SEVEN Sent SMS to +447624802625 (UK)

[xxza]

Finally, I figured out why I always got charged by Sprint for International SMS every month.

Every time after I flash a new rom, I will install Seven. Every time when I add an email account to SEVEN, SEVEN will send a SMS to UK without letting you know.

I got charged by Sprint for International SMS and I could not figure out why in the past. One day I had enough so I called sprint to suspend my SMS service.

Today, when I installed SEVEN again, I got an message to tell me that a SMS message to +447624802625 failed. Of coure it failed since I do not have SMS service anymore.

I want to have SMS back and to keep using SEVEN. Any suggestions?

[infection0]

what is SEVEN?

[xxza]

It can push email. I use it to receive gmail and hotmail.

Originally Posted by infection0

what is SEVEN?

[Briz600]

Odd man I never had that problem when I used seven a while back . I wouldn't know how to fix that but maybe try an alternative? If its Hotmail your trying to push I found that Windows live app works excellent . For Gmail im not sure but there gotta be something else that works ?

[kubafett]

I just had my bill adjusted for this, I had no idea why i had 9 international sms, you just answered my question as I just installed seven this month. I just chatted with sprint customer service and had them block international text messages and they reversed the charges.

[robotphood]

Have anyone of you talked to the Seven Devs?

[kubafett]

no. Since I just learned they are most likely the cause of it.

[spiritcrusher33]

I to had 3 international sms charges on my bill last month!!! funny thing is i just install seven around the same time...so by by seven for the moment.....

[robotphood]

I didn't realize it until I read this thread but I did get an sms charge a few months ago. It was small so I didn't bother disputing it. Looked around the Seven Forums and here is what I found:

Originally Posted by pbrown280

OK folks, here's what I've found out about the SMS messages to +447624802625.

It turns out that phone number validation via SMS was in fact enabled for Windows Mobile in build 298463 and for Palm in the initial release. I had not been made aware of this (no one thought to tell me) so that's why I didn't put it in the release notes. On behalf of SEVEN I apologize for this oversight.

As for the number being an escort service: That is absolutely not true. The number was purchased by us from a service called ASPSMS which is a service that provides (among other things around SMS messaging) SMS-to-HTTP. I realize that a Google search for 447624802625 returns a couple of alarming-looking results indicating association with some kind of escort service, and it is certainly possible that the number lived a previous life in that underworld, but I can assure you that the number is owned by ASPSMS and we purchased the rights to use it. It is completely legitimate. Anyone interested in learning more about it can visit their web site here:

http://aspsms.com

As for how it works: We program the client to send an SMS to the ASPSMS number whenever a new email account is being registered. The SMS contains your phone number and some information about the email account being registered (email address, type, provider, etc). They receive the SMS and then translate it into an HTTP URL which they then post us at an API URL at preview.seven.com. When they do this, we add the information to the reporting database.

Why are we doing this? Basically, it's to test the functionality, which really is what a beta program is for, isn't it, folks? In commercial releases, we need to be able to track user activity and collect reporting data for many reasons, not the least of which is to be able to bill our carriers and collect revenue. Without reliable and verifiable reporting data, we can't make money and then we will disappear and you'll be sad. Come on, admit it!

So why do we need to use an international number for this? The short answer is: We don't. Well, not necessarily, anyway. We can choose a number in (just about) any country in the world. We chose a UK number because we were thinking of Symbian users initially who for the most part are outside the US, and particularly are most highly concentrated in Europe. Unfortunately we can only hardcode a single number into the client, and there is no way for us to give you a choice as to which number to use. We are looking into acquiring a US number to use for other clients such as Windows Mobile and Palm which would make more sense because most users of those platforms are indeed located in the US.

Of course, even if we are able to do this, there will still be a certain number of people for whom this will be an international number and hence there will be costs incurred. We have the capability to pop up a warning message during installation (and therefore before registering any email accounts) where we can inform you that using SEVEN may result in charges for SMS messaging, including possible international SMS messaging. I am pushing hard to make this happen and I hope to have it in place with the next client update for each platform.

I think that just about covers it... let me know if there are any further questions or concerns.

Definitely sucks if you reinstall often (flashing roms!) but since Juicy retired I haven't done any flashing and haven't noticed any charges. I hope they change this or add a US number. 20 cents per account for this app is well worth it for me though.

[ScrapMaker]

Holy crap! I had 31 international texts last month... I finally found out it was SEVEN... sigh--guess no more of that. My company would not be happy to find out I am getting raped by Sprint by these charges... $0.20 per message? Jesus!

I've had these for months, and I finally had enough and started investigating...