I'm not sending MMS - "You don't have enough Spend Cap balance" message

[ChrisCornwall19]

I've started having exactly the same issue today. I'm not sending MMS, just simple text messages and my iPhone is labelling them as "text message". Then suddenly they just stopped sending and I started receiving the "You don't have enough Spend Cap balance" message. EE support is open until 9pm but not tech support, it seems they are closed so will try calling tomorrow.

[XRaySpeX]

@ChrisCornwall19 : Where are you? Outside the EU?

[ChrisCornwall19]

No, in North West England, and was trying to text my daughter in the Midlands. It seems to be working today, so I didn't try contacting tech support again. Odd. Hopefully no charges on my bill that would push it to the spend cap but I can't see how the two text messages I did send before it stopped working yesterday would cost me £10 (spend cap).

[XRaySpeX]

Sending texts in UK would be within your allowance, almost certainly unlimited.

[everybodyhatesc]

Same issue as the first contributor.

Recently migrated over from BT - rather wishing I hadn't.

The set-up has been beset with problems

- as my BT account has been closed, I have no control of the Home Hub 2 and a replacement EE hub has not materialised.

- I've been placed on tariffs which are either incompatible with my phone/did not meet the requirements as agreed as part of the terms and conditions. Porting my existing number across* was also very inefficient, taking a lot longer than it could or should have done.

The best thing I can say about the switchover is that the new EETV box mini offers another concurrent login for TNT Sports... 

*Before I migrated to EE I used Google's RCS, which does not recognise the porting process (ie it still thinks I am using the temporary number which came with the new SIM card). 

Therefore I disabled RCS in order not to confuse anyone with whom I am in regular contact.

This evening I sent a series of what I thought were text messages (my tariff includes unlimited minutes, talk and data plus EU ROAMING and ROAM FURTHER) to a friend of mine whom I assumed to be in the UK. After successfully sending several messages I received the following back:

Hi from EE.
You don't have enough Spend Cap balance. If you're the account holder, you can increase or remove your Spend Cap at ee.co.uk/SpendCaps or text SPEND CAP to 150. For more info visit ee.co.uk/managespendcap

I don't really know the main difference between SMS and RCS except that SMS only allows a certain number of messages before they may be classed as MMS. Google's RCS is a more advanced service, but I don't know how the technology is deployed except that it apparently can take longer to be sent and is transmitted using a WiFi connection. I usually make a concerted effort to limit things such as MMS which can unwittingly incur you additional costs through the other user. I thought I had done so in this case, unless all previous settings are disabled with new SIMs...?

If anyone knows how to make RCS recognise my original mobile number, I'd be grateful. I'm also rather concerned as to whether what I have done will have had a sizeable effect on my bill.

Kind regards

Chris

[XRaySpeX]

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@everybodyhatesc wrote:

This evening I sent a series of what I thought were text messages to a friend of mine whom I assumed to be in the UK.

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If the friend of yours has a UK no. it doesn't matter whether he's in UK or not, it costs the same. It's he that would be roaming, not you.

[Leanne_T]

Morning @everybodyhatesc 

Thank you for posting on the community and letting us know about your experience since moving from BT. 

I will certainly look into helping you get RCS working, just to check which device are you using? 

To check if you have any pending charges in case these have been sent as MMS messages, could you text BALANCE to 150. Do you have any extra charges showing in the reply? 

Speak soon. 

Leanne 🙂

[everybodyhatesc]

Thank you for the heads-up.

I did realise that later but I think it was on account of all the frustration and anxiety over potential charges that made me forget! 

Regards, 

Chris

[everybodyhatesc]

Hi Leanne,

Thanks for your reply and the heads-up.

Thankfully the spending cap looks to have done its job as there are no charges pending.

The phone I'm using is a Sony Xperia 1ii (Android v. 12).

Thanks again.

Chris

[Leanne_T]

Thanks for coming back to me @everybodyhatesc 

When did the number transfer? 

Have you restarted your phone? 

Also, does the number show as correct in your phone settings or does this also show the temporary number? 

Leanne 🙂