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DustyinMemphis's profile

New Member

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3 Messages

Monday, March 6th, 2023 8:30 PM

Can't Receive Any Text Messages on My AT&T SIM

As of today, I am unable to receive any text messages on my AT&T SIM. I can't even get the code necessary to log onto my AT&T account because it's sent via SMS that never arrives. I know my phone is not the problem, because it has two SIM cards and I am receiving messages on the other SIM. Also, I was receiving messages on the AT&T SIM as recently as three days ago. I am not a new AT&T customer; I've had this account and the same phone number for almost 10 years. I am overseas right now, but that was also true three days ago when I was still able to receive messages on my AT&T SIM. I am still able to send SMS messages from the AT&T SIM, but being unable to receive the codes I need to log on to bank and other accounts is a real problem! Any idea how to fix this? And is anyone else having this problem?

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

New Member

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3 Messages

3 months ago

Thanks for responding, Marilyn. I called the phone number you suggested this morning, before I got your message, and after having spent about an hour with an AT&T online chat representative yesterday.

This morning I wound up finding the solution to my problem myself while today's rep had me on hold, but I found what needed fixing on a settings screen she'd told me to pull up, so it was a collaborative effort. I will share what fixed my issue here in case it might help anyone else.

After clicking on Settings/About Phone/SIM Card Status on my Samsung Galaxy S20, I noted that "IMS Registration Status" said "Not Registered." I googled how to fix IMS Registration Not Registered, and one of the suggestions I found was to select a local carrier manually rather than having the device choose one automatically. Once I chose a local carrier manually, I started receiving text messages again. I have no idea why that worked, but it did. I've been compulsively sending myself text messages all day to make sure I'm still receiving them, and so far, so good.

I do want to offer some constructive criticism about the apparent lack of internal AT&T communication between the phone reps and the chat reps. The phone rep today did not have access to what the chat rep had already attempted yesterday by way of troubleshooting, and that makes no sense. AT&T should make it possible for a second customer service person -- whether on chat or on phone -- to find out what the first customer service person already tried that did not work. It was very frustrating for me this morning when I had to re-explain to the AT&T phone rep what I had already explained in detail to the AT&T chat rep yesterday. So much wasted time!

Also, yesterday's chat rep advised me that "I will escalate this issue to our backend team to resolve this by the end of the day," but today's phone rep seemed unable to find any evidence that the promised escalation to the backend team had taken place. I just don't understand how that could have happened. 

New Member

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3 Messages

3 months ago

Still can't receive text messages. I contacted AT&T directly yesterday and was told the issue would be escalated and fixed by the end of the day. The issue was not fixed by the end of the day (or at all), so I am still stranded overseas with no way to receive OTP codes. It AT&T could not fix the problem as promised, it should have at least contacted me with a status update on the effort to resolve it!

ATTHelp

Community Support

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215.3K Messages

3 months ago

We know the importance of being able to send message while overseas DustyinMemphis.

 

To best serve you while you overseas, please reach out to our international team.

  • Call 1.314.925.6925 for a free call from their wireless device while overseas.
  • Live Chat is available 24 hours a day, 7 days at week at att.com/international.
  • Customers use 800.335.4685 to call in the U.S.

Thank you for reaching out to AT&T Community Forums.

 

Marilyn, AT&T Community Specialist

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