One Activation Mystery Solved
I called the 5401 # and was told to wait 24 hours, but kind of hung on the line to see if the rep would check anything... 1) she verified i had an account 2) there was no plan chosen: showstopper, so I chose the original plan 3) I was shown as no accepting the terms, so I accepted 4) I gave her my Sim # (use paper clip, and read the 8910 number on the bottom of the card) and IMEI from the box and she had a little trouble, but said the account is all set up on ATT's end.
Tried to get fee waived, but she said iTunes was not transmitting info correctly, and to try calling them. Apple in Emeryville denied activation issues before I bought the phone. The phone is now active (the moment I plugged it back in) and there is a reason it wasn't. Incomplete account info. Could be ATTs fault also, but this is a technical issue that can be solved if you treat them OK.
Try emailing oldmadbrother at yahoo dot com if you need more info, but that is the one account i left off the phone. This should at least help those where a "real" issue is holding things up. There are backlogs, but it was instant after my account was cleared up. New #, no porting required. Gonna play with my phone now that it works. Somebody (ATT / Apple) should take these huge profits and throw a little my way for my time to get this resolved. Classic finger pointing !