iPhone - "It was great while it lasted."

Let me start off by saying for the two days I was using the iPhone, I thought it was great. Interface was fluid and fast. The virtual keyboard I felt worked as well as my existing Blackberry mechanical keyboard. The few phone calls I had sounded clear. Speaker phone volume left a bit to be desired. Comparing notes with a fellow iPhone owner, he had similar experiences. We noted that majority of the issues we had could conceivably solved with a software update, etc. Wasn't 'hard coded' like in many other phones.

So why only two days? Picked up a new iPhone from the Soho Apple Store this past Saturday morning. Took it home and attempted activation via iTunes. That didn't work. I couldn't port my number over. I gave the AT&T support line a call and was told what probably stopped the activation was my current Los Angeles cell # and my New York billing address. Had two options, wait till Monday and activate then or activate the phone with a NY phone number then call the provisioning center on Monday to switch the number over. Since the phone plans are all nationwide, shouldn't be a problem. So I opted to activate at that time so I could actually use the phone over the weekend.

Well it was a problem. Spoke to the provisioning center first thing Monday morning before work. Apparently I couldn't maintain the cell # I established in Los Angeles with T-Mobile (which T-Mobile had no issues with me changing my billing address to New York) with the new AT&T account.

So that was that. Returned the phone and the case I bought at the 5th Ave. Apple Store which was great since that location was alot closer to work. Then called AT&T to close the account. The account cancellation representative I spoke to was even puzzled as to why I couldn't keep the number but I'm just the messenger.

To clarify, everyone I spoke to at AT&T was courteous and being in customer service myself, I'm not one to treat them with any less respect. The inability to transfer my # really put a bad taste in my mouth. I had major misgivings in getting the iPhone because of the provider. I had a bad customer experience with Cingular which prompted my switch to T-Mobile. I had a bad experience with AT&T when I first moved to Los Angeles. The strength of the iPhone hardware/software led me to give AT&T/Cingular one more chance.

Before any comments start, yes I am aware of the 'workarounds'. Some needed to be done at time of activation. Some may have involve stretching the 'truth' after activation. As I was telling the Apple Genius and others, why should I have to lie about anything. T-Mobile didn't have an issue with it.