Unable to activate Verizon iPhone - weird string appears instead of ph. num
I received the Verizon iPhone 4 (32GB) that I ordered for my wife yesterday, and have been unable to activate it. I would appreciated any help. Here are the facts that may be relevant:
* The phone I am trying to activate is my wife's Verizon iPhone 4 (32GB).
* I sync my own AT&T iPhone 3GS to the same computer/iTunes, and have never had difficulty activating or syncing.
* My wife's Verizon account is part of her family's plan -- her father is the master account holder.
* My wife's older phone is a Motorola of some kind that she has had for ages. It is still functioning as her Verizon phone and connecting fine as of now.
* When I first plugged her new iPhone into iTunes yesterday, everything seemed to be going fine. Her correct phone number displayed, and it recognized her father's master account info when I inputted it. However, when I got to the next stage, the phone would not activate. A message appeared on the screen of the iPhone stating that it was in the process of activating. But eventually it said that activation had failed. I tapped "Try Again" on the iPhone screen, but it failed again and this time gave me a Verizon support line to call (I have not been able to call yet because it was after hours and today I am at work).
* Although the iPhone will not activate, it is recognized by iTunes and shows up as "[My wife's name]'s iPhone" when I dock it, and it shows the correct serial number, etc. HERE IS THE FACT THAT PUZZLES ME MOST: On that familiar screen in iTunes that shows a picture of your iPhone, provides its basic stats, and gives you the Update, Restore, and Sync buttons, there is a nonsensical string of numbers where my wife's phone number ought to be. It is something like "0000000003815." Those may not be the exact digits, but basically it's a long string of zeroes followed by four other numberals. Not a phone number, whatever it is.
* I have tried Update and a full Restore, to no avail. I also tried Erase All Content and Settings from the iPhone Settings menu (I mean, the phone is operable as an unconnected device, it just won't activate on the Verizon Network), but nothing works after multiple attempts. I also tried activating it through a different iTunes account on a different PC, to no avail.
My computer is a HP laptop running Windows Vista.
Any advice is very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Matthew
* The phone I am trying to activate is my wife's Verizon iPhone 4 (32GB).
* I sync my own AT&T iPhone 3GS to the same computer/iTunes, and have never had difficulty activating or syncing.
* My wife's Verizon account is part of her family's plan -- her father is the master account holder.
* My wife's older phone is a Motorola of some kind that she has had for ages. It is still functioning as her Verizon phone and connecting fine as of now.
* When I first plugged her new iPhone into iTunes yesterday, everything seemed to be going fine. Her correct phone number displayed, and it recognized her father's master account info when I inputted it. However, when I got to the next stage, the phone would not activate. A message appeared on the screen of the iPhone stating that it was in the process of activating. But eventually it said that activation had failed. I tapped "Try Again" on the iPhone screen, but it failed again and this time gave me a Verizon support line to call (I have not been able to call yet because it was after hours and today I am at work).
* Although the iPhone will not activate, it is recognized by iTunes and shows up as "[My wife's name]'s iPhone" when I dock it, and it shows the correct serial number, etc. HERE IS THE FACT THAT PUZZLES ME MOST: On that familiar screen in iTunes that shows a picture of your iPhone, provides its basic stats, and gives you the Update, Restore, and Sync buttons, there is a nonsensical string of numbers where my wife's phone number ought to be. It is something like "0000000003815." Those may not be the exact digits, but basically it's a long string of zeroes followed by four other numberals. Not a phone number, whatever it is.
* I have tried Update and a full Restore, to no avail. I also tried Erase All Content and Settings from the iPhone Settings menu (I mean, the phone is operable as an unconnected device, it just won't activate on the Verizon Network), but nothing works after multiple attempts. I also tried activating it through a different iTunes account on a different PC, to no avail.
My computer is a HP laptop running Windows Vista.
Any advice is very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Matthew
HP, Windows Vista, iPhone
