Poll: got iPhone activation problems?

We heard yesterday that despite some issues over AT&T way, iPhone activations would (hopefully) be up and running smoothly by as early as this morning. Of course, evidenced by the flood of users continuing to tip us, we'd say a great deal of you are still experiencing activation problems. We've flipped the switch on a half dozen or so iPhones, and had no problems whatsoever. So to all you new iPhone owners out there, are you (still) having issues?

Got iPhone activation problems?

Yep, still dead in the water (and seriously pissed).Yeah, but my issues have been resolved, so I'm good.Nope, activation went smoothly and things are fine.Vote

[dcartguy @ Jul 1st 2007 2:58AM]

I'm trying to transfer my number from T-moblie. I've tried once and failed. Now I'm trying again and playing the waiting game. If it isn't activated by the time I wake up, I'm calling customer service.

[Gabe @ Jul 1st 2007 3:46AM]

what you need to do is activate your AT&T accounts, with new numbers, don't try and port your T-Moible # until your iPhones and AT&T acct is active, THEN port your T-Mobile #, had same problem, said i can port my # later, or wait a day or two and have the nice iBrick, this is after already waiting 10 hours. Just speak to rep, cancel your activation of new contract and start over. Oh, almost forgot, you have to speak to a supervisor from square 1.

[Toastydoc @ Jul 1st 2007 5:10AM]

I initially had a Activation problem. iTunes said that my account would need furthur action for activation. I waited about an hour, then checked again. Nothing, So then i wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that I was already an ATT member, and was replacing a line. Was having two phone trying to access the same phone number causing a conflict? I pulled the battery out of my old phone and within minutes the iPhone was activated. Anyone else see this?

[heravarice @ Jul 3rd 2007 12:53PM]

I ported my number over from T-Mobile, via iTunes, and had no issues. The number was transferred over, and the iPhone was able to make and receive calls, in literally 7 minutes.

[Scott Rose @ Jul 1st 2007 3:06AM]

The solution to the activation problems is located here:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/06/30/how_to_port_ineligible_mobile_numbers_to_att_and_iphone.html

[Andrew Stone @ Jul 1st 2007 3:10AM]

Apple products don't break. They are perfect. For real. Its all good. Steve will take good care of your money.

Now... just real quick... will you help me drink this kool-aid?

Thanks.

[ITR @ Jul 1st 2007 3:16AM]

I hope your flame retardant.

You realize this isn't Apples issue it's a network(AT&T) issue.

Most tend to be number transfer related.

[Andrew Stone @ Jul 1st 2007 3:24AM]

I hope you are ok with people being critical of a piece of silicone and metal. I've played with one. I dont see what it does that my Q with an SD card can't do. For 20% of the cost. Oh wait, it has some sweet "swooping" graphics. Damn.

I am typing this on a macbook pro. I love the thing.

As a (nearly new, within the last year) switcher, I hate the mac culture. You all are like the Ford dudes with the Calvin Pissing on Chevy bumper stickers. I hate fanatical apple fans. ITS A FREAKING PHONE. ITS A FREAKING COMPUTER. IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO SPEND 50 - 75% OF THE COST FOR 80 - 90% OF THE USEFULNESS, GOOD FOR THEM.

Your type to apple = Michael Moore to liberals. Making the rest of us look bad.

[Lester Nelson @ Jul 1st 2007 3:41AM]

The thing is, Andrew, this post and poll isn't about whether the iPhone is worth what it's priced, or if Apple culture is all it's cracked up to be. It's about whether people are still having problems activating their iPhones, which is a problem on AT&T's end, not Apple's. That's what ITR was saying.

[Tony @ Jul 1st 2007 7:35AM]

Mr. Stone,

Dude-man, like you said, "It's a freaking phone," so there is no need to get your panties all in a bunch.

[Ian Cinnamon @ Jul 1st 2007 3:14AM]

I've been waiting for that darn confirmation email... here's my story:

Early this morning, I got the second to last iPhone at the Apple
store. After getting it, I drove over the ATT store to switch my
Blue Legacy (the old ATT) family plan to the new ATT family plan.
After arriving back at home, I hooked up the iPhone to my computer.
I started with the activation process. After about 5 minutes, I got
to the point where iTunes reported that my activation will require
additional time and I will get an email soon. So, and hour later (a
VERY long hour), I get an email saying I am not allowed to replace an
existing line on my family plan with the iPhone because I was blue
legacy (even though I switched over to the new ATT).

