[CIA]

I finally got to the "Your activation will take longer to complete" email about 13 hours ago. No word since then. I have a feeling it will be up in another day or so. At least my Verizon phone still works in the meantime.
This initial push sucks and all, but once the first gazillion people get it taken care of, I bet future customers won't have issues. Next week, buying--->iTunes--->using iPhone will be a 10 minute process.

[LeeG]

Yeah, I've been on the phone with AT&T also a few times - the last person I spoke to said the servers were completely overloaded. She 'claimed' literally millions of people were trying to activate iphones.

Not sure if those numbers are true, but either way, KUDOS AT&T. NICE WORK.

I mean really. WHO could have predicted a lot of people trying to activate an iphone yesterday and today. Hmm. Only the biggest consumer electronics release EVER. Exactly why Apple was miserable having to partner with another company. No one else "gets it" - get some frickin extra servers. Get a few more "backend" people overnight last night - this should have been flawless. Even if they wasted money with idle servers or tech support sitting on their hands, it would have been worth it. Get used to dealing with GARBAGE customer service...

AT&T's handling of this has been GARBAGE. For an existing customer to be now PHONELESS for 16+ hours, and NOTHING they can do about it?? Great job...really - nice smooth release....BRAVO!!!

L

[::maroma::]

I have a feeling Apple is pretty miffed about AT&T bungling this part of the launch. I heard that yesterday, AT&T's east coast billing servers crashed during the initial half hour of the launch. They had to use good old fashioned pen and paper to take credit cards for sales.

I think its plain to see, with the stories I've heard of people's bad experiences waiting in AT&T lines on Friday, their billing server crashing and now this, that Apple and AT&T are two completely different companies (obviously). Apple prepares for this sort of thing, AT&T tries to prepare but never really gets totally prepared.

At any rate, lets hope AT&T gets with the program after this first weekend. I'm sure this is unprecedented in the amount of traffic, but like LeeG said, you'd think they would have prepared for much worse. Always prepare for the absolute worst, and hope for the best. AT&T needs to learn that lesson I guess.

[LeeG]

Oh and I also demanded to be credited for the time I am without cellular service. Why should I pay for a day without cell service. I know its only a couple of bucks...but its the principle. Hey...a few free iTunes songs!

Over 20 hrs...still waiting.


L

[ndptal85]

Mine just got activated about an hour and a half ago. I've made outgoing calls and texts but haven't recieved any incoming calls or texts yet.

[vln2]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Mine was T-Mobile, and my number took about 20 minutes to transfer over.

I was joking with my girlfriend about how maybe the other carriers are holding this up on purpose. I'm sure its not true, but I really wouldn't be all that surprised.

I red somewhere that the loses of other carriers from people switching to AT&T may eventually reach billions because those are usually customers who use data and extra features on top of voice.

[Stogieman]

I feel your pain LeeG. I just got off the phone with AT&T. The customer service rep. told me it could take up to 48 hours. 48 hours!!!! Right now it's been a little over 12 hours for me and about 3 hours since the SIM card in my current phone de-activated.

F**ck'n AT&T!! Worst rollout ever!

[k2director]

I've been waiting 15 hours. 15 hours! What kind of jackass designed this "no-hassle" activation system? AT&T kept advertising the fact that they were so prepared for the iPhone legions--ie, hiring extra staff, crowd control at stores, etc. etc. So what happened?

Stupid, stupid, stupid. They better be pulling out all the stops to take care of this.

[Cadaver]

Actually, I'm still waiting for my incoming calls to get switched to the iPhone.
I'm out and around today and I've got to carry both phones - one for outgoing and one for incoming.

I really hope it fully switches soon!

Oh, sent this from the iPhone
Edge isn't slow at all - at least where I live.

[MacTheKnife]

So, I just received an e-mail that came from "[email protected]" address. It says:

"We are currently processing your order. Your order number is XX You will receive an additional e-mail when your order is complete that will provide further instructions to activate your iPhone."

I guess Apple is monitoring the waiting horror and decided to send us another e-mail to keep our nerves soothed!

[LeeG]

I got the same email - 2.5 hours ago.

Hasn't soothed me at all.

I really DO hope Apple is watching this, and AWARE. This is AWFUL. Very un-apple.

So disappointed.


L

[CIA]

Well, I finally got an email saying the Verizon number I was trying to port won't go. Since it's a Vermont number, and ATT has no presence in VT besides roaming. So I was forced to start a new account with ATT. Got a new Utah number (where I live now) and the whole process took 5 min from plugging in to dialing. Seems like if you aren't swtiching anything, but just starting new service, it's fast and painless.
Good luck to all of you!

