Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

0 points

Here is why the activations are delayed.....ATT nor APPL to blame.

i work for att. i got an iphone last night as well and mine activated instantly...but i live in oklahoma, fewer people, fewer activations, fewer problems. okay whenever a new cellular phone is activated it is programmed through a computer and then sent to a piece of hardware called a "switch." think of a switch as a turnstall at a fair or a revolving door at a hotel. only one actication can go through the switch at a time, any other activations behind it are waiting in line like people at a ticket counter. activations aren't the only things that have to go through the switch. anytime you call in to your cell provider and make an account change such as adding/removing a feature, changing a rate plan, activating a new sim, anything like that, it goes through a switch.

sometimes, there are natural switch delays. it doesn't happen daily because in a matter of odds, thousands of people won't be making account changes simultaniously everyday. however, sometimes this happens and it creates a delay in the switch. when this happens, we alert our customers of the delay and advise them to wait a few hours, power cycle and try again. switch delays aren't a daily occourence, but not rare. now, lets talk about the iphones and switch delays.

the iphone is undoubtedly THE biggest thing to ever happen to a cellular industry. last night, hundreds of thousands of people purchased iphones at the EXACT same time, rushed home and tried to activate their phones asap. what happened was a massive bombarding of activations to switches that generally don't handle anything near last night's load. since the phones were sold at 6:00, everyone got home at about 7:00 and most likely overloaded the switches to the point of near exhaustion! it would be like 30,000 or so people throwing basketballs at one hoop and hoping to make it in! theoretically, larger metropolitan areas would have more problems due to more switch activity. granted our switches in new york city are heavy duty, but there are no switches in existance designed to handle that kind of load because with the exception of this weekend, there would never be that much activity!

is it apples fault? no, i think that their activation through itunes is ingenious. it keeps people from having to call into att and it was FAR less painless than in-store account set up! is it att's fault? no. they can't be blamed for overloaded switches due to iphones WILD success. our switches are adequate, it's just that this weekend was a rare-bird exception that would have dang-near blown out any switch. it was like christmas day X 100! i think that i got mine activated so soon because we got from the store to my house in about 20 minutes and completed the activation before the swarm began to get into full swing. so those of you who are still waiting, just hang in there! just think of your activation as being in line for a rollercoaster. you are 3/4 closer to the front than you were last night! having had over 24 hours to mess with this phone, i can assure you that it is well worth the wait. it's the most marvelous piece of technology i've ever had the pleasure of using.

i'm sorry to all of those who aren't active yet, but hang in there! your hour will come. i bet those switches are like hot stove-tops right now begging for a chance to breathe. it's like pouring liquid thorugh a funnel, pouring faster will just cause an overflow, gravitiy has to take it's course! it's not att's fault, it's just the hundreds of thousands of activations fighting for the chance to make that first call! hang in there.

24 imac Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 1, 2007 1:34 AM

155 replies

Jul 1, 2007 11:52 PM in response to AtariAge

I'm encountering a very similar scenario to you Al. I too was an exisiting AT&T customer that was originally an AT&T Wireless account ("blue" account). I used iTunes on Friday at 7pm to begin the activation process and then after a few hours I got an email that my rate plan was not compatible with the iPhone. Called AT&T, they switched my plan, waited 48 hours (with lots of intermediate calls to AT&T) finally got an email tonight that there is some other issue with the information and it can't be processed.

The issue here is that there is not enough validation of the data before they queue it up to be activated. In combination with the fact that the switches are overloaded, this is a terrible way to run this process. Sitck something in the queue, wait hours or days, if something isn't correct spit out an error email, and then after correcting that error get back in the end of the line again.

In this kind of situation they need a way to expedite these activations back to the front of the queue because we have already waited through this very slow queue once.

Jul 1, 2007 11:58 PM in response to chris.ackermann

You maybe can confirm this in your particular case; that's not saying they are not dragging their feet for others, although that is likely a small part of the problem.

Jul 2, 2007 12:06 AM in response to GRS

But this is asking AT & T to buy equipment that will not be necessary AT ALL after the initial rush of activations this first week.

It is an unreasonable expectation; TOTALLY unreasonable to expect a company to invest in massive amounts of new equipment that will be used for a single week. AT & T stockholders would have thrown a bigger fit over such an expenditure than unhappy iPhone owners now are (and rightly so).

Jul 2, 2007 12:12 AM in response to AlfonsoC

If it takes an inordinate amount of time for activation, I would ask for a refund of the activation fee (and I'll bet they will grant it, if you ask nicely). I've been reading of some people getting that fee refunded, but, as Mom always said, "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar." Be nice. Even if you're angry, don't let them know it. Polite disappointment will get you farther than angry demands.

Disregard this advice at your own peril. Hostility breeds hostility.

Jul 2, 2007 12:14 AM in response to tnook

disagree all you want, but it would have been a terrible business decision from at&t's standpoint. spend millions of dollars for something that numerically could not be predicted? you have to understand that is is about dollars and cents. what else are you going to do, not buy the iPhone? welcome to corporate america. sorry to be harsh, but if you were in the position to make that call, you would have done the same thing. it's not just about the customer, i'm sure stockholders would have been thrilled to hear they spent millions of dollars for just one day.

osultan

Level 1

35 points

Jul 2, 2007 12:16 AM in response to AtariAge

Except you are not serving html pages, but linking to backend systems that manage all of the "magic" that is cell phone service. I have worked for a couple of phone companies and I can tell you, this is not an insignificant amount of work.

