Jitterbug Flip Reviews

Updated on 07/22/2020: I would like to update my previous review. This review is no better than the first one. After my sister contacted Jitterbug directly and explained the problem that we are having with my mom's not working and after they tried to troubleshoot it from their end, they decided that they were going to have to replace the phone because they could not fix the problem. I purchased the phone for my mom on 2-29-2020 and have had nothing but problems from day one. It finally got to the point were she could not make outgoing calls or receive incoming calls. So I thought that by replacing the phone maybe we would have better luck. Wrong....When the phone arrived it was not a new phone, it was a used refurbished phone that they replaced my new phone with. This is just wrong.

Voice quality is very poor, sounds muffled yes and no controls for call history deletion and voice messages saved /delete don't work properly. Monthly cost advertised is misleading. I bought this phone for my senior mom, save your money better off with a medical alert button more dependable.

Told me to stand outside to reception, salesman lied and said had same reception as Verizon. Wouldn’t release my number and held it hostage. Wouldn’t give me my money back, gave Verizon lady a hard time and said she was lying. Very muffled when talking, frequently didn’t get incoming calls and texts. The only thing it didn’t have on the back was Mickey Mouse. And had to shut the phone off every day to use it. I would like your lying response back to this.

I got the jitterbug flip for my 95 year old father. It had various problems, the most annoying was "No Service", it would come and go. I am told Great Call uses the Verizon network which is a strong network in my area. Every member of my family has a phone on the Verizon network and have never had a network/connection issue. I would call the jitterbug phone from another Verizon phone in the same house and the jitterbug would not ring as an example. My father has a 15 year old LG flip phone on the Verizon network and we never had a network issue. I called customer service on these various issues and the usual standard answer was I don't understand. The phone has multiple problems what don't I understand it doesn't work.

Difficult to hear the user's conversation---very distorted. I got this phone for my 95 y/o mother since her facility's room phone's volume was too low for her to hear. When we talk to mom, her voice is so distorted we cannot make out most of the conversation---it's not the volume it's the distortion. This is not serving us well during the 2020 COVID-19 quarantine---for one thing, mom probably has only a few short months left due to a terminal illness. As soon as we can visit the long-term care facility, I will replace the J-bug with my older i-phone; I should have thought of that to begin with. I would steer clear of this phone.

This phone is not at all what I expected. I bought it for my husband who wanted a flip phone and needed one with large buttons.

My mom is older and only uses the phone to talk to friends and family. We got her the Jitterbug because it advertises the larger buttons and easy for seniors to use. The buttons are larger but the phone itself is awful. Most of the time you cannot hear her when she answers the phone. She has to call you back in order to actually hear her speaking. The phone fades in and out, it tells her she has missed calls from me when I haven't called her. We have called customer service several times and they replaced the phone once and have told her to be patient service will be better in a few days...which is a joke. Her best friend is having the same issues with her Jitterbug phone. Both ladies pray they don't have an emergency before they get new phones.

I bought the phone. It seemed wonderful until you add contacts. The phone does not update in alphabetical order, but in the order you enter it. I can not see deleting all of them to re-enter in the right order. Plus I have received several calls and texts 5 days later when I needed to know right away. For having the coverage that they are supposed to have it really stinks to the heavens. I was lucky enough that the doctors called the landline and left a message because I could have lost my organ transplant due to great calls inefficiencies.

For many months my 92 year old father was paying $.35 a minute for each minute over his 600 minute plan. The plan is auto billing from his bank account. I called when I discovered the problem and found that Great Call had changed from 600 minutes to 1000 for the same price and would make the change. Why was my father not notified of this change/opportunity? Why wouldn't Great Call just make the change for him automatically? I think the answer is obvious. My father has dementia and I take responsibility for not catching it sooner. Nothing aggravates me more than elder abuse and from a company that caters to the elderly I am saddened and feel he was violated for profit. Buyer beware.

My mother is 98 and legally blind. She has a VERY old LG flip phone, and I sometimes have difficulty with our calls. May just be operator error, but I thought a simple new flip phone was sure to offer superior sound for both of us. I did thorough research (or so I thought) and decided on ** and their Doro 7050 flip phone. I purchased it at Target and the customer service rep was awesome! Set the phone up quickly, told me there was a 30-day return guarantee, set it up with a temporary number but assured me I could easily change it to her old number when I had the information about the old carrier. A very pleasant experience.

