Potential customers ready to buy Apple’s new iPhone 4 were dismayed by massive and widespread problems when attempting to pre-order Apple’s new smart phone the day it went on sale today.

If you tried to order the iPhone on Apple’s website you received an error message: “Your request couldn’t be processed. We’re sorry, but there was an error processing your request. Please try again later.”  Even trying to preorder on AT&T’s website gave you similar error messages.

Calling AT&T’s customer service line gave a pre-recorded message saying ”the company was facing extremely heavy call volumes.” To make matters worse the new Apple app, launched Tuesday morning, that is supposed to allow existing Apple customers to use their iPhone or iPod to pre-order the iPhone 4 went offline by mid-afternoon.

AT&T’s retail stores had the same difficulty ordering new iPhones for customers. AT&T store near Manhattan’s Grand Central Station computer system remained crashed as of late Thursday afternoon, workers were having to take orders manually on paper. Customers were queued more than two dozen deep waiting their turn to order.