3 days on: The iPhone users still to make a call

UK customers who queued up to get Apple's shiny new iPhone last week are still waiting for a connection as O2 struggles to get their SIMs registered and activated on the network. According to O2, the new iPhone has seen "unprecedented demand" and "several million pounds" has been invested to ensure the processing systems can …

[Dark Ian]

Problems for existing O2 customers

Apparently the only reason my handset can't be handed over is that the system that allows the guys in the store to check that I'm eligible for an upgrade isn't working. Perhaps it'd be easier if I just phoned O2 now, cancelled my old contract and started a new one.

I'm choosing Paris, because this, like her, is just pathetic.

[Anonymous Coward]

My tuppence worth...

iPhone watch from sunny Brighton: O2 shop, Saturday, lots of people playing with iPhones, no complaining buyers (in fact, no-one buying), no queues.

[Anonymous Coward]

Smug git!

Registered on o2 website with no issues, ordered the 16Gb iPhone with no problem, it arrived Friday morning about 9.30am, activated instantly, after spending ages working out how to put the SIM in - curiously not mentioned in the instructions! PAC code arrived Saturday from Orange, acknowledged yesterday. You could say I'm one very happy O2 iPhone 3G person!

Looking at some of the comments and stories, I'm one of the lucky few though!

Let the flames commence.... =)

[ScottP]

Purchased mine just now, called home as I left the Apple store

Sounds like O2 are really not looking after their "first day" customers. Popped into my local Apple store just now and purchased one, and apart from them having to do my URU check by hand (servers down again) it was all working by the time I left the store.

Did O2 really not plan for so many people wanting one, even after they got such a large response to their pre-registration.

(Happy face - as mine works)

[Anonymous Coward]

Activation? I just want a working iPhone.

I have not got as far as activation yet, just try getting a broken at the factory iphone replaced!

I now have to wait until stock becomes available and go in the queue according to O2.

Sigh

[jai]

still no stock in the shops either

i just checked the two nearest O2 store to Bank underground station and both of them have no stock, and have no idea when they'll get stock back in.

they hope for the end of the week, because they're expecting to get new stock once a week, but they suggest to check back regularly as they can't guarentee they won't sell out of the new stock as soon as i appears

i know everyone on this site loves to slate the iPhone, but you've got to admit, it's selling a lot more units than any other phone at the moment, so there must be something right about it, regardless of whatever Webster thinks

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we not call them that?

iTouch is a terrible name, and you're only saving 3 keystrokes. Either type the whole name, or just use "touch".

[Richard Tobin]

Incompetence

O2 are blaming the "overwhelming demand", but as they themselves said they only had "a limited number" of iPhones available. So their system is not failing because of the demand, it's failing to handle even the limited supply. They knew how many iPhones they had, why didn't they ensure their system could handle that many activations?

[John Curry]

Bow to me (or something equally as ludicrously smug)

Due to a quirk in the system (my credit check from a failed order earlier in the week had been saved), I was apparently officially the first person in the country with a fully activated iPhone.

Chuffed? Oui oui...

[Anonymous Coward]

Mmm...

"Other irate readers resorted to old technology to deluge The Reg with complaints."

iRate, shurely?

Mine's an iCoat

[Rob]

Am I the only one...

Though obviously I am appalled by the infrastructure breakdown on launch day and in the subsequent days, I was very impressed by O2's local customer service. I bought my iPhone 3G on Friday morning at the flagship store on Oxford Street and received a phone call at 10am on Saturday (he said they were all at work till 1am that night and in at 6am on Saturday morning processing applications) saying my sim card had been activated; which on testing, was indeed working. I then received a text message telling me my number would be ported by the 16 July.

[Myles Winstone]

stock levels

“Why did O2 stores refuse to tell people in the queue how many phones they had in stock? Have Apple and O2 manufactured the sell-out hype?”

I can't speak for other stores but the manager of the o2 shop in Warrington was happy to let people know on Friday morning how many he had in stock. Those of use in the queue even did a quick head-count se we'd know if we'd be able to get a 16 gig version or not.