Wow, where do I start. I bought the flip phone from for my 80 year old father who has very bad eyesight due to a degenerated eye condition. It’s obvious to me that the designers of the phone do not test this phone with people who are visually impaired. Using the confusing buttons was not an option for us since at some point my father could not see them. I then downloaded the voice recognition version of the phone and was excited that this might make my fathers life easier. Although the premise of how it works is nice (no buttons to find and push), it was a huge disappointment. The voice recognition software is very poor with about 8 out of ten tries resulting in the wrong name being recognized. The sheer frustration for my father was excruciating to watch. Now I’m left with poorly designed phone with no refund available.

I bought four of these phones, consecutively, for my 95 yr old dad as they had good features: large print, emergency button, simple operation. The first one worked perfectly for about a year until it failed. The 2nd one worked for about 8 months but it had " no service" to " poor service" connectivity. Great Call uses Verizon cell towers. At my dad's senior living community my Samsung smart phone and my husband's iPhone have 2 bars of connectivity, but they work. My dad's phone could connect about 10% of the time, if he was in the lobby. But not in his room!

I purchased this phone for my elderly parents 92 and 96 yrs old. It was purchased due to the large buttons as well as the 5 star and link app. Unfortunately there is a significant number of spam texts and calls. As a result the phone now is hardly ever turned on thus rendering the link app essentially ineffective. Other reviews have similarly indicated the unfortunate spam issue. Similarly since the unit is off the 5 star function cannot be instantly used. The device first has to be turned back on. While visiting my parents this past week I also noticed the repeated fully charged signal when I turned the phone on and kept it in the dock. My parents keep the device in the dock to always ensure it is charged. So again they shut the device device off to avoid the repeated fully charged indication. Basically these annoyances really impact device/service ratings.

I rate this a zero. We just bought this phone for my dad last week. The speaker quality is so poor that we’re having to drive to see him today because we cannot understand one single word he said when he called. Is it just the Great Call service or is the phone?

Bought this phone for my mom. She loves the phone, however cannot stop the spam call and texts she gets. Like 40 a day!!!! Called GreatCall, there's no way to block. NEVER had this many on her old service.

I have been a customer of Jitterbug twice in the last 7 or so years. The first experience was hard to beat. The phone and service was better than what they advertised. I only left as my employer required a smartphone. Bear in mind also that at one time in my life, I was a supervisor that manufactured flip phones for the Japanese.

Flip keeps chiming when fully charged and plugged in. I just got the Jitterbug Flip phone for my father. I haven't even given it to him but had his old number transferred over. When charging it in the cradle, the phone continuously sounds a loud (as I have the ringer volume up as he is hard of hearing) chime. Jitterbug recommends keeping the device in the cradle and keeping it charged so it is ready but if it is chiming all night, that is unacceptable. Now I don't know if I can get the phone returned and the phone number back to Verizon. How can this not have been addressed. I called customer service and they said company was "aware" of the problem. Geez.

The inability to increase the audio to a level of understanding the caller's conversation despite additional speaker help was a deal breaker. Was advised that a replacement would have the same deficiency, wow. What a shame in that the phone has everything we wanted in a phone except the audio which negates everything including the wonderful customer support. The phone must be returned and the process has begun requiring our paying all postal fees and being advised it will take 5 to 6 weeks for a refund, why we ask this long and told they must examine the phone to assure the phone is not damaged, it takes 5 weeks to check out the phone?

Just sharing the experience my Dad has had. We both liked the idea of him having a user friendly phone and being able to call for help if he fell, etc. His complaints are that even on speaker the sound is not loud and he has to hold the phone close to his ear. Also, he says it's difficult to make a picture larger to see the detail. That could be user error or not. Unsure. However, my main concern as his daughter is the scammy fees and add on costs. There is no unlimited text/talk/internet for one set price. Each of them costs a fee and then even more money to get more internet time. He ended up not getting the emergency call system because of the increasing cost.

