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Is there something wrong with my iPhone? A bug?

Yep, T-Mobile gives me the privilege to use the iPhone to its full extent (with the exception of some features) for a relatively cheap price (I pay about $25 bucks a month to use my iPhone). I enjoy the exact same features as a legit contracted iPhone with AT&T, which is like three times that price per month.

And it seems like it's gonna be a while before this bug would be fixed. =/ Although it's undoubtedly annoying, it luckily doesn't affect the usability of the phone. Come on T-Mobile, fix this already.
 
cmcbridejr said:
Now that you put it in BOLD, I can totally understand your point.

Without a doubt, AT&T has better coverage. Maybe not in your particular area, but across the nation, AT&T blows away T-Mobile.

As far as voice plan pricing, here is what I found from both company's websites:

AT&T: 900 minutes @ $59.99;
T-Mobile: 1000 minutes @ $49.99

So, you may save $10 and have an extra 100 minutes with T-Mobile. However, with free carrier-to-carrier calls for both plans, the better deal may lean towards AT&T since they have a significantly higher customer base (which means more free calls). All of my friends have iPhones, so it is free to call them because they are on AT&T.

As far as data, I did not easily find that information on T-Mobile's website. I do know that I pay AT&T $20 per month for unlimited data and 200 text messages. Mind you, I have the original iPhone (not 3G). I am assuming that you have the original iPhone too because the 3G does not work properly with T-Mobile yet, right? (I have been out of the jailbreaking/unlocking seen for a while, so I am guessing that there is still no unlock for T-Mobile and 3G. Please correct me if I am wrong). So, what do you pay for data with T-Mobile? AT&T customers also have access to all of their WiFi hotpsots (most of which they stole away from T-Mobile when they struck a partnership with Starbucks).

So, to get from that $10 savings in voice plan to the $30 total monthly savings that you are referring to, I assume that T-Mobile gives you free data and free 200 text messages. Is that how you get the $30 in total savings?

I am not a salesperson for AT&T. I just don't get why T-Mobile is so much better (and keep in mind that I used to be a T-Mobile customer).

Most importantly, my AT&T iPhone works fine and yours doesn't. As far as their customer service, I am under contract and still treated like GOLD.
Click to expand...

Considering you're an AT&T customer and not a T-mobile customer as well as someone who has not used the unlocked cell phone, it makes perfect sense that you'd be here to try to "convince" people of how awesome AT&T is.

AT&T drops calls just as often as T-Mobile, which is part of being on a SIM service versus a CDMA service (like Verizon and Spring). This is the same in rural areas, like where I live and work. Actually, I have less problems with getting text messages, not getting duplicate text messages and sending text messages than my AT&T friends.

I personally have 1000 minutes, unlimited nights and weekends for $39.99. Saving me at the CHEAPEST iPhone plan with AT&T, over $20 and closer to $40. I have unlimited text messaging at $14.99 (versus $19.99 with AT&T). I pay T-mobile $4.99 for their cheapie internet, because oh yeah, unlocked iPhones can use that internet just like the $20 version without spending $25.

My total monthly bill with taxes and fees runs about $65-67. Saving me over $60/mo to get semi-equivalent services through AT&T. Oh yeah, and I like T-mobile. They've always been nice to me. And they've never talked to me like I'm an idiot, unlike AT&T sales reps.

You can jailbreak and unlock a 3G phone, so long as you didn't update to the 2.2.1 firmware.

Any other questions you have??

On-line with the original topic of this thread, I've been getting the same strange text message. It started a day-ish ago, and really is rather annoying. I'll give T-mobile a call as well to see if they can't speed the process of fixing along. I would like the VM notifier gone, as well as to NOT get that weird message.
 
