Anyone have any luck activating their series 3 on a T-mobile business plan? Been on with support all morning and no luck yet.
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Apple Watch Series 3 T-mobile business account
- Thread starter Whitelunis
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Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one!! No luck on my end either. Business Care is puzzled.
Are you the manager for your Business Plan or are you authorized to make changes to the Business Plan?
Dave
Dave
Just got off the phone with T-Mobile. If you bought through Apple, it's a bug. T-Mo system won't activate business accounts because it doesn't match up the social security number or EIN. Tech said it's two weeks to get a fix. If you bought direct from T-Mobile it's supposed to work out of the box.
So my brand new Apple Watch is crippled due to T-Mobile not doing adequate activation testing.
So my brand new Apple Watch is crippled due to T-Mobile not doing adequate activation testing.
Business plan here as well. Can't activate on T-Mobile. When I go through the Activate Cellular option in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, the T-Mobile page that opens requests the last four digits of the account owner's SSN. When I supply my SSN's last four digits, I get "Authentication Failed". I also tried the last four digits of my company's EIN, but the result is the same, "Authentication Failed".
I called T-Mobile and spent over an hour on the phone with their support to no avail. They transferred me to Apple, and Apple didn't even know the difference between Series 2 and Series 3. Pathetic. I even spoke with the Sr Advisor that supports Apple Watch, and the dude didn't know basic things about the Apple Watch. After an hour on the phone with Apple, their Sr. Advisor told me to factory default my iPhone. I told him he was incompetent and hung up the call.
T-Mobile sent me a survey to grade their performance during the call, and I gave them all 0s. They called me 10 minutes later to discuss my negative feedback. So, I explained what was going on, and the guy told me this seems to be a system-wide issue. He is now working on my case (requested IEMI from my Apple Watch, Serial Number, etc.). He calls me back every 30 minutes or so to give me an update.
I called T-Mobile and spent over an hour on the phone with their support to no avail. They transferred me to Apple, and Apple didn't even know the difference between Series 2 and Series 3. Pathetic. I even spoke with the Sr Advisor that supports Apple Watch, and the dude didn't know basic things about the Apple Watch. After an hour on the phone with Apple, their Sr. Advisor told me to factory default my iPhone. I told him he was incompetent and hung up the call.
T-Mobile sent me a survey to grade their performance during the call, and I gave them all 0s. They called me 10 minutes later to discuss my negative feedback. So, I explained what was going on, and the guy told me this seems to be a system-wide issue. He is now working on my case (requested IEMI from my Apple Watch, Serial Number, etc.). He calls me back every 30 minutes or so to give me an update.
The stupidity is beyond belief.. so after all this, I get this:
“I found out that it will not allow us to process it as you bought it on your own. Our business care team will have to activate it. Call them by dialing 611 from your handset. “
Called 611 now talking to someone clueless saying they see an iPhone 7+ on that line and not a watch - god help me
“I found out that it will not allow us to process it as you bought it on your own. Our business care team will have to activate it. Call them by dialing 611 from your handset. “
Called 611 now talking to someone clueless saying they see an iPhone 7+ on that line and not a watch - god help me
This is what you do. Hang up the call. Wait for the survey to come via text from T-Mobile. Give them 0s on all answers. Wait for an hour or so. You will be contacted to discuss your negative feedback. The person who calls you will have a clue.
Speaking with 611 (even Business support 611) is useless. They were not prepared for the release of Apple Watch 3 with LTE. This was supposed to be seamless. I think it's seamless with regular accounts, but not with business accounts.
[doublepost=1506113243][/doublepost]I will post here what the result of my Apple Watch 3 with LTE being worked on by T-Mobile. If they fix the registration with the Business account for me, they will probably be doing this manually for business accounts until they fix their problem.
And yes, they did ask me if I purchased the Apple Watch from T-Mobile, and I told them it was purchased from Apple. So, I believe the problem is with business accounts and the watch purchased from Apple. Probably due to the fact that business accounts are authenticated via EIN rather SSN, and their system can't dip into the database where EINs are stored.
The lady is telling me to go to a T-Mobile store to get a SIM card for the Apple Watch LOL or they can ship me one haha.. now transferred me to a guy in Portugal who supposedly knows about AW3 haha / you just can’t make this up.
Don't waste your time. Apple has no clue either. I've spent half of the afternoon on this already. You can tell them that at this point, it's a confirmed system-wide issue with business accounts and Apple Watch with LTE purchased from Apple (rather than from T-Mobile).
I responded to one of his tweets today with this information. Maybe he knows by now. The good thing is that we may get free Apple Watch service due to this screw-up.
[doublepost=1506114603][/doublepost]Just received a call from my new buddy at T-Mobile who is handling my case. He said T-Mobile has identified the issue and they are working with Apple on the resolution. The issue is NOT with the business accounts. The issue is with any type of account for the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE purchased directly from Apple. If the watch is purchased from T-Mobile, it activates with no issues with regular accounts and with business accounts.
My new buddy told me that Apple has given T-Mobile a workaround, which is to pair the LTE watch with the iPhone via Bluetooth and use it as a regular Apple Watch. I'm NOT kidding. That's the workaround that the Apple came up with. Apple is also telling T-Mobile to instruct their customers that if they need the LTE feature on the Apple Watch today or in the next few days, they should return the new Apple Watch (purchased from Apple) to the local Apple store and buy one from T-Mobile. My buddy is now checking the inventory in the local T-Mobile stores in my area and will call me back. I'm not holding my breath that he will find the SKU that I bought from Apple at a T-Mobile store nearby.
