iPhone activation - AT&T Signs On

A service rep, a technician and an AT&T representative try to activate an iPhone...

I wish it really was a joke. The nice lady from AT&T wanted to know the serial number on my SIM card. Luckily I still had my SIM extraction device ( a safety pin ) and was quite accomplished by now, having already successfully extracted it once. With my number in hand, she was able to find me in the system immediately. This was a most encouraging sign, and I was confident that all would be well again in just a few moments. (At this point my call to tech support had just passed the 90 minute mark.)

She tested my voice mail. "The account has to be active, I can see it the system, and the voice mail works." Good to know that if anyone tries to call me they can at least leave a message. "It must be the SIM card. Can you try it in another phone?"

Now I was stumped. I could the sense the mood of the call turning somber as I explained that I was out of extra phones, and that if I took the SIM card out of the one of I was using now we wouldn't be able to keep talking. The fact that it was a phone using an incompatible service cast an even darker pall on our party. Even if I had been able to figure how to do it, there was no way it could work.

This is when things turned ugly. They asked me to take my iPhone back to the store.

The idea being that once I was there, they could take the suspect SIM out of my phone and try it in a different one. If the problem followed the SIM card, then they should give me another one. If the problem stayed with the phone, I could return it to be repaired. The nice AT&T lady said she would amend my record so the store could see the results of our deliberations. She even took my cell phone number - the other phone, of course - and assured me that she would call to check on me on Monday.

So, they sent me out again on my own with an 8 digit case number and a new number to call in case I needed help again. 800 697-4663 (yes, and that spells 800 My iPhone. Clever.)

There was nothing else for it. A short while later I was walking back into the AT&T store with my new iPhone in the box tucked under my arm. Everything was different this time. The sales people were trying to avoid my eyes. A few of them scurried into the back. I took up a position next to the cash register where several people had lined up to make purchases and just started telling my story. One of the sales people reappeared from the back and waved me over to a quiet corner.

He quietly assured me that all he could do was give me another SIM card to try. I had to take it home to activate it. He didn't seem interested in my 8 digit case number or any remarks that might have been appended to a store record. I headed for home again, sadder but wiser. Hope springs eternal. More later.