Problems Sending Photo on Jitterbug Flip Phone

[blilb]

I'm trying to help my father send a photo from his Jitterbug flip phone on Lively/Greatcall. I followed the directions according to the user manual, but it just stays stuck on the sending screen. The recipient has not received any photos.

I cannot find anything on the phone that shows the size of the photos either (thinking maybe it was too large). I saw a post on another forum where someone had the same problem, but it doesn't appear they received any help.

Does anyone know why this dumb phone won't send the picture?

Upgrading to a better phone is not a solution as he used to have a regular flip phone and had problems with that. He tried the Jitterbug smartphone a few years ago and he kept asking Google Assistant, "how do I use my phone?" If he can't even use that phone. . .

[Lisme]

It might have something to do with being on Verizon.

They probably give very little priority to dumb phone data requests. It depends on what they have in their contract with Lively.

It also depends on the local tower traffic. You could try at night when there's less competition.

Or upload the picture to a computer and email it.

[rpz1]

Do you have data turned on ?

[sillyette]

Do you have data turned on ?

I thought the exact same thing when I read the title of this thread.

Another thought that came to my mind was that maybe the phone or the phone plan could be the culprit.
But he Lively Jitterbug flip phone user manual states that photos can be sent and received, and that each photo sent counts as 1 text message. So that's not the problem then.

[rpz1]

But he Lively Jitterbug flip phone user manual states that photos can be sent and received, and that each photo sent counts as 1 text message. So that's not the problem then.

Yeah, was my first thought too. Maybe a phone, even the Jitterbug, quick turns on data for a picture text MMS. I never sent a picture so really don't know. Just an assumption.

[Serial Port]

Another thought is that it could be that the account doesn't have mobile data provisioned or the stored APN is not correct. A call or online chat to customer service would confirm this or rule it out as the problem.

[rpz1]

Another thought is that it could be that the account doesn't have mobile data provisioned or the stored APN is not correct. A call or online chat to customer service would confirm this or rule it out as the problem.

Good points. I'd think many older folks still just only using a flip just have talk/text plans with no data.

[Lisme]

It looks like the flips don't offer data: https://www.lively.com/phones/jitterbug-flip2

So I guess the photos have to be transferred somewhere.

[blilb]

I'm looking at his account now and it shows he has unlimited picture messaging, but it also shows for Data that he's used 0MB data and has 0MB left . The phone shows that he has sent/received 8 photos.

He called customer support and they told him he needed a new phone, but they didn't state why.

His phone is an older version than what's shown on the website, maybe from 2019-2021. I wish I knew if the phone is broken, if Greatcall/Lively has disabled something on their end, or if there's something wrong somewhere else (like with Verizon).

He yelled and cursed at customer service because every two years or so he has something wrong with those flip phones and he has to buy a new one.

He used to use a regular flip phone on T-Mobile back in 2008. I'm not sure why he switched. He's paying $19.99 for unlimited talk/text and $7.23 in taxes and fees for a total of $27.22 per month. He might be better off getting the Economy plan on Tello for $10 a month. It has unlimited talk & text and 1 GB of data.

[Lisme]

My sister had a Jitterbug smartphone a few years ago. She somehow racked up an overage of 8 GB ($80). I can't imagine how. I also told her to get a regular phone but she found something appealing about Greatcall/Lively. I couldn't talk her out of getting that crappy phone.

I have the Tello $10 plan. At least they have their act together.

It sounds like Lively has some account issues. Maybe it hybridized with the old smartphone plan somehow.