[Anonymous Coward]

O2 incompetance,

Got my iPhone friday morning from o2 (upgrade from an non iPhone o2 contract), they didn't give me a new sim but insisted i take the empty envelope the sim was in but assured me my sim was compatible

it did pick up the edge network and i could make calls, so i kept calling to find out when it would be 3g activated, always in the next hour.....

until this morning when i was told that i needed a new sim card as the old one wasn't compatible and just to ensure things ran smoothly they had cancelled my old and new contracts

no wonder apple kept the lions share of iPhones to themselves, and they're still selling them now and people walk out the store with a working 3g phone.....

[Scott K]

Unlucky

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA serves you right for been early adopting fan boys. Mines the one with the pre ordered Nokia N96 in the pocket.

[Giles Jones]

All goes to show..

That people want 3G and GPS in their phone.

Also goes to show that launching in the US and UK at the same time means better sales.

[Drew Scott]

RE: Can we not call them that?

'iTouch is a terrible name, and you're only saving 3 keystrokes. Either type the whole name, or just use "touch"'

Seconded.

[pctechxp]

Stupid followers of the cult of jobs

You'll get no sympathy from me bah ha ha

This is a ploy to delay your use past the 14 day return window so when you realise you've been robbed it'll be too late to return it.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Rob

You're not the only one - Mine's working perfectly. I called them Saturday morning and they explained that only the main office had access to the systems and were processing the paper forms as quick as they could.

At about 1500 the same day I got a call from the store manager to say everything had been done and about 10mins later the phone worked.

I am a new customer without porting a number, not an upgrade so that may make some difference.

And our store sold out Friday morning and has no idea when they will receive any more.

[Dave Fisher]

Um...

@Scott K... hopefully your new Nokia N96 will have a better keyboard than your current device... seems the H, A and shift keys are sticking!

[Anonymous Coward]

Another smug git here

No complaints from my end other than the delivery driver making me wait all day. I was out all day and expected to come home after work to find a "you were out when we called" ticket in my door. Much to my disappointment there wasn't so thought I'd missed out for the day and I'd have to wait til Monday for it to come. Lo and behold there was a knock at the door at 8pm with my shiny new package. Yay

Opened it up, took it out, like someone else, struggled to find where the hell I needed to put the sim card then after about 10 mins found it. Put it all together and presto, I was in!

Wish I could put firefox on here (although memory requirements would kill that idea dead) Safari is far from "stable". Had far too many crashes since starting to play with it.

[matt]

no problem here

Picked up an Iphone on day 1, activated and working within 15 minutes of purchase from local O2 store in Barnstaple. Good service.

[Scott K]

re: um...

@Dave Fisher

Generally capital letters are classed as shouting on the t'interwebs. I was laughing quite loud therefore a capital letter assault was deemed appropriate.

[Matth]

Recording calls...

I hope he realises it is a criminal offence to record these types of phone calls without the express permission from the person you are recording. You basically have to say "I am recording you - do you wish to continue" - the response to which I imagine would be 'NO', and rightly so.

[Simon Langley]

Ineptitude

I am in the same boat and it appears that this is my reward for being a loyal O2 customer for years.

I had to wait 2 hours in the shop waiting for O2's system to confirm I was eligible for an upgrade while new customers waltzed out with their fully functional iPhones.

Now three days, four phone calls (using my old phone) and two visits in person I still have an iBrick.

Every person I have spoken to has given me a different version of events and the whole episode has left me decidedly unimpressed - what a dog's breakfast.

[Anonymous Coward]

And another smug git here

Ordered my iPhone on Thursday from CPW (despite my over protective bank blocking the credit card transaction first time around) and it was delivered to my local shop in SW London on Friday.

Got my iPhone home at about 6pm and plugged it in to my laptop and it activated it no problems.

Only glitch was not being able to register the iPhone on iTunes and sync it until late on Friday night, about 11pm.

Other than that nothing but success!!

However I do agree with the comment about Safari being far from stable.

Last hurdle will be porting my number from Orange, still waiting for the PAC number.........