Had an early model which worked well, and the battery held a charge for approx. 6 days. The Company sent a Newer Model (which I did not request), and deactivated my original Flip phone. The "New" Model will not hold a charge for more than 3 days - even when turned Off! It also takes approx. 3 hrs to recharge! Called about this and was told to replace the battery - Not Cheap, Yes they charged me for it! Did not resolve the problem, in fact it got worse! Now if it holds a charge for 2 days I'm lucky! You can't travel anyplace in the USA without carrying the charger with you and God Forbid you travel to another country (You're out of Luck at getting it charged)!

May seem like a small problem but it is very large for a 99 year old woman (my mom). Caller ID on her phone has stopped working. She has been told to hang up if she does not recognize a number/person because of all the scams out there. She cannot tell it is me calling. So I can't contact her. My brother tried to associate a ring tone for family members but that does not work either. Jitterbug support acknowledged the problem with caller ID but offered no workaround and no fix date. It's been two weeks. This is not a good phone or company for the elderly! It's all marketing with nothing behind it.

I wish designers had experience with elderly people with beginnings of dementia. Telephone is not simple if an inadvertent press can disable a phone or make it not ring out loudly. First, the manual is incomplete. It lacks a full description of the menus. By the way, menus are of no use to people with dementia. They can perhaps open and close the phone, and dial a number. That is about all. A slide on/off button clearly labeled would be good - where you can see that the phone is on or off by looking at the button or by feeling it.

Purchased a phone for elderly mother's use. Everything checked out for area coverage so we proceeded just to find out they have issues with network and devices! So, their service might not work for you. Ok, so now,what? Initially everyone is very helpful trying to "troubleshoot." In our case it just meant much wasted time. On the phone back and forth (you never get the same person to see the process through) and time mom was without a phone, returning one phone to be sent another and.... trying again. Only to conclude this isn't going to work. My next disappointment was how again, everyone is scripted to be helpful and understanding and assure you they will seamlessly help with returns and refunding you, but I guess if you aren't going to be a regular customer you kinda get put on the low priority.

I have bought 3 phones beginning November 29, 2018. I was told when I added the other 2 phones that I would get free activation fee since I was already a customer. That was a lie. Also, I was told I could ask for Tootie and she would help me. That was a lie. Had a bad mix up with telephone numbers getting changed that shouldn't and other mistakes made when I bought the 2nd phone.

I purchased this phone for parents because of the simplicity of its functions. There are two major issues. First, the ringtone volume is too low. Even at maximum, they rarely answer the phone because they can't hear it. Even myself and my brother found it difficult to hear. Also, if one of your contacts call you, only their number appears on the screen. We all know how scammers target older people. I've always told my parents to not answer the phone if it's someone they don't know. They can't remember all of their contacts' number - who can!! So there is no protection from scammers - they answer their calls not knowing if the call is from a scammer or not. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.

Basically, I love this easy flip phone EXCEPT for this major issue. EVERYONE tells me my voice is muffled! I have called and complained about this. I have to end all calls early because the other person can't really understand what I'm saying because it's so muffled. I cannot keep this phone, unfortunately, if this continues!!! It's a major flaw. What is the point of having a phone where no one else can hear a clear voice??

Have been a GreatCall customer for many years. Bought my Dad the original flip phone which finally just wore out. Upgraded his phone to this new flip phone that specifically advertises LOUD QUALITY SPEAKER. What a HUGE disappointment!! The sound quality is absolutely HORRIBLE!! My Dad is slightly deaf, so he prefers to use the speaker option. I can't even hear it and my hearing is fine!! Even the sound in the actual earpiece is ridiculous. Called GreatCall immediately after activation. Come to find out that this is an ONGOING PROBLEM with the phone. Apparently something to do with "the software". It's disgraceful they continue to peddle this phone KNOWING it's faulty!! Shame on GreatCall! Will be returning phone and switching to another company/carrier ASAP!

Jitterbug Flip Phone has broken software that makes it so callers cannot hear you on the Jitterbug. We got the phone in 6 months ago and are slow to acknowledge the fatal issue. We were also told that after 30 days you cannot return the phone for refund. GreatCall says in the comments here just call them to "resolve" the issue. And no you cannot return phone for refund after 30 days. The Samsung Smartphone works fine. But you sure do not want the Jitterbug that they know does not work.

