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iPhone Activation Issues
- Thread starter iamhammill
- Start date
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Yeah it's ridiculous. I think it's so that you absolutely definitely HAVE to buy an AT&T contract to make it worth anything. Just want a ridiculously expensive iPod? Too bad if you don't want AT&T.
But the least they could have done was put like Pong or something on there for while you're waiting for activation. I wonder how many people have called 911 just because they were so ****ing bored with their $600 brick. Like... even the magic square slider game or some ****. ANYTHING to play with besides the emergency slider or my dick (not included).
How do you cancel the activation? I tried:
1) Removing the iPhone and then reinserting to start the whole process again - no luck.
2) Quitting iTunes and restarting the entire process again - no luck
3) Shutting down and then trying again - no luck
4) Reinstalling iTunes and trying again - no luck
I don't know what else to do........ There's no way it could still be busy, everyone else seems to have no problem at least beginning the process.
I'm way beyond pissed now. I'm very tempted to go back to my Blackberry and just throw this damn thing out the window.
Yes, presumably if the activation finally goes through, reconnecting to itunes will finish the process. It checks the activation status when you plug in the phone. This does not work for everyone as our activation is simply still in progress.
I'm just shy of 6 hours waiting now. About to head to sleep.
Sadly, it has been a very disappointing launch for me. I am happy to avoid the 2-4 week waits though. Got it sooner by going to the store but no instant gratification. Ah well.
ya, they are pretty backed up
Backed up is one thing. Clearly something is wrong when others who activate HOURS after you get immediate service and are using their phones in 10-15 minutes while you still wait and twiddle your thumbs with an expensive paperweight going on 12 hours in the not-so-far distance. Honestly -- if you lost my activation request or something, just tell me. I can't believe I waited in line for 5 hours for all of this headache. PS - My AT&T store where I bought it only had 30-40 or so... 8 GB was sold out after 15 people but I only wanted the 4 GB anyway.
I originally was being facetious with the following comment, but it looks to be true:
"Apple iPhone Activation Coming This Tuesday!!!"
- Eric
Just plugged mine in (4effing50am cst), got the same ****ing ass **** goddamn "Your activation requires additional time to complete." message that I've been getting all ****ing night. I'm going to sleep.
T-Mobile's dragging their feet
Talked to T-Mobile, who is dragging their feet in porting my number. Not AT&T's fault. The T-Mobile guy said everything is okay, but I'd have to wait for them to release my number which he said could take up to 7 days.
Called back, and the new person at T-Mobile said that the account is showing that my number isn't eligible for being released. Then the supervisor came on and said she couldn't see anything that would suggest my number wasn't eligible to be released, but that I would have to wait for T-Mobile to port my number over.
This is crap, damn T-Mobile. At least some of you will be a little more forgiving of AT&T, since not all of the porting problems seem to be their doing.
Talked to T-Mobile, who is dragging their feet in porting my number. Not AT&T's fault. The T-Mobile guy said everything is okay, but I'd have to wait for them to release my number which he said could take up to 7 days.
Called back, and the new person at T-Mobile said that the account is showing that my number isn't eligible for being released. Then the supervisor came on and said she couldn't see anything that would suggest my number wasn't eligible to be released, but that I would have to wait for T-Mobile to port my number over.
This is crap, damn T-Mobile. At least some of you will be a little more forgiving of AT&T, since not all of the porting problems seem to be their doing.
I have T-Mobile as well... I don't think they have any control over porting most numbers... as long as AT&T has your social, they can take your number away from T-Mobile and T can't do a thing about it.
*****
HEY GUYS! I just found out the secret to getting your phone activated!!! If you slide the emergency slider, dial 9-1-1, press call, and when the operator answers, say "please activate my phone..." then plug your phone in, it's activated! TRY IT! IT WORKS! AWESOME!
...ok actually going to sleep now.
I would expect some hassle from old companies losing tons of customers to AT&T, but the hassle I have been reading about here is kind of ridiculous and unprofessional. The credit check system is kind of weird also. Even if you have flawless credit, any small mark will cause an automatic credit check to be flagged, and a rep will have to look at it. This should have been expected.
I'm starting to think their help-line should count as an emergency number... what are the standard AT&T help numbers/number codes.
8 hours and waiting
Wow. Talk about FUBAR.
Existing ATT customer.
They inactivated old phone in 3 minutes.
I have called:
8778003701
8774194500
8003310500
They all stated (at various different times) activation may take 24 to 72 hours to complete due to heavy call volume. In the meantime I am hosed for current cell access, voicemail access, etc.
As to a service credit, I am screwed as well. They will not consider a credit for the missing 9 hours of service until I reach 48 hours of no service.
So, my experience of blowing $700 at the Apple Store went from Amazing to piss poor in 8 hours thanks to ATT. I thought the line last night moved fast, the sale and Apple store help was amazing, and ATT dropped the ball with activation.
FYI: I am on a family plan and I was told that causes issues, especially if you are placing the iphone on the additional line like me. It sure would have been nice to know this BEFORE it all started.
So maybe by Monday I can play with my new iPhone. But in the meantime, I have a useless SEW810i and a useless iPhone 8 Gig.
Wow. Talk about FUBAR.
Existing ATT customer.
They inactivated old phone in 3 minutes.
I have called:
8778003701
8774194500
8003310500
They all stated (at various different times) activation may take 24 to 72 hours to complete due to heavy call volume. In the meantime I am hosed for current cell access, voicemail access, etc.
As to a service credit, I am screwed as well. They will not consider a credit for the missing 9 hours of service until I reach 48 hours of no service.
So, my experience of blowing $700 at the Apple Store went from Amazing to piss poor in 8 hours thanks to ATT. I thought the line last night moved fast, the sale and Apple store help was amazing, and ATT dropped the ball with activation.
