"Cannot connect to iTunes Store" & "iTunes store temporarily unavailable"

Question

PROBLEM:
Our iPhones, iPad, and iPod Touches all give us "Cannot connect to iTunes Store" message when we try to purchase an App or update Apps using Apple's "App Store" App. When using iTunes on our MAC desktop, which is used to sync all our devices, I'd select "Check for available downloads" from the Store Menu and would recieve the error message "Unable to check for available downloads. The iTunes store is temporarily unavailable. Please check back later." All our devices and software were up to date. We had not upgraded to iCloud yet, allthough I don't think that matters.
Note:
- We were able to purchase songs on iTunes and access our iTunes account so we had access to iTunes Store, despite the misleading error messages. We just couldn't get the Apps to download or update.
- This happened whether I was on my iPhone using our password protected WiFi, the non-password protected WiFi at the local Apple Store, as well as when I turned WiFi off and used 3G.
I spent hours trying every solution offered on these discussion boards as well as an on non-Apple sites to no avail. I went to the local Apple store and after an hour and a half wait had someone at the Genius Bar check it out and say he couldn't fix it. I emailed Apple Help on this website and received a boilerplate reply pointing to 2 KBs that I'd already tried (support.apple.com/kb/TS1368) and (support.apple.com/kb/TS1398). When I replied I tried all that, and still needed help they pointed me to Apple Care. My husband called Apple Care who wouldn't talk to us because supposedly you can only purchase it during a window of time after buying your new device. Our iPad is the youngest at only 4 months old, so I don't know how that can be. Maybe he didn't want to pay for it just yet. I was ready to chuck these into the trash until my husband figured it out.
So... if you're experiencing the same error messages, here was our fix. In hindsight it's so simple I can't believe it.
SOLUTION:
Went to the MAC desktop that we use to sync and update all our devices. In iTunes in the left hand column under "Store" click Download. The app at the top of the queue was "stuck" (similar to a printer that won't print because of a problem with the first job in the queue). Click the first App in the queue to get it downloading. That's it!
Once they all chug through then you can start updating apps on your devices using the App Store app. Relief!
I hope this helps someone because it was a frustrating experience!

Answer 1

I had this exact issue.  However, I was not even able to "see" the pending downloads when I tried fixing them using the solution above.
In another thread, I saw that someone mentioned an issue with the use of the "&" (ampersand) symbol in your appleID information.  I had recently changed my name and it did include the & symbol in my name (not the appleID itself).  I replaced the ampersand with the word "and" and saved.  I then went to the iTunes store and logged into my account there and made the same change on my billing name.
Voila!  I could now access the 7 pending downloads on my desktop Mac and download them, and all iPhone/iPad/Ipods were again able to download from the app store.
incidentally, I had several support tickets open on this issue and never once did the Apple person even suggest that this might be the issue.