The weekend launch of Apple’s brand-spanking new iPhone was a tremendous success if you’re a shareholder in Apple stock, but if you’re one of the unfortunate customers that have been left out in the dark without activation by phone carrier and Apple iPhone partner AT&T then success is a four-letter swear word.

As iPhones flew off store shelves across the country over the weekend some customers found that Apple’s supposedly easy-as-pie activation scheme for the iPhone via iTunes turned out to be a never-ending nightmare. After registering their iPhone, selecting a plan and paying by credit card the iPhoners were told to wait for a confirmation email…and wait they did (and are still doing.)

Some bloggers and reporters (like CNET’s Declan McCullagh) gave a blow-by-blow account of enduring hours while waiting on hold to speak with AT&T or Apple customer support staff, many of which weren’t up-to-speed in understanding what the problems occurring were. McCullagh waited for 39 hours after registering his iPhone and speaking with numerous help staff employees before his manna from Steve Jobs was finally ready to transmit his voice across the digital spectrum.

A representative from Apple said that only a “small percentage” of iPhone buyers were affected and the company was trying to fix the problem as fast as they could. Still, that’s small consolation if you are one of those out $600 for a dead air iPhone that you can’t show off to anyone.