VTEXT.COM failures and delays

[jimhetland]

For the past two weeks or so, nearly all of my messages to vtext fail, SMTP code 4.4.7,  "delivery time expired". This is all but certainly due to Verizon not having sufficient capacity to handle the volume of messages. Not from me; I send about 10 per day, maybe 20 on a very busy day. I mean the overall vtext volume.

This is a recurring problem. Verizon support personnel rarely even know what vtext.com is, resolutely ignore any information given, and make irrelevant suggestions from their playbook.

Rumors abound, in these forums and elsewhere, that Verizon is sunsetting vtext, and deliberately avoiding any investment. But the Verizon marketing pages, help pages, and support pages all present it as a useful feature, and give no hint of sunsetting.

To recap many endless and unproductive sessions with support people:

I send the emails from a program running in my desktop computer (they alert me to various conditions and events).  The messages are invariably sent successfully, but not received; the error occurs after FIVE DAYS (today I am receiving errors for messages sent on 8/24), and is reported by my ISP, Optimum/Altice:

"Final-Recipient: rfc822; [number]@vtext.com
Action: Failed
Status: 4.4.7 (delivery time expired)"

I am NOT using a browser or a web page. Do not suggest that I reboot my machine, clear my cookies and cache, or consult the manufacturer, which is also me (I built the machine and wrote the program. It has been running successfully for years). And preferably do not suggest these steps for the fifth or tenth time in a hour-long conversation where all of the above has been reiterated MANY times.

All of the messages are to the same cell number (mine). Occasionally (less than one per day recently) a message succeeds and is received on my phone, usually delayed several house, but demonstrating that it is not the wrong number, not a non-Verizon number, and not  a wrong domain, all of which the support people suggest, again, and again, and again.

The messages are always short, about 70 characters, and all very similar in form. THEY ARE NOT TOO LONG, AND DO NOT CONTAIN PICTURES.  Please do not ask me that again.

I did, once, reach a higher level of tech support, and then an even higher level, and they at least understood the issue, and promised to look into it, but I never heard anything back (that was months ago), and the problem keeps recurring.

Is anybody out there? Does anybody give a [redacted]? Should I call Mr. Vestberg?

[vzw_customer_support]

We're sorry to hear that you're still having problems with vtext messages. Please keep in mind that Verizon does not guarantee the service, but we still want to make sure you get the help you need. We'll send you a Private Note shortly to gather more details.

~Jesse

[jimhetland]

The vtext.com message-too-big issue was never formally resolved, and I was never advised of any action taken, but it did eventually go away.

Well, it's back. For the last three days, NOT ONE of my approximately twenty  vtext.com messages has been delivered. Without exception, they are rejected as "message too big for system", which is absolutely untrue, or at the least absurd; they are only about thirty characters. Here is a representative Delivery Status Notification:

- These recipients of your message have been processed by the mail server:
[email address removed per the Verizon Terms of Service]; Failed; 5.3.4 (message too big for system)

Remote MTA vrz-sms.mx.a.cloudfilter.net: network error

- SMTP protocol diagnostic: 552 5.2.0 65.20.63.73 blocked AUP#BL

and its "details"

Reporting-MTA: dns; altprdrgo02.altice.prod.msg.synchronoss.net
Received-from-MTA: dns; DEV3 (47.20.xx.xx)
Arrival-Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 08:16:26 -0500

Final-Recipient: rfc822; [email address removed per the Verizon Terms of Service]
Action: Failed
Status: 5.3.4 (message too big for system)
Remote-MTA: dns; vrz-sms.mx.a.cloudfilter.net

I am all but certain that the cited Remote MTA is a third party spam filter under contract to Verizon (CloudFilter is a service mark of Colony). Assuming that's true, they are incompetent.  In the earlier event (September-October 2023) I was eventually told that the entire optimum.net domain (my ISP and email provider) was blocked because of "phishing attempts".  This is like arresting everybody having the same middle name as some gangster.

PLEASE, VERIZON, CAN YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

It is not my computer, my program or anything in my house or my ISP.  The block occurs after optimum has successfully routed the message.  The blockage is applied by Verizon, or someone acting in Verizon's behalf.

I have tested using webmail with three of my Optimum mailboxes, including one that is otherwise Never used to send emails, and all are rejected in the same manner. Tests of identical messages from other providers are processed normally.

DO NOT ASK ME TO CLEAR MY CACHE OR COOKIES. DO NOT ASK ME TO REBOOT MY MACHINE. DO NOT SUGGEST I WASH MY DISHES OR CHANGE THE COLOR OF MY WALLPAPER.

As you can tell, I'm more than a little tired of this, and the suggestions of your support people.

[JamieS-NJ]

I dont see that anyone has responded to you, but I want to be sure to follow this message string as this  has also started happening to me.  I have several Gmail filters set up to forward certain messages to my vtext  address so they dont get lost in the wasteland of daily junk mail etc.  

The last few weeks I have gotten the : 552  5  .2  .0 sender rejected AUP # SNDR  error message with a failed delivery notification in my Gmail.   Very frustrating since I haven't made any changes and it has been working for a number of YEARS without issue.  

[jimhetland]

Nobody responded. Last August, when the same problem occurred, I had some long conversations with Verizon support people, who seemed willing to help, but I never reached anyone who even understood what the issue was, and kept telling me to clear my cache, reboot my machine and so on, none of them remotely relevant. They did eventually suggest that my entire email domain, optimum.net, was being blocked because of some phishing attempts, which I think I suggested was like arresting everybody who has the same middle name as some gangster.

Eventually the problem went away, sort of, but I never heard why.

This time around - nobody even answering my posting - I've moved my automated vtext stuff to use a different email address in a different domain. It works, but messages are often delayed for hours. The bottom time is they really couldn't care less about vtext, and won't put anybody on it who might know how to fix it. Or spend any money to upgrade its servers.

Maybe it will heal again. Surely they can't block all of Gmail.com. If you have infinite patience you might try calling Verizon support...   best of luck with that.

[SynthpopAddict]

Don't remember which thread I saw it in, but the VText thing was shut down back in December 2023.

FYI: Messages+ is up next on the chopping block to be sunsetted in June (3 months from now).

[jimhetland]

Last August there were many rumors about vtext sundown, but every Verizon person I talked to assured me that was not the case. And it is still functional. I use it every day, with issues of course.