[dpicardi]

Are all you saying that unless you have an AT&T activation you cannot even use your iphone at all?

No ipod, no wifi internet?

[SoBayJake]

Originally Posted by dpicardi 

Are all you saying that unless you have an AT&T activation you cannot even use your iphone at all?

No ipod, no wifi internet?

Right. Without the activation (via iTunes), you can only make an emergency call, and look at a nice picture of the earth.

[Rumor Addict]

Mine took about 2 minutes to open. I was not porting a number. A friend that was porting a number from T-Mobile had to wait for about 15 minutes.

[UnixMac]

two phones, last night at around 8pm Arizona time.. Once I figured out that I had to download a new version of itunes (Blame ATT Sales man for not telling me).. both Phones were up and running inside of 5 minutes..

[MacTheKnife]

OK, I just got activated!! But now the phone will not see iTunes and vice versa. I guess I'll have to reboot?

[LeeG]

I got activated also finally!!

WooHoo!

L

[mdc]

I just got home and tried to activate. New account and everything, "We need more time" email. Great.

[MacTheKnife]

So, here's the scoop. I had to reinstall iTunes to get it to resynch with my iPhone. It was one of the suggested remedies on Apple's support site, which I'm sure is going to see a lot of traffic in the next few days.

[badtz]

I got the "order" email also, still no activation! 16 hours already!!!!!!

[UnixMac]

Originally Posted by LeeG 

I got activated also finally!!

WooHoo!

L

was it worth the wait?

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by LeeG 

I got activated also finally!!

WooHoo!

L

You're giving me hope! What was you're total wait time? I'm currently at 18 hours.

[MacTheKnife]

18 sounds about right. That's how long it took for me.

[MacTheKnife]

Originally Posted by UnixMac 

was it worth the wait?

It's simply unbelievable. Totally worth it!!!!!

[UnixMac]

Originally Posted by LeeG 

About 18 hours total wait. Absolutely totally worth it. Not just a phone - they have introduced a whole new mobile computing platform.

Too damn cool.

L

It's kind of like the way windblows has the Mobil OS for their phones... we finally have a Mobil OS X.. and OS X is simply an order of magnitude better in terms of the user experience than Windblows..

[LeeG]

About 18 hours total wait. Absolutely totally worth it. Not just a phone - they have introduced a whole new mobile computing platform.

Too damn cool.

L

[MacinTommy]

24 hours an still no activation?????? this is making me a wreck without a phone... what the hell

[MacTheKnife]

Originally Posted by MacinTommy 

24 hours an still no activation?????? this is making me a wreck without a phone... what the hell

Sorry Mac, but the good news is, you're so much closer now!

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by MacinTommy 

24 hours an still no activation?????? this is making me a wreck without a phone... what the hell

I'm current at 25 hrs waiting for incoming calls to be routed to my iPhone.

[mdc]

I just got back from dinner, plugged in my iPhone and it completed. So all in all 2.5 hours.
It's busy syncing now, and oh my gosh it's awesome.

[hldan]

Originally Posted by MacinTommy 

24 hours an still no activation?????? this is making me a wreck without a phone... what the hell

Well, at least it's the weekend and not a work week. I feel your pain as well as others but be fair, you knew this was a HUGE launch weekend. It's sorta unreasonable to expect perfection and instant gratification.

[pooka]

finally up and running. Took 4 calls and one trip to ATT. Fun day. Too tired to play at this point.

[cSurfr]

Mine took 7 hours to activate. Not bad considering all of these 20+ hour comments I keep reading, and no I wasn't porting a number. However, a friend of mine who picked up the phone WAS porting his number and it went through immediately. No extra wait at all.

[msuper69]

***I hope those having those long delays realize they can continue to use their old phone while awaiting iPhone activation. When your old phone stops working, the iPhone has been activated.***

Ok, SOME current AT&T subscribers may be able to leave their old phone on while activating their iPhone.
I stand corrected. (backs away from thread).

[LeeG]

absolutely not true.

I was without phone service for 18 hours while I waited for the activation email to arrive. They told me they had to turn off my old sim to start the activation of the new one. I was a current AT&T customer also.

Not fun.

[hldan]

Originally Posted by msuper69 

I hope those having those long delays realize they can continue to use their old phone while awaiting iPhone activation. When your old phone stops working, the iPhone has been activated.

Unfortunately that's not the true for everyone. When I ported my number my old phone stopped working right away and I had to wait a few hours before I could use my new one.

