topic Re: Apple Watch Series 8 cellular STILL stuck on activating in Tech Support

Apple Watch Series 8 cellular STILL stuck on activating

Blu3 — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 11:01:00 GMT

So i made a post on here about 3 weeks ago now and have still gotten absolutely nowhere - my Apple watch is still stuck on “activating” absolutely no matter what I do.

Since my last post, i’ve tried waiting a few days for activation itself, going in store to sort this out (to no avail, told it’s a server issue and to come back in 5 days & after coming back, i was just told to wait for it to activate), speaking to 202 multiple times (to no avail, nobody has any clue what i’m talking about or gives generic scripted advice), speaking to live chat which was escalated to management who opened a tech support ticket weeks ago (also to no avail), speaking to O2 on Twitter, increasing my spend cap (which is usually set to unlimited anyway), factory resetting the watch & erasing all content, factory resetting my phone and reinstalling everything, and have even performed a physical SIM swap to try and give it another go on a clean slate, setting up the watch as new when my new SIM arrived. This also did not work, so most recently, I performed an eSIM swap which surprise surprise, also didn’t work. I even went to the Apple store who assured me it is an O2 problem and definitely not an Apple problem, which was obvious but I was desperate for any kind of support.

After 3 weeks of relentlessly trying every tip and hint i’ve read on these forums and taking advice from O2’s abysmal support, I am in the exact same spot. The watch just says “Activating” indefinitely.

Absolutely nothing has worked and O2 has put me in a position where I truly feel hopeless. Someone tagged O2 Ryan last time, who did message me asking to confirm my number so they can look into it for me, but when i gave him the information, poof, gone and absolutely no response for almost 3 weeks now. This is a true nightmare and I genuinely cannot believe that there’s no real fix for this yet, for myself and thousands of others.

And yes, both the phone (14 Pro Max) and watch (Series 😎 are updated to latest firmware (watchOS 9.6, iOS 16.6), Wi-Fi calling is enabled on my SIM, and motion & fitness are set to “on” in my privacy settings. I have desperately followed every possible step in my power to sort this out as I need this watch for work, but have had absolutely zero help to put an end to it.

This post is honestly a last ditch effort to get any kind of assistance with this, so if you could tag anybody that can genuinely help and understands my issue, i would whole heartedly appreciate that. I have contacted O2 through every possible means at this point.

Re: Apple Watch Series 8 cellular STILL stuck on activating

Cleoriff — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 11:12:17 GMT

@Blu3

I'm afaid our account advisors including @O2Ryan are no longer part of the forum.

Your only option is to persevere with O2. One of our members got lucky when he went into an O2 shop. The manager there knew what he was doing and sorted the watch out.

If you need to call ring O2 on 202 or 0344 809 0202 (Contract) OR 4445 or 0344 809 222 (PAYG)

Or you https://o2uk.co/O2CIG), hopefully they should be able to help.can message O2 on Facebook ( https://o2uk.co/O2CFB) , Twitter ( https://o2uk.co/O2CTW) or Instagram (

Re: Apple Watch Series 8 cellular STILL stuck on activating

Blu3 — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 11:49:04 GMT

painful to see that getting actual help at an O2 store is considered “getting lucky”. thanks for the reply, i think i’ve given up on this goose chase & am going to switch providers. nobody i’ve contacted seems to be trained in this issue despite it being around since about 2020 according to some forums posts!

Re: Apple Watch Series 8 cellular STILL stuck on activating

SSC357 — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 02:29:07 GMT

I have the same problem Blu3 and will post here if I manage to resolve the issue.

Re: Apple Watch Series 8 cellular STILL stuck on activating

Blu3 — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 03:49:45 GMT

appreciate you my friend, wishing you all the best in finding a solution!