Here’s what happens to your texts, messages, and missed call notifications when their phone bill is not paid and their phones gets turned off:
That depends.
Whenever cellular service is unavailable, cellular providers store texts and missed calls on their servers and forward them when the service is available again.
However, how long they keep the texts and missed calls varies from company to company, usually between 3 days and 3 months.
If you want to learn all about what happens to your texts, messages, and missed call notifications when the other person’s phone gets turned off because the phone bill hasn’t been paid, then this article is for you.
Let’s dig right in!
If Someone’s Cell Phone Is Turned Off Due to Nonpayment, Will They Receive Your Text If Service Is Restored?
Are you wondering what happens when someone you’re trying to contact has their cellular service cut off due to nonpayment?
What happens to the texts and calls you sent them?
Are those texts and calls stored and restored once they get their service back?
Or are you just trying to communicate with a dead number?
The answer is “maybe,” and “it depends.”
It’s common for cellular service providers to store texts and calls on their servers whenever service isn’t available.
But how long they hold on to the texts and missed calls can change from company to company.
It can even vary based on the regulations in your area.
But if the service is turned off for the other person due to nonpayment, then they won’t be getting your texts or calls.
Only after having their service restored will a person get the messages and calls you sent.
Now, it can even vary from company to company on how long they hold on to the texts and miscalls you sent.
But, on average, cellular network providers hold on to your sent messages for a few days.
There are a lot of other factors to consider when this happens.
Keep reading to learn more about how cellular networks save and transmit texts and missed calls.
Will the Other Person Receive the Text Once They Pay Their Bills? (2 Scenarios)
Before I answer this question, I have to say that all of this can change from one provider to the other.
So, if you know the person’s service providers, ask them to get accurate information for your particular case.
Having said that, there can be two scenarios when someone’s service is cut for nonpayment of their bills.
Both scenarios can vary for different providers and for different regions of the world.
If you want exact information from your service provider, you should directly get in contact with their customer support.
#1 Your Service Is Temporarily Cut
Your service is cut, but your carrier allows you to receive texts and messages.
The person themselves can’t call or text anyone, but they are able to receive texts and calls from other people.
This is usually a temporary phase.
If you don’t pay for a long time, then even these privileges are taken from you.
Usually, this time period can be somewhere between 1 and 3 months.
#2 The Service for the Person Is Immediately Cut
The service for the person is immediately cut, meaning that not only can they not call and send texts, but they also can’t receive calls and texts from other people.
In this case, if you try to contact them, the network provider will say “the number is unavailable at the moment” or a similar message.
What Happens When You Send a Message to a Person Whose Service Is Cut Due to Nonpayment of Bills?
Cellular network providers work on a principle called “hold and forward.”
Basically, when you send a text message to someone, it first goes to the network’s central server.
After that, the central server tries to reach the mobile phone on the receiving end.
If they can reach the mobile phone on receiving end, then the text or the call is forwarded to them.
On the other hand, if they’re unable to reach the mobile phone on the receiving end, then the text messages or miscalls are held on the central servers.
As soon as the receiving mobile phone comes back online, they will forward their pending communique.
Most systems hold your SMS messages for about 3 days to 3 months.
So, if a person takes longer than 3 days to restore service, they might not receive your text message at all.
What Happens When the Other Person Restores Their Service by Paying Their Bills?
When the person on the receiving end clears their dues and gets their service restored, they get all the text messages and calls held before their service was cut.
But again, it is important to note that the person on the receiving end will only receive your text messages if it has been less than the grace period of their service provider since you sent the message.
If it’s been more than a month since you sent the message, it’s highly probable that they will not receive it once they activate their service because the network provider might have already deleted the texts.
What Happens to the Other Person’s Number After an Extended Period of Nonpayment?
If the other person doesn’t clear their dues for a long time, like 3 to 4 months, their mobile number might get terminated.
Once that happens, that particular number doesn’t belong to that person anymore.
If you call that number, you might get a message such as “this number does not exist.”
The number isn’t assigned to anyone else yet.
Cellular network companies are required to wait a few more months to re-assign the number to someone else.
