Pixel pre-order demand ‘exceeded’ Google’s expectations, many facing delays into November

While many who pre-ordered the Pixel and Pixel XL from the US Google Store began receiving devices late last week, others are beginning to miss their delivery estimates. Some early buyers are now being told by Google that units won’t ship until mid-November due to the initial pre-order demand exceeding expectations.

In the Google Store Order history, many buyers are still listed as ‘Pre-ordered’ or ‘Pending.’ This is in spite of estimated delivery dates being listed as early as this week. Some with delivery windows beginning yesterday are still in this stage and have yet to be charged for their purchase.

Contacting the Google Store does not provide any more guidance, with support representatives saying that customers will receive their devices by the estimated date. Specifically, some reps are saying to ignore the online page and trust that their device will be delivered as promised.

With Google Store pre-orders selling out early, some turned to Project Fi in order to get their devices earlier. I personally encountered an issue with the ‘Buy Devices‘ page that said orders for a particular unit would ship out at a specific date, only to have that turn out not to be the case.

Speaking to Fi support, I was told that the “shipping department is running 3 weeks behind” and as a result the new ship date is Nov 18 and not the currently listed Oct 27-31 date for me.

In a statement, Google says “pre-order demand has exceeded our expectations,” but does not comment on the mismatch between what is stated in the Order history page and what support representatives are now telling some people. Google’s full statement is below:

We’re thrilled to see the excitement for our new Pixel phones, and frankly pre-order demand has exceeded our expectations. We’re working to restock our inventory as soon as possible.