Filed under: iPhone
In store iPhone 3G activation only a myth?
In addition to the boatload of tips we've gotten about iPhone activation being down, we have also seen a number of reports from folks buying iPhones at AT&T stores. It would seem that since activation is down AT&T is selling people iPhones and telling them to activate them at home. Very interesting, considering AT&T told us the iPhone 3G activation was going to be in store only in no uncertain terms.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
jeff said 10:43AM on 7-11-2008
yup and the at home activation doesn't work. I've been back to at&t and received the worst customer service to date.. wtf
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MRCUR said 10:45AM on 7-11-2008
Activation fro AT&T runs off of the same backend as activation through iTunes. If it's down at the store, it's down at your house to. There is no need to go back to AT&T, just wait until it works.
cheeba said 10:46AM on 7-11-2008
can confirm at home waiting to activate my new 3G iphone with itunes. however all i'm getting is error messages!!!
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aelver said 10:47AM on 7-11-2008
So no contract signed either?
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MRCUR said 10:49AM on 7-11-2008
Yes, you still sign the contract. If you're upgrading, your old phone is deactivated. That's why people are angry that they have no phones until activation goes through.
aelver said 10:57AM on 7-11-2008
Ahh ok.
So we should see none on eBay then? ;)
AndyA said 10:48AM on 7-11-2008
I just got one in the UK at Carphone Warehouse and they didn't make me activate it either.
I did have to agree to extend my contract though...
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Mickey Mouse said 10:52AM on 7-11-2008
Stood in line and waited and the AT&T big shot comes out and says we only have a handful left, 20 + People standing in line and he wont say what a handful is. Find out they were out and taking orders to have them shipped to you direct said screw that and left. Call Apple store and they say all the AT&T stores only got 30 per store, and that the Apple store has more than enough and will get more shipped to them today and Saturday and than all next week. I'll wait for the Apple store to get more and rush to be over. Heck Apple cant get mobile me up and now there's reports of iTunes being down. Way to go , proper planning was done for this schmeal
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James C. said 11:08AM on 7-11-2008
Thats weird. I had at lease 60 people in front of me at an ATT store and they still had every type available.
A.Mueller said 10:52AM on 7-11-2008
In the Cleveland, Ohio area I bought two phones at AT&T around 9:45. The one managed to activate after 15 minutes, the other won't activate at home yet.
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cody Mauer said 10:54AM on 7-11-2008
sitting in line as we speak but no one is moving and they have only let out two people with iphone and ive been here sense 4am and this is just stupid! We are all upset and yelling, they have no idea and will not send us home without steve jobs himself calling and tell the manger to do so. So i wait.
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Anonymous said 10:54AM on 7-11-2008
You know, they really need to put an asterisk next to "half the price."
There are plenty of people out there who switched to AT&T exclusively for this phone but are getting screwed out of the subsidized price because we're not eligible for an upgrade yet.
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aaron said 10:58AM on 7-11-2008
There is an asterisk next to it...
MRCUR said 11:00AM on 7-11-2008
If you're a new AT&T customer then you get the cheap prcies... And there is already an * next to the price.
Nick said 11:04AM on 7-11-2008
Bought my 16 gig white 3g at ATT in Waldorf, MD. When the store opened they only had 8 gigs. A fed ex truck and a UPS truck brought in shipments, and they started selling the 16 GB. My phone wouldn't activate in store, so they just handed it to me and said activate it when you get home. It still won't go through, so I'm one of the ones with no phone right now.
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Gus Jenkins said 11:05AM on 7-11-2008
They let me take it home to activate it since in-house activation was not working at Apple/Westfarms in Connecticut.
Of course, I can't activate it from home at this point either.
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trvs said 11:06AM on 7-11-2008
do you get the cheap price if yr an iphone 1.0 owner and eligible for upgrade?
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GHMason said 11:19AM on 7-11-2008
Yes. All AT&T customers who currently have a 1st-gen iPhone and active contract can get the 3G at subsidized pricing.
KevinCamera said 12:44PM on 7-11-2008
Went to my local ATT store @ 6:30AM and was # 8 in line. Opened at 8:00 and walked out @ 8:29 . Not Bad. My iPhone was good to go and I like the better speakers and both of my friends I called said they could tell the call was much clearer. Went to my MBP to setup and Apple was down for 30 minutes. So ATT was great ... Apple not so much. Funny, but I just got a call from work to head up north and I will be 3 Minutes from the Apple store, may go in to check out a new case. I have one old case from my 1st gen and does fit . Lets see what the Apple store is like 6 hours into the launch.
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Hickeroar said 11:15AM on 7-11-2008
Lake Jackson, TX here. Our store got 40 iphones (20 8's, 10 of each color 16's). They had to turn away about half the people there. I got a 16GB white since they were out of blacks.
They stopped trying to activate them in the store at all and just told people to activate them at home. It's currently down for me (of course). Hopefully it'll be up relatively soon, but i'd imagine it's going to be a while...
Way to go AT&T. Good job on preparing for this.
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