Solved! <name> is offline try text instead message on windowsphone

I was getting the following message from my windows phone when I tried to text someone using my Lumia 521.

<name> is offline try text instead

It turns out that I could use either the Text service or Messenger service to communicate to this person.  When I used the Messenger service, I was getting the “… is offline try text instead” message.  By switching from Messenger to Text via the button on the bottom that has two arrows, one pointing left and another pointing right (see green box below), I was able to text using the SMS method (i.e., the texting method I pay my T-mobile carrier for) by selecting text mobile instead of Messenger.  I did this because the Messenger option indicated that the person I wanted to contact was offline.

I’m not sure how I got the Messenger program.  Its possible that the Messenger program loaded when I installed Skype on my Windows Phone but I’m not exactly quite sure.  After I uninstalled Skype, the Messenger option was still present next to the person I wanted to contact.

It wasn’t intuitive to do this so I’m posting this solution on my blog hoping that it will help someone.

Good luck!