 Pre-Orders to Mid-October

After a string of emails about delayed shipments sent to pre-order customers of the Apple Watch Series 2 and iPhone 7 earlier in the week, Best Buy this morning has begun sending out notifications to a few users who pre-ordered the Apple Watch Series 1, informing them that the new shipping date is October 13, nearly a month after the devices launch today to the public.

best-buy-series-1

Image via blkngld on Reddit

Apple isn't mentioned in the email as it was in the email sent to Series 2 customers, but Best Buy is saying that "the item listed below is taking longer to fulfill than we anticipated," then providing the new October 13 date. In the same thread on Reddit, some users are mentioning earlier estimated dates, but only by a few days, including October 10. As Redditor u8miladoo said:

Again, this is for the Series 1 , i pre ordered it since day 1. Smdh. Never again Best Buy. Funny thing is , it is letting me do a store pick up pre order and it says available for my store near me. Im thinking to just do another transaction , get it in store and cancel the other one. What a nightmare.

Instead of the gift card offer given to Series 2 and iPhone 7 customers, Best Buy is appearing to simply offer paying for "the amount of shipping" on each order, which will be applied whenever the order moves to shipping status. For u8miladoo, that amounts to $12.97 in credit.

A few Best Buy locations are said to have Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 1 stock when the stores begin opening this morning, so there's a chance online pre-order customers with pushed-back shipping dates can purchase their Apple Watch in store, and then cancel the order online when they get home. Since the stores haven't opened yet, however, no one has tried out this method to success.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 Camera Modules to Enter Mass Production Next Month

Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:56 am PST by
Apple's camera module supplier for the upcoming iPhone SE 4 is set to begin mass production of the components in December, according to a new report coming out of Korea. Economic newspaper Ajunews reports that LG Innotek will supply the front camera module for the budget-friendly fourth-generation device. Final tests are now said to be underway, with mass production of the module following...
AirPods Crackling Feature

Apple Customers Sue Over Unfixed AirPods Pro Crackling Issue

Wednesday November 13, 2024 11:01 am PST by
A trio of Apple customers this month filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the Cupertino company of violating California consumer protection laws and false advertising for continuing to sell AirPods Pro models that had ongoing issues with crackling or static sounds. A few months after the AirPods Pro came out in October 2019, buyers began to complain about crackling, rattling, ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases Firmware Updates for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday November 11, 2024 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released firmware updates for both AirPods 4 models (version number 7B20) and the AirPods Pro 2 with both Lightning and USB-C charging cases (version number 7B21). All of these AirPods models were previously on firmware version 7B19. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in firmware versions 7B20 and 7B21, but we will update this story if we find...
M4 MacBook Pros Thumb

M4 MacBook Pro Uses Quantum Dot Display Technology

Thursday November 14, 2024 4:19 pm PST by
The M4 MacBook Pro models feature quantum dot display technology, according to display analyst Ross Young. Apple used a quantum dot film instead of a red KSF phosphor film, a change that provides more vibrant, accurate color results. Young says that Apple has opted for KSF for prior MacBook Pro models because it doesn't use toxic element cadmium (typical for quantum dot) and is more...
maxresdefault

M4 Max MacBook Pro: Real-World Usage Tests

Wednesday November 13, 2024 11:59 am PST by
Apple last week replaced the M3 Max MacBook Pro with the new M4 Max MacBook Pro, and we picked up one of the new high-end MacBook Pro machines to see how it compares to the prior model with both benchmarks and real-world tests. We tested an M4 Max with a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, and 48GB RAM against an M3 Max MacBook Pro with similar specs. The two machines look similar, but the display on...
final cut pro magnetic mask

Apple Releases Final Cut Pro 11 for Mac

Wednesday November 13, 2024 3:02 pm PST by
Apple today announced the launch of major updates for its Final Cut Pro video editing software designed for Macs and iPads. Final Cut Pro has been version 10 since 2011, but after 13 years, Apple is finally ready to debut Final Cut Pro 11. Apple first teased a new version of Final Cut Pro when introducing the new M4 Macs in October, and now the updated software is available for download with ...

Top Rated Comments

iClone Avatar
107 months ago
I would cancel my order and find one somewhere else.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
34 Volt Avatar
107 months ago
This is why I refuse to preorder from "Best" Buy. I preordered the 3DS XL Majora's Mask from them, and they outright cancelled days before it was going to release saying "we over estimated the quantity of the order" (paraphrasing). Seems they still haven't learned.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sasparilla Avatar
107 months ago
Wtf. This can't be all Best Buy...how much blame goes to apple?
Best Buy is doing this with the iPhone 7's as well - would not be surprised to learn they got some sweetheart deal from Apple (better margins etc.) by agreeing to wait on deliveries (either after they took launch day orders or before but kept saying they'd have them launch day). I remember on pre-order day they were saying they could still get stock for today...

This will drive those customers away (long term) who put big dollar orders in - dumb on Best Buy's part. I'd cancel on principle as well.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dieselm Avatar
107 months ago
Watch out. They ran my credit card again last night prior to sending the delay message.

They knew exactly what they were doing. Giving a false ship date they knew they couldn't possibly meet in order to capture more sales.

A month delay announced on ship day?

They KNOW if it were to arrive today, it would have to have shipped in the last two days and they send us an email this morning?

This isn't an accident. This is pre-order policy.
[doublepost=1474036015][/doublepost]Even if 50-75% of the people cancel, that's still thousands of orders they captured and would not have gotten if they were honest.

Given the prices of the series 1 and adding in the "delayed" series 2, equals millions in sales they would have had to give up.

Too much money. Especially if you're the person counting on this quarter's sales numbers.

So lie, figure wouldn't lose too many customers long run and roll the dice. Asses.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
toph2toast Avatar
107 months ago
Series 1 is technically a new product. Basically the same watch that's been out but with the new processor from the Series 2. Most people are referring to the original, now discontinued, watch as S0 or Series 0.
Thanks, I missed the part where they put a new processor in it.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)