The employees at the store said it is not possible to activate the iphone 4 at home ( I already have a line with at&t with a previous iphone) is that really the case. I really hope there's something to be done about this, because I do not want to open it up in the store.
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Ordered iPhone to at&t store - employee wants to force me to activate it in store
- Thread starter SimplyS
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I ordered both of ours online and activated at home. Maybe units you buy in a store are setup differently? I can't see that being the case though...
I know some people don't want the employees touching or messing with their brand new toy or just enjoy opening the box at home. Not really sure why they force you to do it there..
F123D that's exactly the case. I talked to an at&t employee and she explained that they do that so people don't sell them online. Not an efficient way in my opinion, moreover it is a device I paid good money for and if they want to do that they could just deactivate the old sim card and activate a new microsim so I wont be able to use my phone besides the iphone 4
You could still put the micro-sim in an adapter and use any phone, selling your iPhone on.
Yeah, I really don't understand the difference seeing how I ordered through AT&T as well but had mine shipped to my office. Clearly it wasn't activated yet and I had to do it on my own. So AT&T/Apples reason blows.
Cancel your order and order it online. Then you can activate it however you like. FYI: there is nothing personal on the phone for an employee to mess with. All they are doing is associating the new sim card and iPhone 4 IMEI number to your account.
I know you can use a micro sim adapter. The only reason I ordered it via the store is because I signed up for service with at&t a few weeks ago using my OWN phone and the employee guaranteed that I will be able to buy the iphone 4 for the fully subsidized price (199,299) and not be under any contract. As soon as my iphone was activated I was under a 2 year contract and they wanted me to pay the full price. so he had to order it
Maybe the AT&T employee receives a commision or credit for each phone they activate?
I pre-ordered the phone from AT&T to be delivered to my home where I would have activated myself. Through a mixup by FedEx they wound up delivering my phone to the local AT&T store (even though my shipping address was on the label on the the box) on launch day. Luckily FedEx customer service helped my find out where it was, and I called the AT&T store (which is only approx 5 blocks away) to see if they would release the phone to me instead of returning it to FedEx. They said it would be no problem as long as I had ID.
When I got there they insisted on setting up the phone for me. Since there was a line of others getting their phones activated I asked if I could just take the phone and activate myself at home. They really wanted to activate it in store. When I pressed the issue another AT&T employee said "Please sir, we're just trying to help!" I gave up and let them activate it in the store. Afterwards the AT&T employee told me I would be recieving an e-mail request from AT&T to rate my experience with the guy who setup my phone. He asked that I give him a positive review. Since he was polite and amiable during the process I did give him a good review (although I would not have given the other employee as good a review as I thought his tone was obnoxious).
I would have preferred to just take it home and set it up myself. After the hasssle of FedEx delivering it to the wrong address and just being relieved to be able to get my phone, at that point I was willing to put up with it.
I pre-ordered the phone from AT&T to be delivered to my home where I would have activated myself. Through a mixup by FedEx they wound up delivering my phone to the local AT&T store (even though my shipping address was on the label on the the box) on launch day. Luckily FedEx customer service helped my find out where it was, and I called the AT&T store (which is only approx 5 blocks away) to see if they would release the phone to me instead of returning it to FedEx. They said it would be no problem as long as I had ID.
When I got there they insisted on setting up the phone for me. Since there was a line of others getting their phones activated I asked if I could just take the phone and activate myself at home. They really wanted to activate it in store. When I pressed the issue another AT&T employee said "Please sir, we're just trying to help!" I gave up and let them activate it in the store. Afterwards the AT&T employee told me I would be recieving an e-mail request from AT&T to rate my experience with the guy who setup my phone. He asked that I give him a positive review. Since he was polite and amiable during the process I did give him a good review (although I would not have given the other employee as good a review as I thought his tone was obnoxious).
I would have preferred to just take it home and set it up myself. After the hasssle of FedEx delivering it to the wrong address and just being relieved to be able to get my phone, at that point I was willing to put up with it.
when you get it at the store, they need to make a "test" call before you walk out of the store, if they don't they are 100% responsible for the full price of the phone if the pone is return for malfunctioning. It's not really the store or employee faults, it is a corporate policy.
and i agree that doesn't make a difference since when you order online is kind of the same thing. But it is what it is....
I picked up my 3G and 3GS in store and took them home to activate. I don't want those morons touching my phone.
With the iPhone 4 they want it activated in the store to decrease the number of phones being sold afterward.
1. They don't need to touch the phone, you can do it - in the store.
2. You should ALWAYS open the phone before going home to make sure it works.
3. If you're trying to sell the phone just say it.
1. They don't need to touch the phone, you can do it - in the store.
2. You should ALWAYS open the phone before going home to make sure it works.
3. If you're trying to sell the phone just say it.
Your making this a bigger deal than it has to be for yourself. Open up the box yourself. All they did for me at the apple store on launch day is plug it into itunes for like 5 seconds and I was good to go.
When I picked up my iPhone 4 from AT&T, the guy told me that he needed to activate it in-store. I was slightly disappointed but told him to go ahead. However, he needed the account holder's (my father's) last 4 digits of SS#. I took a risk and told him that I didn't know, and he sent me on my way with my unopened phone in the box and a cute orange bag. I activated it myself at home. Honestly, it wasn't the end of the world if I didn't get to do it myself, but I kind of felt like a little kid at Christmas when I took the shrink wrap off the box and was the first one to touch the phone (obviously, other than the kind person that packaged it overseas). I guess we all have a little fanboy-ism in us...
When I purchased my 32 iP4 at Best Buy the clerk gave me an option. The guy before me wanted his activated and left with a working phone.
I prefered to leave with mine sealed in the box. Of course that meant my
3GS no longer worked but the store was 5 minutes from the house so I wasn't concerned.
When I picked up the wifes at an Apple store they forced me to activate even though I told them that would leave her without a cell phone till that evening when I got back home.
He told me sorry, she could come back later and pick it up and activate it. I was a little ticked but didn't want to come back as that store was clear across town.
No wonder launch day took so long. Hand out a box and move along..
I prefered to leave with mine sealed in the box. Of course that meant my
3GS no longer worked but the store was 5 minutes from the house so I wasn't concerned.
When I picked up the wifes at an Apple store they forced me to activate even though I told them that would leave her without a cell phone till that evening when I got back home.
He told me sorry, she could come back later and pick it up and activate it. I was a little ticked but didn't want to come back as that store was clear across town.
No wonder launch day took so long. Hand out a box and move along..