Jul 2, 2007 12:24 AM in response to AlfonsoC

The best guesstimate I've seen on how many iPhones AT & T sold over the weekend is 90,000 (but that doesn't include the ones Apple sold).

If you have had activation troubles, you may be able to ask politely that your activation fee be refunded, and it could happen. (It has for some; it depends on your situation).

Jul 2, 2007 12:27 AM in response to Kenneth Gantz

Many people are calling Customer Service and getting help with activation on the spot.

Yes, Customer Service is helping with activation, at least in some instances.

Jul 2, 2007 12:38 AM in response to md4u

An observation: If your teenage daughter's phone is her "whole life," she has bigger problems than activation of the iPhone.

I would hope SHE would learn a lesson from this, and find out that there is more to life than a phone (ANY phone).

Jul 2, 2007 12:54 AM in response to barryjs

If there had been numbered activations, it just plain would not have worked. Imagine when the scheduled time came and somebody ran up against the same problems that are happening now due to terms of the current account, and so forth. There would still be the logjam. It's appropriate to activate where possible.

If I had activation problems, I would politely ask for a refund of the activation fee. I have read that they are doing that for some people.

Everyone here has the opportunity to choose how to react to the disappointment of not being able to activate within 3 minutes. You can be mad and stomp your feet and say, "Why me? Why me? Why me?"

Or you can shrug your shoulders and say, "Why NOT me? If this is going to happen, I'm not any better than the next person. It's the luck of the draw."

In a few hours or days you are going to have a spiffy, gorgeous, awesome, activated iPhone. And many of us WON'T because AT & T isn't available where we live.

Please. Think about it, and choose to accept what you cannot change, and work at changing what you can, contacting AT & T or Apple or whatever in order to help your activation along. Please don't shorten your life by working yourself into a frenzy over what is a passing problem, soon to be remedied. This isn't a life-threatening problem; please don't make it into one.

Jul 2, 2007 1:06 AM in response to steviet_mac

I am not expecting the stock to be affected negatively.

I've been around Apple Discussions long enough to know that for every problem we see here, there are thousands of people who are having no problem whatsoever.

There are going to be some reports on this, yes. But I saw a report on TV yesterday, and the reviewer who had anticipated reviewing the iPhone's performance was, you guessed it, awaiting activation. She seemed more bemused than irritated, and considered it a part of the overwhelming sales numbers the iPhone has enjoyed upon launch.

She certainly did not term it a disastrous launch, as many posters here are claiming. Perspective.

Jul 2, 2007 1:14 AM in response to edznyc

Oh, why stop with firing? Off with their heads!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was an article in the February, 2005, issue of Reader's Digest called "How to Complain."

How to Complain
You call customer service to complain about a product, and you hang up angrier than when you started. That’s customer rage, a feeling experienced by millions of people with a major complaint, says Scott Broetzmann, president of an American firm that tells companies how to offer the best customer service. His secrets to getting good service:

Have a goal
If you want your product repaired, say so. Want an apology? Speak up.

Keep it short
Focus on one problem, and be succinct.
Stick with it.
You have to invest the time it takes. Don’t get what you want? Ask for a supervisor.

Skip ultimatums
Don’t threaten not to do business with them again. Why should they help you if you won’t buy from them in the future?

Plead your case
Many companies have information such as how much money you’ve spent with them and how often you complain. If you’re a good customer, they may be more willing to help.

Be nice
You’re unlikely to get what you want if you’re rude.

Jul 2, 2007 1:23 AM in response to anitas anger

It is now been over 61 hours since I have attempted to activate the phone, I have spend over 8 hours on the phone talking to 9 different service center help lines, speaking to 22 different representatives from around the country including upper management, and I have been to 2 malls 20 miles apart to speak to dozens of people in person for another 6 hours about my issue. If you can understand my patients is running a little thin.

Jul 2, 2007 1:24 AM in response to edznyc

It seems that there IS a queue. However, if there is a problem of any kind with the account (credit check, type of account, account details, number porting, etc.), the iPhone with the problem account is bypassed for activation and the next one without such a problem is activated.

This makes sense to me. I don't have any inside knowledge about this. It's just a common-sense answer as to what may be going on.

If you've had problems with activation, I believe it may be possible to get the activation fee waived if you ask politely (assuming that it isn't user error that has caused the problem). I doubt there will be blanket refunds of the activation fee; you will likely have to ask.

Jul 2, 2007 1:33 AM in response to Erictesch

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.

WHY? Why on earth did you go to these extremes?

Activation is going to happen eventually. Why did you invest so much of your time and energy in this? Go golfing (or fishing); take a walk; go to the swimming pool. Enjoy life, and don't worry about something that will be resolved while you go on about your life.

Life is too short to worry about this type of thing.

Here is why the activations are delayed.....ATT nor APPL to blame.