Well, I'm concerned I'll come across as a "Mac hater", which I'm not. I think several people know I'm, er, was, open to buying a Mac. I'll just give the Reader's Digest version for now. I can answer specific questions later.
6/29/07 5:45pm - was driving past AT&T store by chance and just looked out of curiosity to see how long the line was going to be because of all the media hype I'd heard and how people had camped out for days.
5:51pm - I became the 3rd person in line for an iPhone at this store.
6:00pm - Within 4 seconds of the official U.S. Atomic Clock time the doors open.
6:12pm - I walked out with an 8gb iPhone along with a car charger adapter as well as a 512mb USB drive I was told I had to buy from them if I wanted to transfer my phone book from my current phone. Odd, but as I told them, my time is worth more than $15 to spend 2 or 3 hours entering the data. I was told that I would be given instructions on how to use the transfer drive when I "activated" the phone at home with iTunes. You
cannot have your iPhone activated in the store. You are not allowed to even open the box in the store; it's given to you in a sealed bag. Two IN state troopers were on site.
6:45pm - I downloaded iTunes and upgraded to iTunes ver. 7.3, connected the docking station to my computer via USB cable and began the "activation" process.
6:49pm - I completed the initial activation process and received an email saying "AT&T is now processing your activation. You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete." Dang, this looks very promising!
6:52pm - my "old" cell phone now reads "Unregistered SIMS" on the screen. Hmm, I guess it's happening now!
7:30pm - No response from AT&T yet. The phone is not activated yet. I thought I'd go ahead and check out the rest of the phone while waiting. Wrong, nothing on the phone will work until it's activated.
7:45pm - Tired of waiting so I take the family out for dinner while my phone is being activated.
10:15pm - The phone is not activated and nothing seems to be happening. I read a quote on USA Today saying most phones are activated within minutes, according to Apple and AT&T spokespeople. So, I decide to call to see if there is a problem.
11:30pm - Still on hold waiting to speak with a tech.
6/30/07 1:15am - Finally get a tech person on the phone. They tell me that it may "take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days for activation". WTF??!! Nobody told me "a few days"! I ask the tech to
please turn my old phone back on until I receive activation email. No can do. They claim they cannot re-activate old SIMS chip. I will have no cell service until iPhone is activated.
1:30am - Go to bed and figure I'll just follow the instructions in the email I'll receive overnight.
6:00am - No email yet; no activation yet! Call tech support number. Told to call back during business hours; on Saturday that will be after 9am.
9:30am - Call tech support to find status of activation.
11:00am - Finally get tech on line. He says I should be activated by now and he needs to transfer me to "tier II" support specialists with Apple.
12:10pm - Phone call is disconnected!!
Go on about my business for the day.
7:00pm - Still no activation and no cell service. Getting rather upset with this cluster fck of how iPhone roll out is setup. Call tech support back, put on hold.
11:10pm - A tech finally comes on line. I ask what is wrong. I need cell service. I explain that nobody told me that I'd be without service for days! Tech tells me that they have no idea how long it may take. I explain that it has been 28 hours now. Tech explains (basically) they don't give a shit.
11:55 pm - OMG!! I get an email saying my activation is complete and to click the link to finalize activation process. I click link and the iPhone almost immediately unlocks and is activated! About time!! I decide to transfer my saved phone numbers first.
7/1/07 1:30am - I have now read everything and there is NOTHING about how to transfer numbers with the USB drive I was told I had to buy. I decide to call tech support again. Tech support is now closed. WTF!!
Go to bed pissed.
5:30am - Begin the process of trying to setup my email accounts on iPhone. I follow instructions exactly and the phone will receive emails, but will not send any email. Damn! Pass time by going ahead and transferring a few hundred songs to the iPod portion of the phone. Hey, this part actually works as reported.
6:45am - Finish transferring songs and plug my Bose QC2 headphones in to enjoy some music. Hmm, only the phone's internal speakers play; nothing in my headphones.
