T-Mobile + Twitter
We've been tracking a missed connection between T-Mobile and Twitter for the past few days. If you're a T-Mobile customer using Twitter in the United States over our shortcode 40404, you may see intermittent failures (both with sending and receiving updates). We're working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!
Update (12/15 3p): We're still working on this and believe it to be a technical issue happening between T-Mobile and the folks who help run our text messaging. At this time we do not believe it to be a policy issue (as has been speculated). We're hoping for a resolution soon and will let you know when we know more.
Update (12/15 3p): We're still working on this and believe it to be a technical issue happening between T-Mobile and the folks who help run our text messaging. At this time we do not believe it to be a policy issue (as has been speculated). We're hoping for a resolution soon and will let you know when we know more.
Update (12/15 4:30p): We've received word this issue has been resolved. We'll continue to watch closely and let you know if anything changes.
Update (12/16 4p): We're still hearing reports of "service unavailable" messages for some folks. We're staying on top of this, and will report back when it's fully fixed. If you are still affected, please update from our mobile site: http://m.twitter.com/
posted by jack at 10:06 AM
20 Comments:
Be sure to let us know if T-Mobile is going to be blocking y'all as a policy (as seems to be indicated) or if it really is a technical glitch. Thanks!
For T-Mobile to say that this is a violation of TOS and that they can block you from using certain 'services' is ridiculous. This is a simple shortcode number and they should have no right to block you from getting in touch with any numbers what so ever.
Twitter for teh win!!! Smack that bitch up!
Two reasons for me to never use T-Mobile:
1) Horrible coverage in my area
2) Banning of Twitter!
You know, I had trouble submitting updates through the shortcode on my AT&T cellphone this past Wednesday night, with an error stating that the message is delayed.
hell to the F-ing yeah! well done.
While our agency does not become involved in business matters between private firms, we were deeply humbled to learn of many Twitterers using the Los Angeles Fire Department Twitter feed as a primary example of 'essential usage' when corresponding with T-Mobile and posting to forums.
Connectivity services such as Twitter are becoming increasinly important in all of our lives. We therefore hope that discussion will continue among the many stakeholders, and that agencies such as might continue to be inspired by the passion that drives modern tech.
Thanks Team Twitter, for handling a challenging issue with aplomb on what already was a difficult weekend.
Happy Holidays!
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
As of 1:06AM EST (12/16), I am getting the same "service unavailble" message and, this time, I'm not even receiving tweets like I had been before.
Any ideas?
Its working for me now
Thanks for getting it working again guys
Fred
I have not been able to send sms to 40404 for the past 3 hours. Its currently 1pm 12/16 EST.
Everything has been working fine for me for the last 5 hours or so. Thank you guys soooo much! I hope we hear something from T-Mobile regarding why their customers were treated so badly and given wrong information.
So now I guess we can all ask T-Mobile customers..... "What are you doing?"
T mobile is not working in london
Interesting how it wasn't a policy issue but T-Mobile so quickly responded as if it was one. Seems to me, that if customer service was a priority they would have taken the lead on helping resolve it. I'm sure that many of T-Mobile users that utilize Twitter are also their power users that have larger than average monthly bills. This is typically the people that will refer you customers and the ones that generate your largest profit margins. I would go out of my way to make them happy. Responding with "it's not a supported service and by the way if you cancel we'll stick you with a $200 charge" is not making anybody happy. It's is reminding them why they need to switch when the contract period is over though.
Fourbin: You're just plain wrong. T-Mobile does have the right to block text messages to short codes. It's in the rules for using short codes.
LA Fire Department: You're kidding us, right? How is announcing fires "essential usage?" Are you doing that encourage gawking? Can I tweet "On noes! My house is on fire!" to get help? I see nothing essential or important about your service.
chris: T-Mobile didn't actually say it was a policy issue, they said that policy allowed them to block whatever they want. The rep was responding to the nitwit blogger's misplaced outrage about net neutrality (which dosn't apply here, because from T-Mobile's perspective, they weren't blocking the Internet, they were blocking an SMS service, which they're allowed to do by current regulations and contracts).
