iPhone: AT&T Activation Hell
I just got a new iPhone! The process of buying it on opening day was quite smooth. The Apple Store in Palo Alto had everything worked out, and things were so streamlined that even with 200-300 people in line in front of me, I was out the door with a new iPhone in less than half an hour.
However, Activation Hell began when I tried to activate the iPhone.
"We're sorry. AT&T has identified a problem with the information you provided.
For more information, call 877-800-3701."
So, I called customer support at AT&T, and after a 2.5 hour wait, the person I talked to said things were fixed and it should be active in an hour or so. Well, I waited, and waited, and waited, and, 24 hours after starting all this, I still had no ativation! Calling customer support again (and waiting an hour on hold) I got through to someone that ended up calling in a supervisor. Anyways, the supervisor did some magical thing and, 5 minutes later it was activated!
Well, maybe not.... although the phone was activated, but the wireless service was not- it was getting no signal connection at all. I figured I would just wait and maybe it'd come up later. Well, 38 hours from the start of this process, got another email saying my wireless service plan was not compatible with the iPhone! Guess what- they are FORCING me to switch to a more expensive plan, despite the previous statements (and the activation signup screens) stating that if you're an existing customer, you can use your existing plan but just add a $20 data plan. Nope, the greedy company wants to force me to a plan that's 34% more expensive than what I have (a $39 plan vs. my $29 plan) making it $59/month with the additional $29 data plan. I think this is unethical and very anti-consumer. Another catch- when you switch to your new plan, if you had an international plan, that disappears, so, unless you explicitly tell them to, you will get the default outrageously expensive international rates. The "new AT&T" as they call themselves, is all about squeezing as much as they can out of the customer.
AT&T should have been prepared for this. They knew Apple's iPhone was going to launch with a lot of interest, and they should have had a smoother process.