3GS shipped with wrong SIM card

[Shawn Parr]

I finally received my new iPhone 3GS to replace my original iPhone. There were shenanigans with FedEx (I had to drive 150 miles round trip to get the damn thing cause the delivery person decided that if no cars were at the house I wasn't home so he shouldn't bother knocking).

Then when I plug the iPhone into iTunes, it comes up with the activation screen, and it has a number listed that is not only not mine, it is from many states away. On a lark I go ahead and put in my zip code and last 4 of am SS just to see what happens, and of course it doesn't work.

So I call Apple. Sufficed to say, the rep on the phone was floored. She had dealt with some activation issues involving SIM cards, but this was a first for her. She got my details and put me on hold to contact AT&T about resolution.

After a few minutes she came back and said AT&T is working with someone else with this problem, and their iPhone has my number associated with it. I ask about either using my old iPhone's SIM (which with a normal phone would work), or going to the local AT&T store (which I've been trying to avoid as it can be a bit weedy, I live in a very small town). She says using the old SIM "isn't supported" and she wanted to see if they could solve it over the phone before sending me to the store.

Long and short of it is, after a 40 minute long call, an AT&T rep gave me a set of instructions to have done at the local AT&T store, and noted them in the account. I have to wait for my wife to return before I can go, but I just felt the need to share.

So, if you happen to be in Connecticut, and can't activate your iPhone because it has a Louisiana phone number attached to it, sorry man, I feel your pain!

I'll pop back in after I make it to the AT&T store. In the mean time I'm also using twitter: #iphoneshenanigans

 

[RKilbane20]

I had a similar problem. My old sim worked but I had no 3G data plan. They updated my sim over the phone. But my phone activated and worked before I called.

 

[PNutts]

Wow. That's too bad. How many 900# phone calls can you make before it is straightened out?

 

[Shawn Parr]

Wow. That's too bad. How many 900# phone calls can you make before it is straightened out?

None! It only shows the connect to itunes or make emergency call screen.

I just got an SMS from my swapped buddy. He seems to be in pretty good spirits about it as well.

 

[Coukos34]

I am having the very same issue!!! Getting a random phone number when popped into itunes. Was on the phone with ATT and apple for over 3 hours yesterday, and know going on an hour today! What ended up happening?

 

[dave006]

.......
She says using the old SIM "isn't supported" and she wanted to see if they could solve it over the phone before sending me to the store.

Long and short of it is, after a 40 minute long call, an AT&T rep gave me a set of instructions to have done at the local AT&T store, and noted them in the account. I have to wait for my wife to return before I can go, but I just felt the need to share.

So, if you happen to be in Connecticut, and can't activate your iPhone because it has a Louisiana phone number attached to it, sorry man, I feel your pain!

I'll pop back in after I make it to the AT&T store. In the mean time I'm also using twitter: #iphoneshenanigans

No, you don't have to go to the AT&T retail store. Just take your old SIM and put it into your new iPhone 3G S and complete the activation steps. Your iPhone will work just fine.

AT&T just made a mistake in the distribution process and processed the wrong SIM / IMEI combination.

If you really want to waste some time call back into Customer Care and just provide them with your current active SIM and the IMEI of the new iPhone and the rep can verify the combination on your line and push a update to complete the process.

Give it a try you will like the results... sorry but there are humans in the loop so there will be some mistakes when they are rushing to get that many phones out in such a short window..

Dave

 

[Coukos34]

No, you don't have to go to the AT&T retail store. Just take your old SIM and put it into your new iPhone 3G S and complete the activation steps. Your iPhone will work just fine.

AT&T just made a mistake in the distribution process and processed the wrong SIM / IMEI combination.

If you really want to waste some time call back into Customer Care and just provide them with your current active SIM and the IMEI of the new iPhone and the rep can verify the combination on your line and push a update to complete the process.

Give it a try you will like the results... sorry but there are humans in the loop so there will be some mistakes when they are rushing to get that many phones out in such a short window..

Dave

Actually this is wrong. I tried switching sims and that doesnt change the fact that the IMEI number is attached to the wrong phone. Also, you would think that calling up ATT and having them correct the info would be all that is needed, but its not. Got off the phone with apple and there is no "higher-ups" working on the weekend so they are still unsure on how this is going to be fixed.....truly sucks

 

[aphexacid]

I didnt even bother with the included sim card. I wanted to keep my current one, which is the exact same sim card. I have over 150 #'s stored on it, and dont want to lose them, or for when i switch back and forth between phones.

The only downside is by doing it that way, i had to call and tell them to add the iphone plan and stuff. took about 2 minutes.


