Question

International SMS to Greece not working

  • 24 April 2023
  • 19 replies
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For some months now, I have not been able to receive SMS messages from Greece, and the ones I send do not reach them either. This is through two different devices, and a friend (who also has T-Mobile) has the same issue, and to many different numbers and carriers in Greece, so I know it is a carrier issue on the T-mobile part. Friends on other carriers in the US do not have that problem reaching any number in that country.  Unfortunately, the “engineers” always come back with the same lame answer: “We have verified that the customer is properly provisioned for messaging services seeing no errors or restrictions.” Anyone have a clue if there is a way to escalate this so that they actually look beyond my account? Talking to T-Force has been the exact same loop. Thank you


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Userlevel 7
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Give me an example of how the Greek number is formatted.

Userlevel 7
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iMessage has had a lot of unresolved issues across all carriers.  If you are on Android, try another Messaging app, like Google Messages, Pulse, or Textra.  

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Give me an example of how the Greek number is formatted.

It is formatted as +30 and then the subscriber number. I also tried just 01130 and it had the same problem. Incoming SMS from Greece are not coming either. 

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iMessage has had a lot of unresolved issues across all carriers.  If you are on Android, try another Messaging app, like Google Messages, Pulse, or Textra.  

It is sent to a number that is not an iPhone, so it is never an imessage to that number.

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It is formatted as +30 and then the subscriber number. I also tried just 01130 and it had the same problem. Incoming SMS from Greece are not coming either. 

 

So. it’s “+30” followed by ten digits?*  That should work. I’d try to talk to tech support about this.

*Greece replaced the old variable length format with a 10-digit national format about 20 years ago.

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It is formatted as +30 and then the subscriber number. I also tried just 01130 and it had the same problem. Incoming SMS from Greece are not coming either. 

 

So. it’s “+30” followed by ten digits?*  That should work. I’d try to talk to tech support about this.

*Greece replaced the old variable length format with a 10-digit national format about 20 years ago.

Yes, I talked to someone today, but it was no help. And they had no explanation for why incoming messages could not reach me either. 

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Yes, I talked to someone today, but it was no help. And they had no explanation for why incoming messages could not reach me either. 

 

That’s completely unsatisfactory. Tech Support should have the ability to track your message at least to the point that it’s handed off to the receiving carrier. What are the first three digits of the target number?

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Yes, I talked to someone today, but it was no help. And they had no explanation for why incoming messages could not reach me either. 

 

That’s completely unsatisfactory. Tech Support should have the ability to track your message at least to the point that it’s handed off to the receiving carrier. What are the first three digits of the target number?

You mean my own, or the international one? 

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Yes, I talked to someone today, but it was no help. And they had no explanation for why incoming messages could not reach me either. 

 

That’s completely unsatisfactory. Tech Support should have the ability to track your message at least to the point that it’s handed off to the receiving carrier. What are the first three digits of the target number?

You mean my own, or the international one? 

The Greek number.

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Yes, I talked to someone today, but it was no help. And they had no explanation for why incoming messages could not reach me either. 

 

That’s completely unsatisfactory. Tech Support should have the ability to track your message at least to the point that it’s handed off to the receiving carrier. What are the first three digits of the target number?

You mean my own, or the international one? 

The Greek number.

 

  1. Ironically, it is a COSMOTE number, another Deutsche Telecom company, just like T-Mobile. 
Userlevel 7
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The Greek number.

 

  1. Ironically, it is a COSMOTE number, another Deutsche Telecom company, just like T-Mobile. 

Right. That’s what I wanted to check. 697’s been a COSMOTE prefix for at least 20 years. I’ve got no explanation for this.

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The Greek number.

 

  1. Ironically, it is a COSMOTE number, another Deutsche Telecom company, just like T-Mobile. 

Right. That’s what I wanted to check. 697’s been a COSMOTE prefix for at least 20 years. I’ve got no explanation for this.

 

Yeah, I have been texting to that number for years. Something changed in the message relay path in December, but T-Mobile has been unable to fix it (or been willing to). Incidentally, I do not get incoming messages from that country from other carriers also. I wonder if that is the kind of thing they may eventually fix on their own. Then again, it has been almost 5 months...

I have had the same problem with not being able to receive my bank codes from my bank in Greece. Bank  code system keeps telling me they were sent but never received them. T -Mobile says not able to receive sms codes from Europe. Last November  I was able to receive my codes from Greece 🇬🇷  what the heck has changed that I can not get Codes now?? Can anyone help because I am  getting nowhere and I am not able to even login to bank accounts  in Greece now. Please help???? Bank in Greece says no problem on their end codes were sent and said to ask my carrier T-Mobile . T- Mobile told me basically  their is nothing they can do .

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I have had the same problem with not being able to receive my bank codes from my bank in Greece. Bank  code system keeps telling me they were sent but never received them. T -Mobile says not able to receive sms codes from Europe. Last November  I was able to receive my codes from Greece 🇬🇷  what the heck has changed that I can not get Codes now?? Can anyone help because I am  getting nowhere and I am not able to even login to bank accounts  in Greece now. Please help???? Bank in Greece says no problem on their end codes were sent and said to ask my carrier T-Mobile . T- Mobile told me basically  their is nothing they can do .

2FA's are very different.  To cut down on fraud, most reputable banks will not send 2FA texts to international numbers.

I sorry my friend but I don't understand  what the 2FA thing is? Bank  confirmed codes were generated  and sent  to VIBER messaging app. They instructed  me to un install VIBER app so they could sent me SMS but still never received. Called T- Mobile after they said not able to receive any International  codes via SMS??

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Two-Factor Authentication.  It is the code sent to you by SMS to be able to login to your bank.  Those codes are not sent internationally to cut down on fraud and scams.  T-Mobile USA does not sell service in Greece so your T-Mobile number is a non-native international number to Greece.

Thank  you for explaining.  Do you think  their is an chance that the problem will get resolved ? Like I said up until last November  I was able to receive SMS from Greece? Thank you again. If you learn or have have any further help or ideas please let me know I would greatly appreciate  it.

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There is no problem.  T-Mobile doesn't block international 2FA texts.  It is the sender system that puts the restriction on it.  

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Thank  you for explaining.  Do you think  their is an chance that the problem will get resolved ? Like I said up until last November  I was able to receive SMS from Greece? Thank you again. If you learn or have have any further help or ideas please let me know I would greatly appreciate  it.

I do not know about the bank codes specifically. I use a Greek number (I have it on my phone as a second sim) for SMS from banks, and that is how I receive them. 

As for regular SMS from Greece, T-Mobile does not care to fix it. I even had someone from their “rapid response” team reach out to me, and they again had no answer other than blaming the sender in Greece. No matter telling them the problem persists with different senders in different carriers in Greece, and that neither AT&T nor Verizon have the same issue, it was going through one Magenta ear and out the other. 

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