Buzz Out Loud Lounge: T-Mobile blocking twitter?

T-Mobile blocking twitter?

This is a copy of an email that I sent to rdotson@t-mobile.com related to the incident I just had tonight. The email explains the scenario but basically T-Mobile has taken it upon themselves to pick and chose which short code SMS works on their system and which don't. I am waiting to hear responses from the various sources I've contacted but I wanted to see if anyone else has any information regarding this.

Hello,

I am a very loyal T-Mobile customer and also a very loyal user of the Twitter service (http://www.twitter.com). For the last couple of days I have been unable to send messages to the twitter service (short code: 40404). I figured this was related to the SMS issues T-Mobile was having in the Washington D.C. area so I didnt think much of it... until tonight. I spoke with various people in T-Mobile's customer service and I was outraged when I finally got a response that made sense. From what I was told by the rep that I spoke with, T-Mobile does not support third party message services and sometimes I may be able to use them because of a bug in your system. I was then told that the t-mobile system caught up with the bug and that I shouldnt expect to be able to use the Twitter service any longer from T-Mobile. The rep I spoke with was EXTREMELY helpful and, if nothing else, she should be recognized on her outstanding customer service. For your reference, her ID is 3*****3. She did open a Voice Form with the ID of 0623630.

What is the most troubling about this entire situation is that I feel morally violated by T-Mobile and I feel that T-Mobile is going against Net Neutrality which I believe is essential to our electronic communications. I subscribe to an unlimited text messaging service and that product that I subscribe to does not carve out exceptions to certain destinations. What T-Mobile is telling me in relation to SMS is the same thing as if I was told that I could no longer call my grandmother because her phone number is on AT&T Wireless. This type of behavior is the exact opposite of why I chose to move my service to T-Mobile and, I must say, I have been extremely pleased with the service and the company... until this. Unfortunately, this issue is enough for me to decide to leave T-Mobile. It's not even the loss of being able to use Twitter that concerns me but the fact that T-Mobile is being deliberately misleading in their marketing and is telling me what I can and can't do with a service that I pay for. T-Mobile doesnt have the best coverage in the area that I live in but I am with T-Mobile because I always believed them to be a company with good morals. Finding out that what I believed about T-Mobile is false simply gives me no reason to stay with T-Mobile when I can have the same treatment from Verizon except that with them I get better coverage in the area I live.

I hope that this issue can be resolved without me having to leave T-Mobile but I am prepared to do that if I am not given a reason to believe that T-Mobile is still the great company that I once new.

Thank you very much,
R.M.