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I stood in line for a dead iPhone!

Cloudsurfer

Cloudsurfer

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 12, 2007
1,323
380
Netherlands
I woke up at 8 am to stand in line at the T-Mobile shop in my home town. I was 16th in line and there were about 20 iPhones. So I was lucky.

When it was finally my turn to buy, the T-Mobile activation server crashed so I could not take the iPhone with me immediately. Bummer, but a few hours later I was the proud owner of an iPhone.

But back home, the problems started. My iPhone could not detect the T-mobile sim card. Naturaly, I thought the sim was dirty so I took it back out, cleaned it and put it back in. Nothing. Turned it off and back on. Still nothing. So maybe the connectors in the iPhone were dusty. I opened the sim compartment again and blew in it, just like you do with old NES cartridges.

Still, nothing. I started to get a little scared. I hooked it up to iTunes, but it wouldn't do anything because the iPhone told it there was no sim inside. So then I tried my older sim, because I could have had a broken sim card. Nothing, it didn't detect anything.

I then put the iPhone sim into my older phone. My worst fears were realised: the T-Mobile sim card worked like it should in my old phone, with 3G and all. With building tears in my eyes I went back to the T-Mobile shop. I told them my problem and they handled it very professionally.

After trying out lots of different sims and even doing a reset (holding the sleep/wake and home buttons) we concluded that it was a hardware problem. I was devestated. I looked out for this moment for so long, I was lucky enough to get one on launch and now it is dead.

T-Mobile promised the very first iPhone in the next shipment would me mine. I even had them sign a little contract so they would keep to their word, in case the person who helped me wouldn't be at work at the time I would claim my iPhone. So I guess in the end it will be alright, but in the meanwhile I'm paying for an iPhone contract but I don't even have an iPhone. Somewhere it does hurt :(

So to anyone who has yet to pick up their iPhone, check if your iPhone detects your sim at the store and don't surprise yourself when you get home.
 
For everyone who complains that the phone must be activated at the store: this is an example of how that can be a good thing. Though obviously, it didn't help that the servers crashed yesterday. Now that the initial hysteria has passed, I doubt we'll see a repeat of that.

In any case, I didn't leave the store yesterday, and the sales rep at AT&T helping me didn't move on to the next person, until my iPhone was activated and receiving calls. Had the servers been working, this could have been resolved right then and there.

Only 20 phones though... yikes.
 
Yes and they aren't expecting much more than that with the next shipment.

Fortunately for me though, one of them is mine since I have the right to have a fully working iPhone.
 
scaredpoet said:
For everyone who complains that the phone must be activated at the store: this is an example of how that can be a good thing. Though obviously, it didn't help that the servers crashed yesterday. Now that the initial hysteria has passed, I doubt we'll see a repeat of that.

In any case, I didn't leave the store yesterday, and the sales rep at AT&T helping me didn't move on to the next person, until my iPhone was activated and receiving calls. Had the servers been working, this could have been resolved right then and there.

Only 20 phones though... yikes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, having thousands and thousands of people spend multiple extra hours in line so that one DOA phone can be found before that person leaves the store all seems worth it now.:D
 
simpsons_nelson_haha2.jpg
 
Cloudsurfer said:
I woke up at 8 am to stand in line at the T-Mobile shop in my home town.
Click to expand...

I set up my camping chair at 4 in the morning. Waited for 2 1/2 hours for the store to open. Got a white 16gb one. When I plugged it in at work, it didn't do a thing - dead on arrival.

By the time I had returned to the store they were all out of 16gb iPhones. Ended up accepting an 8gig version because they told me the next shipment of 16gbs would be in September :-(
 
kis said:
I set up my camping chair at 4 in the morning. Waited for 2 1/2 hours for the store to open. Got a white 16gb one. When I plugged it in at work, it didn't do a thing - dead on arrival.

By the time I had returned to the store they were all out of 16gb iPhones. Ended up accepting an 8gig version because they told me the next shipment of 16gbs would be in September :-(
Click to expand...

That really sucks. Fortunately I went for 8gb so I don't care what I get in return, as long as it's an iPhone 3G and within a month (or I'll be paying for an iPhone plan when I don't even have an iPhone)
 
Cloudsurfer said:
That really sucks. Fortunately I went for 8gb so I don't care what I get in return, as long as it's an iPhone 3G and within a month (or I'll be paying for an iPhone plan when I don't even have an iPhone)
Click to expand...

you're definitely better off with the 8gb version in this case - they're apparently getting new ones next week already here in Switzerland. But they said they'd only be gettng 8gb iPhones for the foreseeable future (for whatever reason)

kis
 
iPhone is indeed T-Mobile exclusive over here in the Netherlands, but it may be unlocked free of charge after 12 months.
 
kis said:
you're definitely better off with the 8gb version in this case - they're apparently getting new ones next week already here in Switzerland. But they said they'd only be gettng 8gb iPhones for the foreseeable future (for whatever reason)

kis
Click to expand...
Where are you in Switzerland? The store on Fuesslistraße in Zurich told us at the midnight launch on Friday that there would be shipments next week of all models. They had all of them available for the launch and I think that everyone got one, but from my understanding, Swisscom will be taking delivery of all of them next week.
 
akonradi said:
Where are you in Switzerland? The store on Fuesslistraße in Zurich told us at the midnight launch on Friday that there would be shipments next week of all models. They had all of them available for the launch and I think that everyone got one, but from my understanding, Swisscom will be taking delivery of all of them next week.
Click to expand...

Basel Greifengasse - told me there wouldn't be any and that they were only getting 8gb phones for the time being (and that those would go to the hundreds of pre-orders first). Interestingly, they didn't have any replacement phones at the customer center either, although they promise the customers to offer replacement units while theirs are repaired :-(
 
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