Charges for iMessage

[Joe Snuffy]

Hello new to forum,

Recently changed from iPhone 4 to 6, as the 4's battery would not hold a charge.

Everything fine for a couple days, then a msg stating" Your carrier may charge for SMS msgs used to activate iMessage".

I selected the "Cancel" on the msg and disabled iMessage.

Now a few times a day I check my balance and notice that I have charges for up to .25 cents, everyday.

I have removed the chip to avoid more charges.

Any ideas what is causing this, used the chip on my iphone4 for years without any
problems.

I am retired an live in Panama, I seldom make calls, but use the Whatsapp. I use prepaid and the carrier is Cable & Wireless Panama.

Thank you,

 

[zstairlessone]

If iMessages is off any text messages you send will go through your provider and will be subject to any fees according to your contract. iMessages doesn't count against your contract they go through Apple's servers.

 

[Junior]

Here's a little clarity.

iMessages use data. That could either be cellular network data plan or wi-fi.
Text Messages aka SMS go through your cellular carrier only. If you don't have an unlimited texting plan, you'll be charged for each message.*

*In most cases, what people get mixed up with is that when you use iMessage, people can send pictures/media with no added cost, but if your iMessage is turned off, and you send a picture with SMS (or MMS for media) most carriers charge per message. In Canada, that charge is roughly 25¢ - 50¢ per message.

Your ideal scenario would be to keep using WhatsApp and iMessage instead of regular text messages. Just make sure you have a decent data plan with your cell phone carrier and whenever possible connect to Wi-fi.

 

[Joe Snuffy]

Thank you for the replies,

I had not made any calls or sent any msgs since Sunday, 11 Feb. My balance was $12.56.
Monday or Tuesday I checked the balance and it was $12.24. So I turned off Cel Data, Siri and iMessage.
Friday at 0930 my balance was $10.31, and the phone had not been used.
I visited the office of the carrier this morning and was told the charges were for a msg they were sending me! Some propaganda about how to make money.
They said they would block the msg.
In the past I was required to enter an acceptance code before being charged.
There were several people in the line for the same reason and one said it was his second visit and the msg had not been blocked.

So, I changed carriers, still have the same cel number, will be activated by 0900 tomorrow.

Here in Panama it is called the "juega vivo" Everyone has a game to steal your money.

 

[Old Goat Ninja]

Just to add because I don't see it mentioned, iMessages only work between iDevices. If you have an iPhone, and whoever you are texting does not, it's a regular message, not an iMessage. Green means message, blue means iMessage.

 

[scifan57]

Just to add because I don't see it mentioned, iMessages only work between iDevices. If you have an iPhone, and whoever you are texting does not, it's a regular message, not an iMessage. Green means message, blue means iMessage.

It also works with Macs and the Apple Watch.
Some carriers charge extra for multi-media messages but they can’t do that with iMessages sent over the cellular network as iMessages are encrypted and they can’t tell what you’re sending. All they know is how much data your iMessages use.