Iphone INFO

As stated in the other posts.. I downgraded my iPhone to 2.2 and its like magic back to normal ;)

just wanted to share happy unlockings.. ;)

-VisaNick :apple:


UPDATE!!! NO GO STILL SAME ****!! ;(
 
I called T-mobile

Dude,

I spoke to a guy at t-mobile who knew about I-hones and got a new memo and told me whats up. I guess the idiots changed the network today so that when you have a new VM it sends some new packet that the i-phone dont know how to process now and it creates an empty text sms and empty e-mail to boot. The old way it just gave you the VM dot. I just hope that this will piss enough people off and either a new fix wil be available for the iphone or T-mobile may fix it (i doubt that).. asswipes..lol

Julian:eek:
 
T-mobile network screwing up VM notification

I spoke to a guy at t-mobile who knew about I-hones and got a new memo and told me whats up. I guess the idiots changed the network today so that when you have a new VM it sends some new packet that the i-phone dont know how to process now and it creates an empty text sms and empty e-mail to boot on my I-Phone. The old way it just gave you the VM dot. I just hope that this will piss enough people off and either a new fix wil be available for the iphone or T-mobile may fix it (i doubt that).. asswipes..lol

Julian
 
No, I don't work for T-Mobile.

Wackytacky said:
I mean we need to make sure it is a priority. Some of us use these iphones for business. I am like most of you and love T-Mobile and did not want to switch over to AT&T. We need to stay on them to fix this bug.
Click to expand...

I love the internet. I come across this seemingly obscure problem (txts from weird contacts, dated in the past and the future, etc.) on my cellphone, wonder what it is, turn to the web to find out... and within 60 seconds I find this page telling me the problem is relatively widespread. Not only that, but that it pertains to unlocked IPhones using T-Mobile... like mine. Now I can assume it's not some netherworld entity trying to contact me through space and time... that's a relief :).

Then, as a bonus, I read a debate on the merits of T-Mobile vs. AT&T, a subject I have strong opinions about. It's nothing short of refreshing to see other people who went out of their way to stick with T-Mobile, like I did. Why? Because they have the best customer service hands down.

Do they have the best coverage? No. In urban areas they're as good as anyone but once in the burbs or rural... they kind of suck. Is their data network any good? Not a chance. I ended up dropping the $25 data plan (something you can't do with AT&T if you get an IPhone) once I realized it was accessible only about 1/2 the time and was painfully slow the other half. Do they have good choices of phones? Hell no. Most any of the best gadgets you'll want likely WON'T be offered by T-Mobile. Do they have the best rates? They're competitive, certainly not bargain basement though.

What they do have is integrity. They respect me as a customer enough so that when I need to call customer service I'm not left on hold for an inordinate amount of time by some flunkie manning the phones as a summer job or getting forwarded to India or the Philippines with someone rigidly working from a script like a robot.

You dial 611, enter a few menu selections (which, btw, are not designed to make you dig to discover some hidden menu path to an actual representative) and within a minute you'll get a knowledgeable, intelligent, courteous person who actually listens to what you're saying, uses their brain and earnestly works (and succeeds) in helping you. They not only do this, they do it consistently... which is no easy feat. In a few words, they give a sh&t about customer service. My bet is most of us stick with T-Mobile b/c we like to vote with our wallets.

I've gone through Verizon, Sprint and some others. For me Sprint (which I used in the 90's) was a joke when it came to customer service. If there was ever a problem, they'd nickel and dime you and be inflexible and threatening when problems arose. Verizon was almost as bad and had bad, delayed voicemail notification issues. T-Mobile throws extra minutes at you if they think you've been inconvenienced. A small gesture, but it means a lot. They treat people with respect. As a result I try to do the same with them. I feel good about giving them my money and have, over the years, signed up two additional accounts with them.

Another thing I like about T-Mobile is their call quality. Voice quality is better than any CDMA service and is sharper and clearer even than AT&T's GSM network. This goes not only for the user, but for the person on the other end... people sometimes comment how they didn't realize I was on a cellphone as the sound quality is clear and sharp. I think T-Mobile may devote more bandwidth to each call signal. Their billing is straightforward and their website is easy to navigate.

I'm with them for over 6 years without a contract. I bought an Apple unlocked Iphone from Italy (apparently Italy doesn't allow pairing of phone equipment with particular carriers) at a premium in order to stick with T-Mobile. Plus I didn't want to be forced into a two year contract with AT&T.

I agree with those who hope T-Mobile understands they should make this text message problem a relative priority. We pay monthly service charges just as anyone with a T-Mobile phone does.

I don't worry though- they'll take care of it.
They always do.
 
