Responding to service texts

[Munch]

Probably a dumb question but I’m getting service centre texts from a 208 area code, Idaho. They’re asking me questions to prep for my appointment. I don’t have US texting on my plan, so if I respond back, I should assume I’d be charged LD texting by my carrier?

Is there another method I can respond back with?

 

[himynameisgab]

You shouldn't be charged for that. In 2020, there's no such thing as Long Distance texting from Canada to anywhere in the world (If you're with Bell, Rogers, Telus of their sub-brands).

As long as you're in Canada, you're fine!

 

[CFinVancouver]

The local Vancouver ranger handled my software issue remotely and had a 218 local, so I get charged for the text replies. Small price to pay for bidirectional communication with the service department

 

[angus[Y]oung]

You shouldn't be charged for that. In 2020, there's no such thing as Long Distance texting from Canada to anywhere in the world (If you're with Bell, Rogers, Telus of their sub-brands).

As long as you're in Canada, you're fine!

@himynameisgab actually this isn't correct. Sadly, some of the plans on the market these days only include Canada-wide texting. For example, the "unlimited" "Peace of Mind" plans at Telus only include nationwide texting and there is a per-outbound-text fee for messages to numbers outside of Canada: "Text messages sent from Canada to a non-Canadian phone number will be charged at 40¢/message."

I'm pretty sure the equivalent plan at either Bell or Rogers (possibly both) have the same issue.

 

[Decibelle]

You shouldn't be charged for that. In 2020, there's no such thing as Long Distance texting from Canada to anywhere in the world (If you're with Bell, Rogers, Telus of their sub-brands).

As long as you're in Canada, you're fine!

I'm with Rogers and I get charged 40-50 cents per text when texting to the US.

 

[himynameisgab]

@himynameisgab actually this isn't correct. Sadly, some of the plans on the market these days only include Canada-wide texting. For example, the "unlimited" "Peace of Mind" plans at Telus only include nationwide texting and there is a per-outbound-text fee for messages to numbers outside of Canada: "Text messages sent from Canada to a non-Canadian phone number will be charged at 40¢/message."

I'm pretty sure the equivalent plan at either Bell or Rogers (possibly both) have the same issue.

I'm with Rogers and I get charged 40-50 cents per text when texting to the US.

You're both right, I was wrong! I'm so sorry.

As someone who works in this industry for a regional carrier in Quebec, I'm shocked that this is still I thing (shame on me for not knowing it). With us, SMS from Canada to anywhere in the world have been free for years.

On another topic, it's really odd that Montreal service center SMS are sent with an 778 number (from BC), but BC service center SMS are sent with a US number...

 

[pcons]

Wow, that is nuts they still charge for this stuff. But 0.50 per text is outrageous. Our Telco situation here is horribly overpriced already for both cell phones and home internet.

 

[Munch]

Call me cheap, but I don’t want to pay A penny to send a text to Tesla. In the past they have sent me service texts from Vancouver even though I’m in Toronto so that was fine.

 

[N.Y.R.]

Imagine if you got charged extra for sending an e-mail to the US. Telco's in Canada are evil.

 

[Vawlkus]

Even within Canada you get dinged for a service charge for Tesla texts, both sending & receiving.

I have a text plan where I have unlimited texts, and I still get a $0.40 charge for each text

 

[Watts_Up]

Call me cheap, but I don’t want to pay A penny to send a text to Tesla.
In the past they have sent me service texts from Vancouver even though I’m in Toronto so that was fine.

Do you know that you can send Text Messages from your computer?

I have a pre-paid flip phone and using the keypad with a choice of three characters for each key made me crazy.
However, I can send and receive text messages from my computer to another smartphone.
The only issue is that you need to determine which carrier the other phone number uses.

Text By Computer: How to Send an SMS from Your Computer​