My sms message with less than 160 character count is charging for 2 text messages, why is it doing this?

[iMore Question]

sms message with less than 160 character count is charging for 2 text messages

i have an iphone 6 plus and i have an issue with its sms messaging.
whenever im sending a message with less than 160 character count it is charged as 2 text messages. anyone here who can help me solve the problem? its really a pain in the current load balance...

 

[John Yester]

Re: sms message with less than 160 character count is charging for 2 text messages

Why don't you send as a iMessage? Other party on a non Apple device? Also make sure SMS is off if using iMessage. That way only iMessages fail they won't send. But if it is turned on it will use your SMS limit.

Have you contacted your carrier to discuss the issue?

 

[HankAZ]

Re: sms message with less than 160 character count is charging for 2 text messages

i have an iphone 6 plus and i have an issue with its sms messaging.
whenever im sending a message with less than 160 character count it is charged as 2 text messages. anyone here who can help me solve the problem? its really a pain in the current load balance...

The length of the SMS message varies by provider (or it used to) - anywhere from 140 to 160 characters. As John Yester suggested, why not avoid the whole mess and just use iMessage, where possible?

Also, who is your service provider? I don't know anyone who is still using a "per message" text plan. Almost every carrier offers unlimited text, either for a reasonable rate or as part of the new shared plans. With most of the shared plans, you buy a bucket of data to share and get free voice and text included. Might be time to shop around, so you don't have to bother with counting SMS messages sent/received.