I bought a Jitterbug flip phone for my senior citizen mother and within a few months it has multiple problems including occasional 'brick'ing with inability to charge; failure to indicate ring tone when calling; a diagonal line distortion that now crosses the entire LCD internal screen. What are my options with getting Jitterbug to do something about this? I have no confidence in the phone's reliability for her when she needs it.

Ordered the Jitterbug on their 30-day "trial" basis with a temporary number until I decided to transfer my husband's number over. Trying out the phone at home was difficult to hear and had a bad connection. My husband didn't like it and I sent it back with-in about 15 days. I received a refund back (because they charged his card $120.04 in the beginning (in case we decided to keep it). But the credit was minus $12.53. Not only did I pay for shipping it back to them, but they charged me for their shipping cost (hence the $12.53). This was never told to me when she "sold" the phone. Just beware and ask about all costs!

Updated on 10/15/2019: My first review of this is from early September. I had the same issue that continues to happen with the garbled speech with no resolution....appears still no resolution. I did cancel the contract and sent the phone back. I have tracking number that they received it back on 9/16, but still no refund. I sent an e-mail to the person I'd been working with - every e-mail takes 2 days for a response. Today, I got response that they had no record of receiving it back. I have tracking number showing the time and date received. I was waiting as they indicated could take 20 or 21 business days to process. They have now had the phone back in their possession for a month!

Purchased this device a few months ago for my 90 year old father. He needed a device with larger keys and ease of use. This device has the larger keys but is confusing to use. It doesn't operate like other phones. But the most disturbing thing that I encountered is that it does not ring very loudly even on the Max setting. Since I live several hours away I was not able to observe him using the phone prior to the 30 day refund period, now we are stuck with it. Customer support said that the phone rings no louder than any other phone, but I find that it does not ring as any that I tested it against. I will be returning him to his pre-paid phone.

TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE PHONE AND SERVICE! My parents (83 and 87 yrs old) wanted a simple phone for emergencies. We bought the Jitterbug Flips and have used Great Call for 4-5 yrs. Everything was fine until my dad's phone died. We got the newer flip phone in early June and it still IS NOT usable. I cannot understand a word he says. Called CS many times and their comments were, "We will send a software update out", "blow in the speaker to try and clear dust out", "we will escalate your update", "you will be priority and phone should be updated by (day)." Well, after several "phone should be updated by.." the phone is still useless. We are currently facing Hurricane Dorian.

I bought a Jitterbug Flip on 8/4 for my 80 yr mother w/ dementia. Was drawn by the easy to read functions and in particular the voice command feature. It has been nothing but a nightmare since. I had to return the phone, per customer service, phone not functioning properly. Received second phone, seemed to work for about a day. Trying to call the phone is a hit and miss deal. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. More NOT than than anything. The calls usually do not go thru and I'm told to contact CS. I need the phone w/ me to troubleshoot. Phone is 30 miles away. So I have to wait until my next visit to call. Voice command is also dicey. When I ask it to call so & so in my phonebook. I'm told there is no such person listed.

I bought this phone for my husband who has a hearing aid. Even when I have it on speaker I have a hard time hearing and my hearing is excellent. I've called many times (twice today) and they say they are updating the software but nothing changes. We love everything else about this phone but volume is the most important for my husband. Look for another service for him. More than frustrated and disappointed.

I purchased a JBug for my 70+ y.o. Mom. She wanted something easy to use for emergencies. In some ways the phone is easy to use, in other ways it is very frustrating. #1. The buttons are VERY STIFF and hard to press for arthritic hands. You would assume they would be soft touch but they are hard to push. #2. Phone has this crazy "yes/no" system of asking you if you want to do something, but it's not always easy to determine what is it asking you. There were times she wanted to delete a text message that the phone would just take her round in circles and she would be back at the main menu and it still showed she had unread messages. The only reason we got the phone was because of "Adam's Father" (can't recall his name) who advertises it. He seems very trustworthy. Surprised he would lend his rep to this inferior product. There are certainly better basic flip phone available, such as CC, which we now use. Thanks.

My mom went over her minutes and was charged 155.00 over her payment for two months. GreatCall said they call her once and spoke to her, she is 83 with Dementia. She either ignore it or was confused. The phone itself was good, and easy to use for a cell phone. But billing must be watch by someone cause they will not adjust anything and considering she is on a fixed income left with only $90.00 each month after paying rent for her assisted living residence it really cut into what saving she had.

