Iphone refusing correct password -

I plugged my phone in to charge and it gave me a 1 min lockout for incorrect password. I didn't type a password at all, and it never attempted to use Face ID. So i waited and typed password - INCORRECT. 2 minutes - INCORRECT. 5 min - etc etc. My password is right. So i thought maybe I got hacked or something changed. But I can log into account (same password as I use my apple credentials as my phone password) on the computer, ipad etc.

Definitely something odd going on. restarts don't work - I tried chat with apple and it was a nightmare and took over 2 hours and no progress was made only my timer restarting (1 hour lock) because of the times i had to restart phone or put in recovery mode. I was just going to factory reset but itunes only identified the iphone when i had apple devices downloaded...but the Apple tech says i can't have both installed??? but her instructions were to make sure i had itunes and follow an article (that used Apple Devices)..... so here we are - no resolution in sight. I cannot access my phone. Appointments at the store take days. HELP

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Iphone refusing password