I ordered 4-9 directly from DJI. No shipment update, still states "pending". I reach out to onlinesales@dji.com regarding shipment status and possibly changing my shipping address (PO Box was erroneously accepted even though FedEx), and someone with english as their second language replied:

Dear We found your order is created on 9th, April. So sorry for keep you waiting! We will quick up the ship time and please give us a little more time. Thank you and Best Regards *************** So I get an ambiguous reply that doesn't address either of my questions and all they accomplish is confirming my order date and a vague promise about "quick up" my ship time. WTF?

I'm curious...did you order Pro or Advanced?  Did you order the kit with the extra battery?

Paul@siess.ca Posted at 2015-5-11 19:50
I'm curious...did you order Pro or Advanced?  Did you order the kit with the extra battery?

P3 advanced, extra battery. The extra battery isn't supposed to affect ship time...supposedly shipping separately later.

They've sent me a few other replies, still just as ambiguous and equally unhelpful. Really considering canceling my order if this will reflect my sales/product/support experience.

ruprick@gmail.c Posted at 2015-5-12 00:35
P3 advanced, extra battery. The extra battery isn't supposed to affect ship time...supposedly ship ...

To make matters worse, I was billed the full $1100 on 4-10. I realize it is likely legal for DJI to do so, but in my decade+ of internet shopping, this is the first time a company has ever billed me before shipment--a bitter pill to swallow on a big-ticket item.

And my email conversation with sales support has given me nothing to chew on. Maybe I'll try calling sales support for a better update. Will post back with my experience.

ruprick@gmail.c Posted at 2015-5-12 01:18
To make matters worse, I was billed the full $1100 on 4-10. I realize it is likely legal for DJI t ...

Cool.  I'd like to here what they have to say.  I was told there are many orders ahead of mine (I ordered on April 17th) so it would not ship until mid to late May.  
And yes, I agree about payment.  But...Apple did the same thing with Apple Watch pre-orders.

Paul@siess.ca Posted at 2015-5-12 02:25
Cool.  I'd like to here what they have to say.  I was told there are many orders ahead of mine (I o ...

I never called customer support, but I did try emailing a US Sales email but received no response. I was leaning toward canceling my order based on my negative first experiences and some of the troubling threads on this forum written by those who have already received theirs, but I received notification last night that mine shipped.

So--pre-ordered 4-9 (day after announcement) and shipped on 5-12. I'll give DJI a chance to iron out the kinks but will be trigger-happy with a return during my 7-day period. I live in rural Maui and have big plans for this bird, let's hope it meets my initial expectations.

ruprick@gmail.c Posted at 2015-5-12 01:18
To make matters worse, I was billed the full $1100 on 4-10. I realize it is likely legal for DJI t ...

I was billed early as well.. Didn't care for it either!

I decided to cancel my order and get it from drone nerds. They shipped it same day and it took about 3 days for dji cancel my original order and refund.