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MacHeadChef · Jul 1, 2007, 04:50 PM

I just helped my friend to activate his new iPhone and it was very fast....5 mins.

NYK Ace · Jul 1, 2007, 04:54 PM

back on hold still no go

NYK Ace · Jul 1, 2007, 04:59 PM

"wait one maybe two hours then try it again."

MacHeadChef · Jul 1, 2007, 05:03 PM

NYK Ace, have you sign on through itunes yet and already got an order number. But just waiting for ATT to activate your account? Are you calling this number? 877-800-3701 Option 1 I called a couple of times and got through to a customer service rep with in 15 mins or so. Sorry to hear, you're still having problems. Hang in there.

jamesob5 · Jul 1, 2007, 05:49 PM

45.5 hours and counting...

I was just told by AT&T rep no#5 that they can't do anything because Apple won't do anything because it hasn't been 48 hours. Meaning in 2 and half hours they will help me. Effin' thefts.

Stogieman · Jul 1, 2007, 06:05 PM

YES!!!! My iPhone is now fully operational. I called the 1-877-800-3701 number again and this time it was only a 10 min wait. The lady I spoke to said the guy that activated my phone forgot to enter in some pin #. She entered in the pin # at her end and had me power off/on the iPhone. BOOM! In less than a minute I was up and running. I so happy to have this thing finally working. Good luck to the rest of you that are still waiting. This phone is bad ass and it totally worth the wait.

Stogieman · Jul 1, 2007, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by jamesob5

45.5 hours and counting...

I was just told by AT&T rep no#5 that they can't do anything because Apple won't do anything because it hasn't been 48 hours. Meaning in 2 and half hours they will help me. Effin' thefts.

That's BS James. Whoever you talked to is pulling your chain. I got mine resolved in just over 39 hours. Did you get an email with your activation ID#? If so, call the 3701 number I posted above. Have them look into your account and see if there is anything holding back your activation. The CS representatives I spoke with were very friendly.

NYK Ace · Jul 1, 2007, 06:19 PM

macheadchef - yea ive been calling that number and still no help

im back on hold with them now

i did go down to the att store and they swapped the sim card and i was able to go through the iTunes add a line activation and just got an email that ATT was processing the activation

NYK Ace · Jul 1, 2007, 07:40 PM

finally! People kept telling me all this crap why it could not be activated so I just kept calling back again and again. One guy even told me he could not find my acct and to call back in 24 hrs!

James I recommend you keep calling until you get someone who knows what they are doing

jamesob5 · Jul 1, 2007, 09:48 PM

50 hours and counting...

They have no answers for me. They pushed the blame to Apple for not answering their phones and we got no where. They said they'd call me when they have some answers.

Nodnarb · Jul 1, 2007, 10:17 PM

I feel sorry for everyone still waiting...I had trouble too but within 24 hours it was fixed. To anyone who's still waiting, take solace in the fact once it's up and running, you have the coolest freaking device on the planet. Most likely, your issues will be solved tomorrow (being Monday) because Sunday is never a great day to get anywhere with large companies. Good luck to those waiting.

It makes me wonder if there would have been a lot less launch problems if the launch would have been on a Monday/Tuesday morning rather than friday evening. I think that even if there were still the technical problems, AT&T/Apple would have been better able to handle the situation if it were at the beginning of the week rather than right before the weekend.

UnixMac · Jul 1, 2007, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

I feel sorry for everyone still waiting...I had trouble too but within 24 hours it was fixed.

I feel horribly guilty as it took me all of 5 minutes to register two! I don't get it.

Nodnarb · Jul 1, 2007, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by UnixMac

I feel horribly guilty as it took me all of 5 minutes to register two! I don't get it.

Well it seems transferring your old numbers caused most of these problems...did you transfer or just get two new numbers?

I can attest to the fact that if you have a new number, it literally takes less than 5 minutes to set up...on Friday night, after about 3 hours on the phone with AT&T, they told me to activate it as a new user with a new number, and that they would port my old one over the next day. Starting as a new user was as seamless as possible, but it seems the confusion of porting numbers broke down AT&T.

UnixMac · Jul 1, 2007, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

Well it seems transferring your old numbers caused most of these problems...did you transfer or just get two new numbers?

Well, I had a unique situation which I actually thought was going to yield a headache, but it didn't..

I had BOTH verizon and at&t.. I had a single line with at&t that I used as my "International phone" and then a family plan with 2 phones with Verizon. I wanted to import the two Verizon numbers over to at&t and the iPhones.. so I called at&t first and set up the account (I had to tell them I was already a member, but that I wanted a 2100minute plan, iphone data, etc.).. then when that was done, I was able to get on iTunes and register with in 5 minutes, and with in 30 minutes both phones were activated.. this was 9pm west coast timezone the 29th.

jamesob5 · Jul 1, 2007, 10:55 PM

51 hours and counting...

I'm a brand new customer and was not porting a number over. So why am I getting screwed?