We were told when we got this phone in early June that the speaker problem would be resolved by a software update at anytime. I was sent a new phone to cool my jets. This phone has the same prob as expected but it's now the end of July. I'm sure this software issue is total B.S. and that they can't fix the prob. Isn't this a form of elder abuse?

We purchased a Jitterbug Flip several months ago for my 94 yr old mother who has had a cell phone for many years. She has experienced trouble hearing the caller on other end, and they have had trouble hearing her ever since she received her phone. Some calls are bad on her end, some on the other person's end. It does not happen on every call, but most. We were told that the new software patch would fix this issue, however we waited for months and nothing happened. When we called back in to the company they tested her phone and told us it was not working.

My mother needed a cell phone & supposedly Jitterbug is a good choice. She has difficulty hearing if the phone is ringing, but worse than that if she makes a call it is so garbled you have to guess at what she is saying. Hopefully if she ever needs to call 911 they will respond because you cannot understand what is being said. I wish we would have gone with a different company but don't want to confuse her more by switching now - she is 84 years old.

My mother loves the phone, but God help you if you exceed the minutes on the plan. Due to a landline failure that took several days to repair, she did just that. Though the account is in my name and I pay the bill, they called her AND MY BROTHER (WTF?) and insisted they make a decision RIGHT NOW to increase the minutes on the plan or they would discontinue service. They did not call ME, and they demanded an immediate decision--or they would turn the service off RIGHT NOW. When my brother called me--GreatCall never did--I called GreatCall and was subjected to an offensive, insulting tirade about what a great service they were doing to warn us about the minutes overage, and why wasn't I grateful?

Can't understand person who is calling from the phone. They said they would update the software weeks ago but NOTHING has happened. They are ripping off seniors - PERIOD. My 88 year old father-in-law has had Jitterbug in the past that have been OK but this latest one is AWFUL. He even went and bought a second phone to see if it was better and it's just as bad.

I signed up my parents this past May (both in the their 80s) for the new Jitterbug Flip Phones with the large buttons and simple interactive screen that they had seen on tv (they both have failing eyesight). After initial setup, I tested their phones by calling my parents landline with their new Jitterbug phones, one at a time. As my mom tested her phone by talking to me while I was on their landline, she sounded like she was calling from the Twilight Zone! Then, dad called the landline with his new Jitterbug flip phone, and he sounded like he was calling from another planet. His voice was all broken and garbled.

My mom has owned previous Jitterbugs before updating to the Flip. This phone has horrible sound (other people only hear garbled words). After owning it for a mere 3 months, It will not hold a charge. Do not waste your money. We are currently considering other phone and carrier options.

Just received this phone and the volume is so low could barely hear. Called GreatCall and customer service said she would send an update and to wait 4 hours for it to take effect. After 4 hours no improvement and in the meantime I read the reviews on this page and realized that this problem is common. Called back and spoke with another rep. Told him the update did not work and that I had read that this volume problem is common.

We got the Jitterbug Flip for my 82 year old mother-in-law. I set it up for her and I manage her account thru GreatCall. This is a simple phone but call quality and loudness is horrible. At first we thought it was just poor call connections. A phone that is marketed to be a lifeline for seniors should not be of such poor quality!! When we call her and her friends call her she cannot make out the conversation. The speakerphone is a joke. It is LESS LOUD with it on. I turned the speakerphone off for her and turned the volume ALL THE WAY UP!! She cannot understand the words when people call her on this phone. We are so disappointed. We would like to return it. Best Buy return policy is already expired and reading the GreatCall warranty doesn't seem much better. I thought just might be a bad sample, but the reviews on here lead me to believe otherwise. Such a disappointment for what could be a great product and service.

I purchased this phone on July 18th for my 80 yr old dad who lives by himself, hard of hearing, and has poor memory. Jitterbug advertises this phone as having a POWERFUL SPEAKERPHONE, but actually it has the lowest volume of any phone I have ever seen. I called Jitterbug on 21 July and was told a patch has to be pushed and they will add the phone to the priority list. The patch will be pushed in 7-10 days and it will take another 3 days to go through. In other words, this phone will not be usable for at least 2 weeks. I cannot begin to describe my level of frustration. Unfortunately I did not research reviews prior to purchasing the phone because AARP and a few other online sites labeled this as the best phone out there for seniors.

