Can't add guest order to Apple ID

THE GOOD:

Ordered iPhone online w/ Apple 'specialist.' Thought that would simplify things because I kept running into an availability issue on the item being ordered. Apple specialist 'Rommel' assisted w/ the order, clarified a few things, and sent a link to complete the transaction. Paid in full using Apple Pay on my Apple account/ID. Thought that was the end of it. It wasn't.

THE BAD:

Got an email confirming the order along w/ an order number and est. delivery date. So far, so good. In that email was a link that said 'View Order.' Clicked and landed on a page detailing the order, but noted my info was rather generic. There was one option on the page: Sign In With Apple ID. Did that and got the following message:

"This Apple ID doesn’t match this order.

You’re currently signed in as xxxxxxx@gmail.com"

Went to the Apple Store login and used the "Lookup Order" option to find the order. Had to enter the order number plus phone# and email address. Did that, and got this disturbing message:

"The order number entered is already linked to an Apple ID."

Shock. Disbelief. My order, for which I paid and had an emailed receipt and confirmation wasn't linked to MY Apple ID, but to some unknown 3rd party ID? Immediately selected chat feature and spent the next 1.5 hours trying to get information and resolution to this dilemma.

THE UGLY:

Apple 'specialists' one after another - 4 of them in all - gave me the same song and dance, much of which was misinformation like 'Oh, the specialist who helped you with the purchase used his Apple ID to set up the sale, so it's linked to his ID.' This, the 'specialist' told me, was S.O.P. when customers requested help completing an online order. "So how do I resolve it and get my purchase linked to MY Apple ID?", I asked. The Apple specialist, 'Matthew,' said he couldn't help me but he would 'escalate' to higher authority who would be able to, so he transferred me to some other 'specialist' named 'Vishnu.'

After repeating the lengthy problem description a 2nd time, 'Vishnu' said he was in technical support and that he wasn't who I needed to speak to, but he would transfer me to someone in the correct department who could help me. Transfer to 'Carrol' or 'Carol,' don't remember which, and again had to repeat the problem in detail multiple times for 'Carrol's' benefit. This 'specialist' requested the same information multiple times, so apparently wasn't really paying attention or reading the info I'd already provided, and finally at the end of it all she said it was her pleasure to help me, but that she too was the wrong person and would have to transfer me yet again. So on and on it went for over an hour, and it was becoming patently clear that 'Apple Support' was in fact a merry-go-round of monkees, with no one who actually knew what they were talking about. Or maybe it was just that they didn't care. Who knows.

So finally ended up with yet another Apple 'specialist,' 'Sam,' who patiently listened to this horror story, and he informed me that it would take 24 hours for the 'guest order' compiled by 'Rommel' at the outset would update in Apple's systems, after which he assured me I would be able to link my purchase with my Apple ID. But here it is 24 hours later and it's still not accessible. Supposedly after sufficient time has passed a mysterious 'Link this purchase to your Apple ID' will appear on the order status update page, but it has yet to do so despite trying 3 browsers - Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

THE LATEST:

The Jeopardy theme is playing, and suppose there's no option but to wait and see. Will the 'guest' restriction on my order clear and allow me to link it to my Apple ID? Who knows? But reviewing history of this issue find it's an all-too-common one, and wondering why Apple doesn't take the 5 minutes it would take to fix it. Why is that, Captain Ron?

Seems like all that's required is an option to buy a product using your personal Apple ID on the front end, an option clearly marked and available on the order page, and repeated at the end. Before payment by whatever means, an "Order Confirmation" page pops up with an info advisory and link that asks a simple question: "Would you like to link this purchase to your Apple ID or continue as a guest?" So much for Apple Intelligence. We the people are not impressed....

And the beat goes on .... Recommend you take whatever precautions necessary and do your best to completely avoid Apple Support and their cadre of 'specialists' at all costs.