Can’t text 61998 (BT)

[Shaphron]

I have attempted to text BT multiple times from my Virgin mobile, but it comes up saying message not sent. My housemate (not a virgin mobile) has successfully texted them.

i have unlimited texts on my plan and No spending cap. I have seen that there is some confusion over if Virgin allow users to text to short codes. If they do not, does anyone know a different number for BT which would be able to be used instead?

[enlli]

It's come up a few times before. Sadly, I'm not able to say I have seen a working solution.

[Chris_W1]

Hi Shaphron, thanks for the message. I am sorry to hear that you are having issues texting the number and this is not the experience which we want you to have. Can you try turning off Wi-FI calling to see if this has any impact on sending the text? ^Chris. 

[-tony-]

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@Chris_W1 wrote:

Hi Shaphron, thanks for the message. I am sorry to hear that you are having issues texting the number and this is not the experience which we want you to have. Can you try turning off Wi-FI calling to see if this has any impact on sending the text? ^Chris. 

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not sure how turning off wifi calling will help but who knows - short codes have been a problem for as long as the purple sim has been around - theres many posts relating to the NHS where they do not work - not sure if its caller specific ie BT in this case or VM specific

theres cases where users have had no option other than cancelling VM and going elsewhere 

i certainly cannot get or send short code texts on a samsung S8 and that does not have wifi calling so full circle how is turning off wifi calling going to help?

[Shaphron]

I tested it to be sure. It still doesn’t work with wi fi calling off. I have managed to get housemate to get in touch with BT using non-virgin mobile, so immediate issue is solved, but I’d prefer a long term solution....

[enlli]

I think the turning off WiFi Calling refers to the problem where some customers can't use SMS with it switched on. The thread on that is now 14 month old, but be assured Virgin are doing their best to get a fix😡

[Beth_G]

Hi Shaphron,

Thanks for giving that a go.

So that we can understand the issue a little better, can I ask what it is you're texting BT about, or what it is you're trying to send in the text to them? It just might help us figure out the reason that the text is failing to send.

Thanks,

Beth

[-tony-]

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@Beth_G wrote:

Hi Shaphron,

Thanks for giving that a go.

So that we can understand the issue a little better, can I ask what it is you're texting BT about, or what it is you're trying to send in the text to them? It just might help us figure out the reason that the text is failing to send.

Thanks,

Beth

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afaik its not the content - it may be who the OP is trying to text but in a nut shell short codes are iffy at best and dont work at worst - sending them to the NHS is not possible with the purple sim and thats the key - they were before VM updated from the red sim to the purple one - and as said above it goes back a year or more - i think the technical people have just given up on it and accepted that those who need it have found their own solution - another mobile provider

[Shaphron]

I’m really not sure how the context of the message is relevant, but I’ve only tried really short messages to BT, as it’s an automated line that has specific things to send. So I’ve attempted to send a text which says “more” and a text which says “help ##### ### ###” where the hashes are my land line number.

 

[Beth_G]

Hi @-tony-

You are right - it may not be an issue with the content as such, however we are keen to know as much information as possible so that we can feed this back to see if this matches any specific issues that we're aware of.

Thanks for your help,

Beth.