My 91 year old dad has only had this phone for a month. EVERY SINGLE DAY he gets 3-5 sales calls - addressing him by name. They are selling various insurance. I have to believe this company immediately sold his name and number to highest bidders. And there is NO WAY to opt out or block sales calls. Wish he stayed with TRACFONE.

WARNING! These phones are pure unadulterated CRAP! DO NOT BUY if you want to understand your elderly loved ones on the receiving end of a call! Reception equals that of a half tuned radio station. The ** at Best Buy try to pawn this crap off on unsuspecting Seniors when they walk in. I have to call my mother on her landline because I cannot understand a word she is saying on her on her Jitterbug Flip, others trying to contact her have made same comment. It is not the area because she lives just a few miles from a major NC city where cell towers are everywhere and reception from other carriers is great... I have since read countless reviews on the web stating others have same problem but J-bug keeps pedaling this junk for $80+ monthly service. This POS phone and service should be outlawed.

I have an 82 year old friend who purchased a Jitterbug for his first cell phone. He called me several times and I could not understand him. I freaked...thought he had a stroke. After determining he was okay, I called a friend from his phone and she kept saying she couldn't understand me. I would have thought it was a "bad" phone but see that others have complained about this, and I'm assuming this is what they are calling "voice recognition software". Whatever it is, it is HORRIBLE! Shame on any company for swindling older people by advertising this is for their generation.

My 87-year-old dad and I decided to go with a Jitterbug Flip since this was his first cell phone and I wanted it to be easy for him to understand and operate. The customer service was wonderful when he opened his account in May and activated his phone, very patient and helpful. The phone was easy to understand and operate too, From the beginning, however, I noticed that the sound quality of his calls was terrible, sounding muffled to the point where at times it was unrecognizable. The receiver volume was also low, but when switched to speakerphone it was even lower.

Just set up a brand new flip phone GreatCall. I am stunned by all the software failures on this phone. The volume is advertised as "loud" - it is the lowest volume of any phone I have owned. I am buying this for my Mom, who wears hearing aids. She can't hear the ringer, the soft stupid voice that says "who would you like to call". The voice is so low, I can't even hear it! The voice recognition software is horrible, and the beep it generates every time goes in to a bug mode and will not come back unless you power down the phone. This is 2019. This company has had over 12 years to get this flip phone right. THEY HAVE NOT! I am so frustrated. I feel I wasted my time porting over my Mom's phone number to this pathetic phone. The government should shut down GreatCall.

I’m 54, bought this for my 91 y/o mother, there is NO way she could have set this all up. Worrying about her and tired of her frustration with her AT&T flip phone she had, we hoped this would be the answer. Sadly... she gets frustrated. I think I spend close to $70 a month. She thinks it’s on $30, and I let her. She would never pay that in total.

I bought a Jitterbug phone for my wife (we are old). This is definitely not a phone for old people. There is no icon to show the battery charge. One must search through the menu to know the charge of the battery - not an old person's desire. The battery will not last a day even with very few calls. The transmit quality is extremely poor. It is very often so garbled as to not be understood. I called Greatcall and they admitted that there was a problem and updated the phone. It did not help. In another phone conversation I was told they would have the problem fixed by May. It is now July and still no satisfaction. Do not waste your money.

I just got one of these and HATE it. I got it because of the cheap plan ($14.99/month for 250 minutes) because I don't expect to use it much -- just when I'm away from home. The phone itself is far TOO simple, with the "Settings" menu item basically being useless: allowing you to change only the color scheme, ring tones, etc. So you have to contact GreatCall customer service for everything else (like shutting off texting capability). The REALLY bad problem is that the phone doesn't have any type of call blocking, and GreatCall doesn't offer any type of call blocking service. So I'm getting probably about 10 robo-calls every day, with no way to prevent them. I'd gladly pay extra for call blocking, because it is so very annoying to get these types of calls so many times every day. I wouldn't recommend this phone for ANYONE other than someone who is completely unfamiliar with any type of technology. I wouldn't recommend GreatCall service -- PERIOD.

