Extremely disappointed with Lively
Extremely disappointed with Lively
Roughly 18 months ago, I switched from T-Mobile to Lively largely to have a flip phone over so called smart phones.
Claiming that it caters to Seniors apt to prefer not just flip phones with true keypads but also larger numbers on the keypad, Lively likes to tout that it not only makes such phones more readily available, but also at a lower price, both points appealing to me as I prefer flip phones, though I likely have other reasons than most for my preference.
First, I was born legally blind in my left eye, and have become quite far-sighted in my right eye as a result of cataract surgery. Having to view ANY content, whether text or image, on the screen of a phone, and not the monitor of a computer, can be quite problematic for me, and while the 17" laptop I carry with me has a smaller screen than my desktop, it is still easier to view anything on it than my phone.
Second, I dislike SMS/texting with a passion for it reduces to hunt & peck the 85 words per minute typing speed I have on a real keyboard.
I previously had flip phones with Virgin, Patriot and Verizon, among others, but was obliged to switch to other carriers when the flip phone I was using needed to be replaced and there were either none available or none at a price I was willing to pay from my then current carrier.
That said, I did pay $185 for the Sonim flip phone I used while with T-Mobile, for being twice the thickness of any prior flip phone I have had, it looked sturdy enough to justify that price. Was I ever mistaken, and to make matters worse, I was dissatisfied with the reliability of the internet service I had with T-Mobile!
I left T-Mobile internet for Verizon, but Verizon did not have a flip phone available, so I went with Lively.
The price for the service wasn't bad, and the phone itself was $60.
However, the Jitterbug was an immediate disappointment with my having the same problem with its ringer volume turning off/down while in my pocket I had with every mobile phone I have ever used.
Using my phone so rarely, then primarily to call a few people with whom I can speak almost daily, it made sense to rely on my call log over contacts to make most calls. That the Jitterbug made removing calls from my log as tedious as it did--not just having to remove them either globally (which defeated the purpose of the call log) or one by one, but with the removal option unavailable in the menu as often as not, was yet another annoyance.
Another complaint I have with the Jitterbug is finding myself using its stop-watch feature more often than previously, it was irritating that the watch turning itself off at 30 second intervals with the display also going dark if the "continue" button is not pressed within those 30 seconds!
Using the phone no more than I did, invariably trying to put a caller on hold to identify the source of an incoming call, I ended up disconnecting both calls!
Then the outer facing stopped display incoming calls, making it difficult to know if a call was important enough to pull to the side of the road if I was driving.
Thus, being skeptical I would not have most of these same complaints replacing the Jitterbug, asTracfone was offering a flip phone made the decision to leave Jitterbug an easy one, since my calling pattern meant I would see my average monthly phone bill drop given Tracfone bills is based more on the number of total minutes of calls than the number of days when calls are made, with carry-over of any unused minutes when new minutes are added.