Forget the Device, iPhone Activation Blows

Escrito por
Andrew Garcia
Andrew Garcia
Published: Jul 1, 2007
Updated: Feb 2, 2021
1 minute read
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As of 4:55 p.m. Saturday, a full 21 hours after walking out of AT&T’s store, my iPhone still has not been activated. And it looks like my case is not as isolated as I thought.

My conversation with AT&T support this morning has turned out to be a complete waste of time. When I called again to see what was going on, I learned that my account still showed up as an old AT&T Wireless account Apparently the last tech failed to update the account after we talked.

Tech No. 2 swears that this time he made sure to update the plan: 450 minutes will roll over, 5,000 nights and weekends, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited data, 200 SMS messages—for $59.99. He also said the phone should begin working once I disconnected the iPhone and rebooted the PC.

On the second detail, he was wrong. iTunes shows the same message I’ve been staring at since last night: “Your activation requires additional time to complete.”

Upon hearing this, the tech backtracked, reiterating the incredibly high volume of activations due to the iPhone sales. As his last missive, he told me that it could take 24 to 48 hours to complete the activation.

The only saving grace of this whole preposterous situation is that they haven’t cut off my previous cell phone …

Yet.

Andrew Garcia

Andrew Garcia

Content Writer

Andrew cut his teeth as a systems administrator at the University of California, learning the ins and outs of server migration, Windows desktop management, Unix and Novell administration. After a tour of duty as a team leader for PC Magazine's Labs, Andrew turned to system integration - providing network, server, and desktop consulting services for small businesses throughout the Bay Area. With eWEEK Labs since 2003, Andrew concentrates on wireless networking technologies while moonlighting with Microsoft Windows, mobile devices and management, and unified communications. He produces product reviews, technology analysis and opinion pieces for eWEEK.com, eWEEK magazine, and the Labs' Release Notes blog. Follow Andrew on Twitter at andrewrgarcia, or reach him by email at agarcia@eweek.com.

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