Try my Shure E5 earbuds; same result! I decide to try the cheap earbuds that come with the iPhone; they work. After close examination, I see they made the earphone jack deep inset into the phone where only their cheap ass ear phones will fit!
Shit, shit, shit!
7:00am - Decide to actually try to make a phone call on the iPhone. I call my dad and have a hard time understanding him because the damn phone keeps vibrating during the entire call and the speaker in my ear is extremely distorted if I turn the volume up any past the lowest setting.
I make several other calls and find that all sounds from the ear speaker in the iPhone are distorted if I turn the phone volume up enough to hear. The "hands free" speaker phone sounds okay, but volume is rather weak. Dammit!!
8:00am - Call tech support. I'm told that I am now activated and AT&T no longer offers any tech support on the iPhone. I have to call Apple now.
8:15am - Call Apple tech support. Promptly put on hold...all agents are busy, bla, bla, bla.
10:40am - Tech rep from Apple finally comes on line! I explain my problems. First, he tells me that he has no idea how to transfer old phone numbers with USB drive; they were not trained on that. On the other issues, he says he has to transfer me to a supervisor:
11:30am - A tech rep picks up the line. Not a supervisor. Says that my call was never routed. Puts me on hold again.
12:15pm - The line clicks and.....I get a dial tone! I immediately call back and start holding all over.
1:30pm - Hmm, NASCAR race comes on TV. Keep phone call on speaker phone and start watching race.
2:15pm - tech support lady answers and go through all info with her again. No idea how to transfer numbers, need to be transferred for other problems.
4:30pm - race is ending and I'm still on hold. Damn, getting hungry!
6:15pm - Tier II support agent comes on line. After a few minutes he says my phone is defective and I need to take it back to AT&T store with box, all items, and exchange phone. Damn this sucks!
7/2/07 9:00am - At local AT&T store when they open. I'm about 10th in line.
10:15am - AT&T people tell me that they cannot exchange my phone and I must speak with Apple about phone exchange. Shit!!!!
11:am - back on hold with Apple customer support....FKG $700 paper weight...
12:30pm - Apple agent answers phone. Says it sounds like a phone problem and needs to transfer me so I can get another phone. I'm disconnected! FCK!!!!!!!
12:35pm - call back and am put on hold again.
1:20pm - I get "Elizabeth" on the phone. I explain to her that I have had unacceptable service and please DO NOT disconnect me!! She says she has to transfer me. Shit!
1:40 - I get some guy with a bit of an attitude. Wants to know what my problem is.
I let him know alright! He adjusts his attitude. Says he will have to have someone call me back about getting a replacement phone. Oh, wonderful...
2:30pm - I finally get a call saying if I give them my CC number, they'll get a new phone out to me within 2-3 business days. Whatever. He takes my info and supposedly a new phone will be here this week. In the interim I must use a BlueTooth headset if I want to hear what's going on. No need to try to transfer anything else to this phone.
So, there you have it. I have never in my life had as bad of customer service as I've experienced with Apple, yet according to what they tell the media, all has gone well with very few issues. What lying cock suckers Apple is!! I had no less than 4 of their tech support agents tell me that they have had "thousands" of complaint calls about the iPhones. From where I stand, Apple spokespeople could teach the Clintons a thing or two on spinning BS to the media!! Any plans I had to go ahead and try a Mac product no longer exist.
The iPhone seems to have great potential, but it was obviously introduced before it was ready. Also, Apple and AT&T completely dropped the ball on planning the roll out of the iPhone. You'd think they did no planning at all. They had the wireless industry in their hands and they splattered it on the ground and then shit on it. There was zero preparation on the part of Apple and AT&T from what I can see. Also, based on the comments about how many phones are defective, the damn plant in China (yes, they are made in China!) has no quality control. It's sort of like a really good idea, but Apple and AT&T screwed up the launch, and product quality so bad it's unreal.
OH, I forgot another key item; Apple says that their email system is NOT compatible with Insight servers for sending email. Insight has tens of thousands of customers. I call Insight and they tell me in no uncertain terms that they will NOT make changes to their system to appease Apple.