[Anonymous Coward]

All fine for me...twice

Has to be said, I've not had too many issues. I queued up on Friday morning and was told that the systems were down, so it might take 48hrs to activate...they did let me walk out of the store with the phone, however.

Come Friday evening and it was all up and running, so not as quick as usual, but not too much of a delay. I do have a friend who could only pick his up on Sunday afternoon, however, because the credit-checking system just wasn't working at all at his store.

As a sidenote, the 'failed' order I placed through the O2 website on Monday turned up on Saturday morning, and that is apparently fully activated and ready to go too (according to emails and SMS from O2)...so whilst some people are spending all day on the phone trying to track down some stock, I'm currently sat here with two :)

[Phill Holland]

moan moan moan

Simon Langley;

"I am in the same boat and it appears that this is my reward for being a loyal O2 customer for years.

I had to wait 2 hours in the shop waiting for O2's system to confirm I was eligible for an upgrade while new customers waltzed out with their fully functional iPhones."

I've had a simular experience, i phoned the 02 lady, just like the support email suggested and then she told me to go to carphone warehouse or the website, seeing as the website is like a merry-go-round simulator I opted for carphone warehouse. Where upon I spent 1hr waiting for the system to tell me that I couldn't upgrade in carphone warehouse, even though the 02 support line said otherwise.

complete muppets. My upgrade may consist of moving phone providers and getting an n95, screw the iphone. Paris, because she'll screw anything.

[Ben Bufton]

Early adopters...

Are any of us surprised that it was a struggle on the first day (or few days)?

I think it's awesome that so many people want an iPhone 3G, but seriously, if you want to keep your blood pressure down, leave it a few weeks and then stroll into your local O2 or Apple Store one weekday afternoon and upgrade/buy then. So much easier.

It's like leaving work at 6pm and then complaining that the undergound is too busy!

And yeah - enough with the "iTouch" (third-ed)... it's iPod Touch or Touch... pfft.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Scott K

isn't a bit strange to be moaning about early adopter 'fan boys' (?) and then talk about preordering a nokia

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting........

The 2 most interesting comments on here refer to the browser being flaky. That is the _only_ reason I was thinking of getting one of these things, Opera is o.k. but not brilliant.

The owners didnt seem too iRate (which I would be) so whats the deal - are they any good or not?

Perhaps i'll stick to my orbit for a while longer.

[Anonymous Coward]

All fine for me

Purchased my two iPhones on Friday from the lovely store in Halifax. No problems at all with the activiation problems. Only beef I have is with Microsoft Outlook, synced fine on one handset, major problems on other.

[Anonymous Coward]

barge poll

It's hard to imagine any other sector of industry competing with the mobile biz for incompetence, lying and complacency. Who's the absolute worst in the sector, though? O2 and Carphone Warehouse, neck and neck, maybe?

[Rolf Howarth]

Re: Recording calls?

Is it illegal to record your own phone calls? Clearly, it's illegal to intercept and record someone else's conversation (unless you're a local authority using draconian anti-terror legislation to to investigate heinous crimes such as parking violations) but I thought either party could legally record their own conversations. If you record without telling the other party you're probably breaking an industry code of practice (if you're a company) and the terms of your contract with BT but the worst case penalty would be a slap on the wrist or termination of your service - you're not committing a criminal offense though. At least, that's my understanding, but I am not a lawyer, so don't sue me if I'm wrong!

[Mark W]

N96 costs?

@ScottK - I'll happily stick with my much cheaper iPhone - after all, just to buy an N96 at the moment looks like being more costly than the iPhone if the SIM-free price is £699, plus you then have to hunt around for a tariff that allows you to have unlimited data and wi-fi access included? Oh - I have that one with my iPhone too.

On the downside, software version 2.0 has a fair few bugs and my iPhone is definitely less stable than 1.1.4. (however still more stable than the N95 it replaced!)

Oh - my coat's the one with the Light Saber in the pocket :)

[David Buckley]

we.....no problems here govner

Picked up the phone after the system went down and they reverted to paper. Put my sim in from my old phone, plugged it into iTunes, actived it.

