I ordered the 7 Plus 256GB Black on a new contract. I haven't actually had any confirmation that the order has been accepted - the latest update I've had is an email shortly after I placed the order telling me it was being processed, but since the upfront payment was taken from my bank I'm assuming everything is okay.
The order was placed on the 12th. As I'm not an existing customer I don't have the ability to track the order, but Live Chat told me based on when I ordered it that it should be delivered around the 24th - 26th.
Best we can do is hope, I think. That said, we have this situation every single time there's a new iPhone. It would be incredibly easy to implement a simple queue system on a first-come-first-served basis, which would keep track of stock and be able to give you an exact fulfilment date. My understanding is that the problem is due to a lack of communication from Apple over the amount of stock each retailer will actually receive.