September 4, 2012

Like any n00bs on here I stumbled upon this (and ONLY this) thread via google regarding this problem. I've got the same exact problem and am using an iphone on tmobile. I'll give em a call tomorrow..the more calls they get the more of a chance there will be of them resolving the issue quicker. I'll remind them that I just signed w Tmob a week ago and can cancel within 7 days without any penalties/fees should I want to make a carrier-switch hehe (yea i kno obviously that won't make much of a difference).

If it weren't for AT&T's $59.99 + $20 unlimited txt + $30 ''iphone'' data plan you are forced to get + $whatever additional charges I would sign w them in a heart beat, just sayin...
 
I absolutely love T-Mobile. Like everyone else, I've had no problems with them at all, customer service wise, bill wise, or anything else. I do believe they are a lot cheaper than ATT. Not to mention that I rarely use my actual phone. I'm all about the texting, and just use the WIFI if I have it wherever I'm at. I don't need all that fancy stuff to have a sky high phone bill. (I LOVE T-Mobiles $15 plan for unlimited text, IM, & pic messages. TOTALLY worth it).

I had ATT/Cingular years ago, and every month my bill would be different, so I can say that I've had problems personally with them, not to mention their customer service at the time was ridiculous. No one knew what they were talking about. But with T-Mobile I've never had that problem.

So this bug that's going around in our unlocked iPhones really doesn't bother me much at all. The dates freak me out, but like I said, once I realized it wasn't just me, I was relieved. And since I don't use my actual phone, I really never have voicemails come through. If I do, I never check it anyway, so problem solved for me, hahaha.

But this still doesn't mean I won't call T-Mobile and tell them they should really get this fixed. I know it doesn't bother me, but I can definitely see it being a huge burden to others like business wise. I think someone said that. It really is unfair.
 
UPDATE:

I just now realized that the VM dot is gone on my phone (I think someone may have said that before, but I don't remember). Called my VM and I still get the weird text, but the red dot is gone. So I'm guessing this is a start to them fixing the problem?
 
xsheislegendxx said:
UPDATE:

I just now realized that the VM dot is gone on my phone (I think someone may have said that before, but I don't remember). Called my VM and I still get the weird text, but the red dot is gone. So I'm guessing this is a start to them fixing the problem?
Click to expand...

Hmm, that's strange. I JUST called my VM and my red notification dot is still there, and I'm still getting that weird text. That's the update for me, for now.
 
If you are worried about getting the indicator to go away until the problem is fixed here is the solution:
1. Call 611(t-mobile) and have them disable the voicemail notifier on your line.
2. Remove your sim, reset your phone, then reinsert sim after reboot.
If the above didn't work do the following
3. Go to a tmobile store and have them give you a new sim card.
4. Insert the new sim after resetting the network settings.
The indicator on your phone should have gone away by now.

***Make sure you have no new voice messages, and you have deleted all of the blank texts before trying these steps.***

For now I believe the problem with the indicator remaining on the phone may be due to a new voice mail still in the inbox prior to resetting. Please post your success of failure. This has only been tested so far with 3G iPhones on 2.2 and 2.2.1. I have not tested it on any 2G's yet. Again, there is not much we can due for now until T-mobile has fixed the bug on their end.
 
Rosco212 said:
If you are worried about getting the indicator to go away until the problem is fixed here is the solution:


I have noticed that when "empty text" are all deleted, I go into vm, knowing I have no new vm, right after I receive the empty text. I have not yet tried your procedure for I really don't want to loose all my network wireless passwords. Thank you everyone for posting regarding this problem, hopefully it will get resolved soon. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
 
Two cents from MN

Glad to see that everyone else is having this problem too. Found this thread on the google (ha) Anyway, yeah I had the 1969 and 2012 texts here in MN, kind of disappointed that it wasn't a message from the past and/or a warning from the future :( Oh well. Hope they fix this **** soon!!
 
Ah! I am kind of relieved to see that I'm not the only one getting a weird message from sept. 4, 2012 everytime I try and make that darn red dot go away!
I'm on t-mobile just like everyone else and I'm in CT, so yeah I hope they can fix this soon!
 