Also, its BS what they told you about the sim. I gave my girlfriend my iphone last year, and she's got an old cingular sim.

getting HSDPA no problem.

 

[dave006]

Actually this is wrong. I tried switching sims and that doesnt change the fact that the IMEI number is attached to the wrong phone. Also, you would think that calling up ATT and having them correct the info would be all that is needed, but its not. Got off the phone with apple and there is no "higher-ups" working on the weekend so they are still unsure on how this is going to be fixed.....truly sucks

Did you purchase from Apple or AT&T? You are not getting the correct information. What exactly happened when you switched SIMs?

When you purchase and iPhone for Direct Fulfillment (DF) from AT&T, the phone's IMEI and the SIMs ICCI are "parked" on your line for activation. This is just to prevent the need to manually provide those long strings to the Care rep if there is any problem with the activation process through iTunes.

An AT&T Care rep is who you should be talking to not Apple Support. Apple provides the hardware but AT&T is the "Cell" provider. Just provide the IMEI of the iPhone and your ICCI from the SIM and again, the rep can complete the required steps to manually activate the SIM on your account, verify the data plan, any SMS Txt plan you want and confirm / setup your Visual voicemail.

You can do it via the web even, try this process since there is nothing magic about registering an IMEI on an account.

If you have a valid SIM you can just use this process..

SIM Activation: https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/

Dave

 

[Shawn Parr]

No, you don't have to go to the AT&T retail store. Just take your old SIM and put it into your new iPhone 3G S and complete the activation steps. Your iPhone will work just fine.

AT&T just made a mistake in the distribution process and processed the wrong SIM / IMEI combination.

If you really want to waste some time call back into Customer Care and just provide them with your current active SIM and the IMEI of the new iPhone and the rep can verify the combination on your line and push a update to complete the process.

Give it a try you will like the results... sorry but there are humans in the loop so there will be some mistakes when they are rushing to get that many phones out in such a short window..

Dave

I'm going to try the sim swap for the heck of it, but I'm pretty sure they managed to deactivate my old SIM while working on the issue (I was at the store while you posted).

It appears the issue is that when Apple delivers a phone, they put the IMEI into the AT&T system, and they have the IMEI on my phone attached to someone else's account. When they tried to change the IMEI on my account (which is for the other guy's phone) they were not allowed to by the system as I'm in the middle of a 'Contract Upgrade Flow' (I may not have that entirely correct, but it was something very like that, the store reps and the phone reps kept repeating that back and forth to each other).

When they called in, the phone reps were unable to change it also. So there you go, totally mucked up, and I can't use my old phone now either. Although in all 'fairness' AT&T is known around here to suddenly lose service for quite a while....

Going to try sim swaps now.

 

[Shawn Parr]

Swapped SIMs, put the 3GS on the dock, and iTunes still shows the incorrect phone number. So that is no good.

Putting the new sim into the old iPhone forced me to go through the activation sequence with it. It has gone through, thus I can use my old phone again, but I think it removed the FAN# from my account, at least it said it was going to do something like that. I'll have to check that later to see what is up with it (iPhone # is currently second on the account, so the first should be discounted).

So the big issue is the IMEI, no matter what is happening with SIM cards. Since they activated a new SIM for my account I have to use that SIM on the older phone for it to work at all. It just gets better and better.

 

[dave006]

I'm going to try the sim swap for the heck of it, but I'm pretty sure they managed to deactivate my old SIM while working on the issue (I was at the store while you posted).......... clip ------

Another option is to take the "new" SIM and put it into your original iPhone. When you said original iPhone did you mean the original iPhone of the iPhone 3G?

The original iPhone needs to be paired with a SIM during iTunes activation and if you got a new SIM then you can't use the original iPhone as a backup unless you go through the iTunes activation again or "Unlock" it.

So, you might just drop your new SIM into your original iPhone and connect to iTunes and when prompted just select "Existing Customer" and it will complete the activation using your original iPhones IMEI and the "New" SIM. Once this is done you should be able to go through the same process with your new iPhone 3G S.

Just keep us posted and we can find a solution that does not invovle waiting until Monday for 99% of the current iPhone 3G S activations.

Dave

 

[Shawn Parr]

So, you might just drop your new SIM into your original iPhone and connect to iTunes and when prompted just select "Existing Customer" and it will complete the activation using your original iPhones IMEI and the "New" SIM. Once this is done you should be able to go through the same process with your new iPhone 3G S

That is what I did to get the old iPhone (1st generation) to work again. I haven't tried swapping back as I'm pretty darn sure that will not work. AT&T's system now is set with the IMEI on my 3GS on another person's phone number.

