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StaceyMJ86

macrumors demi-goddess
Sep 22, 2015
8,445
14,880
Washington, DC
Went smoothly for you. I did the exact same thing you did from the sounds of it and I'm going on 48 hours without a phone and somewhere in the ballpark of 6 hours dealing with Verizon continuously getting different reasons and timeframe promises for fixes that never actually fix.
That sucks and I hope you able to start using your iPhone soon.
 
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Martyimac

macrumors 68020
Aug 19, 2009
2,460
1,695
S. AZ.
It took me over an hour to get the eSim activated. Part of the issue was they kept switching me from agent to agent, 3 times. Finally got done thank goodness but an hour online with agents is about 45 minutes longer than it should have taken IMHO.
 

travis64

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2008
989
747
NEW YORK
It took me over an hour to get the eSim activated. Part of the issue was they kept switching me from agent to agent, 3 times. Finally got done thank goodness but an hour online with agents is about 45 minutes longer than it should have taken IMHO.
Works right on website put in imei2
 

Martyimac

macrumors 68020
Aug 19, 2009
2,460
1,695
S. AZ.
Works right on website put in imei2
I had two hurdles to overcome. First was I am on a pre-paid account which makes tech support involves in at least one transfer to the pre-paid group. Secondly was coming from a sim card phone so first eSim. That and the second agent bobbled the effort. So I guess three hurdles at the end.
 

jntdroid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
986
1,356
Got my follow up text this afternoon... (I've been traveling so I haven't been pushing hard b/c I wanted to make sure my current phone stayed active and I didn't end up stuck in limbo).

"Hi ****, this is **** from tech support team. We are still monitoring the activation of your device. Thank you for your patience."

I've gotten that text a couple of times since Friday. But the one today was immediately followed up with this text:

"Will call you back on Wednesday, September 28, 2023. Thank you!"

I'm not one to get too frustrated with this stuff, but this is just silly. And on a Sunday night (now that I'm back in town), they don't have any real customer service available.

I've tried doing it myself online through the "activate or switch device" option, but every time I input my IMEI it says it's locked to another carrier (and for those catching up, this was a Verizon upgrade, and it's locked to Verizon...).

Anyway, just venting a bit now... Thanks for listening!
 
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BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,225
9,071
Arizona/Illinois
Been trying to activate my 15 ProMax on Verizon for over two hour now. Talking on chat line and been a big pain in the rear. Can't believe it's this hard to go from physical sim to esim.. Unfortunately now both phones have no cellular service so I'm not happy
 

StaceyMJ86

macrumors demi-goddess
Sep 22, 2015
8,445
14,880
Washington, DC
Been trying to activate my 15 ProMax on Verizon for over two hour now. Talking on chat line and been a big pain in the rear. Can't believe it's this hard to go from physical sim to esim.. Unfortunately now both phones have no cellular service so I'm not happy
I had the same problem last year, and even physically went into a Verizon store and they were no help. I talked to a tech over the phone and somehow they fixed it.
 

StaceyMJ86

macrumors demi-goddess
Sep 22, 2015
8,445
14,880
Washington, DC
Got my follow up text this afternoon... (I've been traveling so I haven't been pushing hard b/c I wanted to make sure my current phone stayed active and I didn't end up stuck in limbo).

"Hi ****, this is **** from tech support team. We are still monitoring the activation of your device. Thank you for your patience."

I've gotten that text a couple of times since Friday. But the one today was immediately followed up with this text:

"Will call you back on Wednesday, September 28, 2023. Thank you!"

I'm not one to get too frustrated with this stuff, but this is just silly. And on a Sunday night (now that I'm back in town), they don't have any real customer service available.

I've tried doing it myself online through the "activate or switch device" option, but every time I input my IMEI it says it's locked to another carrier (and for those catching up, this was a Verizon upgrade, and it's locked to Verizon...).

Anyway, just venting a bit now... Thanks for listening!
That’s just unacceptable. There’s no reason why you should be without a phone. Somebody have to figure out something for you.
 
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tskwara

macrumors regular
May 6, 2010
104
91
i upgraded from iPhone 13 mini to 15 Pro Max on Verizon. It took a few hours, yikes.
 

Jeff5i

macrumors 6502
May 4, 2005
479
101
I had to open up a chat Verizon site. Took about 30 minutes and they needed my imei2 number. Had to send a text to another phone on my account to confirm.
 

