United Mobile changes SMS rates & adds 16 countries

[hawkdeira]

I couldn't get UM / Riing to send SMS from the UK. And each time I tried I was charged, although they did do me a refund after I emailed them.

[snaimon]

The tale continues......

Received a reply from UM. Final disposition still pending. They suggested I call T-Mobile USA. The UM card was registered on T-Mobile (THEIR RECOMMNEDATION from a failed attempt to send an SMS from Cingular).

Actually, I had attempted several SMSs from both my TMO postpaid and TMO prepaid phone. I called prepaid CS because I had over the last few days been pestering postpaid CS PDA guys about MMS and email. Turns out prepaid also can see individual items like SMS and downloads. Sure enough, 2 SMS to FL sent (Mar 11 and April 4) sent on my prepaid phone, billed and then CREDITED back to me about a week later. Why? Well, according to rep, the following 4 country codes are BLOCKED by T-MO USA

681
290
247
423

BINGO! 423 is it! Rep thought it would be the same for postpaid. So, your UM card booked on TMO USA is guaranteed to fail to send an SMS to 423 because the country code 423 is blocked. Nice work.

I have written back to UM customer service. We shall see what happens.

Stan

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by snaimon

The tale continues......

Well, according to rep, the following 4 country codes are BLOCKED by T-MO USA

681
290
247
423

Would be interesting to know why they block three islands somewhere in the ocean and.... Liechtenstein. Very interesting indeed....

Chris

[snaimon]

I tried again to send an SMS from my CONTRACT T-MO US phone. Am at work and don't have the UM phone with me. The online billing has not come thru. HOWEVER, I have written and am to receive an email answer from CONTRACT T-MO CS about the same issue.

It will be interesting to see if the same blocks appear on PRE- and POST-PAY. I made no mention of my chat with the PRE-PAY rep. I am to receive an email answer back.

Anyone know if you can REPLY to the email response from UM CS -- and expect an answer? I have done that. HOWEVER, just to play it safe, I also cut and pasted my reply into their online service request form.

I submitted my 1st question on Saturday and of course both Sun and Mon were holidays in Europe. However, the UM site says they are open 00-24 hours not citing any holiday hour restrictions.

Stan

[prion]

Originally Posted by dg7feq

Would be interesting to know why they block three islands somewhere in the ocean and.... Liechtenstein. Very interesting indeed....

Chris

The most possible reason for blocking these country codes is that they are used from many websites as a means of providing access if you do not have a credit card. For example voting, mp3 sites etc provide you access to their content if you call one of these numbers. The incoming costs are very high.

Also these country codes are used by many dialer programms (when using dialup internet access). So I suspect many customers have complained abou this situation and they blocked them. For Liechtenstein the code in question is +4236639.

[AndreA]

Originally Posted by prion

The most possible reason for blocking these country codes is that they are used from many websites as a means of providing access if you do not have a credit card. For example voting, mp3 sites etc provide you access to their content if you call one of these numbers. The incoming costs are very high.

Also these country codes are used by many dialer programms (when using dialup internet access). So I suspect many customers have complained abou this situation and they blocked them. For Liechtenstein the code in question is +4236639.

Yes, maybe you're right! But I can't understand why block a country code (+423) and not only the +423663.9xxx... it's not so difficoult for a network as T-Mo

[prion]

Originally Posted by AndreA

Yes, maybe you're right! But I can't understand why block a country code (+423) and not only the +423663.9xxx... it's not so difficoult for a network as T-Mo

Probably because most LD providers charge same rate for calls to +4236 in general.
For example in Greece, the main telecom Carrier (OTE) has recently increased rates to this prefix by 300%. They now are 1 euro/min!

[snaimon]

Sehr geehrter Herr Naimon,

Danke für den Einblick in Stil und Antwort der "Konkurrenz" in den USA! Wahrhaftig interessant zu sehen, mit welcher Methode hier versucht wird, Ihnen mehr oder weniger sanft die Verantwortung für ein angebliches Fehlinformiertseins in die Schuhe zu schieben! Herr Naimon, Sie sind nicht falsch informiert gewesen sondern wurden dies jetzt von jenem "Customer Care Specialist": vor ca. 3-4 Wochen fing T-Mobile USA nämlich erst mit dieser absurden Sperrung an. Intern heisst es wegen "Fraude". Das mag soweit sogar einen realen Hintergrund und die Sorge T-Mobiles um Ihre Kunden seine Berechtigung haben aber T-Mobile hat die ganze Nation Liechtenstein und nicht selektiv den evt. betroffenen Nummernbereich gesperrt.

Was Ihre Anregung an uns, uns bei T-Mobile zu melden, betrifft, so haben wir dies natürlich eigeninitiativ von der ersten Minute an getan, da sehr viele Kunden in den USA von der Sperrung betroffen sind. Wir informieren uns schon seit Anbeginn dieser Misère nach dem Hintergrund und regen eine etwas differenziertere Handhabung der Angelegenheit an aber bisher leider ohne zählbares Ergebnis. Uns bleibt uns nur aufrichtig bei Ihnen zu entschuldigen für diesen ganzen Mißstand, ohne eine direkte Verantwortung dafür zu tragen - ganz anders als T-Mobile, der den alten Service an Ihre Kunden nur wieder herstellen möge anstelle Ihnen "frustrierende" Erlebnisse zuzufügen.

Mit freundlichen Grüssen

==============

Bottom line: UM is ticked that T-Mo is blocking ALL 423 numbers and not just the offending FRAUD #s. Started anbout 3 - 4 weeks ago. They have been trying to deal with T-MO USA but to no avail. They are sorry. Nonetheless, they have NOT refunded my 39 ecents for the undelivered messages..

Stan

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by snaimon

Well, according to rep, the following 4 country codes are BLOCKED by T-MO USA

681
290
247
423

BINGO! 423 is it! Rep thought it would be the same for postpaid. So, your UM card booked on TMO USA is guaranteed to fail to send an SMS to 423 because the country code 423 is blocked. Nice work.

681 Wallis and Futuna
290 Saint Helena
247 Ascension
423 Liechtenstein

A nice set . But I don't quite understand what do they mean by "blocked"? No SMS to those countries or also no voice calls??? After all, all the islands mentioned above seem not to have any mobile networks to receive SMS so the SMS-only "blockade" would have no real meaning

[snaimon]

Dear Stanley Naimon,

Thank you, Stanley, for contacting T-Mobile and for providing me the
opportunity to help you. My name is Steve and I will be happy to answer
your questions today. I see you sent our online Customer Care group an
email regarding having difficulty sending text messages to a friend in
Liechtenstein. I know how frustrating it can be when you are unable to
contact friends and family so I can certainly look into this for you. I
do apologize, Stanley, for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Stanley I regret to inform you that I show that Liechtenstein is a
country that is blocked from making calls and text messages to. It only
might be possible to send messages to them if you were roaming
domestically on our network and I am sorry you were not aware of this
before.

If you have any further questions regarding this issue or other T-Mobile
services and features, Stanley, please reply to this e-mail referencing
case # 264841 and we will be pleased assist you. You may also call
Customer Care toll free at 1-800-937-8997 or 611 then SEND from your
phone and a representative will be happy to help you.

I would like to thank you personally, Stanley, for being a valued
T-Mobile customer since January of 2004.

Sincerely,