AT&T should just rename themselves FT&T, or FailT&T. Even though they presumably knew exactly how many iPhones had been pre-ordered, and could estimate the demand on opening weekend, many users reported activation issues with their new iPhone 3Gs and 3G Ss. Over the weekend, Apple had to make amends, so they sent out emails to those with activation problems, offering them a $30 iTunes gift certificate and an official statement that the delays could be up to 48 hours.
However, for those with important things to do over the weekend (not us), we can imagine this is not enough to let AT&T and Apple off the hook, because once the activation process started on the iPhone, their service would disappear on their old phone (unless, of course, you were switching from another service provider like Verizon). We can only assume this was AT&T’s fault, because they are responsible for the activation process, while Apple is only in charge of the sale of the physical phone. A few of the Mac|Life staff experienced activation problems, but these went away by turning off 3G and hard-resetting the device.
What was your experience? Did you just chalk it up to another AT&T fail, and wait patiently, or did you break things and lose money? Let us know in the comments.
gheilner
June 23, 2009 at 12:43pm
It took just over 24 hours for my phone to finally activate...where is my email and credit? I didnt get jack.
kevkevallen
June 23, 2009 at 12:10am
Maybe they should a few notes from Canada... Or take notes from Verizon, who activate your phone on the spot and your phone can't leave the store until it is activated, which takes only seconds. (Even when the BlackBerry Storm came out it only took seconds to get up and running, and there was a line around the block for it!)
kpms
June 22, 2009 at 10:24pm
The Rogers Activation was quite painless - I arrived at a Rogers store,
Asked if they had any in stock at 2:00 PM - 3 people ahead of me.Yes they had the model & size, they took my details - and told me to come back
in 1-2 hours...30 Min's later I get a phone call my phone is ready to come and pick up...
I think AT&T Should take some notes from Canada....
Loup407
June 22, 2009 at 3:55pm
I started the activation process of my 3G S at 9:30 Friday morning. By 5, nothing had happened, despite rebooting the phone, removing/replacing the Sim card, etc. I spoke with three different AT&T CSRs, all clearly harried, but polite. (note: in three calls I spent zero time waiting for a CSR, which was not my expectation). No one could give me a response other than "we are backed up, sorry". The third CSR sent me to an Apple tech and got off the call as soon as he could. The Apple tech was super nice, but had no idea why the AT&T guy pulled him into the call.
I got an email from Apple at 5am letting me know my phone was activated, although at that point I was out of cell range. Later, when I could receive a signal, the phone worked fine. Although I understand Friday was a busy day for AT&T servers; this came as a surprise to AT&T? I bet when Apple starts selling iPhones through Verizon, Verizon will be prepared for the millions of people who will leave AT&T that first day.
