Activation Lock

I'm not sure if I have ever been so frustrated with a company in my life. 3 weeks ago, my son (12 y.o.) changed the password and passcode on his phone and unfortunately forgot what it was. He tried by guessing and the result was that the phone was locked. Talked with Apple. They said to submit information to get the Activation lock removed. I was told probably 13 days. I guess - I'm not sure - that this was also for password recovery. In the meantime, the phone was useless. Today I was informed that the password lock now has an ADDITIONAL 27 DAYS until it can be removed. Regarding the activation lock - NOBODY at Apple can tell me when, if ever, it will be removed. Could be another month - who knows. Nobody at Apple can even tell me if they are working on the issue! I could be sitting here with an expensive phone for months and not know what is happening. Does anyone know of a way to resolve this? (We have a ton of Apple products at home and in my business - will be the last one that I get if I can't get this resolved.)