Nothing went wrong once I got out of the shop and neither did the other guy from work who got one. Shame they had no 16gb devices, but can't say I have any real complaints....sorry

[flearider]

why would you ??

lol it's over priced and over here.. why would you buy into the hype 3g will cost you an arm and leg and in these times of dare i say resestion is it worth being the only kid on the block with a new toy ?

and now there making you wait to use it ...

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Scott K

so, you having a pre-ordered /anything/ precludes you from being a fan boy does it?

If you're going to try an emulate The Great Webster, at least be smart in your stupidity.

[Anonymous Coward]

still waiting

Yeah, I spent four hours in an Apple Store on Friday trying to get a new iPhone connected. Eventually picked the phone up first thing on Saturday morning, as I had already got my contact number from Friday and Apple had at last moved to the paper-based process.

Still no sign of activation though on Monday afternoon (nor a note of my new phone number, or a date for my existing number port). Apple act surprised and refer me to O2, O2 apologise and promise activation later today...we'll see whether that happens before the reality distortion field wears off - if not Apple will shortly have another refurb unit to sell...

[Alexis Vallance]

iTouch

iTouch? iProd is a better name!

[Bazzaric]

tu tu tu tu tu tu touch me

'iTouch is a terrible name, and you're only saving 3 keystrokes. Either type the whole name, or just use "touch"'

Sort of thirded. But it's 4 keystrokes sort of... unless it should be ipodtouch without a space...

Looking in my pocket for my iphone...ahhrrgggh, don't have it yet. Contract ends on Wednesday

[Tom]

In the same situation..

Ordered from CPW online on the 7th (day released to preorder). All went fine until the phone was delivered (no need to ring up/hassle CPW), then Apple played up for ~1hr and couldn't activate in itunes. Once that finally succeeded, I'm stuck in 'No Service'.

I called CPW on Saturday, who told me it was an O2 issue and put me through to O2. O2 told me that they knew there was a problem, but it would all be sorted by 5pm on Saturday.

It wasn't, so called up O2 on Sunday, and was told that it would be activated 'by the end of Sunday'.

It wasn't, so I rang up today to be told that O2 have no record of me, no record of my phone number, and have absolutely no idea when I will be activated. Apparently someone will ring me in the next hour (at 11am, I was told I'd be rung within 5 hours to sort it out), but I doubt it somehow.

I can get that a systems failure could seriously mess something like this up, but I dont like being systematically lied to me - if someone tells me something will happen, then it bloody well should be, or they should contact me to tell me why they haven't done what they said they would.

I also don't get this 'massive demand killed our systems, its not our fault' angle. They knew how many iphones they were getting, they knew how many people registered an interest. Putting two and two together, they should have anticipated that if they have N iphones coming in, they should have realistically expected to have been able to activate N contracts.

I hope by the time they release the next iphone, apple will have wised up and allow all operators to sell them. iphone on vodafone would have been nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

At least you have Wi-Fi...

I think there are 2 issues. One is people not being activated (they are able to set up the phone and use Wi-Fi etc) and others (like myself) getting an error message saying there is 'no SIM' in the phone. If anyone can explain this distinction I would be very grateful.

Why a penguin - I think they would move quicker and have more intelligence than the folks at O2

[Rob]

all ok here

they let me take mine unactivated on friday, although it took a few attempts it activated fine after 20 minutes or so friday evening, all working fine now & i'm loving it!

[Dick Emery]

iTouch myself at night.

Seriously. I don't understand the mentality of people who have to be the first with a new toy. In fact Apple and others rely on this as a marketing trick. Have limited stock on day of launch and create a sellout. Thus ensuring it appears as desirable as possible to other potential purchasers.

Don't believe the hype I say. I'll grab one when they are a year old on PAYG.

[Rolf Howarth]

1 million iPhones sold

I see The Register hasn't reported the story that over 1 million iPhone 3Gs were sold over the first weekend - and if they'd had more stock and a less shambolic launch it would presumably have been much more!

[Anonymous Coward]

re: Dick Emery

I don't know why anyone would want an iPhone (or any other data-heavy smartphone) on PAYG - have you seen the price of data on PAYG?