Dfivee

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2023
15
8
Got my follow up text this afternoon... (I've been traveling so I haven't been pushing hard b/c I wanted to make sure my current phone stayed active and I didn't end up stuck in limbo).

"Hi ****, this is **** from tech support team. We are still monitoring the activation of your device. Thank you for your patience."

I've gotten that text a couple of times since Friday. But the one today was immediately followed up with this text:

"Will call you back on Wednesday, September 28, 2023. Thank you!"

I'm not one to get too frustrated with this stuff, but this is just silly. And on a Sunday night (now that I'm back in town), they don't have any real customer service available.

I've tried doing it myself online through the "activate or switch device" option, but every time I input my IMEI it says it's locked to another carrier (and for those catching up, this was a Verizon upgrade, and it's locked to Verizon...).

Anyway, just venting a bit now... Thanks for listening!
I switched carriers…this sh*t was ridiculous. T mobile could not figure out the issue and I didn’t want to wait 72 hours. I was phoneless since Friday. Today I cancelled my t mobile account and went to AT&T. They activated my phone in 5 mins.
 

jntdroid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
986
1,356
That’s just unacceptable. There’s no reason why you should be without a phone. Somebody have to figure out something for you.

Well my current one is still working. So at least I'm not stuck with zero service. But still...

I already spent over an hour Friday afternoon on the phone with them and carried around two phones while traveling b/c I was unsure if at any second they would switch (I've been with Verizon a long time and seen that before).

I would imagine it's going to take me at least another hour in a store or on the phone again. If it does, and they still can't get it going, and it really does take until Wednesday... I'm going to return it, reverse the installment agreement, and ask them to waive the restocking fee. 🤷‍♂️ It shouldn't be this hard, especially after they've had a year to deal with these e-sims.
 

Dfivee

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2023
15
8
Been trying to activate my 15 ProMax on Verizon for over two hour now. Talking on chat line and been a big pain in the rear. Can't believe it's this hard to go from physical sim to esim.. Unfortunately now both phones have no cellular service so I'm not happy
I’ve been without a phone since Friday when I tried to upgrade from 12 pro max to 15 pro max. Both used e sims. I spent about 7 hours on the phone Friday and Saturday with t mobile and was unsuccessful. I actually went t mobile store Friday and spend 2 hours in there unsuccessful. They told me to gone Apple Store and get the phone checked out. Apple
Said the phone was fine and referred me back to t mobile. I went to t mobile again today (a different location) and they still could not activate the new phone or my old phone. Finally I went to AT&T and opened a new account and they activated my phone in 5mins no issue. I terminated my account with t mobile and received a $20 credit for the inconvenience.
 
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Dfivee

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2023
15
8
Well my current one is still working. So at least I'm not stuck with zero service. But still...

I already spent over an hour Friday afternoon on the phone with them and carried around two phones while traveling b/c I was unsure if at any second they would switch (I've been with Verizon a long time and seen that before).

I would imagine it's going to take me at least another hour in a store or on the phone again. If it does, and they still can't get it going, and it really does take until Wednesday... I'm going to return it, reverse the installment agreement, and ask them to waive the restocking fee. 🤷‍♂️ It shouldn't be this hard, especially after they've had a year to deal with these e-sims.
Good look. I had to terminate my account with t mobile because they were unable to activate my phone and I did not want to wait 72more hours without a phone. I switched to AT&T and my phone was activated in 5’mins . I am
Happy
 
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jntdroid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
986
1,356
Good look. I had to terminate my account with t mobile because they were unable to activate my phone and I did not want to wait 72more hours without a phone. I switched to AT&T and my phone was activated in 5’mins . I am
Happy
Yeah yours is definitely a horrible situation. Did AT&T port over the same number from T-Mobile? Or did you get a new one?
 

Dfivee

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2023
15
8
I had to open up a chat Verizon site. Took about 30 minutes and they needed my imei2 number. Had to send a text to another phone on my account to confirm.
I could not log in t mobile site because i forgot my password and could not receive the verification text because the phone was not activated and my old phone was deactivated
 

Dfivee

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2023
15
8
Yeah yours is definitely a horrible situation. Did AT&T port over the same number from T-Mobile? Or did you get a new one?
I told AT&T to give me a new number. I did not want any association with t mobile and that phone number anymore. It felt like a curse. I wanted to start from scratch to avoid any possible problems.
 

