iPhone Activation Problems Plaguing Countless New iPhone Owners

i received that email. which did not include my new media package, it listed my old one. and the guy from at & t said i was still looking at another 12 hours before activation.

It's been 14 hours so far for me. Just got off the phone with Apple (58min hold time). They indicated that you CAN use the SIM in your old phone without disrupting the activation process. They also indicated the problem is with ATT. There is a 24 hour backlog with their number rollover process. That is, if you are trying to use the same number that you had with your old phone, even if it was with THEM.

JOHN

the sim card for most of us is disabled.. they did that when we tried to activate the new phones.. also the NEW cards will work in the old phones but the old sim cards DO NOT work in the new apple phones...

Charlie. I would say at this point, at least in my case, it is an Apple issue more than an AT&T issue. I know that Apple lovers will deny this to the ends of the Earth, but the fact is, I called AT&T and Apple and they both explained the process in the following way:

1. Purchase your phone.

2. Go home, install iTunes, Login/Create and iTunes account.

3. Fill out the info on the screen. The info is then submitted to AT&T

4. AT&T Processes the order and sends confirmation back to Apple.

5. Apple then Activates your iPhone through the iTunes app.

Now, AT&T and Apple have said that my account was activated through AT&T's system and now APPLE is have some difficulties activating my phone. The support guy at Apple that I spoke to said that the phones will be working but he didn't know when. He said that they were working on the issue, but if he transferred me to the support department, they would tell me the same thing: That I have to WAIT.

I know you don't want to acknowledge that Apple is imperfect, but they are. Their systems are apparently not able to handle this new product or the demand. Why? I don't know. They run iTunes and have millions of subscribers, how can a few 100 thousand bring the system to it's knees?

Steve Jobs, We expect your name to do more. As in, take the roll in your family name and HIRE SOME FUCKING PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THERE DOING.

I don't think im the only one whose pissed considering the fact I spent $641.97 on a phone, $29.99 tax for a car charger and $24.99 for a case. I honestly been looking at the globe so long I think I can pinpoint where I am looking @ Earth.

Oh look theres the apple building. Is that Al-Qaeda?

Just got off the phone with Cingular/ATT manager. He says fixing the "communications problem will is now estimated to take 48 hours" this is up from the "up to 24 hours" they were reporting this morning. He admitted the communication problem may be on the ATT side.

well it seems that every product has there flaws or draw backs, and this seems to be it for the iphone.

Stewart,
You may be right, but the AT&T rep told me that TWO million iphones were sold yesterday, and are being activated, and that THEIR system is over-loaded.

This is insane - we should have known better then to trust an "activation" process supported by
AT&T would do anything but get screwed up. Its a shame that something like this had to happen
but AT&T pulled a ruse on it's customers and maybe even Apple.

So, I'm bored and I can't call any of my friends to chill out on a BEAUTYFUL Saturday in Philadelphia. I know when this thing starts to work, it will be great, but until then, this totaly eats shit.

AT&T (AKA: Evil Empire, AKA: Enron 2) probably dionnected all the old phones so people would stop calling.

Also, please stop yelling at the AT$T people on the phone. If they were being told anything helpful, I'm posative they would tell you. These people are just trying to do their job and their company's screw up is making them have to work crazy hours and deal with alot of abuse.

Note from an auditor who specializes in the internal workings of public companies: If you want to get you point across, send an actual letter with a stamp to the company's executive management and Board of Directors (you can find their names on the 10K annual report and the company corporate address is proably online). Since it is illegal to open or disgard someones mail there is a great chance you will be heard (don't write hate mail, just tell them you are dissapointed with the service and tell them how to make make you feel better about it). These are the people who will be setting the policy on giving you discounts, money, or waived fees. These are the people to be upset with.

Keep on keeping on!

The blame game is that if your releasing something that you have LINES of LINES of people at all stores. You can see that this is going to Explode. You take the precautions to help the customers, but keep in mind, this is the 21st century now where the customer isn't always right. The computer is.

APPLE & AT&T are just seeing how many people commit suicide after waiting so long.

This is exactly why Microsoft blew up and Apple went no where. Microsoft had the intelligence to get there problems fixed in a short time.

Stewart, from what they have been telling me (and what they told their Verizon counterparts) is that we are at step 4. Our phones have not even been activated in AT&T's systems. They haven't done that step, so they can't send it to iTunes.

AT&T "didn’t have enough people to do the activation"

thanks, Cryton336. now i understand why the deactivation txt msg to my old phone was timestamped 8 hours from the future.

so how many people will it take to screw in millions of iPhones?

Insane, I just did some garden work, cooked breakfast, and took a shower and I'm still on hold with AT&T. Now 50 mins on hold. This is sad and a total waste of time. Simple Activation my A**. I'm taking back this dumb phone and sticking to Sprint..

john, have you done this and then can you receive calls on your old phone?