Best Buy Pushes Back Apple Watch Series 2 Pre-Orders, Gives Buyers $50 Promo Code!

Gear Diary is reader-supported. When you buy through links posted on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. You can learn more by clicking here.

When the Apple Watch Series 2 went up for pre-sale at midnight PST on September 9th, the lead-times quickly slipped from September 16th to a range of the 28th – 30th. All within one hour of being available to pre-order. That is what I got with my pre-order at 3:45AM EST. However, when Best Buy put up their pre-order availability they kept it set for September 16th throughout the day on September 9th – so I pre-ordered from Best Buy and canceled my Apple order.

Pre-orders remained as ‘processing’ with an expected 9/16 release date until the night of September 14th, when Best Buy issued a new update, pushing back the pre-order status to a release date of September 28th with delivery expected ‘within a couple of days’ of that. They also apologized for the late delay, and to make up for it they offered a $50 promotional code good for the next month. Here is the email:

bestbuy

Now I have read some cynical views that they could easily have given $50 off the Apple Watch price, but instead chose to offer something that will require larger purchases and therefore still benefit them more than the discount will cost them. Some also feel that this was planned in advance – leave pre-orders open all day regardless of ability to deliver. And perhaps that is true. But as someone who has made ‘early adopter’ technology purchases for a few decades now, I look at it differently. I have had countless times in the past where a product simply didn’t arrive, and contacting the company I was simply told ‘oh yeah, it is delayed’ … or ‘we over-sold and some customers are delayed’. Or I might have gotten an email notice about the delay with an option to cancel.

But with very few exceptions, I have not gotten a promotional code worth actual money from a place where I am very likely to buy things anyway. Because of this, rather than being annoyed (although I AM disappointed), I will simply wait for a couple of weeks, and enjoy the benefits of the $50 code. Oh, another disappointment is that I can’t walk in on the 16th with the code and apply it to a nice shiny new iPhone 7 Plus – Apple has made it clear that they are sold out of the 7 Plus and the new Jet Black iPhone 7.

What do you think of this situation?

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!