We were given a Jitterbug Flip phone by GreatCall as a temporary solution: My mother's GreatCall Lively Plus medical alert lanyard/button was recalled 6 weeks ago. While they were very nice about it, the phone is hardly a substitute. Brand new out of the box and when you talk into it, the other end can't understand you. I called customer service to confirm. Yes, my call was distorted & muffled; they have a software glitch and is a common problem. Was supposed to be fixed last month, but still isn't and no word on when!

I just got done cancelling my account with GreatCall, the company that provides the service for the Jitterbug phone. I purchased the phone in mid-May for my senior citizen husband after reading about it in the AARP publications. He needs an easy-to-operate large screen phone just like it's advertised. The voice quality of the phone is terrible. The words spoken are indistinguishable no matter who makes a call using the phone. It sounds like the caller is having a stroke. We searched for microphone adjustments, but found none. Trusting the AARP advertising, I didn't look at reviews until AFTER making the purchase and found many others had the same problem we did. Since my husband needs a way to communicate with other family members, we kept it for use in texting. It works fine for that. At a charge of $38.61 per month, it doesn't make sense for us to keep it as a texting device. We'll look for a difference device.

I purchased this phone for my brother who is a little challenged because its simplicity & large screen. Shortly after getting it he started sounding like he was under water. Couldn't understand a word he was saying. Called Great Call & they did replace the phone. But the 2nd phone quickly went bad with the same issues. For at least 5 months we have been told that they are working, they know of the problem. "The fix will be done by the end May". So, 3 weeks into June & still waiting. Thank you for giving credit but doesn't serve its purpose with a useless phone. Will be making contact with customer service again.

Garbled voice. Can't hear a word my mother says when I call her. When will this problem get resolved? Why wasn't this product tested before it went on the market. Is it the phone or the service provider? I would not recommend this product.

I can't really comment on the way the phone works as we just spent over three hours trying to activate it to no avail. On the first call after 22 minutes on hold someone picked up and said they needed to transfer us. We were disconnected. On the second call after 27 minutes someone picked up, said we had the wrong number, told us to call a different number. Again we were disconnected. On the third try after 30 minutes we were told that we needed to set up the phone account which we had already done. At this point we just wanted out but even that was too difficult. The operator got very rude when we explained we no longer wanted anything to do with the company. If this had been my mother setting it up she would have been in tears. Just don't buy this product.

Updated on 06/21/2019: Still happening. My father’s service has been out again for the past two days. The problem has not been resolved and I get an “All circuits are busy” message. This company needs to get their act together and improve overall.

Second phone in 3 weeks, speaker is horrible. Was told 3 weeks ago of a upgrade and it hasn’t happened yet, phone also blinks all the time when it is closed and, No, he does not have a missed call! This is my Dad’s phone, we got it for him in case of a emergency. Can’t get anywhere with customer service, they keep giving me the runaround. I would love to talk to somebody that has some Authority at this place!!

I purchased two flip phones on behalf of my parents, who are in their mid-80's. The phone is easy to use, however the sound quality on the receiving end is noticeably garbled to the point where it is difficult to hear the caller. Since they use the phones to stay in touch with each other and my father has hearing issues, this is a concern. My father called the company and he said they told him there was nothing they could do. Since he can be easily confused, I decided to contact the company myself.

I bought a Great Call flip phone for my father for his birthday. He had an android smartphone that was basically too much phone for him to manage. I loved the big buttons on the flip phone and the simple menu. But, and this is a huge BUT, when he spoke on the phone his words were so garbled no one could understand him. We called Great Call to report the problem, and they did a few tweaks remotely from their office. It made little improvement. They told us that they were making a system wide update in May, so we agreed to wait. When the problem was not resolved in May we called and they said it had been pushed back to June. They again tried to tweak the phone and after it was the worst it had ever been. I couldn't understand anything my father was saying on it.