 

[Coukos34]

Did you purchase from Apple or AT&T? You are not getting the correct information. What exactly happened when you switched SIMs?

When you purchase and iPhone for Direct Fulfillment (DF) from AT&T, the phone's IMEI and the SIMs ICCI are "parked" on your line for activation. This is just to prevent the need to manually provide those long strings to the Care rep if there is any problem with the activation process through iTunes.

An AT&T Care rep is who you should be talking to not Apple Support. Apple provides the hardware but AT&T is the "Cell" provider. Just provide the IMEI of the iPhone and your ICCI from the SIM and again, the rep can complete the required steps to manually activate the SIM on your account, verify the data plan, any SMS Txt plan you want and confirm / setup your Visual voicemail.

You can do it via the web even, try this process since there is nothing magic about registering an IMEI on an account.

If you have a valid SIM you can just use this process..

SIM Activation: https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/

Dave

I totally understand what your saying and do realize that AT&T is the "network". The IMEI is the causing the issue and there is no way for them to do the switching until Monday they said. I was on a 3-way call with apple and AT&T and they ultimately couldnt do anything right now. The apple rep said they would either get it fixed account wise with AT&T or they would be sending out a new reprogrammed phone. I dont see why they would need to that though. It seems to me that they just need to get these IMEI #'s set correctly. We'll see. Ultimately I fall under that 1% that is going to have to wait as AT&T cant do anything for me right now with their limited weekend staff. Unlucky I guess

 

[iUser4Lyfe]

I totally understand what your saying and do realize that AT&T is the "network". The IMEI is the causing the issue and there is no way for them to do the switching until Monday they said. I was on a 3-way call with apple and AT&T and they ultimately couldnt do anything right now. The apple rep said they would either get it fixed account wise with AT&T or they would be sending out a new reprogrammed phone. I dont see why they would need to that though. It seems to me that they just need to get these IMEI #'s set correctly. We'll see. Ultimately I fall under that 1% that is going to have to wait as AT&T cant do anything for me right now with their limited weekend staff. Unlucky I guess

LOL screw ATT support, go into a ATT store and they will probably just give you a new one. Wait till Monday? lol.

 

[RKilbane20]

Just call and ask them. It took 5 minutes. They ask for both numbers and update them and everything is fine for me now.

 

[Coukos34]

LOL screw ATT support, go into a ATT store and they will probably just give you a new one. Wait till Monday? lol.

It doesnt matter about physically going and getting one "lol". The problem is that our IMEI #'s are swapped with someone else and apparantly that isnt something they can fix right now with their limited staff. I've dealt with AT&T 3 seperate times trying to get these IMEI swapped and to stick but its just not working right now. Trust me, it sounds like an easy fix, and it really should be. It's just not working out that (logical) way

 

[dave006]

That is what I did to get the old iPhone (1st generation) to work again. I haven't tried swapping back as I'm pretty darn sure that will not work. AT&T's system now is set with the IMEI on my 3GS on another person's phone number.

OK, that now means that your original iPhone's IMEI is now active on your account. If you want you can call Customer Care with your SIM in the original iPhone and online, and have the rep confirm that they see the IMEI of the original iPhone. Once that is done, you can then put the active SIM into your new iPhone 3G S and complete the iTunes steps. The Care rep should then be able to register the IMEI of the iPhone 3G S on your line. Give it a try at this point you don't have anything to lose and you might end up with a working iPhone G S with just one more phone call. This can also be done in any AT&T Corporate retail location by any RSC that has Telegence access.

Your FAN would only be an issue if you have it on your primary line and since there was not a NAD for any line that had an original iPhone (due to the revenue sharing deal with Apple). If you have an company, group or school email address, you can just re-add the FAN using this link, again, the activation of your original iPhone should not have made any changes even with the "warning" message in iTunes.

Confirmation link: https://www.wireless.att.com/business/enrollment/

Dave

 

[dave006]

That is what I did to get the old iPhone (1st generation) to work again. I haven't tried swapping back as I'm pretty darn sure that will not work. AT&T's system now is set with the IMEI on my 3GS on another person's phone number.

It doesnt matter about physically going and getting one "lol". The problem is that our IMEI #'s are swapped with someone else and apparantly that isnt something they can fix right now with their limited staff. I've dealt with AT&T 3 seperate times trying to get these IMEI swapped and to stick but its just not working right now. Trust me, it sounds like an easy fix, and it really should be. It's just not working out that (logical) way

Actually, trust me, it is a very easy fix by any rep with Telegence acces, all of the Care reps can do it, they just don't want to mess with iPhones due to the "audit" potential.

