Customer Complaints: AT&T Forcing Accessory Buys with iPhone; 24 Hours And Still Not Activated

AT&T, according to reports, not only forced iPhone buyers to buy accessories, but is still leaving owners in the lurch after the "24 hour" maximum activation wait is up. Rob V. Burr, the Floridian who strung news for Gadget Lab from Miami's Apple Store yesterday, claims his own iPhone is still a useless brick 25 hours after trying to activate, with his old phone no longer operational as a result. The excuse he says he's now receiving? Get this: it's because to activate, you have to leave the phone plugged in and online permanently, until AT&T activates it.

"My comcast cable net connection went down. They said I have to leave it on and plugged in and online for 24 hours. Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard? That's what they told me! ... Do you think they're bullshitting me?"

The comments on an earlier post here at Gadget Lab (and another!) are dominated by angry "Waiting For God" stories.

Whatever the truth is, you're not the only one suffering. Other excuses from AT&T have included the dreaded server upgrade (timed, naturally, to coincide with the world's largest internet-based activation rush ever) or Apple's iTunes being faulty.

You could say that the activation woes amount to an unfortunate, unforeseeable mishap. Buck up, early adopters: After all, like any other handset, you can just return the iPhone to the store for a full refu...