Q: cant first owner of iphone need help activating so i can pay for service

only the appleID it's activated to can release it

guess you could try showing up at apple store with proof of purchase

Sorry. There is nothing you can do. Only the owner of the account used to lock it can remove the activation lock. Apple will not do anything unless you can provide the original proof of purchase from an authorized source. There is no way to bypass the activation lock.