Delay in text message delivery issue for Boost

If you read through our Boost Mobile user reviews you’ll see a number of complaints regarding delays in text messaging for their unlimited plan. This is not an isolated incident. In fact, the AP has picked up the story. There are widespread reports of the issue, with some text messages taking three or four hours to deliver. That’s not acceptable, especially for a service as hyped as Boost Unlimited. So what’s wrong with text messaging on Boost, and how is the company going to rectify the issue?

Many have speculated that the problem stems from Nextel’s iDEN network, which is geared up more for the push-to-talk walkie talkie service rather than SMS. According to the AP report, this has been an issue, though not as widespread, for Nextel customers in the past. One person not buying that is Boost spokesman John Votava:

“The popularity of Boost Mobile caught us off guard. It overwhelmed our system,” he said. The company has been working “day and night” to fix the problems, and aims to have the system “much improved” by next week, Votava said.

Hopefully we see a follow-up report this week or next to determine whether this issue has corrected itself. I’ll also be on the lookout in our user reviews to see if it persists. If the problem does in fact stem from the iDEN network, it would be hard to imagine Boost fixing the whole issue in a week. Yet they’re going to have to if they want to see the level of growth they have to this point with Boost Unlimited.

Speaking of text messages, if you want to know the origin of the 160-character limit, just read this article in the LA Times. It’s a nice look at the beginnings of one of our favorite media, which extends all the way back to 1985.

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23 Responses

1. Angelica Says
   

   3 or 4 hours is nothing. Sometimes my fiance’ texts my email address and it doesn’t come through until the next day!

   
   Posted on May 5th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
2. kyle Says
   

   I have same issue i got 20 text from 2 days ago all at one time

   
   Posted on May 8th, 2009 at 1:09 am
3. brian Says
   

   i just got my boost mobile phone and i can not get text messages but i can send them and i can not get on the web

   
   Posted on May 29th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
4. buck Says
   

   i just got my boost 9-08-2009 and have the messaging problem all the time

   
   Posted on September 17th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
5. Sam Says
   

   I’m having this problem OCT 09. Driving me crazy. Was fine the last few months. My wife and I both have Boost. I’m thinking of going with a more reliable service again, and just dealing with a contract. Ughh. What a PITA. Also effecting my emails.

   
   Posted on October 26th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
6. Jasper Says
   

   I love the “The company has been working “day and night” to fix the problems, and aims to have the system “much improved” by next week, Votava said.” It is October 30th and I have had more problems in the last 2 weeks with this issue than ever. If that is ‘much improved’ then I would agree with Sam – it’s time to give up the fight and go back to a contract.

   
   Posted on October 30th, 2009 at 8:37 am
7. Peter Kent Says
   

   Roflmao. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse HIMSELF, the boss of the boss of Boost mobile said they would have this fixed by May 2009.
   http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-ceo-we-fixed-boosts-texting-problem/2009-05-04

   Guess, what it is five months and another 1.6 million users leaving Sprint. LOL.

   Want reliable text on Boost? Get the little known but much better Unltd by Boost cdma. Kills Boost walkie talkie.
   Boost iden is such a joke.

   
   Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 2:12 am
8. Maria Says
   

   i just got my phone yesterday,paid for it and activated it and so disappointed ..the text messaging keep saying out of service..i cant send and receive any text messages..it sucks!

   
   Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 7:11 am
9. amy Says
   

   whats boost cdma? im having probs not getting text people sent me ..they r either delayed for hrs or never get them at all!!

   
   Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 3:45 pm
10. Mike Freeman Says
    

    Boost cdma is also called Unltd by Boost. Almost nobody knows about it but they run on the Sprint network, not nextel like the Walkie talkie iden version does.
    They only have three phones on the used market, but you can activate almost any Sprint phone on their network after you get a real boost cdma phone with some effort. They have much more reliable text/calls. I still have a hard time believing Boost walkie talkie added over 2 million new users since January. I think their service is terrible.

