iPhone's Elusive Activation
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As I reported yesterday, my iPhone activation has run into some snags. Because my voice plan was relatively antiquated (a remnant of the old AT&T Wireless), the iPhone would not activate. Not that I was given an option to choose something different, as I had suspected this would be a problem. This morning, I called the AT&T support number on the last e-mail from last night. After a relatively short hold (about 7 minutes), I got a live operator. I explained my issue and told her which plan I wanted. She put me on hold for a few minutes, then came back on line and told me I was ready to go. I just needed to reconnect the iPhone to iTunes and go through the wizard again, selecting the option to migrate my existing AT&T phone number. But once I connected the phone, iTunes gave me the same message as before - that activation required additional time to complete and that I would get an e-mail telling me when everything was ready. Restarting the wizard was not an option. I explained this to the AT&T representative, who explained that my plan had indeed been updated, but I was placed back in the activation queue. Since all the iPhone buyers from yesterday were getting activated now, it could be awhile. Well, it has been almost 3 hours since I made that call, and I have not yet received the go-ahead e-mail nor can I do anything with the iPhone. Now I recognize that yesterday and today are abnormally busy days for AT&T's support and activation resources, but this is getting crazy. I presume the DIY iTunes activation process was implemented in part to alleviate the crush that would come from such a large launch, removing the strain on store employees. Theoretically, a larger number of customers could purchase and activate their devices in a shorter amount of time. And this may be working for many. But, at least in my slightly abnormal circumstances, the opposite seems to be occuring. 15 hours and 33 minutes after I bought the thing, I still have nothing more than a paperweight. |
Comments (6)
Can't you just carry it to the AT&T store and let them do the activation for you?
Posted by Andre Da Costa | July 1, 2007 1:38 AM
I feel your pain. I am in the same boat, and I hope I don't have a 600 $ drink coster with planet earth. (no I have not dialed 911 to "test" it out) I have had mine since 7:35PM Friday.....
Posted by DavidC | July 1, 2007 2:08 AM
50 hours and counting...
Posted by James O'Brien | July 1, 2007 10:04 PM
I don't know if an in-store activation is feasible. When I went in to get a new SIM card, the guy clearly did not want to touch the device at all.
However, once I was sure I had a supported voice plan, a new SIM card fixed the problem within minutes.
Posted by Andrew Garcia | July 1, 2007 11:47 PM
So I've read all the blog entries and can only say "the iPhone (and all such computing devices) is supposed to make our lives easier?"
Your experience is not unique, and I'm not talking about the iPhone. I've had similar experiences with Sprint and many of their "advanced" phones and data services. Then there is the HP printer that refuses to use the second paper tray; or the database system at work that makes me change my password ever three months but then saves it in plain text for the support folks to read to me when I forget it; how about all the "registration" systems that show me my information on the screen, redirect me to a website and then make me type in all that data, again! I could go on... why can't we make this stuff easy to use? A friend of mine was laughed at, recently, when he took out a piece of paper and a pencil to do some simple math. But he was done before everyone else who was fiddling with cell phones, PDAs and even a dedicated calculator! I'm a computer engineer and I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of every electronic item I have, living a week without any of them, and then starting over with only the essentials and, even then, only ones that actually work and make my life easier in some way.
But, thanks for sharing your pain. You are NOT alone.
Posted by Dave | July 2, 2007 11:45 AM
The reasons for this neglect and lack of appreciation in the past it is not necessary here to go into except so far as they throw light on the duty of the present.
Posted by Nick | December 5, 2008 10:03 AM