Do I get charged for receiving a text from an international number?

[lamb229]

I've been charged for international texts I've sent but I've also apparently been charged for texts I've received? Is this right? Also, I've been charged for more international texts than sent and received combined. 

[Steven_L]

Hey lamb229,

Welcome back to the community and thanks for taking the time to post here on the forums.

Which country are the text messages coming from?

Kind Regards,

Steven_L

[lamb229]

I'm in UK and texts are from family in Ireland. I know there's a charge to send a text to an international phone but I didn't think I would be charged if they sent a text back. Thanks

[John_GS]

Hi @lamb229

Thanks for coming back to us. There's no charge for receiving SMS from Ireland. Have you looked at the breakdown of your bill?

Best wishes,

[lamb229]

Sorry, but are you sure? The Customer Service Rep said on the phone that I get charged for receiving international texts as well as sending them but the charges still don't tally up to the texts. They charged me for 2 texts all at 13.12 when I only sent one. The one I received was about 5/10 minutes later. Then they charged me for 7 texts all at 19:26 when, again, I only sent one. The texts I then received, a total of 4 I think, were later on. Just to be clear it's Southern Ireland, so International, not Northern Ireland. Thanks.

[Akua_A]

For clarity, you may find the following link useful https://www.virginmedia.com/help/mobile/cost-of-international-calls-and-texts-from-uk. Please let us know if you need any further help.

Thanks,

[lamb229]

Thanks Akua_A but this only tells me how much I am charged for 'sending' a text message to an international mobile, not how much, if anything, I am charged for 'receiving' a text message from an international mobile. One thing it did clarify was that if I send a text message with more than 160 characters then it will charge for more than one text message but the first text I sent had less than this and I was charged for 2 texts, and the next text I sent had 448 characters which would work out as 2.8 times the number allowed so I'd probably be charged for 3 text messages. This still doesn't match up to the charges on my bill.

[japitts]

Receiving text messages is free of charge, wherever you are in the world.

The only exception are premium-rate reverse-charged texts where you will have specifically requested them.

[Akua_A]

Thank you for clarifying this @lamb229. As mentioned by @japitts, receiving texts should be free unless they are premium-rate reverse-charged texts where you will have specifically requested them. just to clarify, it was 2 international texts that you sent out? Did they contain images? 

Thanks,

[lamb229]

Yes, it was 2 international texts that I sent out. They contained emojis, do those count as pictures? If they don't then no, I didn't send any pictures.

It said that, rather than charge you for several texts if you go over the 160 characters, then they may charge you for sending an MMS instead but the charges I received were for individual text charges for international rates of 0.06p per text. Thank you for your help with this.