Receiving messages from Apple ID, rather than iMessage?

Question

I'm having a little bit of an issue with only one of my contacts.
I was texting with her yesterday, and everything seemed normal. She texted me today, but the message came from her Apple ID, rather than her actual phone number. She went into settings, and everything seems to be set the way that it normally has been. Her number is checked for starting new messages, and whatnot. Not sure whether it was on my end or hers, I did he same thing; my number is checked as well. We've both restarted our phones, and that didn't seem to fix anything. She managed to do something on her end, and I was getting messages from her cell number, but it was sending it as a regular text message, rather than an iMessage. She tinkered with it more, then I received one message from her on her actual cell number as an iMessage, but the second message she sent when directly back to the conversation that had started with her Apple ID.
I think it's irritating me more than her, because she has one single conversation, but I've got at least two started up with her. If I send a message to the original conversation I had going, all of her responses come from the new conversation started with the Apple ID. Is there any way to fix this, or do I just need to add her Apple ID to her existing contact? I've never had any issues like this before, so it's a bit frustrating, needless to say.

Answer 1

Hello there, BatSpork.
The following Knowledge Base article offers up some in-depth and practical steps for troubleshooting issues with Messages on your iOS device:
iOS: Troubleshooting Messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2755
Although following all the troubleshooting steps thoroughly will help pinpoint the issue, you might find this section of use in your particular instance:
If you still can't send or receive an iMessage, follow these steps
Make sure that the contact trying to message you isn't blocked in Settings > Messages > Blocked.
Make sure that the contact you're trying to send a message to is registered with iMessage.
If the issue occurs with a specific contact or contacts, back up or forward important messages and delete your current messaging threads with the contact. Create a new message to the contact and try again.
If the issue occurs with a specific contact or contacts, delete and recreate the contact in the Contacts app. Create a new message to the newly created contact and try again.
Back up and restore your device as new.
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.