iPhone Activation Resolution

My iPhone is activated! However, no thanks to AT&T (or very little). It was mostly my own research on the internet that got me the last little push to get activated.

In my previous post, we left off with me getting a new, "modernized" AT&T Wireless plan and then connecting once again to iTunes only to get the "AT&T needs more time" message. I was also told by a customer service rep it would be an hour after I connected to iTunes until my activation. However, several hours later, I was still waiting.

Well, I went online and somehow drifted to the Apple Support forums. A post there advised people with grandfathered in AT&T Wireless plans to get a new SIM card along with their new plan (which I had already done per my initial AT&T customer service rep--turns out she was right, only she didn't tell me what to do after, even though I specifically asked). But, if you read my last post, you'll know that a following customer service rep said the SIM card was pointless. However, the post on the Apple forum said to put the new SIM card into the iPhone. I did this, turned my iPhone off and on, then connected to iTunes. It worked! All that waiting for nothing.

It is clear now that no one from AT&T customer service knew the entire process for me to get my iPhone activated. There were bits and pieces correct, but I had to do go online to put all the pieces together myself. Thank god for the Internet.

My iPhone Activation Has Been a Mess

So far it has been over 24 hours since I've attempted to activate my iPhone, and it's still just a paperweight. The whole thing has been a mess of error messages from iTunes and emails from AT&T customer service. Shame on both AT&T and Apple. If you do not have an iPhone, my current advice is to wait until you hear these problems have been solved. It is not worth the aggravation or your time.

To prep for my iPhone, I downloaded iTunes 7.3. However, I now have an error message popping up when I launch iTunes 7.3 stating that my iTunes library cannot be saved. What a headache to have during my already frustrating AT&T activation experience! So far, there is no official fix from Apple, although some posters on MacRumors forums have given suggestions.

I received a follow-up email from AT&T this morning telling my old AT&T plan was out of date. It took them 24 hours to figure this out. They gave me a number to call. The customer service rep told me I need to go to an AT&T store and update my plan to a modern plan. She also told me I needed to get an orange sim card because if she tried to update my current phone with the current sim, the card would "burn." I laughed and asked her to repeat that. "It would burn," she said. I had to chuckle as I envisioned my phone bursting into flame, all because a customer service rep in India was attempting to modernize my AT&T account. Just think, at anytime in the past, according to this rep, AT&T could potentially set fire to my apartment while I'm sleeping, and potentially I could die. That's power my friends. Do not piss off AT&T. And check your smoke detectors.

So this afternoon, I traveled to the AT&T store, "modernized" my AT&T Wireless account, and received my new AT&T sim card. The customer service rep had instructed me to give them a call back after I finished updating my account. I decided to call them form the store and not go home. However, ny cell phone was now dead (my only phone). Thank god I stuck around in the store.

My new customer service rep told me I was all ready to go; I just needed to go home and connect my iPhone to iTunes and finish the activation.

"What's the new sim card for?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know. They did't need to give you a new one. I don't know why they're doing that," she replied.

She then warned me there would be additional waiting time after I hooked my phone up to iTunes because "everyone is trying to activate their phones" and it's slowing down the system. "It's been around an hour wait for most people."

I'm now waiting for another email from AT&T. It's will be the fourth (the first from the iTunes store and the final three from AT&T). It's been about 30 minutes since I've hooked up my iPhone.

One lesson I've learned in life that a zebra doesn't change its stripes--at least not with a lot of mess. I am not looking forward to my experience with AT&T, and I feel very bad for Apple that they had to use their wireless network. I'll just have to look forward to the day when the iPhone is no longer exclusive. Maybe Apple's contract does not cover the iPhone II. Dare to dream.

My iPhone AT&T Activation Problems

AT&T is now processing your activation.
You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete.

I am one of many people who cannot use the iPhone they just purchased. The weak link in the chain? AT&T. After trying to activate my phone around 1:00 pm on Saturday, my AT&T account still has not been activated as of 7:30 pm. Instead, I've received two emails from AT&T stating that they are still processing my activation. There are nightmare reports from CNET here, and from a blogger here.

I wonder if Steve Jobs is hearing these reports and wondering if there is a performance clause in Apple's contract with AT&T. All I know is, I paid over $600 for a phone I can't use. Sure, with patience, the phone will be activated. But this is Apple, and I was expecting the iPhone to just work.

Meanwhile, I'm left to listen to music on my antiquated 1st gen iPod shuffle. See it below next to my unplugged and useless iPhone.