So, after a call in which I got disconnected, I a rep finally
"helped" me and "fixed" the problem. She said the activation email
would come in anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours.
> An hour later I get an email from ATT saying my activation is in
process.

So, I call ATT and talk to a rep. She says the wait for the
activation email is now anywehre from 24 to 72 hours. I did not
believe her. I called back ten minutes later and got a different
rep. That rep said the wait is 24 hours to 48 hours. I am so mad, I
call back and ask for a supervisor. She alerts me that the rep that
"helped me" and "fixed" the blue legacy actually took me off the
family plan and set me up for the $60 a month plan... without my
permission!!!!!!!!

The supervisor explains that as soon as the iPhone is activated, I
should call and get it switched back. She also tells me that if I do
not get the activation email by midnight, I should stay up (I was
planning on staying up, but I can't believe ATT has the nerve to ask
me to stay up until midnight to fix a problem they caused!) and start
from scratch!!!!

Right now, I am furiously waiting for that darn activation email :(

[ITR @ Jul 1st 2007 3:22AM]

AT&T seems to be slow in CS dept.

Cingular formally Bell Mobility was the best around here. They usually did it over the phone, but then again I only have a single user account with them.

When AT&T merge with Cingular and BellSouth...all my stuff went AT&T.
AT&T now owns me..DSL/Land Line/Cell/DTV...at least I get discounts.

[Ellianth @ Jul 1st 2007 3:23AM]

How about the "i don't have an iphone" option? I have a right to vote in this poll! Change it! NOW!

[INTERNETSAVIOUR @ Jul 1st 2007 3:32AM]

what a disaster. it doesn't even work! you cant get it activated so congratulations you now own a $600 paperweight hahahahahahahah

[mixmaster matt @ Jul 1st 2007 3:42AM]

I have a weird problem. Anybody else hear about this? I ported my number over from t-mobile. Worked within 20 minutes of activating for outgoing calls. Now, 24 hours later my number was fully switched over for outgoing and incoming phone calls. However, I can send text messages but only receive them from myself or other att subscribers. Incoming texts from non-att phones never get to my iPhone. It's almost 4AM, is their Customer Service even up at this hour?

[Ed N @ Jul 1st 2007 7:05PM]

Does Voicemail Unavailable count as a successful activation? If so, then everything was smoooooove sailing.

[Paul @ Jul 1st 2007 3:37AM]

After spending nearly 13 hours on the phone today (literally) trying to get my phone activated, I'm still waiting. The iPhone customer support people had me on hold for nearly 2 hours when my phone finally died before I got to speak to anyone. Then when I called back they were closed for the day. Since I put a different zip code from the number I was transferring, I had to wait 14 hours to get an email that said my number was non transferable. So I should just do the activation process in iTunes again right? Wrong, I'm STILL waiting for it to show up in their system before I can try the activation process again.

It's now 2.33 am cst on Sunday. I'm currently 30 hours and 33 minutes into my activation attempt..... Damn I'd really like to be able to use this thing.. I'll tell you one thing, I'm not paying a $35 activation fee.

[Nacio @ Jul 1st 2007 3:41AM]

30 hours plus... but the slide emergency is fantastic... been enjoying those 30 hours with that!

[me @ Jul 1st 2007 10:35PM]

seriously loads of fun ... and the number dialing too !!

[Hammer @ Jul 1st 2007 4:29AM]

Waiting since 2AM Friday myself. If you're like me it was because I had a business account. I had to switch over to a normal account. Fixed the account thing, but I'm still waiting... now 3:50 AM EST. However, AT&T told me they sold 3 Million of these things as of 2:00 AM this morning. Everyone is trying to activate at the same time. I'm not sure who's at fault here as the phone and the sim are activated separately. SO... FOR EVERYONE OUT THERE WHO NEEDS A CELLPHONE TO WORK... ANY CELLPHONE... the sim in the iphone is activated as soon as you start the process. You can eject the sim by using a paperclip/pin/etc to pop it out the top of the phone. Just press down with it firmly into the hole. Put it into your old phone and you have a working phone while you wait for AT&T (Apple?) to activate your iphone.

