You have not verified your account - Cannot connect to the iTunes Store

About a month ago I had an issue with my ISP in which I no longer had access to my email from them. Unfortunately, it was this address that I used to set up my iTunes account. After a couple days of no email access, I changed my iTunes account from my ISP mail to my GMail address via the Account setup in iTunes. Everything was fine, I changed the address, validated the email when Apple sent the validation and changed the login info on my computer and iPhone.

While I was able to make app purchases via both the phone and iTunes, I could not access my account information, as iTunes would tell me that my account had not been verified (despite having clicked the verification link). Now, since updating to iOS 4.2, I get the message that my account is not verified every single time I try to purchase or update an app, or try to view my account information on both the iPhone and Mac.

When the systems tell me my account has not been validated, they direct me to instructions on how to validate; BUT, the instructions simply state that the account IS validated. I do not have the option to send anther validation email, and if I go back to the original (sent from Apple on Oct 12) and click the validation link, I'm informed that the address/login is valid.

The Apple Support page simply leads me through various common account problems that have nothing to do with my issue, and there seems to be no way to contact them directly about the account issue. I'm at a bit of a loss on how to proceed; any ideas?