phone is down due to bad update cant get serial number cant get into chat w/o serial number catch 22?

Hi mattkas,

Welcome to the Support Communities!

The article below may be able to help you with this. Click on the link to see more details and screenshots.

If you can't update or restore your iOS device

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1808

iOS: How to find the serial number, IMEI, MEID, CDN, and ICCID number

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4061

iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), and iPhone 4s

Remove the SIM tray. The serial number and IMEI will be printed on the SIM tray.

Cheers,

- Judy