Just switched to Visible from T-Mobile, getting garbled text messages from some automated systems

[WiseChicken]

Hello Visible Community:

I just switched to Visible from T-Mobile.  Done with getting overcharged for mobile service!  

One outstanding issue is dogging me.  I'm getting garbled SMS messages from some  automated systems.  UPS is the main one.  To be clear, I want to get these messages.  They are delivery notifications or other reminders.  This is a fragment of a message: 

€iäñùQÖ]¡u5ü§

I have an iPhone 12 mini.  Latest iOS 14.7.1.  Anyone have any similar experiences or ideas on how to resolve this?  I have restarted my phone several times.  I have not reset all network settings yet.  Really trying to avoid that.  I have chatting with Visible support several times already.

[dirkgently]

Having the exact same issue. One of the automated systems is my child's school bus notification system, which is reports back as "incompatible network." If this isn't fixable I'm going to have to switch back to a mainline network.

[WiseChicken]

Thanks for reporting that you are experiencing the same thing.  I'm curious.  Did a person tell you "incompatible network" or did you get that message from a system?  I'm skeptical if a person told you that.

[dirkgently]

The "incompatible network" error was an automated error while trying to register for school bus text message notifications.

[ae_pnw]

I am also experiencing this. Just switched from Verizon yesterday.

Automated messages are garbled.  Individual messages (not from an automated system) are fine.

FYI: "garbled" looks exactly like they are encoded wrong; is a string of unicode characters.

(I did not get any kind of 'incompatible network' message, BTW.)

[WiseChicken]

Yeah, I was sure it was an encoding issue as well.  I avoided tech speak to encourage engagement. 😀.   Has anyone on this thread who is experiencing this attempted to escalate with Visible?  When I have a window of time, I'm going to try again.

[iwannaz28]

I am actually in the process of it. Decided to try support out this morning. They opened a ticket with their networking team. Will let you know how it goes. Hopefully in 48 - 72 hours will be resolved. 

[WiseChicken]

Many thanks!  If you haven't already, send them a link to this thread 😀.

Hi Visible,

Yes, we are here. This encoding issue is a problem for us! 

Regards,

WiseChicken

[dirkgently]

I had opened a ticket almost 2 weeks ago, got the "48 to 72 hours" message. A week later I received a follow-up email that it would be another 48 to 72 hours. That was 96 hours ago...

[iwannaz28]

Dang, that bites to hear. Will keep fingers crossed for a bit. 

[iwannaz28]

Sorry to say I had to bail. I was missing important text for appointments and work. Hope y'all get through this. Just wanted to post so you weren't wondering what happen. 

[dirkgently]

I'm in the process of leaving as well. They eventually wrote back with a "sorry, some automated systems are incompatible" message. For example, can't authenticate 2FA on my Twitter account.

[WiseChicken]

Funny thing!  I'm in the process of leaving too.  Having other issues with SMS in addition to this one.  Oh well!  It was a nice try.  Sad to lose Apple Watch support, but I don't have much of a choice when SMS is all screwed up.  I'm trying US Mobile next.  Really tired of paying for a bunch of services I never use:

Check out this guy's videos:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwOokOU1RakmtuiCZFactGg

[iwannaz28]

I just recently switched over as well and am having same issue with automated SMS services. Regular SMS text from Friends and Family seem to work just fine. Thought maybe was device related, and tried between different devices Android / iOS and same issue. 

[iwannaz28]

I have also tested this with sending same automated text to Verizon, which Visible uses, and it came out just fine. 

[PJisUnsettled]

Same issue with some automated texts. Getting in hot water at work because I can't access the daily screening link because it's all garbled.  Watching thread. Please update!

[bpmarceaux]

Same issue here.  Three new visible plans.  Two were ports, one was a new number.  Three new Samsung phones purchased from visible.  The messages come from two separate automated school notification systems and come in with what appears to be Arabic fonts.  Any ideas on this one?

[arupchak]

I was having the same issue and took these steps to fix it. This worked for me on iOS 14.7.1 on an iPhone 12 mini. Number was ported to Visible last week.

1. Take SIM out and put it back in. Accept any carrier updates that pop up.
2. Disable Data Roaming
3. Turn airplane mode on, wait 1 minute, turn airplane mode off

I tested this by unsubscribing and resubscribing to the SMS based service.

Update: The issue popped again yesterday. Tried my previous steps and it did not fix it this time.

[solardudesf]

I am also having this issue when trying to set up government services through id.me

One interesting thing is that the text messages come through fine on another family members phone also on Visible. 

[lesserantigua]

I am also having this problem. I've contacted Visible support a handful of times, and they've tried a few generic troubleshooting steps that have not fixed the issue, like reprovisioning my eSIM, having me reboot my device, or disabling cellular roaming.

A couple of conversations have resulted in the representative filing a ticket, but in both cases I received an email in about a day saying something like "we've addressed the issue! now please reboot your phone," but the issue persists. 

[lesserantigua]

I eventually switched from an eSIM to a physical SIM, and so far the issue hasn't occurred again. I can't say for sure that it's fixed, since it was inconsistent, but I'm hoping so.

Yesterday I received a text from an SMS number that previously was scrambled, and it's readable again, so I think that seems to have done it.

Edit Nov. 17, 2021: Haven't seen the problem again since switching to a physical SIM. I'm considering the problem solved.

[glen1n1m]

Has anyone had a satisfactory fix for this?

[solardudesf]

Here is another link to a Reddit thread where a bunch of people are having this issue. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Visible/comments/patl6v/strange_texts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&...

The visible support has been pretty awful on this issue.