MMS Group Text on Android stops working

[Cah2035]

So for a long time, with multiple phones from different manufacturers (android), I have had group text issues where after several messages, mine fail to send and incoming messages are received as indivudal texts by the sending contact as download but wont download. 

This may or may not have to do with messaging users with iphones, I cant say for sure since I have never had a group with only android users. 

For the life of me I cannot find any legit answers online. I suspect that this has to do with the service, that there is some sort of message cap on MMS and service gets suspended if it detects to much traffic. 

So what is the deal here? This sort of issue is debilitating and makes it impossible to have group chats. I sit here seeing downloadable messages come through and people are wondering why I am not asking, so I avoid group chats as much as possible. 

[Cah2035]

Also before it is suggested, please do not ask me to play around with my settings in my phone (toggle airplane mode, change network settings, etc.) This is NOT an issue with the phone settings. This is a NETWORK issue, which is why I am posting on the Verizon forum and not an android forum. 

[everclear0411]

You aren't alone. There are loads of us with this issue. Tech can't help. I'm contacting corporate and I suggest you do the same. Then I'm going to have to switch providers. 

[vzw_customer_support]

Cah2035, thank you so much for reaching out. We want to make sure that you can send group messages without any issues. So we can get a better look at the details, please provide us with a Private Note. We will be standing by ready to assist. 

-Kevin

[TM701]

I have had and continue to experience this. This has been ongoing for a  very long time.  I would say since at least a year ago.  So like....since summer of 2022.  Or....even longer than that.  It took me a long time to figure out what caused it. 
And yes...customer support wants you to reset network settings, restart phone, turn airplane mode on and off, etc.  I told the last rep as soon as they answered...."Listen...I don't mean to be rude, but do not have me reset, restart, etc....I'm wayyyyy beyond that".  They couldn't understand what I was trying to tell them. So then I said this: "Imagine you and  6 of your closest friends are on a group chat.  Imagine 2 of you are Android (Verizon) and 5 are iPhone. Imagine all of you are playing trivia, asking and answering, back and forth to the group.  Are you imagining? Okay.  Now imagine, after a bunch of texts have been sent and received, that ONLY you and the OTHER Android user (the two Android users), can no longer send or receive group texts from any of the group.  Its ONLY the Android users.  Now imaging that lasts for 10-30 minutes and then it magically gets fixed.  Still imagining?  Now imagine it happens tomorrow under the same circumstances, and then the next day, then the next and the next and EVERY TIME you get in a "high volume" group chat.  And its only the Android guys (who BOTH are Verizon).  And imagine its happened like this for the past year.  And imagine how, every time it happens, your members of your group chat wonder why you all of the sudden quit messaging. It's like Verizon puts you in 'MMS Timeout'  "  It gets very frustrating.  I have a trouble ticket in for this. # *****. I 've spoke with Level 2 support about this twice.  They are baffled.  I feel your pain.  Everything happens EXACTLY as you described it. 

[runninbear5]

Yes! I have been experiencing the same issue since November over the use of two different phones. I switched to Verizon in November and right away I noticed the  issue. On my old phone, Pixel 6, the issue happened almost daily, anytime a group chat I was in picked up. And your description of "MMS timeout" is a perfect description. Now on my Samsung S22 the issue has happened less but it still does occur. It is hard to judge if it is truly less frequent tho as I have switched away from using texting for group chats because of the issue. But it happened again today. The only thing I can think of for what happened today is that my phone was connected to a 4g network at the time. As soon as it switched back to 5g I was finally able to download the messages. I know my pixel only could connect to 4g and thinking back, I could believe my Samsung was only having the issue when it was connected to 4g. Is this something you have also noticed? Or does it happen when connected to 5g as well?

I have been trying to debug this for so long so I am curious if our problems are similar and to see what verizon says 

[TM701]

One of the customer service reps went down the path of 4G/5G.  But, ya know...I'm never on 5G where my house sits. It's always 4G, and the problem comes and goes while on 4G.  Meaning, sometimes it works with 4G and sometimes it doesn't.  The ticket I put in is still showing open.  They "escalated" the ticket and gave me a new ticket number. I think I'll call into today to check the status of it. 

The only thing I can confirm, is that it is Verizon/Android.  And it happens in the midst of large volume group message exchanges.   4 of the 7 of the members are Apple.   3 are Android.  2 of the Android are Verizon.   The 2 Android/Verizon users are who get put in "MMS Timeout".  Every time, it is only us 2.  The 2 of us have Samsungs, coincidentally, but I don't think Samsung is one of the common denominators. Just Verizon + Android.   Good luck. Save a link to this chat. I'll update when I get info back on the trouble ticket. 

[Slkruger33]

I've been having this issue too and it's only the high volume group texts and it does it constantly. It'll fix itself, then as soon as multiple texts start coming in, it pauses again. I literally need it to stop. I have to be able to contact this group. I'm so incredibly frustrated with it. 

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello, Slkruger33, thank you for reaching out regarding your messaging concern. Are you experiencing trouble with sending, receiving, or both? What messaging app are you using? 

-Lauren

[rkaphle]

I use the messages app from Google now. Previousoy I used the messages app from  Samsung. Both had same issues.

