What everyone has missed is that the OP never actually checked if the text message went through. They just said they never got a reply until later.

Maybe the person didn't want to reply straight away...

God bless delivery reports!!!!

O2 no has

No, there is no delivery report for a 'held text' (until it gets released).

It was my Mum who initially alerted me to this and she is on EE. One of her texts had the word peril in it - and this was shortly after one of the London bomb scares. She sent the text to my dad - who never got it. She called him in the end after sending it again. Later that day when she got home she sent a text from the next room about some trivia to see if her phone was at fault - no, it arrived instantly. She then sent the 'held text' twice more - nothing. Then she asked for dad to write her a text - she got that - and replied successfully. Her messages never did arrive.

Not that I really want to carry this on, but I never got the text I sent myself (EE) but just sent myself it on my work phone (o2) and it came through straight away, maybe it's an EE thing.

They do, it just doesn't work like any of the other networks. You start your message with *0# to request a delivery report, for example "*0# hello".

years and years ago some of the words ECHELON monitors were released by someone so we used them constantly in conversations for a month or two just to see if someone came to kick our doors down. I expect the chaps at Menwith Hill just thought oh no not these morons again.

That is more likely to be correct. Any monitoring by the security services would be discrete and would not hold up a message.

Oh... you took my post seriously.

When did this law get passed where they can monitor people's private communications?
I know they are just now thinking of it but surly it isn't law yet?

And what a complete waste of time as a real criminal is going to use some sort of code not actually send "The bank job is on Saturday in Dover high street at 6pm. RipOff Bank - Be there John Smith of 22 Some Street and see if Joe Bloggs of 33b Plumton Street has some wire cutters".

Exactly, the message would be sent as normal but a copy of it would be retained for monitoring, if that is what they are doing.

It's like getting a letter or package through the door resealed with red tape with Customs UK all over it. That's a bit of a give-away.

You're talking about a text message - an electronic communication - as though it were a physical item that needs to be held for inspection. Even if we accept that text messages containing certain words are reviewed for any suspicious activity, there's no reason for the original message to be 'held' anywhere before being 'released' for delivery.

Reading this thread makes me feel like I've been transported back to the late 90s! If I go over to the PC thread I wouldn't be surprised to see a top thread called 'windows 98 better then 95? With lengthy descussions on the absence of the haunted house screen saver.. 😄
Do people still have problems with held text messages in the smart phone era?
Remember O2 customer services telling me to use *0# when I had a Nokia phone which wouldn't send a text in reply to another,and would only send a fresh text, orange was the big culprit for me in pending messages, would hold random whole or part messages or groups of messages for days sometimes with no explanation. Oh the days of the Nokia 501 on Orange everyday 50 and playing snake.. Dam that hard plastic little antenna! If I can't have kids I'm blaming that little bugger

Congestion used to mess up texts, which were resent on a gradually increasing time period. Orange could force them through if you called them, but I assumed the problems had all gone way now.

This year I've I had a bunch of texts come through very late (as in a day or two later). Mostly football scores and updates, suggesting one or two got stuck and then held everything up.

Either that or a text showing Spurs winning a game was worthy of being blocked, if only to check it was actually true!

You should have swallowed the SIM not thrown it away.