[NYK Ace]

update on my brothers phone...


now 36 hrs and counting...

first i got an email saying they would not be able to port the number from verizon, then i got an email that they were working in the activation, spoke with ATT and they said it SHOULD be working by the end of the day, called the automated system just now to check the status and it said my activation order had been canceled, tried to connect back to service and was told there would be a 60 min wait to speak with someone

[Stogieman]

I'm now on approaching hour 34. I received an email from AT&T saying my rate plan is not compatible with the iphone. WTF? I have the same $29 plan that icruise has. The only option iTunes gave me was to add the data plan for an extra $20. I'm now on the hold with AT&T. Estimated wait period is 60 minutes. I'll tell you one thing, there's no way in hell I'm gonna pay the $36 activation fee.

[k2director]

34 hours and counting. It's Sunday morning, 10am. If it's not working by the late afternoon, it goes back to Apple.

This has clearly made AT&T look like idiots, but Apple as well.

[MacHeadChef]

I try activating my iPhone on 6/30, 1:30AM and now it's July 1st 1:34PM and still my iPhone isn't activated. 36hrs and still not working. ATT is the same old ATT from the past where service isn't very good. I gave ATT another try with the iPhone, I hope I didn't make another mistake in trusted ATT again.

[MacinTommy]

I called ATT just a minute ago and they said everything was activated and he read of the IMEI # and the SIM card number to me but when I connect it to itunes it says that my activation needs more time. Anyone else experience this?

[MacHeadChef]

Originally Posted by MacinTommy 

I called ATT just a minute ago and they said everything was activated and he read of the IMEI # and the SIM card number to me but when I connect it to itunes it says that my activation needs more time. Anyone else experience this?

How did you speak to ATT on the phone when they are closed? I try calling them last evening and got a message saying 9AM-6PM are their hrs for Sat and closed on Sunday. ATT should have been prepared for the launch of the iPhone, but I guess they didn't do a great job. Those 2000 temporary employees they recently hired, so have been working the phones for ATT and not at the ATT Stores. ATT Saturday and Sunday should have been open 24 hrs to handle the activation process and for people who are major problem getting their iPhone to work.

[Stogieman]

I found this over at the Apple boards.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....16349&tstart=0

36 hours later and I'm finally activated. If you've been waiting this long, you need to call. I thought it was taking so long because of the number of users activating. It turned out there were two problems-

1) They had loaded the SIM number and IMEI number from my old phone. That was fixed, but still didn't work.

2) I had an incompatible rate plan(I'm an existing customer).I had to switch to a different plan.

Once those issues were resolved, I was activated within 30 minutes.

The number to call is 877-800-3701 , option 3. You will be prompted to enter your order number. After doing that, you may get an automated message stating your phone is in the process of being activated. If that happens, do it again , only this time, just enter the number "1" for you order numer. You will then be transferred to a CSR. You may have to hold a while, but hang in there.

Good Luck !!!


That's what i did. I was on hold for about 40 mins until someone picked up. The guy I spoke with had to update my plan. This was about ten minutes ago. I finally got the "activation complete" email and synced my info from iTunes. My iPhone is now unlocked but I can't get any service. When I power off/on my iPhone I get the message "Waiting for AT&T activation - This may take some time."

[Cadaver]

My iBrick is now an iPhone !!!

While I could place calls and play with the phone since about 6am Saturday (after registering and transfering a Verizon number at 9:55pm Friday), I couldn't receive calls.

I called AT&T this morning (via the After Hours help line) at 10am. I was advised to call the number transfer hotline (888-898-7685). I told the woman on the phone that when I did, I got a recording that they were open M-F and Sat only. She told me to hold while she tried. I don't know who she got a hold of, but when she came back on she told me that my phone will be active for receiving calls at 12:30pm today. I wasn't sure if I should believe her or not, but what choice did I have.

At 11:38am, my phone made a sound I hadn't heard. I looked down and there was a text message from AT&T saying that my phone was "now ready to receive calls."

Sure enough, its all working now. Yippy.

Hold on, fellow iBrickers, there's hope yet.

[MacHeadChef]

Thanks Stogieman for the tip and now my iPhone is working and finally activated, after I spoke to a ATT customer service rep. ATT will say waiting is up to 60 mins, but it's more like 10-15 mins now.

Anybody having trouble with activation please call 1-877-800-3701 and press option 1.

[MacHeadChef]

During the time I called 1-877-800-3701, I got disconnected many times. This is not very good on ATT part and it will you very unhappy, because you'll then have to call them back and wait again. They say please give me your number in case we get disconnected, but haven't gotten any return call back.

[MacinTommy]

I pray to the phone gods that this works... I'm on hold right now.

[NYK Ace]

just got off hold, they can the entire order. i am now waiting "10 mins" as they requested so ...

[MacinTommy]

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Yessssssssssssssssssssss Yessssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Muwhwhwhahahahahahah It F'ing Works