Cannot Receive Text Messages

[HL_2162215]

I have been with Smarty for 2 years. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab A71. 

I am unable to receive any text messages save for those from those from Smarty. 

I have tried every troubleshooter I can find. It hasn't helped. I have tried the smarty web contact but it won't let me select my actual issue. I chose a different issue but have received no response.

I have tried searching these forums for people with similar issues but it hasn't helped. I have tried removing the sim and then putting it back in. I have tried turning my phone off and back on again. I have tried clearing the message cache. My phone has plenty of storage, I have plenty of data left. The message centre number is correct.

I've no idea what to do. I do not have access to another phone.

Help please.

[MSF]

@HL_2162215  Can you send text messages?

[HL_2162215]

Yes I can send them.

[MSF]

@HL_2162215 Is it one person or many people who cannot send texts to you? Have you checked all your phone settings to ensure that you haven't blocked all messages somehow?

[HL_2162215]

It is everyone  including the alerts for the taxi I called, and a number of people who are not on my network.

The smarty authentication message was receives, as was a message from my sister who is on Smarty. I have also received messages from my doctors alert system.

I'm showing no blocked numbers. I've been in the settings turning everything on and off and trying everything I think might work.

[MSF]

@HL_2162215  Did you port your number from a previous network and then make sure that the phone was showing that number? Do people perhaps have your originally allocated number somehow and that is no longer coming through to you? Is it possible to ask someone to key in your number when sending a text (rather than reply of uses Contacts) to see if it makes a difference?

If none of my suggestions help, contact Smarty Support via web chat for them to check

[HL_2162215]

Thank you. 

This is my first smart phone and Smarty has been the only phone company I have used with this phone and number.  It has worked for 2 years. I am not sure what happened so I no longer receive messages. 

I asked someone to text me using the number but that didn't work.

The smarty support is extremely slow.

[MSF]

@HL_2162215 I noticed that Samsung suggested taking out the sim and gently cleaning the contacts - did you try that?

[HL_2162215]

Thank you. I did try removing it and putting it back in and that didn't help. I have just tried it again and wiped the contacts with a glasses wipe. It still isn't working.

If I temporarily placed my Sim in someone elses phone would that mess everything up? Or would it be able to tell me if the problem's with my Sim or with my Phone? (Sorry I'm very new to smart phones and rather clueless how they work.) 

I'm also having huge issues with the web chat to contact support. I don't know how to be alerted when they respond. Even with the webpage open it is taking time for a response and by the time I notice an agent has said one thing and then I get the "It's been some time since your last response".

[MSF]

@HL_2162215 You can move a sim to another phone with no problems. The Contacts will not be there as they are not on the sim, but the mobile number will 'travel' with the sim.

This should show whether it is a phone issue or a sim/account issue.

Responses in web chat can be variable time-wise. I haven't used it for a while, but seem to remember getting an email when there was a response.

[HL_2162215 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your patience and explanation.

I finally managed to have a discussion with Smarty Support and they ran me through a lot of troubleshooting tips. They were a lot more helpful than I expected, even if it didn't solve the issue. 

We ended up at the either try the sim in another phone, or get a new simcard. 

Then I found a reddit thread (I had done extensive searching yesterday but hadn't found this thread.) 

I was assuming when I fixed the issue I would receive a barrage of old texts but that hasn't happened. 

It's a Samsung issue with RCS. I turned chat features off again in my messenger app. I then sent myself a couple of emojis/bitmojis because one of the users suggested that as a solution and I had nothing to lose. I set my phone aside and stopped fiddling with the settings. 

15 minutes later I then received four of the texts I had previously not received. (They were all just test messages from yesterday and nothing from earlier in the week.)

I'll mark this as solved once I can doublecheck the issue is fixed. 

Thanks for your help.

[MSF]

@HL_2162215 Good news!! Thank you for letting us know the outcome thus far. Many people don't even bother.

I sometimes wonder if these new features don't cause more problems than they are worth.

I never mind trying to help people who have at least tried by themselves and are not purely whinging and griping. It's the rudeness and sense of entitlement from some people that I cannot stand!

Hope it is now solved for you.

[HL_2162215]

I think it's important to include the outcome in case anyone else has the same issue. 

I'd seen people posting on various other places they'd the issue before I posted here.

I'd also seen people posting that Smarty's Webchat was useless but I found it extremely helpful even when they weren't able to solve the issue itself. They were extremely thorough and suggested a few steps I hadn't tried. The only problem was actually catching one to reply to.  

Same for you. You were extremely helpful and I thoroughly appreciated it when I was panicking about my phone being broken forever and all I was digging up was people saying Smarty was terrible and there was no solution. 

All the messages I missed have come through now.  Hopefully this will help anyone who's had a similar issue with not receiving texts but managing to send them. 

[MSF]

🎉😄