By the way, it appears that AT&T is having exactly the same problem with Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE purchased from Apple.
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I sent him an email, I met him a few years back when I was in Telecoms world. Either way supposedly now there’s a bulletin and it’s a confirmed issue with no ETA in mind lol
[doublepost=1506114898][/doublepost]
Wow speechless...
Yes, read my post that's above yours. It's confirmed now. The issue is with the Apple Watch purchased from Apple.
I spoke with many people at T-Mobile. T-Mobile knew about this issue prior to launch. Business Team Members stated that they were trained on it. Apple Watches Series 3 purchased from Apple will not authenticate because the business account is under the businesses tax ID, not the account holders social security number. The cellular data will not activate with the last four of the Tax ID, only the last four of the social security number. T-Mobile knew about this issue prior to launch, and did nothing to inform Business account holders. Why this will work for Apple Watches purchased from T-Mobile is unclear. It appears that it is completely a miss on T-Mobile's part. They could have fixed it prior to launch. They could have at the very least notified Business accounts prior to today that this was expected. They should have done so prior to preorder status.
The three options they have been told to tell people is 1) return the watch to Apple and repurchase it from T-Mobile, although T-Mobile has no watches to sell at this point and the expected ship date is approximately a month out. 2) Use your new watch just like your old watch with bluetooth only. Why anyone would buy a new one that works exactly like the old one, I am not sure. 3) Wait until T-Mobile fixes the issue, although they have not been allowed to disclose even an estimate on when this might happen.
It took being transferred around multiple times, and driving to a T-Mobile store to have them call the support people to be connected by phone to people who knew the answer to this. This is really bad customer support. It is a really bad business practice to let people experience expected problems and not answer the question the first time that they call in about it. It certainly was not something T-Mobile was going to readily volunteer, and my guess is that the front line people did not even know the background. This is certainly not the service anyone would expect, and I'd bet T-Mobile's CEO John Legere would have been Tweeting loudly had other providers done this to their customers.
So, you can either just put up with T-Mobile's Business solution of wait until we get around to it or transfer your service I suppose. Neither of these are desirable options. Its hard to get past: They Knew. They Didn't Care Enough to Tell You. They Are Not Going To Tell You Until You Up Front When You Call. Them Telling You Can Wait Until We Fix It. Them Telling You We Have No Idea When.
David Eilers
The three options they have been told to tell people is 1) return the watch to Apple and repurchase it from T-Mobile, although T-Mobile has no watches to sell at this point and the expected ship date is approximately a month out. 2) Use your new watch just like your old watch with bluetooth only. Why anyone would buy a new one that works exactly like the old one, I am not sure. 3) Wait until T-Mobile fixes the issue, although they have not been allowed to disclose even an estimate on when this might happen.
It took being transferred around multiple times, and driving to a T-Mobile store to have them call the support people to be connected by phone to people who knew the answer to this. This is really bad customer support. It is a really bad business practice to let people experience expected problems and not answer the question the first time that they call in about it. It certainly was not something T-Mobile was going to readily volunteer, and my guess is that the front line people did not even know the background. This is certainly not the service anyone would expect, and I'd bet T-Mobile's CEO John Legere would have been Tweeting loudly had other providers done this to their customers.
So, you can either just put up with T-Mobile's Business solution of wait until we get around to it or transfer your service I suppose. Neither of these are desirable options. Its hard to get past: They Knew. They Didn't Care Enough to Tell You. They Are Not Going To Tell You Until You Up Front When You Call. Them Telling You Can Wait Until We Fix It. Them Telling You We Have No Idea When.
David Eilers
Glad I found this thread. Super annoyed right now. I too spent an hour on the phone with T-Mobile and spoke to eight reps. The first 7 had no idea that the Watch 3 had cellular - they encouraged me to use via bluetooth; two told me I had to get a T-Mobile SIM card. The last person blamed Apple. I then spent 30 minutes with a Sr. Advisor who clearly misunderstood what I was telling him. After 30 minutes he got it, but of course then said it was a T-Mobile issue.
I finally turned to Twitter and have chatted with a T-Mobile rep who confirmed everything you wrote here. Of course they throw out the option of returning the watch to Apple and buying from them. That to me doesn't seem right when it is THEIR issue. My only concern is that isn't there a 14 day return policy with Apple? if this thing drags on, there is no need for me to have a Watch 3 as I have a Watch 1. My only reason for upgrading was cellular.
Really stinks, T-Mobile!
Sigh....
I finally turned to Twitter and have chatted with a T-Mobile rep who confirmed everything you wrote here. Of course they throw out the option of returning the watch to Apple and buying from them. That to me doesn't seem right when it is THEIR issue. My only concern is that isn't there a 14 day return policy with Apple? if this thing drags on, there is no need for me to have a Watch 3 as I have a Watch 1. My only reason for upgrading was cellular.
Really stinks, T-Mobile!
Sigh....
My T-Mobile experience as a business account has been a nightmare since the beginning. This is the icing on the cake for me.
I did the same thing a couple of hours ago. Thought it was going to work after seeing those pages and same error as you... maybe they are getting closer to a fix!