    
    Posted on November 3rd, 2009 at 7:17 am
11. angelo mannino Says
    

    i text my girlfriend 6 times and she got text message 2 days after what kind of service is this stone age i am seriously thinking of a change

    
    Posted on November 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
12. Brian Says
    

    My boost mobile sucks! i got it two months ago and all of a sudden i cannot open the sent messages! so they are building up and whenever i try it shuts off. and no i do not get all the messages its really dumb. Especiall since you have to wait 5 minutes just for it to download the message. I do not reccommend the boost mobile phones at all.

    
    Posted on November 16th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
13. Rick Says
    

    wow, I am in hot water because texts i sent 12 hours ago hit my girls boost mobile at 4 am and she doesnt believe I didnt send them. Im closing my boost mobile account immediately or maybe just not texting on it anymore. Rick

    
    Posted on December 3rd, 2009 at 5:21 am
14. Brittany Conant Says
    

    Boost Mobile texting has way to many delays. Looking elsewhere right now.

    
    Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
15. JASMINE CHAPMAN Says
    

    WELL ON FEB 25 THE TXT MESS. WAS ACTING UP AND I CALLED ,., WITHIN 2 MIN MY TXT WAS BACK TO NORMAL,., THANKX BOOST

    
    Posted on February 25th, 2010 at 9:09 am
16. gabriel Says
    

    I have decided to go back to United States Postal Service since they deliver mail locally in one day

    
    Posted on June 4th, 2010 at 12:10 am
17. Bob Says
    

    I called boost and they told me that I need to delete my txt messages in the inbox. It cannot hold more than 15 text messages and that is why I am not receiving my text messages sometimes. Wow. It’s 2010, and my phone can’t hold more than 15 msgs while other people can have video conferencing on their phones. It’s sad that I can’t rely on my phone to do simple txt msgs but what’s worse is the lame excuse that insults the heck out of my intelligence. I’ll be looking to find a new carrier.

    
    Posted on July 2nd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
18. ben woods Says
    

    got the boost motorola clutch 3 weeks ago. i would receive text messages hours – days after, caused a lot of personal problems got a different boost phone without the walkie-talkie or sim card and after 2 days (they say up to 72 hours)this moto rambler seems to working fine. Have to give up walkie-talkie for texting can’t have it all.

    
    Posted on July 30th, 2010 at 11:14 am
19. Patrick Says
    

    Well, same problem here… haven’t been able to send or receive text messages on my Boost phone for a month. HOWEVER, I did get a text message this morning! Yes, I did. It was one announcing that they cut off service for nonpayment of the monthly unlimited! Sooo…. I guess it does work, for the right senders. This cut off was no surprise as I had decided to discontinue service with them, in spite of having wasted money on one of their phones. RUN, RUN SCREAMING FROM BOOST MOBILE… IT’S A LYING, CHEATING, NIGHTMARE OUTFIT THAT SELLS WHAT IT DOESN’T DELIVER!!!!

    
    Posted on August 1st, 2010 at 9:35 pm
20. Ruth Says
    

    Just friday i had an emergency and i kept calling my boyfriend so many times and he never received the calls let alone all the txt msgs I sent. AN EMERGENCY!!!! I switched back to virgin but my boyfriend is considering that it will get fixed. But he still cant receive my txts so i do not understand, I had virgin for 5 years and this never happened even though they share the same network… i would suggest considering other providers

    
    Posted on August 9th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
21. Jade Says
    

    I have the monthly unlimited plan, and it totally sucks. I plan on switching back to virgin mobile or at&t. My phone has to “download” texts (which takes forever) and sometimes I don’t get peoples texts at all! The service stinks. On my other phones I can read a text right away, with this one…It just pisses me off. Its a year later and the company has still not fixed the problem.

    
    Posted on October 7th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
22. Ashley Says
    

    2 years later!!! Same problem, cannot receive texts! Waste of money

    
    Posted on May 20th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
23. Phil Says
    

    Here it is 10-03-2012 still having the same problems as all the people, but sometimes cant even make a call. I get a notice that i have a voicemail, but the phone never rang. I try to check my voice mail and it tells me im out of range.. This sucks

    
    Posted on September 3rd, 2011 at 4:30 pm

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