FYI: I am on a family plan and I was told that causes issues, especially if you are placing the iphone on the additional line like me. It sure would have been nice to know this BEFORE it all started.
So maybe by Monday I can play with my new iPhone. But in the meantime, I have a useless SEW810i and a useless iPhone 8 Gig.
I too have been waiting like the majority of the folks around here. My old blackberry pearl which I bought in Jan was deactivated in 10 min. Since then, I have been disconnected from the world.
What makes my head scratch is that my brother's phone, who is the 2nd line on my acct took only 2.5 hours to activate and here I sit almost 11 hours later with no activation. I get the processing activation email and when I called and got someone at ATT iPhone activation last evening, she mentioned that ATT has no notice in their system that I have a new phone to activate. She told me to call within 12 hours.
Now, I logon to my ATT account and it shows that I have the iPhone as my primary phone and there is an "activate my phone" link, which I tried, but of course it says that all my lines have been upgraded. People can try this out, but I suspect it will say the same thing.
I will say that I am pretty disappointed in ATT for not making this process smoother. People migrate to Apple to make their lives easier and being an Apple guy for 9 years now, this is pretty disappointing (albeit, not really apple's fault - I went to my Apple store yesterday at 6:45 and got 2 iPhones in a 10 minute line wait). I hope that my phone is activated soon, my gf is already pissed at me hahahaha.
Good luck everyone, let me know if the ATT thing works.
What makes my head scratch is that my brother's phone, who is the 2nd line on my acct took only 2.5 hours to activate and here I sit almost 11 hours later with no activation. I get the processing activation email and when I called and got someone at ATT iPhone activation last evening, she mentioned that ATT has no notice in their system that I have a new phone to activate. She told me to call within 12 hours.
Now, I logon to my ATT account and it shows that I have the iPhone as my primary phone and there is an "activate my phone" link, which I tried, but of course it says that all my lines have been upgraded. People can try this out, but I suspect it will say the same thing.
I will say that I am pretty disappointed in ATT for not making this process smoother. People migrate to Apple to make their lives easier and being an Apple guy for 9 years now, this is pretty disappointing (albeit, not really apple's fault - I went to my Apple store yesterday at 6:45 and got 2 iPhones in a 10 minute line wait). I hope that my phone is activated soon, my gf is already pissed at me hahahaha.
Good luck everyone, let me know if the ATT thing works.
I doubt this will help anyone, but I activated without a hitch. Took about 3 minutes. My plan is a family talk plan that I have had for about 5 years and I had a business discount (Disney) but it is not a business account. I did wait until 11:30 to activate - maybe the local servers (if there are local servers) weren't as busy?
Good luck everyone.
your issues
if youre waiting this long, something obviusly got goofed along the way. I activated as a new customer at 10:45 PM EST (so did credit check too) and everything including calls both ways on the number i ported from Verizon worked within 3 min.
Didnt know a port could go that fast - beats the pants off any activation ive ever done in a store.
if youre waiting this long, something obviusly got goofed along the way. I activated as a new customer at 10:45 PM EST (so did credit check too) and everything including calls both ways on the number i ported from Verizon worked within 3 min.
Didnt know a port could go that fast - beats the pants off any activation ive ever done in a store.
Yep, I'm in the same boat as you, I also have an old, pre-Cingular AT&T Wireless account. It's now been over TEN HOURS since I tried to activate my iPhone and it's still just a glorified paperweight. I'm really disappointed in how this launch has now been fumbled.
..Al
Activated about 2.5 hours ago [01:00 PST], still no activation email. Dead brick as far as I'm concerned. They didn't take long to deactivate my old SIM though!!!! [existing customer transfer]
I'm not certain that is exactly correct - I had a discount through Disney and my phone activated within 3 minutes.
I would suggest actually going into an AT&T store. I have had the people at my local store work on my account and they are able to check or un-check many of the "flags" and it might save you time waiting for an AT&T callback... just a thought.
Good luck.
The consensus that I gather is that the longer you've been a customer, the bigger a peen AT&T penetrates you with. I had a bag-phone in 1991 with Bell South Mobility, I used to be able to boss the Cingular people around, cause they know where their loyalty lies, but these AT&T dirtbags could give a damn about me.
I'm a BIG fan of these forums, but those of you calling those dealing with many, many hours of frustration losers are being complete jerks. I've waited six hours and called three times to ATT and talked to several reps that have NO CLUE about how the hell the rate plans work or what is wrong with my activation.
I waited in line for six hours today and got my phone. I've waited many months for this thing and am very happy to have one. But THIS SUCKS. More than that, you losers that MOCK those of us dealing with it and trying to work it out really tick me off. Thanks for the help.
I waited in line for six hours today and got my phone. I've waited many months for this thing and am very happy to have one. But THIS SUCKS. More than that, you losers that MOCK those of us dealing with it and trying to work it out really tick me off. Thanks for the help.
It has been 11+ hours now since I first tried to activate my iphone. Called at&t, which was opne at 6am and was told it is fine on their end I just need to wait for the second email from apple. And of course apple isn't open until 9am. So I am getting more pissed every minute.
ATT Sucks!
I have been on the phone with this crappy customer for 2 hours only for them they can not help me!!!!!! They have ruined the whole experience with this phone! Apple should have went with a diffrent carrier!
I have been on the phone with this crappy customer for 2 hours only for them they can not help me!!!!!! They have ruined the whole experience with this phone! Apple should have went with a diffrent carrier!
I can't believe you guys are having such problems. My friend ported his number from verizon to his iphone via itunes and in under 10 minutes he was making calls. Weird.