HT4061 How do I get my serial number if it won't boot up?

Question

I just had to sign in literally 8 times and pick a new user name, ***?
I tried to update my iphone 4 to IOS6 by pressing OK and after an hour, it says to connect to itunes. Which I did. Now it says it needs to reset to factory defaults and update and restore. Which I say OK, and wait another hour.
It reboots and says Itunes has found a phone in recovery mode:
I click OK and this error comes up:
I click Restore and Update (for the 5th time today) and get the message that iTunes is preparing to restore this phone.
iTunes claims that it is extracting software....waiting....
Next this message:
I click more Information and follow the steps they outline and the exact same things happens.
Now to get ahold of award-winning (not) tech support at Apple, I have to enter the serial number which is on the phone which will not boot up? Is this some sort of cruel joke?
Could someone please tell me what to do? This is the problem with the walled garden approach. When if messes up, it really messes up.

Answer 1

When you call a national tech support line, it's necessary that you give them information about your device so that they can troubleshoot it appropriately. As you can imagine, it's difficult to blindly troubleshoot an issue for a phone that you have zero information about, so they need your SN so they can give you the best, personalized support
Also, according to http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3694, that error message means
Errors 3000-3999 (3004, 3013, 3014, 3018, 3164, 3194, and so on): Error codes in the 3000 range generally mean that iTunes cannot contact the update server (gs.apple.com) on ports 80 or 443.
Update to the latest version of iTunes.
Verify the computer's date and time are accurate.
Check that your security or firewall software is not interfering with ports 80 or 443, or with the server gs.apple.com.
Follow Troubleshooting security software. Often, uninstalling third-party security software will resolve these errors.
An entry in your hosts file may be redirecting requests to gs.apple.com (see "Unable to contact the iOS software update server gs.apple.com" above).
Internet proxy settings can cause this issue. If you are using a proxy, try without using one.
Test restoring while connected to a known-good network.
and
Error 3014 may indicate that you need to free up more disk space on the computer before trying to restore again.
This error actually has very little to do with your phone itself, unless it's been jailbroken