[Slkruger33]

I've used all the messaging apps and they all do it. It's frustrating and getting to the point I'm considering going somewhere else. 

[TM701]

It is NOT the messaging app.  It is NOT the brand of phone. It is NOT signal strength.    It is NOT the device.
I've been through this a hundred **bleep** times with Verizon.   
It just happened now. And I KNEW it was going happen before it happened.  I was texting a group of people.  All of the sudden, none of the group texts go through, and I can not receive any texts from any of the people who are trying to send to the group.
I CAN however, send INDIVIDUAL texts.   My wife, right next to me with the EXACT same phone, I asked her if she could send group texts.  (She was NOT in the group that triggered this outage).  She sends one to a few people (again, none are in the group that triggered my problem), and it goes to everyone except me.  Her group texting works just fine.
Here is the BOTTOM LINE: Mine got SHUT DOWN (I got put in MMS Timeout) because I sent and received TO MANY GROUP TEXTS.  That is what does it EVERY TIME.  EVERY SINGLE TIME.

[everclear0411]

Preach. The more people that contact Verizon executive support by emailing the CEO, the better.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. At least we know we aren't the only one having this issue anymore. I have had this issue on four phones for nearly 4 years and it is only getting worse.

The other day we almost got hit by a tornado, missed us by a 10th of a mile. Of course I didn't hear any of the information from the group text because mine stopped working for 15 minutes in the middle of the storm. This is absolutely ridiculous. 

[TM701]

I tried to get "executive support".  They ended up transferring me to like... level 2 or something. I forget. But the name "executive" was greek to the customer service rep I had on the phone.   I was on the hold for 43 minutes when I hung up.   Calling in will do no good anyway.  Like I told the customer rep. "I've called in 40 times about this, and I'm not about to start over from square one trying to explain it to you a 41st time" . Then they transferred me. 

And you're right....something bad will happen at some point because they've been put in MMS Timeout  during a tornado, hurricane, etc, where they can't give instructions to their family, etc.

My guess is that it's based on a certain volume of data that travels.... I dunno....through single tower over a certain period of time--then it keeps you in MMS Timeout even if you switch towers, etc.  Or, it's simply a certain amount of data that travels through your phone number (regardless of tower) over a certain period of time.    But here's another thing, reaching your "data limit" happens just as often if it's a 3-person group or an 18-person group.  So....that would indicate that it's not based on total data volume.  If that were true, having it happen in large groups would happen more frequently and "sooner" than small groups. From my experience, the ONLY factor is groups.  And....here's one more thing.  A single picture sent to a single person, is an MMS message.  I could send individual MMS messages (Pictures) to a single person til my thumbs bled, and it wouldn't put me in timeout.  So its NOT simply just MMS as far as I know.  Its GROUPS and MMS (all texts within a group go as MMS). I may try to put myself in MMS by sending single pictures to my wife to test it.  It seems like a few of us on here are the only ones that are actively trying to put clues together to figure this out. 

[everclear0411]

https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/executive-bios

Email the CEO

[TM701]

I sent a message to the CEO on the link you provided.  My message said "ongoing Verizon problem for 3+ years.  Tech's can't figure it out, customer service is lost when it comes to this. "  Then I included a link to this discussion.   More need to do the same.  Its the only way this will have a chance of being addressed. 

[Slkruger33]

The most ridiculous thing is, this isn't even their only issue. Service as a whole is horrible. During the storms in Michigan last week I couldn't even text anyone. I've had enough. 

[TM701]

Well....all carriers have issues from time time.  So do local phone companies, local and national ISPs,, etc.    Recently there was a fiber cut where I live.  All sorts of odd things happened.  You could call Carrier A from Carrier B, but you couldn't vice versa. It was random as to what was going to work and to where.  Etc. Natural disasters or man made, cause issues. I don't fault Verizon for the issue you had during a storm. I've had all 3 carriers (ATT, Verizon, TMobile) and all randomly had issues.  It's the same with GM/Ford/Dodge.  Its  part of life.   If you switched carriers over the issue you had this weekend, 2 months or 5 months etc down the road your new carrier would have a hiccup.   That's my .02. 

But with this  "MMS Timeout" issue, that's not related to weather, fiber cuts, upgrades, etc.     That one I put solely on the shoulders of Verizon.  I"ll criticize a friend who deserves criticism (I'll choose my words carefully), but I'll also defend an innocent 3rd party if they deserve to be defended). 

I'm hoping the email to Executive support can help get to a resolution with the "MMS Timeout" that this thread is about. 

[Slkruger33]

This has also been going on for years. Dead zones, dropped calls, etc. I have always had service in my town, the last year (plus)we have none. Both issues are equally important and need to be addressed.  People pay a lot of money for phones and they should work. 

[everclear0411]

My issue is the MMS timeout occurred during the storm, multiple cycles of 15 minute timeouts. 

That, in and of itself is unacceptable. 

Hopefully we get enough people complaining that it makes some noise.

[TM701]

I have "Executive Support" calling me back on Thursday 8-31 or Friday 9-1.  I'll keep the group informed of what they tell me.