[HJKim @ Jul 1st 2007 4:02AM]

Same here.
It's soooooo impressing at parties.
"Look, look how this thing slides"

[ross @ Jul 1st 2007 7:26PM]

haha I have been having tons of fun with the emergency dial slider!!! .. and the power off slider.. hoping everytime i turn the thing back on.. it wont say.. "Activate iPhone" .. ugh.. I hate this.. its like looking at food without being able to eat it..

[me @ Jul 1st 2007 3:52AM]

what the hell is happening??....... exicitement every step of the way, the waiting, the unboxing, the examining (such a beautiful device) and finally the experience.........!!*&(*@&*@&(@*..... THE EXPERIENCE OF DROPPING $600, FOR A VEGETABLE STATE piece of GLASS WITH THE IMAGE OF WORLD THATS MAKING ME GO INSANE!!!!!! its probablly one of the worst feelings, knowing that your this close of actually using something that you've been longing for a long time and being barred from it because some stupid tech people arent doing there jobs...

went through it all the emails, the unresponsive tech support, the waiting , waiting and more f***KING waiting!!!!

[taintedblue @ Jul 1st 2007 5:28AM]

im a new customer and first, they couldnt take my deposit (system glitch) so they sold me the phone and i had to come back on sat to pay. i had the same iBrick problem as everyone else so i called customer service. aprox. 3 hours combined between apple and att customer support and i finally found out that it will take from 24-48 hours just to activate the phone and 24-72 hours for my phone number to be ported over to att. then they send me an email saying that my current cell service will be terminated as of 11:11am July 1 so if the phone decides it wants to take 48 hours im stuck. luckily i have an unactivated prepaid phone i can use in the time being but this really is an inconvenience. i have been having fun playing on the emergency call screen though.

[Brian @ Jul 1st 2007 3:48AM]

What do people expect to happen where there are 100,000 other people trying to do the same thing at the same time?

[Wil @ Jul 11th 2007 12:25AM]

I'm 30+ hours in and I don't have a working phone yet.

I've had a no-frills legacy AT&T (blue) plan (Pre Cingular) for about 4 yrs now. I've called customer service 4 times and the last advice I got was to just leave the phone attached to my computer/iTunes. I realized only after hanging up that this seems dubious at best -- what about people with multiple phones? They have to activate sequentially and leave them attached until each one finishes?

I was really hoping AT&T had straightened out their customer/infrastructure issues. For them to not have tested this is pretty ridiculous. I'm so frustrated with this whole thing and really fed up with AT&T at this point. Too bad Apple didn't go with another provider...

[Al @ Jul 1st 2007 3:57AM]

I guess the iHype isn't over yet. Yet another iPhone post on Engadget

[John Doe @ Jul 1st 2007 4:11AM]

I'm sorry to say it's probably going to take a few months. What with Apple most likely releasing an update within weeks.
Then everyone will shit themselves...OMG! Its an update!!!! *screams like a little girl with tears running down his cheeks* Thank you Apple! Thank you! *Sobs* How can *sobs* one company be so *sobs* good to us?

[Juansito @ Jul 1st 2007 4:05AM]

Seriously i feel sorry for all the people with problems.

Went to an AT&T store at 6pm day of release - Was dead last on line, made friends with some people in front of me 1 of which had a car so we hatched a plan for the guy with the car to go to the soho apple store and check it out - He called us - No line took a cab and in about 10 minutes i was walking home with an iPhone ( Feel sorry for the 100+ people still waiting at that AT&T store :P )

Went home put my iphone in - CRAP!!! activation expired notice. Tried everything to fix it....nothing.

Called AT&T had me waiting on the phone for over an hour trying to figure it out giving me 5+ different numbers to call - I got this cool rep guy that put me on a call back list because tons of people were having the same problem.

He called back but gave me another number which was no help....

