Text messages that convert themselves to media messages

[Anonymous]

Hi, Does anyone experiece text messages changing from a simple text message to a media message and then incurring charges when no image was attached!

This has happened to me on more than one occasion and is very annoying!

Is there a way round it?

I didn't notice that it had changed from an ordinary text.

Did I miss something?

Can anyone help or make suggestions on how to prevent this?

Thanks

[Cleoriff]

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@anticpated wrote:

I think you might mean dyscalculia. Something isn't adding up anyway.

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That word may not exist @anticpated but I like it..... so will add to my collection.

Apologies it DOES exist......who knew?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

fact: I'm not awake yet! 480 is right! 160x3!

my dyslexic brain mixed the 160 with the times 3! 

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It's usually 160x3=480 but the permissable length of 160 can be reduced in some circumstances, depending on phone settings.

Technically, sms is 140 bytes.  That's 8x140= 1120 bits.  Standard sms characters are 7 bits each, giving 1120/7=160 characters.

If you set your phone to unicode, for example to send graphical smilies as sms instead of mms, or your phone is set to switch automatically upon insertion of a unicode character, then every single character is encoded using 16 bits, instead of 7, even those which could have been encoded using just 7 bits.  Therefore the limit per message becomes 1120/16=70.  Three messages in this mode give you a total of 70x3=210 unicode encoded characters?

Still awake at the back?

Now, to further complicate things, some characters take up a massive 32 bits, instead of 16, (most smilies do).  When you type one of these in to an SMS you will see the character counter decrease by two.  Effectively that gives you 35 of these special characters per message.  Total sms capacity then becomes 35x3=105 'wide' unicode characters.

I mean, really it's quite simple to understand 

[Anonymous]

This has been widely reported in the media, on social media, on tv, on forums such as here.

Why do people still not know and more importantly why do the networks not sort this out with the manufacturers?

£££££££

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:
This has been widely reported in the media, on social media, on tv, on forums such as here.

Why do people still not know and more importantly why do the networks not sort this out with the manufacturers?

£££££££

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Got it in one @Anonymous 

[Anonymous]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
This has been widely reported in the media, on social media, on tv, on forums such as here.

Why do people still not know and more importantly why do the networks not sort this out with the manufacturers?

£££££££

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Got it in one @Anonymous 

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Not the networks' or handset manufacturers' fault at all.

I've sent graphic smilies as SMS, with no MMS charges, on O2, EE, Orange, Vodafone, and 3.  Not tried the other networks, but I think that's enough to prove my point.  Learn how to use your handset is all I can say.  It's another case of people using technology they don't understand.  Either learn it, or pay the price of being ignorant.  Sorry, but it's true.

[Anonymous]

Ok so if it is the case that the Note 3 allows the use of emoticons like these 😆 but the S4 from the same manufacturer doesn't, surely that proves this is a software issue.

If one does charge and the other doesn't then surely o2 should step in. Personally I think it is close to fraudulent behaviour from o2 if I get charged using one device but not the other.

(Of course o2 could say the Note 3 should be charging but doesn't lol)

Either way it is all wrong

[Anonymous]

Sorry but on this occasion @Anonymous I strongly disagree based on my last post

[Cleoriff]

Whatever the reason....it happens all too frequently. Not everyone is technically savvy with their phones whether we like it or not. If it hadn't been for this forum I would have been amassing large bills and wondering why. The fact that some are free and others are not ....just adds to the confusion in my opinion....

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Ok so if it is the case that the Note 3 allows the use of emoticons like these 😆 but the S4 from the same manufacturer doesn't, surely that proves this is a software issue.

If one does charge and the other doesn't then surely o2 should step in. Personally I think it is close to fraudulent behaviour from o2 if I get charged using one device but not the other.

(Of course o2 could say the Note 3 should be charging but doesn't lol)

Either way it is all wrong

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It's not a software issue at all.

It's completely misleading to say that some handsets 'charge' for sending graphical smilies as SMS, and some don't.

SMS allows you to send 1120 bits of information.  Fact.  How you and your handset choose to use them is your decision.  For example, I could use those 1120 bits to represent 560 DNA sequences, a split second of sound, or whatever.

You and other people who winge about being charged for MMS are sending MORE than 1120 bits*, and expecting it to all fit in to an SMS.

(* Actually 3x1120 = 3360 )

You are using the MMS service, so you pay for MMS.

If you want to pay SMS rates, use SMS.

If you don't know how to configure your phone to send certain characters in the right format, either:

1. Don't

2. Learn how to

3. Pay to use MMS

It's NOT the networks' fault, the handset manufacturers' fault, my fault, or anybody else's fault if you are charged for mms.  It's YOUR fault.

[Anonymous]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

Whatever the reason....it happens all too frequently. Not everyone is technically savvy with their phones whether we like it or not. If it hadn't been for this forum I would have been amassing large bills and wondering why. The fact that some are free and others are not ....just adds to the confusion in my opinion....

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Nobody is obliged to be technically savvy, but ALL of the handsets I've seen DO indicate when an SMS is being sent as MMS, either by a sound, or an on screen message.

The Note 3 and S4 certainly do.