Greetings.
I would take the time (10min) to call in. The more that call in, the higher of importance this is to T-Mobile. Please call in. The person I spoke with said it was an issue that the iphone doesn't like on the tmobile network. He did say the engineers are looking into it, but also, clearly said, they may not solve the problem. So Please call and make some waves, and remember be nice.
 
This is ridiculous...

It's been almost a week already since this bug has been found. This is ridiculous; just because we use an iPhone on a T-Mobile network does not make us any different than any other customer (not all the phones provided by T-Mobile are cool!). Let's all call in to customer service to BUG them back. =)
 
This Is Huge!!! Update!!

UPDATE- A Solution Has Been Found!!

A user on modmyi.com has finally uncovered the secret to fix this issue!

Originally Posted by whitsle
I believe I have found the solution to the voicemail notification issue.
I installed the T-mobile US Carrier bundle from BigBoss in Cydia. Now I am receiving notification after a voicemail is left and after checking the red dot resets. And the best thing is no more of those stupid texts. Try it out and post results.

Many thanks whistle for this great find!
 
Confirmed For T-Mo Dallas, Texas

It works on my 3G firmware 2.2...oh yea...thanks for the help!!!!

Just one question what was that package initially for?

I can't find my edge settings now...where did it go? i only see 3g roaming and vpn option. There used to be a cellular option where I could key in the edge settings...I need to verify that it is still on the epc setting because it is moving slow since the boss install..
 
Thanks Man!!

INstalled now going to test,,, thanks for the post ;0

-VisaNick :apple:


Rosco212 said:
UPDATE- A Solution Has Been Found!!

A user on modmyi.com has finally uncovered the secret to fix this issue!

Originally Posted by whitsle
I believe I have found the solution to the voicemail notification issue.
I installed the T-mobile US Carrier bundle from BigBoss in Cydia. Now I am receiving notification after a voicemail is left and after checking the red dot resets. And the best thing is no more of those stupid texts. Try it out and post results.

Many thanks whistle for this great find!
Click to expand...
 
Fixed! =]

As of this post (9:39PM Pacific Standard Time), my phone is officially functioning properly:
-red dot disappearing after deleting my voicemails
-and MOST importantly, NO more weird texts!

Can anyone else confirm this? BTW, I did not install the bundle from BigBoss. I think T-Mobile finally fixed it. Hurray!
 
iphone3DG3 said:
As of this post (9:39PM Pacific Standard Time), my phone is officially functioning properly:
-red dot disappearing after deleting my voicemails
-and MOST importantly, NO more weird texts!

Can anyone else confirm this? BTW, I did not install the bundle from BigBoss. I think T-Mobile finally fixed it. Hurray!
Click to expand...



CONFIRMED!

I just checked my voicemail and I didn't get any werid texts and the red notification dot went away. I didn't install anything either, so now this is making me really happy!

No more psycho texts from the future! :D
 
whooOHOOO BUT.....

Mine too is fixed, well Almost. No phantom Texts, Red dot comes and goes as it's supposed to. Notification that I have missed call in "list of missed calls". BUT NOW, the name/number of the missed call is not displaying in the middle of the display as usual. thoughts? so when i have a missed call it doesn't show up when i pick up the iphone. does anyone else have this issue? perhaps i should call tmobile back? please advise. thanks
 
After reading the recent posts, I tried clearing the VoiceMail dot on my iPhone, and everything's now back to normal for me as well. Thanks for the updates, everyone! Glad I am no longer getting creepy messages from the future, never mind being taunted by the meaningless VoiceMail dot...
 
vixster1901 said:
Mine too is fixed, well Almost. No phantom Texts, Red dot comes and goes as it's supposed to. Notification that I have missed call in "list of missed calls". BUT NOW, the name/number of the missed call is not displaying in the middle of the display as usual. thoughts? so when i have a missed call it doesn't show up when i pick up the iphone. does anyone else have this issue? perhaps i should call tmobile back? please advise. thanks
Click to expand...

Hmm, that's strange. That didn't happen to my phone, and I'm not sure if that's a glitch on the phone or the network. Thing is you can call in to T-Mobile, but I think they might be reluctant to provide technical assistance with non-T-Mobile branded phones. Trying never hurts! GL
 
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