I felt it wasn't going to happen that night so i went to check the apple support forum and some guys were having the same problem as me so we starting swapping ideas on how to fix the problem.

Some person said check the time on your computer and make sure the time is right - gave me the idea to check my iPhone time and i switched my computer time to my iphone time and it worked i was so happy wasted 6-7 hours of my live but after that the activation went perfect.

Ported from t-mobile very fast, activation was like 2 minutes and the iphone is so freaking awesome!

Sorry fo the long post :(

[John Doe @ Jul 1st 2007 4:06AM]

Ummm how about the option for I don't have, nor do I want an iPhone?

[petsounds @ Jul 1st 2007 4:10AM]

"What do people expect.." is a common retort I have seen on here and many forums.

Well, I expect that when one large corporation knows how many phones another corporation is launching in great fanfare, and knows that said phones will be signing up at the same time, that there would be enough simulated load tests done on the system to not be an issue. At most, I would expect a couple hours wait. That would fall under the mantra of "please be patient" that I was told all day on the phone.

What I did not expect, and refuse to accept, is purchasing a phone that cannot be used for going on two days, simply because of AT&T's lack of foresight or deliberate unconcern. And this is not simply postulation. A higher-up AT&T support rep admitted to me that they were unprepared for the demand. Their automated system is overloaded, and they have attempted to supplant that with manual processing by workers in their Indian call center. But it's doing little good.

I don't think I've ever seen such a chaotic response to a corporate blunder. Having been on the phone for hours today, I've gleaned a certain sense of absolute confusion on the part of AT&T, which is baffling to me, considering how well-prepared the Apple end was (honestly, they ran a tight ship). Hell hath no fury like a Jobs scorned.

[Chachi @ Jul 1st 2007 5:02AM]

I was unable to transfer a gophone prepaid number to an iPhone postpaid account using iTunes. I called the number in iTunes for assistance, and they told me I had to go Into a store to get it done. Saturday morning I went back to the AT&T store, and the sales kid told me he could do it, but he would have to run my credit again. He ran my credit, but whatever he tried didn't work. He asked me to go home and activate through iTunes with a new number, then come back and he would swap it with the gophone number. That also didn't work. Finally the manager had the idea of converting my gophone account to a standard vanilla postpaid on the old device and SIM, then doing a SIM swap with the iPhone, then cancelling the account. Of course my credit was run again (that's 3 credit checks total). Unfortunately, corporate hasn't shipped any spare iPhone SIMs (I guess they use a special SIM?), so I'm SOL for at least a week. Anyone else go through this? ATT store in San Dimas, CA BTW.

[Chas @ Jul 2nd 2007 11:23PM]

I'm having exactly the same problem. The AT&T tech's at the store I went to (Broadway and 23rd in Manhattan) tried but for some reason couldn't complete the conversion from a pre-paid to a post-paid account. They kept getting a cryptic error message about my account being in some sort of mid point state. One tech mentioned that he had seen this problem before, and it is was un-relelated to the iPhone. They told me to wait a week and come back to the store again and that they could try again. Seems like it may have been because the auto-payment on my pre-paid account was recently applied, or that the AT&T provisioning system is getting completely hosed due to the increased load of processing all the new iPhones. Either way AT&T is looking a little unprepared and amateurish.

While waiting in line for support, I called the AT&T support # at 800-331-0500 and got a very helpful person on the line who explained to me what needed to be done (you will be getting a new SIM card for your iPhone) and that I would even receive a credit for the balance on my pre-paid account. So I am hoping that by waiting a week things will get resolved. The number this person told me to tell the store techs to call if they needed clarification was 877-777-4189.

