Last night I woke to my alarm at 3:15am EST, apple.com did not appear to allow me to pre-order yet, but on our phones through the Apple store app, pre-orders had begun.
We had no problems with iPhone 7's (though jet-black was not available, selected black instead); however, I had wanted the iPhone 7 Plus which was only available in the 32gb version. Also, we have 2 stores in Columbus - only one of these two were showing up. The other wasn't even listed...
I do think the Upgrade Program hinders customers as we do not have the option to wait for (ship) the item we would prefer, we only have the selection available to us on launch day at a store... we could wait; however, I will assume, seeing as this is a loan, we will be charged for each day we continue to hold onto the prior phone...
It would be nice if they could incorporate a ship to store appointment.