O2 (used here as an example as they have the iPhone) costs £3 a mb for PAYG data. Eep.

[Rolf Howarth]

Hey!

You don't suppose the same company that does O2's IT systems is also responsible for the Oystercard, do you??!

[Tom]

@Tony Chandler

All O2 iPhone contracts include 'unlimited' data. So theoretically, you can use as much as you like. I say 'unlimited', as thats what they say, but its attached to a AUP, so who knows...

[alphaxion]

@rolf howarth

you'll find that you have to get the consent of the others taking part in the call before the recording becomes legal - it's why you get "your call may be recorded and used for training purposes" when you ring support lines.

RIPA, read about it.

what I find annoying is that they don't supply you with an alternative line that doesn't record your calls.. how hard can it be to add "press 1 to not have your privacy raped" to the menu so that it stops the recording? since otherwise you are SOL for support if you object to having your call recorded!

[Andrew]

ORANGE PAC

I am a smug iphony. Pre-ordered the prior Sunday so credit checked ok. Got the phone and online/on air by 9am on Friday. HOWEVER a word a advice for ORANGE PAC MEN. I called and called, was fobbed and told it would be in the post within 3 days (8 days later it still hasn't arrived) After day 3 I called and refused to get off the line until they SENT ME A TEXT MESSAGE with my PAC number. I would not wait. Get them on the blower. They're full of it.....

[peter]

To those commenting @Tony Chandler

Maybe those who wait for a PAYG dont want to lock into a crappy O2 contract but want to jailbreak and use it on a better network...

Paris -- cos even she knows the value in waiting to jailbreak a PAYG iPhone

[Rolf Howarth]

@alphaxion

You said "RIPA, read all about it", so I did.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/consumer/advice/faqs/prvfaq3.htm says

"Can I record telephone conversations on my home phone?

Yes. The relevant law, RIPA, does not prohibit individuals from recording their own communications provided that the recording is for their own use."

But then it goes on to say "Recording or monitoring are only prohibited where some of the contents of the communication - which can be a phone conversation or an e-mail - are made available to a third party, ie someone who was neither the caller or sender nor the intended recipient of the original communication."

Which is a bit scary, as that suggests that every time you forward an email you are in violation of RIPA!!

[Anonymous Coward]

And then when it is activated....

You get O2s 3G network

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2008/05/nr_20080502a

Probably the worst of the 5.

Mines the one with the web 'n' walk phone in the pocket.

[Richard F]

72 hours - still not activated

After waiting around at the Apple store for a bit at lunchtime on Friday, but realising the queue (of about a dozen) wasn't moving, I left and came back at about 6pm. There were 2 people ahead of me and I got an (unactivated) iPhone within about half an hour.

Unfortunately it's still not activated. Having spoken to O2 customer services tonight, they tell me there's no account set up for me yet. It might be that they haven't got round to processing the paperwork yet, but they suggested it might be because Apple haven't sent it to O2 yet...

[Anonymous Coward]

'locate me' button in Google maps no longer works

For us 1G people who upgraded (not a pleasant experience) the 'locate me' button in Google maps no longer works - it just spins forever...

[Philip]

iPhone will be delivered Monday...

So after queuing for about an hour and a half on Friday, I was told by CPW that I should come back later on in the day and order my 16gb which will arrive on Monday. 3 hours later show up at CPW, order my 16gb, was told in stock and will be here at 10am on Monday (the 14th of July). Arrive at CPW today and was told sorry they over ordered and they can't give me a date of when it will arrive!!! Phoned CPW and they gave me the whole computers not working nonsense... now I am paying a contract, with NO iPhone!

[Anonymous Coward]

Got to say..

Still liking my N95, won't be upgrading this puppy until a nice open source phone comes out - I guess next year? IPhone? erm anything with an apple on it is dodgy in my book..

[Anonymous Coward]

FFS please spare us...

the 'I bought an Iphone and made a phone call with it' posts.

How can ANYONE be such a f**** t***** to write into a tech site to say 'I bought a phone and made a call with it'?