Do you have another AT&T phone that you could use to activate the SIM with on a manual activation call with Customer Care while they are still open?

Just call Customer Care again and ask them to do a manual activation using this other phone's IMEI and provide your new SIM's ICCID and the will allow you to accept the contract and then finish the activation with iTunes.

When you plug your iPhone 3G S into iTunes make sure to choose "setup as a new phone" or tell us exactly what you mean by "a random" phone number is displayed? Are you selecting "Setup as a new phone" in the iTunes activation / registration process?

Dave

 

[Coukos34]

Actually, trust me, it is a very easy fix by any rep with Telegence acces, all of the Care reps can do it, they just don't want to mess with iPhones due to the "audit" potential.

Do you have another AT&T phone that you could use to activate the SIM with on a manual activation call with Customer Care while they are still open?

Just call Customer Care again and ask them to do a manual activation using this other phone's IMEI and provide your new SIM's ICCID and the will allow you to accept the contract and then finish the activation with iTunes.

When you plug your iPhone 3G S into iTunes make sure to choose "setup as a new phone" or tell us exactly what you mean by "a random" phone number is displayed? Are you selecting "Setup as a new phone" in the iTunes activation / registration process?

Dave

Appreciate the help Dave but I dont happen to have another phone lying around to use (was with verizon before iphone). Seems like an interesting idea though. My phone came stuck in the emergency screen so when referring to itunes showing a different number, this is when you first plug in your phone and it says thank you for purchasing iphone and it states "this is your mobile phone number xxx-xxx-xxxx" (which it is not) and asks you to fill out your billing zip code and last 4 digits of your social security number. I obviously cant get past this part as it wont show my actual number as it is locked to my IMEI. At&t says everything is all set on there end (they tried updating my IMEI) but it is not changing to my number when i connect to itunes to activate. I will call AT&T one last time and try....

EDIT: No dice!

 

[dave006]

OK, did you try the activation link I posted earlier?

SIM Activation: https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/

You could also try the automated phone system by calling the activation number (1-866-895-1099) and completing the normal AT&T phone activation process.

This will confirm that you have a vaild SIM and that it is attached to your line of service.

Dave

 

[Coukos34]

Tried both methods already actually. There is something very screwy going on with this case. SIM is activated, thats not the problem. Did the activation number as well and thats not doing it either. I am unfortunately that 1% that will have to actually wait for Monday...Sad but true. Neither Apple or AT&T fully understand why this is happening so I'm just gonna have to wait. Thanks for all the help though. It is appreciated

 

[jackapple]

I too have this issue. Please post if anyone figures it out. Shiny new iPhone with no way of using it :-(

 

[Shawn Parr]

OK, did you try the activation link I posted earlier?

SIM Activation: https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/
.

This will confirm that you have a vaild SIM and that it is attached to your line of service.

I did that several times, both on my own, and while talking to an AT&T rep. It does not work. The SIM is fully activated. You can not make it more active than that.

No matter what you do, the IMEI of the iPhone is tied to someone else's account. When you plug in a phone bought from Apple, you get the window that I've attached, obviously I've covered up the other guy's number. As long as a number other than yours is listed there you will never be able to activate. That number is found by checking the with the system on what it thinks the phone number is for the IMEI of that phone.

Here is the kicker. After an hour on the phone with another rep, he claimed he was finally able to get the correct IMEI into AT&T's system. It took a lot of tries due to 'Parked Data' that every time he removed or cleared had a tendency to show back up. But eventually he put me on hold when a supervisor showed up and claimed their systems showed the correct IMEI and the number for the new SIM card.

Even after that the wrong number is appearing in iTunes. And since you need the phone #, the zip code, and the last 4 of the SS# and you are unable to change the phone # from what it gets from the system, that form will never validate.

The way this appears in iTunes is different then when I have to reactive my older iPhone after a restore or when the old SIM was deactivated. Then it asked if it was a new or existing number, and allowed me to choose the number, which is what some of the suggestions above in this thread and trying to get at. Unfortunately that is not how the system behaves with a brand new phone purchased from Apple.

I also put the 3GS into DFU mode and did a restore just to see if the information was being cached/stored on the phone. Nope, still comes up with the wrong number.

I'm pretty sure that eventually the only solution will be to have Apple treat the phone as defective and do a replacement. When they update the IMEI in the system that way it will likely appear in iTunes properly.

 

[milk242]

You would think ATT would have the power to reassign the IMEI to the correct number easily since they do control the network...