New York:
Apple announced on Tuesday that it had sold its three millionth iPad, just 80 days after it first went on sale.
Yet customers who purchased an iPad 3G before June 7 were dealing with frustrations from AT&T, the exclusive carrier, while trying to sign up for an unlimited data plan.
For many iPad hopefuls it has been exceedingly difficult to purchase an iPad; almost all of Apple's 200 retail stores are sold out, and ordering online means waiting a week to 10 business days for shipping.
Last month, after AT&T announced that after June 7 it would eliminate the unlimited data option for the iPad 3G, the company agreed to allow customers who had ordered an iPad 3G before June 7 to sign up for an unlimited data plan, even before they had the device in hand.
Now customers who have begun receiving their new iPad 3Gs are saying that they have extended wait times to sign up for the unlimited data plan, sometimes waiting for hours to speak to an customer services representative and in other instances being told the unlimited data plan no longer exists.
Ovunc Bardakcioglu, a reader who purchased an iPad before the June 7 deadline e-mailed the Bits blog yesterday to say an AT&T customer service representative didn't know how to sign him up for the data plan. The representative Mr. Bardakcioglu spoke with, he said, gave him a case number and "promised" to get back to him "at the end of the month."
Mark Jacob, another reader and new iPad 3G customer, said he was unable to get through to a phone representative. Mr. Jacobs said, "I am apparently on terminal hold, with some guitar riff playing in the background interrupted every 20 seconds or so by an 'all representatives are busy' message." He also said that after several efforts to talk to someone he was finally told by an AT&T employee that the "the unlimited data plan is not available."
AT&T says it is aware of the problems, but a spokeswoman could not say when they would be fixed. The company says it will honor the unlimited data plan for anyone who ordered an iPad by June 7.