Nodnarb · Jul 1, 2007, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by jamesob5

51 hours and counting...

I'm a brand new customer and was not porting a number over. So why am I getting screwed?

Really? Is there an option to cancel activation? I remember mine was cancelled for some odd reason and I got an email saying it was cancelled, and to start again...if you can, I'd just cancel and start from scratch...or call AT&T and get it sorted out, if you just need a new number there really should be no problem?

jamesob5 · Jul 2, 2007, 05:52 AM

58 hours and counting...

There is no option to restart activation and the AT&T keep getting dumber everytime I call.

MacHeadChef · Jul 2, 2007, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by jamesob5

58 hours and counting...

There is no option to restart activation and the AT&T keep getting dumber everytime I call.

Today is Monday so hopefully things are a lot better over at ATT. I got mine activated yesterday after 36 hrs of waiting. I called 877-800-3701 option #1. Good Luck.

dpicardi · Jul 2, 2007, 10:34 AM

I was amazed! Based on what I was reading I was expecting several hours.
I was transfering an existing AT&T plan.
Typing from my iPhone as we speak and loving it!

pyn · Jul 2, 2007, 10:38 AM

Took me about 2 minutes on Friday. Even though iTunes kept saying it wasn't, my iPhone was activated. Just had to restart iTunes and all better

Nodnarb · Jul 2, 2007, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by jamesob5

58 hours and counting...

There is no option to restart activation and the AT&T keep getting dumber everytime I call.

Honestly, if you have no other requirements than wanting a new phone number and your iPhone activated, the first person you talk to (no matter how inexperienced) can help you accomplish that. Just be calm, explain your situation, and they will help you. And it's not like it's anything technical that they'll have to switch you about (to the porting dept., etc.) but they should be able to do it right then and there.
If you're just waiting by iTunes waiting for it to activate, don't. They have obviously taken you off whatever "list" they have. You need to call back, and calmly but firmly tell them your situation, and I bet you will be up and running 10 minutes after talking to your first person. Once again, best of luck.

jamesob5 · Jul 2, 2007, 12:32 PM

64 hours and counting...

I spoke with rep after rep after rep who have no answers for me. I'm a new customer and not porting a number over. So after 10 calls, about 4 hours on hold and 8 hours on the phone with AT&T...I'm still sitting here like a horse's a$$.

This is your email…
This is your music…
This is how you activate…
This is me sticking a gun in my mouth…

iPhone

dpicardi · Jul 2, 2007, 12:43 PM

James I truly feel for you. That is a serious bummer.

I assume you turned your phone completely off and on?

Have you synced everything with iTunes yet?

My activation was so quick I didn't think it really happened. It wasn't until I picked up my old phone and didn't get a dial tone that I tried my iPhone.

the activation was literally 2 to 3 minutes. It was by far the slickest and easiest cell phone activation I've ever had.

Really sorry that you did not have the same experience.

-Q- · Jul 2, 2007, 01:56 PM

Wow, 64 hours. That totally sucks. Have you considered returning the phone to an Apple Store and exchanging it? Maybe it's a problem with the phone itself?

I ported my number over from t-mobile and had no problems at all. Up and running in about an hour on Saturday.

justinkim · Jul 2, 2007, 02:15 PM

Already an AT&T customer, bought Friday night (~8:00pm EDT), was up and running in about five min.

sweatervest · Jul 2, 2007, 03:01 PM

I had no problems activating Saturday afternoon, took five minutes.

However when my boyfriend tried to activate Sunday morning, however, it told him he'd receive an email in 24-48 hours telling him it was activated. It was officially activated this morning. Not too bad, I suppose.

brschetgen · Jul 2, 2007, 11:16 PM

Began the activation Saturday afternoon with an AT&T credit approval number that I kept getting e-mails about saying it wasn't valid. I called AT&T @ 1-877-419-4500 three different times and got little to no help at all. I finally got on the trusted MacNN forums and got the 3701 number mentioned above, and called that. I got a guy who had a pretty good handle on what he was talking about. He pulled up my information and said "Hmm, its just sitting here. I can finish this up for you in a matter of five minutes." FINALLY! Then he says "Oh... thats weird. I can't make changes to your file because the last support person with whom you spoke is still logged into the file." SHE'S STILL LOGGED INTO THE FILE AN HOUR AFTER I HUNG UP WITH HER?! THE FILE THAT CONTAINS MY SSN AND CREDIT CARD INFO? He promptly got his manager and got the last lady out of the file. He went in and wrapped things up and said "Here's your telephone number... Have a nice day!" So after standing in line on Friday to lay down some serious money for the device, I can start using it on Monday afternoon!

Angelo78 · Jul 3, 2007, 01:40 AM

I'm an existing AT&T/Cingular customer and I just bought my iPhone today. I went home, connected it to the dock and 5 minutes later I was making my first call. I'm very happy with the iPhone.