“Adam Pash, former lead editor of Lifehacker, reports that Apple has acknowledged a problem we’ve heard reported before: text messages continue to be converted to iMessages and forwarded to an Apple ID even when that ID is no longer in use,” Ben Lovejoy reports for 9to5Mac. “This means that any text messages sent from an iPhone are reported as delivered while actually disappearing into the ether.”
“When you add a contact and place their phone number in the iPhone field, the Messages app converts what would otherwise be a text message into an iMessage,” Lovejoy reports. “While this typically saves money for anyone paying per text message, it can result in lost messages when someone stops using the associated Apple ID.”
Lovejoy reports, “Apple suggested that he ask all his contacts to remove him as a contact and re-add him, selecting Mobile rather than iPhone as the field for his telephone number, a solution that would require contacting everyone who has him listed in their iPhone.”
More info and links in the full article here.