StaceyMJ86

macrumors demi-goddess
Sep 22, 2015
8,445
14,880
Washington, DC
Well my current one is still working. So at least I'm not stuck with zero service. But still...

I already spent over an hour Friday afternoon on the phone with them and carried around two phones while traveling b/c I was unsure if at any second they would switch (I've been with Verizon a long time and seen that before).

I would imagine it's going to take me at least another hour in a store or on the phone again. If it does, and they still can't get it going, and it really does take until Wednesday... I'm going to return it, reverse the installment agreement, and ask them to waive the restocking fee. 🤷‍♂️ It shouldn't be this hard, especially after they've had a year to deal with these e-sims.
Yes you’re right, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure it out. They’ve had a whole year and they knew the new iPhones launch in September.
 
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BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,225
9,071
Arizona/Illinois
I had the same problem last year, and even physically went into a Verizon store and they were no help. I talked to a tech over the phone and somehow they fixed it.

I’ve been without a phone since Friday when I tried to upgrade from 12 pro max to 15 pro max. Both used e sims. I spent about 7 hours on the phone Friday and Saturday with t mobile and was unsuccessful. I actually went t mobile store Friday and spend 2 hours in there unsuccessful. They told me to gone Apple Store and get the phone checked out. Apple
Said the phone was fine and referred me back to t mobile. I went to t mobile again today (a different location) and they still could not activate the new phone or my old phone. Finally I went to AT&T and opened a new account and they activated my phone in 5mins no issue. I terminated my account with t mobile and received a $20 credit for the inconvenience.
Now they telling me I have to go to a actual store to get it sorted out.. Absolutely ridiculous, never had one issue setting up a physical sim phone
 

Dfivee

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2023
15
8
Now they telling me I have to go to a actual store to get it sorted out.. Absolutely ridiculous, never had one issue setting up a physical sim phone
Good luck. I went to two separate t mobile physical stores. One of Friday and one today and both could not activate my new phone, nor turn my old phone back on.
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,225
9,071
Arizona/Illinois
Good luck. I went to two separate t mobile physical stores. One of Friday and one today and both could not activate my new phone, nor turn my old phone back on.
I'm going to call this morning and see if I get lucky and find someone who knows what they're doing. I guess I can try to take it to Apple to see if they can get it working. They offered to get it transfered in store when I bought the phone but after reading the guide on Verizon's website it seemed pretty straight forward so I didn't take them up on it.. Verizon really knows how to ruin the new phone experience that's for sure
 
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jntdroid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
986
1,356
Spent 1.5 hours at a Verizon corporate store this morning. No dice.

One thing I didn't mention earlier is I did the upgrade through Best Buy - online order, pickup in store, take home and activate. I've been doing it the same way for years with no issue... though this is my first e-sim device.

Got high enough with Verizon this morning to where they said the problem was the order, on their end, was missing the validation token (for the e-sim I believe?) and that only Best Buy had this. I went by Best Buy first but their Verizon rep wasn't there and said it would probably be best to go to Verizon.

Next on my list is Best Buy. If they can't quickly/easily activate it, I'll be returning it while I'm there and being done with all of this (which was Verizon's recommendation to get it all cleared out and "start over").

Edit: To add, Verizon said the problem is it's showing as a failed activation in their system, and there's currently a stuck "pending switch order" which is hanging everything up. Just in case anybody else runs into this... 🤷‍♂️
 
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BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
7,225
9,071
Arizona/Illinois
Went to Verizon store today and after 2 hours my new 15 ProMax is up and running with an activated esim.. Definitely a big pain and you better believe I'll be disputing the activation charge considering the poor customer service and basically lack of knowledge on how to get something like this taken care of in a timely manner. Hope everyone who's having issue gets ahold of a knowledgeable service rep that can get them taken care of..
 
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jntdroid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
986
1,356
To close out the saga...

Verizon told me they couldn't push it through b/c of Best Buy.

Best Buy told me there were no issues on their end and it was on Verizon's side. (IMO, even if the issue was Best Buy, Verizon is the carrier. They should've had a way to make this happen)

Verizon finally showed it on the line on my account today (which cut off service to my previous phone, making this a much more urgent issue). But still couldn't get the phone itself to activate.

Both sides ended up agreeing a return and reversal of the original order was the best bet to get it cleared out of the system. After it was done, she asked me if I wanted to try again and I just laughed (to her credit, she laughed too).

5 days, 10 hours, fail...
 
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