First minute: rule out the simple causes
Before blaming the number, look at what you sent the app. Most failed codes we see on our own orders trace back to one of these:
- The number was typed differently. Copy it from the order screen rather than retyping it. If the app has a separate country picker, choose the country of the number you bought and leave out the international prefix from the number field, or the app reads it twice.
- The code went somewhere else. Some apps first send the code inside the app on a device that is already signed in, and only offer an SMS after a delay or a tap on "send by SMS". Look for that option before waiting.
- The app asked for a call, not a text. A one-time number here receives SMS only. If the app offers a choice, pick the text message.
- You asked again too quickly. Many apps ignore a second request for a while after the first. Wait for the app's own countdown, then request once.
Two to twenty minutes: wait, or cancel and move on
A number stays open for up to 20 minutes. Codes that do arrive usually come early, and the performance page shows, for each rated route, the share of delivered codes that came within 60 seconds. If that share is high for your route and nothing has come after a few minutes, waiting longer rarely helps.
From two minutes after the order starts, and while no code has arrived, you can cancel from the order screen. The full price goes straight back to your balance. If you leave it, the order closes on its own at the end of the window and is refunded the same way.
When the app refuses the number outright
Sometimes the app rejects the number before sending anything, with a message such as "this number cannot be used". That is the app's decision, not a delivery fault, and nothing you change on our side will reverse it for that number. Cancel after the two minutes, take the refund, and try the same service in another country.
A rejected or cancelled order still counts as undelivered in that route's figures. That is deliberate: it is how numbers that apps refuse show up in the delivery rate you see before buying.
Choosing the next route
Do not simply reorder the same route and hope. Open the service's page from all numbers and compare the countries:
- Prefer a route with a measured rate over one marked "not rated yet". A route is rated once it has 20 orders in the last 30 days.
- Among rated routes, a higher rate matters more than a few cents of price. Live prices are on pricing.
- Check the order count behind the rate. A figure from many orders tells you more than the same figure from a few.
Any route that stays under 80% for 7 days in a row is taken off sale, so everything you can buy has, at worst, recently met the bar or is still being measured.
What the refund covers, and what it does not
Every way an order can end without a code returns the full price: no number could be issued, the window closed, you cancelled, or the number was withdrawn on the supply side. A code that did arrive completes the order and is not refunded, even if the app later refuses the account. The exact wording is in the refund terms.
If a refund is missing from your balance, write to [email protected] with the order ID and we will trace it.