Hi, I was thinking of buying the Kogan Large plan but I read that you can't text back numbers.
Anyone know if there is any work around for not being able to text back to banks or other organizations? I have two factor authentication setup with Microsoft, my bank etc so how does it work?
Or do I have it wrong, the texts you get from banks/Microsoft/Google doesn't cost money?
Like @Alan6984 mentioned, I don't recall there ever being charges to receive SMS from banks or other 2FA codes.
I don't have Kogan currently (but my kids do) so I can't give you a definitive answer.
The Kogan deal at 50% off only has an hour to run from now so you might be better to give it a miss this time round if you can't be certain.
You could always try the $5 Starter pack - 15GB of data and unlimited txt/calls for 30 days which has been going a while. This could let you test it out and if it doesn't work just port your number back to another network for just a $5 outlay.
Link here: https://www.kogan.com/nz/buy/kogan-mobile-prepay-mobile-star…
Hey
I use kogan and have been on it for quite sometime now. You can receive texts like one time passwords, verification texts and setting up authenticator and stuff. The only thing you can’t do is text a short number.
So let’s say you want to enter a competition by texting 4664, you can’t do that. But you can receive texts for verification purposes and stuff
Hope it helps
Hi, this thread on geekzone covers it: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=42&topicid=290…
Long story short - you can't reply to texts sent from 'shortcodes', a few people have asked Kogan about this in that other thread, but there's no workaround that will allow replies. Sometimes the shortcode texts are from a doctor/dentist/pharmacist, asking you to reply 'YES' to confirm an appointment or prescription. I'm not sure about banks, do they ask you to text back? Once, a car dealership who had my number added me to their marketing list, and I had to reply 'STOP' to unsubscribe. If on Kogan, you basically have to call people every once in a while explaining why you can't reply, and that you are confirming your appointment / wanting to unsubscribe.
I think the issue lies in the fact that Kogan doesn't allow you to add extra credit to an Account Balance - everything they offer is included in the prepay package. Some shortcodes offer 'Premium SMS' services, like entering a competition, and in trying to avoid these paid services (which they don't give customers a way to pay for), Kogan just stopped all replies to shortcodes, even free ones.
Those short code reply requests are a P.I.T.A.
It does NOT cost to receive them but it does cost to reply. The Mrs will NOT do that she rings them. I've had the occasional marketing one which says 'txt STOP' to unsubscribe. I don't - I just block them.
Keep in mind that most short numbers aren’t allocated to a brand and are recycled.
This means that blocking a number with ads also blocks that number from delivering useful stuff or something like verification texts for another brand
Yes this is absolutely right.
As an alternative, you can always contact your provider and ask if sending an SMS to the number with a 'Stop' request will cost you anything.
With Kogan it doesn’t hurt to try, can’t get charged if there’s no account credit 😂
E.g. I can’t unsubscribe from toolshed ads, but can text “yes” to redeem purple dollars from the warehouse card (in true cheapies fashion I only plan to keep it until end of march while it gives the 5% discount and has no annual fee)
@Alan6984: Purple visa sent texts from 580, so four ish digit number haha. Sent “yes” and got through.
Tool shed from 5853 and 861. Sent “stop” and got “not delivered”
@eh: It does seem to imply that Kogan are not completely incapable of delivering that category of SMS.
I noticed that too, can't block a short number, have received messages from different parties from the same short number.
I can't seem to text back lotto anymore . You know where you buy the ticket by replying to the message. Worked fine for years but not anymore. Gives the same message as it does with other paid shortcodes but this is meant to be free. Anyone else having an issue with Lotto?
You can receive texts without getting charged. But it'll cost money to reply to them. Most of them don't really accept replies anyway, so it's a pretty slim use case.
The question you should be asking yourself is, how often do you actually need to do that? If the benefit of getting the SIM outweighs the issues you anticipate you'll be facing, then it doesn't matter.
The other thing I recommend doing is to get rid of MS Authenticator. Use something like Authy instead. You get to use Authy on the desktop as well as on the phone. No need to interrupt your workflow by switching from PC/laptop to your phone just to put in the code. In fact, I actually wrote an AHK script to automate the process of inputting the 2FA code from my Authy. I press a hotkey combination and it'll put in the right code for that particular site. The same hotkey combination could be used to enter a different code for a different site, depending on what I'm visiting. And I can still set a master password on Authy and so my script only works when Authy is unlocked.
The other benefit of Authy is that it's very easy to migrate to a different device. And it's always reliable and has never failed me. MS Authenticator on the other end has a lot of issues. Many users don't get the notification prompt to select YES and you're not really saving that much time by doing that, instead of just putting in the 6 digit OTP code.
I suspect it might vary by provider, but I don't recall ever getting charged to receive a 'four digit' SMS myself with any of the mobile providers I have been with.
Having said that, when I had a Kogan SIM (the $1 deals last year) I only used them for data so it wasn't something I noticed.