Only AT&T Could Kill the iPhone Experience

Question

Ever since I saw the demonstration of the iPhone, I thought it was going to be the coolest phone the mobile industry has ever seen. In the months that followed, all the information and videos that have trickled out of Cupertino has reinforced this notion. The hype surrounding the iPhone has grown to monumental proportions. The reviews that I've been reading in the newspapers and magazines have relayed that the actual iPhone experience lives up to just about all of the hype.
I've been an AT&T or Cingular customer for just about 10 years now. When I've talked to friends and family about the iPhone, one consistent feeling that I've had is the ONLY thing that will KILL the iPhone experience is AT&T.
For me, that is coming true. I have this beautifully engineered piece of hardware sitting on my desk plugged into the USB port on my Core Duo Macbook Pro. I'm staring at iTunes 7.3 and the "Your activation requires additional time to complete" screen. The same screen that has graced the face of my MacBook Pro since about 8:30PM EST.
After getting this message, I called AT&T. I spoke with a customer service representative who told me that everything with the account was correct. My new iPhone had replaced the Treo 650 I was using previously. The MediaNET data package I had subscribed to was dropped in favor of the iPhone data plan.
I checked my Treo 650 at about 9:30 PM and it was no longer registering on the AT&T network.
At about 11:15PM EST, I decided to give AT&T another call. After my call was dropped by the IVR (I was on a land line), I finally got to speak with a customer service representative who asked me if I would mind holding while I was transferred to another group of individuals who could look deeper into my activation problems. After waiting on hold for thirty minutes, I decided to hang up and go to bed.
Here it is Saturday morning at 10:20AM EST. I've been on the phone with AT&T for 28 minutes - waiting for the "Activation Support Group". I've been told that activation can take up to twenty-four hours to complete. I find this unacceptable. When I relayed this to the CSR, she politely apologized for the inconvenience and tried to comfort me (I guess that was her goal) by saying that a large number of people are in the same boat. I was told that there are "millions" of people trying to activate their phone and it just takes time.
Macbook Pro Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.10)
Macbook Pro Core Duo 2.16Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Answer 1

This is soooo ridiculous - you have to laugh otherwise you'll cry. Don't bother buying an iPhone now, wait a week. You can't do anything with it until AT&T catches up on activation.
I posted this in the AT&T apple forum but I'll post here too, just for the record:
Activation with an Old AT&T Wireless (not Cingular)
Yes. I am one of those unfortunate loyal customers too.
I have made 5 calls so far.
Once last night to find out that the department I needed to 'fix' my account is shut for the evening and will re-open tomorrow at 7am.
Second at 8:30a to find out that the 'Conversions' department I needed to 'fix' my account opens at 9a.
Third at 9am to get my old AT&T rate plan changed. Only to find out later on-line that the customer service rep changed it to a $59.99 950 minute non-iPhone plan.
Fourth, to get my rate plan changed to a $59.99 iPhone plan. The lady did not know how to do it and was going to transfer me to the 'Sync' department but dropped the call.
Fifth, call again. Lady took my IMEI and ICCID numbers, set me up with a $59.99 iPhone (at last!). Now I am waiting for the Sync department to reset my device so I can go through activation again.
Apparently its a 12-24 hours wait because AT&T was 'surprised' by the volume of iPhone purchases and I am waiting in-line behind people to be reset by the Sync department from last night.
The iPhone is a beautiful device, its only flaw is AT&T.
MacBook, Powerbook 12, Cube, iPods, iPhone (almost)   Mac OS X (10.4.10)