Problem opening Microsoft Account – wouldn’t create an Outlook.com e-mail account

I didn't have a Microsoft account when I bought a Windows 8 phone 2 days ago.

I would like to retrieve my old contacts from the SIM card, and purchase/download some apps., for which I require a Microsoft account.

I read through all the help files first, and they seemed to indicate that it was very important to chose wisely in the email account used as my Microsoft account, since I couldn't change it later, without losing all purchases etc. Therefore a (new) outlook.com email account seemed the best bet, since I expect to change my existing internet carriers in the future.

After 2 days of getting "There's a temporary problem with the service. Please try again. If you continue to get this message, try again later" messages,

I have finally had to set-up this account (with an existing non-outlook.com email), solely for the purpose of posting this issue on this forum!