[Anonymous Coward]

Serves you all right you paytards

Can I believe my ears and eyes???? all these problems with the launch of the "new" iPhone. Did you not learn your lesson from the first time around????? It appears that the "non 3G iPhone" hype has come back to bite you on the ass!!!!

All I can say is that I have my nice shiny CrackBerry 8310 which ,strangely enough, doesn't have a problem with connecting to the network, has a good browser, full qwerty keyboard, push e-mail, GPS and a cool media player which you dont have to go anywhere near iToons for. Yes, I know it isn't a 3G phone, but when you look at the coverage and speed of slOw2's 3G network, it provides a more than satisfactory connection without the hassle, with a very nice user experience.

PLUS, I dont have to pay slOw2 (who incidentally cut me off when I was with them several years back for not paying a bill which wasn't due for 7 more days, and was being taken by direct debit anyway. Took 5 days to get them to reconnect me) an extortionate amount of money for a their iCrap service.

Get a life you sad losers, its only an MP3 player after all.

Flame on!!!!!

[wibble]

day 4, no connection

I along with every customer who bought one from their store in belfast on friday have still not been activated.

5 phone calls and many lies later, still no connection.

Call the store this morning to be told, it is out of their hands.

o2 have not even made an official announcement on their website, and on the news sites, are claiming that only a few people have been affected.

The o2 forums speak for themselves, more than a few people complaining on there.

http://customerforum.o2.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=3

[Clive Powell]

So people actually use iPhones to make telephone calls ...

There are cheaper phones out there to make calls on, without being locked into O2.

I was very confused with iTouch because I read this as IT Ouch, which is what happened.

Mines the coat with the inbuilt radio reception and phone (my phone is a brick and is over 10 years old, but can make calls from any network with the correct SIM card).

[Grant Mitchell]

Latest I heard

I called this morning and was told they had set a deadline of 12 today (Tuesday), and all phones would be active by then... I'm not holding my breath though, as I've lost count of the number of lies O2 has told me already (yes, it'll be active in 72hrs/Today, yes we'll call you back by .... ). How many lies can a company seriously expect to tell new customers!?!? And the absolutely incredulous tone I was met with by customer "care" when I asked about compensation!

Still, I expect it'll be working... by next month... maybe...

[Nameless Faceless Computer User]

I don't understand the logic

Those who insist on being the first to own the new iPhone deserve the problems they bring on themselves. Why not purchase an iPhone next week or next month? If stock runs low, they'll make more. In fact, as time marches on, any problems will have been resolved and software will have been updated. By next year, Apple will be announcing iPhone 4G.

[Martin Eriksson]

Only took them 77 hours

Well my iPhone 3G finally did get activated on Monday, a snappy 77 hours after I paid for it. and thats with a new contract and being one of the first people through the stores Friday morning...

@Nameless Faceless Computer User - might as well wait for the telephone implants coming in 2020 right? Or hang on... who needs phones, lets wait till we evolve the ability to communicate telepathically.

[Grant Mitchell]

High noon comes and goes

The promised 12 o'clock activation has come and gone, I got a phone call just before 12, saying it may take another 24 hours!

O2 flatly refused any compensation saying "Technically you're not a customer yet, so we won't be compensating you."

Weasely words of the incompetent.

[Tony]

5 days

Well I queued in the Apple store and managed to take my phone away at 4pm after waiting since 7 in the morning. at 10.30pm last night the SIM card finally sprang into life. It's a nonsense that O2 couldn't predict the volume of activations. Just add up the total number of O2 stores, Carphone Warehouse stores and Apple stores, work out an average number of employees per store, work out how long an activation should take then work out how many of those can be done in an hour and multiply all these up and bingo!

so it goes:

(Apple Stores x CPW stores x O2 stores) x number of employees x (60 / number of minutes per activation) = maximum number of activation requests per hour.

This would have been an over the top figure but they should have ramped up their facilities to deal with it, whoever in the place couldn't figure that out and ramp up their OSS systems to deal with it should be sacked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mine works fine!!

My 3G iPhone activated immediately.

However, it came direct from Apple, I just bought a contract from 02.

I also got the iPhone free (from www.freeiphone4me.co.uk)