The problem here is that people here aren't seeing the very real distinction, and therefore don't understand anything T-Mobile is saying. Some goofy blogger jumped to misplaced conclusion, and everybody for reasons I can barely fathom) is assuming he knows what he's talking about. He doesn't.
Michael,
Let's ignore the issue of whether or not T-Mobile has a right to block a short code or not. With that out of the way, even if they were blocking it, they handled the issue in an entirely inappropriate manner. Any choice that a company makes will bring the pros and cons so they just need to make the choices that bring more pros than cons. The issue really isn't about what rights T-Mobile has and what they don't. The issue is how their customers were treated in this.
You are correct in stating that I am just a blogger and, as a blogger, it is possible for me to know what I'm talking about or not. This is why we refer to the "blogosphere". This entire issue hasnt just been people copying what I said but my post rose some eyebrows and had other people confirming the same thing that I did. I am not the only person that received that same email and I am certainly not the only person that received negative responses from customer service.
The whole point of the blogosphere is that people back up what is said. It's not one person but it's a group of people collectively. I have been a loyal T-Mobile customer and I have highly recommended T-Mobile to other people and I will continue to do so pending T-Mobile's response to the issues. T-Mobile has always shown me great customer service and that is why many of us are still with T-Mobile. Many of us that are T-Mobile customers live with certain technical limitations such as coverage areas but these are worth it to us if they are going to continue the great customer service. That is exactly what T-Mobile did not do for us in this matter and the answer we want to know is whether or not this is a new T-Mobile or if it really was just an anomaly.
I have no problems sending to twitter from my t-mobile txt messaging - i use an unlocked device. If it doesn't work though people could post using twibble
Bob, I refuse to "ignore the issue of whether or not T-Mobile has a right to block a short code or not," because it's important here. T-Mobile does have that right. Every phone company has that right, and the fact that you refuse to acknowledge it is making you appear disingenuous. It's time for you to publicly admit two simple truths:
1) Phone companies are explictedly allowed to block short codes -- it's written into the short code leasing contracts.
2) You didn't know that.
Now, go back at read your own blog post. You got pissy and kept accusing T-Mobile of violating "net neutrality" (even though SMS isn't the Internet), a support rep finally explained to you that your argument was bull, and you spun into a series of self-agrandizing posts of outrage about how T-Mobile was censoring Twitter.
Your premise was false, and you didn't understand the responses it generated. The fact that other people operating under the same false premises agreed with you does not vindicate you or the blogosphere. It merely demonstrates that people online are as a capable of creating uniformed mobs as people offline are.
You're the person who created this silly tempest in a teapot, by carrying your message of misunderstanding to places like Satisfaction and CNET. You wasted a lot of people's time (and infected four blogs I read) by crying wolf. Try to take some responsibility for that instead of hiding behind the blogosphere, would you?
@Michael
I usually don't reply to trolls, but I'll take the bait this one time.
You are correct that T-Mobile has the contractual right to block shortcodes, but a lot of people (myself included) think that they shouldn't have that right since airwaves are a public resource that T-Mo has leased from the citizenry. This is the same issue as Net Neutrality, just applied to a different part of the overall network.
I'm still willing to consider that that there was something more sinister than a simple technical glitch, especially since most of the communication out of T-Mobile has pointed in that direction. You are defending a company that did the wrong thing here, either in their actual policy or in their customer service strategy.
As for the fire department comment, this is one of the best examples of good government I've seen all year. Wildfires are a very real threat for millions of people (again, myself included) and I want to know if one is headed towards my house. This is a public agency using a public resource for the public good. You criticism is misplaced.
I'm not the troll here, Jonathan. I'm the guy who's pointing that Bob's been using an objectively false belief (that cell phones are neutral net) to get people on multiple websites riled up. If anybody's been trolling, it's been Bob.
It's not the same issue as net neutrality. The internet was designed to be content-neutral. The phone network wasn't -- that's why every phone companies are allowed to have separate 411 services. Screaming at a company that you think they should change the way their industry has always worked is neither principled nor wise. It's just immature and trollsome.
Bob basically trolled the entire Twitter usebase and T-Mobile, by repeating his net neutrality delusion over and over until sane people snapped.
Here in the Uk it's been over a month since I last received a tweet on my T-Mobile phone. Oh, how I miss it so!!
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