[sonia @ Jul 3rd 2007 11:48PM]

Hey, how about I have 2 iphones that was purchased yesterday(July 2)came home to activate and was told I could not activate the phones on a business acct. I was told that I needed to switch to a regular acct, this means running credit again, I have 5 lines with att and I dont want to run credit again. Now I have to return both phones and pay 10% restocking fee because of opening the thing. This was a waist of time and money. The att rep in the store did not inform me that these phones do not work on business acct. WHATS UO WITH THAT? BULL****

[Tim @ Jul 10th 2007 3:54PM]

On the prepaid note: is anyone else annoyed with the stupid message every time the iPhone uses data for email and SMS? Every time I send a text, receive a text or check email, I receive a notification that I've used $0.00 of my balance. I can understand this when I'm actually using funds, but not when it's free. In addition to that, if you are away from your phone for any amount of time, it stacks up those wonderful messages - and you can't get back to your main display until you click "dismiss" on each one. ANNOYING! I can understand having to pay a bit more because my credit stinks, but to have to suffer through pointless messages is unfair.

I've called AT&T and even went to the store - I've been told there is no fix and it's due to being prepaid - apparently all devices have this issue, but it's more apparent on the iPhone due to the amount of data used. Ugh!

[Brandon @ Jul 1st 2007 4:39AM]

I would like to see the results but don't want to mess up your poll... Please add an option for those of us not fortunate enough to have an iPhone.

[R. C. @ Jul 1st 2007 2:59PM]

Just hit vote without selecting anything.

[khammer @ Jul 1st 2007 4:50AM]

As of 4:47 AM EDT, and still on hold ... 36% DOA ... at least I am not alone ... Way to go AT&T.

Yeah, but my issues have been resolved, so I'm good. 230 (12.5%)
Nope, activation went smoothly and things are fine. 947 (51.5%)
Yep, still dead in the water (and seriously pissed). 662 (36.0%)

[AwayBBL @ Jul 1st 2007 5:36AM]

I know that it's probably easy to blame Ma Bell, but I think some of the blame belongs to Apple since the activation software lives in iTunes. Had they(apple) allowed AT&T to do the activations in the store (as they do for any other phone), the phones would have been activated prior to leaving the store. Store reps don't get paid until the device is activated, so you can imagine that they'd want to insure that it got done.

But in apples different way of thinking, I imagine they wanted to own the whole user experience, and forgot that they(apple) don't really own the customer.

[Josh @ Jul 1st 2007 6:13AM]

Actually by having ITunes do your activation it saved most people a lot of time in line. Imagine those lines of people having to wait for each person to go through the entire process before the linemoved instead of just buying the phone. Also all those apple stores wouldnt have been able to offeranother choice for a place to go andget the phone. Shortening lines.

I think the problem was just that late in the day ATT systems got overloaded. When I got home my activation was fast and pain free. My Verizon number ported over in 30 min or less and I had no trouble of any kind. If anything I was impressed with Apple for having my IPhones battery charged right from the factory so people didnt have to wait to charge to use their phone. I hink Apple put alot of thought into making this as painless as possible.

[AwayBBL @ Jul 1st 2007 6:26AM]

Yes Josh, I do agree that had things worked flawlessly for everyone, then yes. But since the activation was so deeply embedded in the iTunes software, it appears that AT&T was helpless to assist after the fact.

I'm sure we'll never really know the root cause, or maybe it was the setting of such high expectations, and hopefully both aapl and t have learned a few lessons.

[steve @ Jul 1st 2007 7:27AM]

The activation software doesn't live in iTunes. These are just web pages with interface with services from Apple & AT&T. The main point of failure seems to be number portability. I'm certain adequate testing was done to ensure their systems could handle the anticipated load, but they have no control over the number portability. They can only use theoretical numbers from historical transactions.

The issue I have is not portability, it a service plan problem. My plan is from the original AT&T (before Cingular), and they cannot attach it to the iPhone. After talking with customer service, they somehow pushed my activation through, but my service hasn't been transferred yet. At least I can use the phone on wi-fi.

[Copperhead @ Jul 1st 2007 5:58AM]

I tried to activate my iphone, but it turned out to be a wad of $20 bills that I hadn't pissed away on a 50/50 chance of getting my service turned on.

[G-Man @ Jul 1st 2007 7:18AM]

I thought this story would have been picked up sooner. Just shows you how this site and a few others have drunken the Kool-Aide (Ooooyeahhh!!) Bought my wifes on Friday at 9:30 and as of Sunday morning it's still an iBrick. Starting to lose faith that it will come on at all. Had to drive back to the Apple store just to be able to play with one.

