AT&T Store COULD NOT Activate new iPhone 3G... Sent home to activate!

[ManWithoutPlan]

OK... so I was the first in line at the ATT store... they unboxed my 16g white iPhone... went through the steps and it was taking forever to "unbrick" (activate) my phone. After about 20 mins the manager came over and said he just received email about "technical problems" and it said to send customers home with iPhone 3G to activate! ... Well.. im home.... trying to activate... and it is having the same problems! Stuck on "ACCESSING iTUNES STORE".... GREAT! Now I'm stuck without a phone for God knows how long!


UPDATE: 9:32AM Just got an error (-4).... retried... now it says: "iPhone Activations Are UNAVAILABLE At This Time"!!!!!! This is horrible.... Way to go APPLE!

UPDATE 2: 9:53AM Tried again... finally got to "Let's Get Started"... Now Restoring from previous backup... keeping my fingers crossed!

FINAL UPDATE!!!! It finally works! 2 HRS after this whole process started! BS... just utter BS! LOL At least I have a WORKING 3G iPhone now... hopefully it wont have a lot of kinks... Best of luck guys!

 

[ert3]

I was in line for 4 hours and had the same happen to me.

I am currently trying with my Verizon air card.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Your username is... intriguingly appropriate.

Did they make you sign up for the plan at the store? Or are you truly without a plan? If they sent you home without a plan, you, my friend, have an untraceable iPhone. Unlock that puppy.

 

[LePigeonBleu]

I'm having the same problem. ATT told me to go home to unbrick and finish activation, however, it's saying "Accessing iTunes Store" and won't load the page.

I've waited this long to get the phone, finally did, and it isn't letting me activate.

Anyone know a work-around, or troubleshooting tips? I've called ATT and they aren't sure.

Please help!

-mark

 

[stevehp]

Wow, talk about being in a good spot if you didn't sign a contract.

You iPhone is worth a pretty penny.

 

[Denny Crane]

Your username is... intriguingly appropriate.

Did they make you sign up for the plan at the store? Or are you truly without a plan? If they sent you home without a plan, you, my friend, have an untraceable iPhone. Unlock that puppy.

They make you sign the contract first. iTunes is the last thing they attempt to do.

 

[Detlev]

Apple Store in Natick, MA is now sending everybody home to activate.

 

[boomtapp]

same thing happened to me...
I was first in line...
Sat for 20 minutes at the store with the "waiting for itunes" crap...
then after I got the phone ready, it wont get service. Apparently, as of 8:45, only 1 phone has been successfully activated in Houston...


weak

 

[Paix247]

I was first out of the store at my local AT&T. 16GB White, can't use it! They sent us out without activation and iTunes keeps returning with an error... ugh!! This sounds like it is going to be a widespread problem, so I hope it gets attention quickly.

 

[alexplank]

same problem here.

 

[wadebarker]

Same here. Sitting in the parking lot of the AT&T store trying to activate on a Verizon aircard and keep getting error -9838 in iTunes. Considering going back in but it seems like this problem is happening nationwide.

 

[boomtapp]

I've at least got mine at home where there is wireless internet so I can use it somewhat.. just not to make phone calls.

This is embarrassing for AT&T

 

[alexplank]

Wow, talk about being in a good spot if you didn't sign a contract.

You iPhone is worth a pretty penny.

no, the activation is the only thing that is failing on such a large scale. AT&T's system has been able to handle the load. Apparently Apple's servers were not plentiful enough to satisfy all the activation requests.

It's ironic that apple failed instead of AT&T.

 

[ert3]

Now when I try to home activate i get error -9838

and I have apparently no signal on my old iPhone (I used to always have atleast two bars)

 

[boomtapp]

what does going home to activate mean? I was told to go home and wait for the service to work. Am I supposed to do anything?

 

[ert3]

use iTunes to activate it

 

[Denny Crane]

no, the activation is the only thing that is failing on such a large scale. AT&T's system has been able to handle the load. Apparently Apple's servers were not plentiful enough to satisfy all the activation requests.

It's ironic that apple failed instead of AT&T.

That's what I understand too.. AT&T did the majority of their stuff right. iTunes is the problem. AT&T is not without fault, because their employees seemed lost as to what to do, but the majority of the fault lies with Mr. Jobs and company.

 

[Denny Crane]

use iTunes to activate it

Easier said than done. Sitting at my home iMac trying to activate at this moment. iTunes is hosed.

 

[Murphy'sLaw]

I had the same problem as well, just keep trying to connect, I was able to get mine to sync about 5 mins ago

 

[boomtapp]

No,
I mean, Mine is synched and works fine. It's just that it says "no service" at the top. Once yours got synched, did the phone connection go through?

Thanks

 

[kevin86]

My store could not unbrick the phone and wouldn't let me take it home. How can I convince them that I can do it at home?

 

[ManWithoutPlan]

My store could not unbrick the phone and wouldn't let me take it home. How can I convince them that I can do it at home?

KEvin: The manager should have gotten an email from ATT or APPLE... tell them to check it!

 

[kevin86]

KEvin: The manager should have gotten an email from ATT or APPLE... tell them to check it!

Trying that now. I'll let you know.

 

[abalboa3]

Just wanted to chime in. Was about 7th in line this morning. They activated about 3 people until they started sending everyone home to finish activating on their own. Sitting here trying to get this done. Finally got passed the error message, and now stuck at accessing iTunes store.

 

[svndmvn]

is it actually necessary to have an iTunes account in order to activate the iPhone or does it work like syncing iPods?is iTunes enough?