Can't receive pix messages. States "Download Unsuccessful"

[Davidoo]

My son just got a Droid Charge yesterday.  I have a picture on my phone that I'm trying to send him (my phone is an Env3).  Everytime I try to send him a pix message he receives the message but when trying to view the picture it says "Download Unsuccessful."  I can send the picture to other people with other phones and they get the picture just fine.  I see this addressed in some other threads but they are old and no resolution was found that I can see.  I have a hard time believing this 4G top of the line phone can't receive picture messages.  Thanks for your help.

[Ann154]

Does he have the mobile network on and active? The last time I received a picture message, I had to turn off the wifi connection and download the picture message with the 3G/4G mobile network.

[Davidoo]

When we got the phone yesterday they told us at the store you will always be on the Verizon network and never need to go anywhere to connect with wifi.  As long as there is a Verizon signal you're set.  Is that not correct?  Why would you use wifi when there is a Verizon signal?  Anyway, can you tell us where the setting is to make sure mobile network is on and active?  Maybe this also has something to do with his text messages sometimes not working properly.  Sometimes when he sends a text it just says "pending" and never sends it.  Thanks.

[TBhouston]

Where do you live? Do you ever have problems with voice? It sounds like you aren't connected, esp if text don't send

Did you just recently port your number?

[Davidoo]

We live in Phoenix/Tempe, AZ area and the map is totally red with 4G coverage.  Never had any voice issues.  What does it mean to "port" our number?

[RoyB_VZW]

Sorry you're having a problem receiving messages. It appears to me that the receiving phone (DROID Charge) has a restriction or blocking feature on the account that is preventing it from receiving Picture Messages. Since you are able to send pictures to other devices without incident, this would not be a network issue, nor a problem with your phone. 

To address your concern further, please PM me with the Charge's wireless number and the last four digits of the SSN (or Tax ID if applicable) on the account. I'll be happy to review and resolve this for you. Please also provide a contact number and a good time to reach you when you will have access to the Charge so that we can test after making corrections. 

Thanks for your post and we look forward to resolving this for you. 

[Davidoo]

Thanks for the reply Roy.  We ended up calling customer service on it yesterday.  They had my son reset the phone to factory defaults and now all the messages work fine.  Unfortunately he has to reinstall all his apps and settings, but at least it works now.  What do posters mean by "porting" the phone?

[Ann154]

Porting means transferring a phone number from one carrier to another carrier.

For example my (originally Verizon) phone number was recently ported to AT&T. I gave AT&T's cellular service a good college try and three weeks later it was ported back to Verizon.