At and T should definitely waive this activation fee they are charging. She has been a Cingular customer and we thought it would be very easy to switch over boy was that wrong. This is torture!!!

[MikeInAustin @ Jul 1st 2007 7:59AM]

I like how Apple/AT&T spokesmen are telling TV News channels that very few people are experiencing delays, but when you call in to support numbers (877-419-4500), they say the servers are overwhlemed and no one knows for sure when all issues will be resovled.

They can't tell you how many people are in the queue, or if the servers are even processing people etc.
They simply claim to not have a clue about anything. I'm pretty amazed by the lack of abilities they have.

"We had no way to predict the strain the activations would have on our servers" is their response. That is such a silly response.

The best part of the whole crappy experience is repeatedly listening to the marketing recording while on hold at AT&T saying that they spend 18 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY towards making improvements to AT&T! Doesn't look like they sent the money to the right department.

Yesterday morning, I got up at 4:30am as I was excited to see if my problems had been fixed. This morning I layed in bed for well over an hour before mustering up the energy to go see the inevitable disappointment. Sunday morning 7am, and I'm still dead in the water.

I'm done calling tech support numbers. There's really no point in it.

[Heavikevi508 @ Jul 1st 2007 8:01AM]

I was just told that the system caught up overnight and the current activation wait is about 1 hour.......BUT mine is still an iBrick due to some intl setting that was incorrect. The 5 different reps I have spoken with since Friday night have lacked the knowledge to really help a person thru the process. Very poor execution on ATT's part.

[digitalrio @ Jul 1st 2007 8:11AM]

All I'm trying to do is assign an existing number to a new device (iphone)... 30 hours later and I'm still waiting for that stupid email. From the looks of it this is how the procedure goes. First of... most activations for all other phones are done OTA (over-the-air). Had that been the path chosen by Apple and AT&T... activations would have been a lot faster. The itunes activation process was created as part of the deal for Apple to have control of the data plans and (maybe) new voice plans signing up so that they can get their "fair share". The Apple store in return is placing orders from customers to AT&T for data plans only (for existing customers) or both voice and data (for new customers). Now somewhere in between the pipelines things get screwed up. Too bad it's existing customers like myself that pay the price. This should have been so much easier!!!

[sam @ Jul 1st 2007 8:11AM]

Is the only way to see the voting results by casting a fake vote?

[madskillz18 @ Jul 1st 2007 8:23AM]

Got mine on Friday. Attempted to activate it and failed. Tried my old sim card and failed. Finally on Saturday I get an email saying my activation has been successful. "Hooray" I say, but that was short lived. Sure I can access the phone and play with it, but I still don't have any service. Talked to 3 ATT reps yesterday and all they could tell me was be patient. 3 days without a phone. 3 days. It sucks that they kill the sim registration on your old phone once you try to activate the iPhone. I hope they get this fixed real soon....and I mean today.

[Michael Bell @ Jul 1st 2007 9:07AM]

I HAD NO PROBLEMS ACTIVATING MY NEW IPHONE, AND IT WORKED ON JUNE 29.
PRESENTLY ALL AT&T WIRELESS USERS IN DALLAS, TEXAS, ARE STILL EXPERIENCING A LEVEL 3 NETWORK OUTAGE THAT WAS FIRST REPORTED AT 5AM ON JUNE 30. THIS IS ALSO AFFECTING MY NOKIA 6230 HANDSET (ON A SEPARATE ACCOUNT). WILL OTHER USERS PLEASE COMPLAIN TO AT&T SO THEY WILL FIX THE PROBLEM. I HAVE TALKED TO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT AT&T (FROM A LAND LINE) AND THEY CONFIRM THE LEBVEL 3 NETWORK OUTAGE (VOICE SERVICE CONNECTIVITY). MY WIRELESS HANDSET WILL NOT CLEARLY CONNECT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE USING 611. WHEN I DO CONNECT, ALL I HEAR IS AN ECHO OF WHAT I SAY AND THE RECIPIENT HEARS BUZZING, POPPING, AND SOME GARBLED SPEACH. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. OVER 1 DAY WITH NO CELLULAR SERVICE AND COUNTING.