Text messages fail, yet are received

[EdwardP]

Today, I attempted to send a text message from my Nokia 6101 phone to an e-mail address. The 6101 has an unusual syntax for sending to an e-mail address:

email@foo.com Subject# Begin message here.

The # sign immediately after the subject tells the e-mail server that the word immediately before the # is the subject that the recipient should see when the e-mail is received.

After composing the message and sending to the e-mail server number, a text message was received within a few seconds indicating the message could not be sent because e was not a valid e-mail address. I re-checked the message a second time, and sent it again. Another text message came back, this time indicating g was not a valid e-mail address. I then erased everything, recomposed it, and it successfully sent. However, the recipient reported receiving five (5) copies of the same e-mail.

Does this sound like a problem with the phone itself (if so, I will switch phones), a problem on T-Mobile's end, or perhaps both?

The owners manual for the 6101 references an e-mail selection on the Message menu, however in the phone itself, there are no e-mail related entries whatsoever, a message to an e-mail address must be written as above.

The Nokia 6800 (which I also have and will switch to if necessary), has a full QWERTY keyboard that flips out and its menu structure has separate selections for sending to an e-mail address or to another mobile number.

Ed

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

delivery reports might be turned on in the phone

Go to Menu>Messages>Message Settings>Text Messages

Look for delivery reports and turn them off if they aren't already

Go to Menu>Messages>Message Settings>Mulitimedia Messages

Turn off the delivery reports if they aren't already turned off

[EdwardP]

Delivery reports were turned off.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

record the number that the return messages are coming from........keep this number and call T-Mobile........ask them who owns the number and then you can figure out if its in your phone with T-Mobile or with the email server of the person your sending the message to

[EdwardP]

The messages indicating the bad e-mail address came back from T-Mobile's own server.

The message had valid e-mail addresses and was typed in correctly, so I have no idea why they were rejected at first.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

so its a system message not a text message from a number? of about 4-6 digits

[EdwardP]

The error messages I received indicating "e" and "g" were invalid e-mail addresses, were text messages sent back from T-Mobile's server. They were received between 20-30 seconds after the outgoing message was sent.

I believe the formatting of the messages (because of the odd syntax requirement mentioned above) possibly became garbled, between the point when the phone sent them out and when they were received by T-Mobile's e-mail server. Because I was right across the street from a tower with T-Mobile equipment on it, the phone had a strong, full signal.

I've since switched back to my Nokia 6800, the only feature I'm losing is a camera.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

but if the messages cam beck from T-Mobile's server then what number did they come from??????

if they were response text messages they had to come from a number?!?!?!?

[EdwardP]

Wirelessly posted (T-Mobile: Nokia6800/2.0 (5.58) Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0)

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

but if the messages cam beck from T-Mobile's server then what number did they come from??????

if they were response text messages they had to come from a number?!?!?!?

The msgs indicating the "problem " came from a T-Mobile server, 4-digit number.

Apparently, something on the server end garbled the messages.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

did you call T-Mobile and ask what company or entity is attached to that 4-digit number?

[Cailiff04]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

did you call T-Mobile and ask what company or entity is attached to that 4-digit number?

As he has tried to tell you several times..it's not a company...it's an automatic reply from t-mobile saying the desination is invalid. So there is no need to call and ask what company it's from. He can call and ask why the messages arent going through. Could've been a temporary network issue or a messaging issue!!

[EdwardP]

I switched phones, this resolved the problem.