My mother is 103 yrs old. Other than a hip problem, she is physically and mental good. We persuaded her to get a Jitterbug Flip. Red is her favorite color and the phone is easy to use. However she/we have had nothing but problems!!! The phone she has now is a 2nd phone since the 1st one did not work. The phone is static and gargled all the time. She can hear calls but her speech is garbled almost to the point of unintelligibly. The Jitterbug Flip Phone is USELESS. You should be ashamed to have it on the market. I am contacting the BBB and our local news station so others will not purchase the Jitterbug. (**)

Like so many others in this list of reviews, I bought my 90-year-old mother a replacement Jitterbug Flip phone because she dropped her old one. This new one is useless because she cannot be understood when she uses it. There is clearly an issue with the microphone. This has cut off her connection with friends she used to call and is certainly useless in an emergency. Calls to GreatCall customer service are a waste of time. All you get is "A software fix is coming in a couple of weeks." I first heard this on May 6. It is now June 3 and nothing has been improved.

Got my mother a new flip phone several weeks ago, as she is not able to use touch phones easily due to tremors, and her previous phone died after several years use. The previous flip was fine and never had any problems. New flip is basically USELESS for her; she can hear calls but her speech is garbled almost to the point of unintelligibly. Repeated calls to Great Call garner different responses. If she were to need to call for medical help it would be useless.

For a few years I used the GreatCall Lively Alert. I had it only 3 months and it stopped charging. I called customer support and they walked me through all the tests and decided that it was not functional. The rep said that she would send out the Jitterbug Flip as a temporary solution until the new improved Lively becomes available. I actually like the Jitterbug Flip much better than the Lively Alert and will keep it. The charger issue can be resolved by pushing down and wriggling the phone in the charger unit. When I first received it I noted that I could not hear the speakerphone well. With speaker off it was much louder. I called Customer Service and the man said that a software update would be out in a few days.

I bought my mother a flip phone because it had features that would work for her. Customer service is great troubleshooting the phones. We are on phone number three now and we are still having trouble with it which means I will have to call again and troubleshoot that phone. There are just too many issues we have had. Possible microphone. Automatic dialing of five star when the phone flipped open. The sound is static and gargled all the time even though she is in a good service location. I don’t know folks. After all I’ve read and studied about the reviews it seems the quality of the product is poor from their new maker Alcatel. I’m not wanting to try a 4th time. I have lost complete trust in this product. Time to move on.

Customer service is a joke. I am not happy about this phone. My folks (80 and 77) bought 2 Jitterbug phones so that they could call in case of a fall on the farm. One phone works fine, the other has the garbled microphone problem and a problem with the battery or charging circuit. It will not hold a charge for even 24 hours, and no one can understand my mom when she tries to call on it. Customer service has told us repeatedly that it is a software problem and they will not replace the phone. The other phone works fine. First Rep told my parents there was no problem with the phone, just needed a software update.

I am so disappointed. I purchased this phone for my 85 yr old mother. It looks good, the buttons are large, the 5-star button is so promising and I love the red color. Beyond that - she has a phone she cannot use. The call audio quality is completely unintelligible. Each time I call customer service they apologize, they send an update to the phone and nothing happens. They site a software problem between Verizon and the Alcatel Flip Phone. The software update is in the works but it might be June? And it might not.

I convinced my somewhat older husband to try Jitterbug, in hopes that he would learn to text and gain basic proficiency in modern phones. First he received a flip phone. The phone had constant issues with the microphone and the voice mail. We can’t speak highly enough of customer service in attempts to resolve the issues, but despite exchanging the phone 4 times, the phones never worked satisfactorily. He upgraded to a smartphone. It worked for a while, but then he began to experience problems with receiving calls, voice messages and inability to delete messages. Several attempts were made to resolve the problem, but it was never resolved.

Flip Phone technology is over 20 years old. How can you screw that up! I am pretty techie and wanted a phone that did not have Internet on it. The first 9-12 months it was okay. But then it got really, really slow. You hit the scroll button and had to wait seconds for it to move from menu to menu. Next, it would just power off on its own. Then the audio went crazy and I sounded to others and they sounded to me like we were in a huge tunnel! I called. GreatCall re-set the phone via their network (software update?) That only worked for several days, Then it really got bad. So, they sent me another Flip Phone which NEVER worked properly!

My Mum and I have an 83 year old friend that recently came home from rehab after a fall. I am an hour away from her and can't physically be there to try and troubleshoot the phone situation and my Mum is away and I might add - she is 82. My Mum and I both have been trying to call our friend and have both experienced a very poor sound quality on the other end. We can not hear our friend as the quality is very garbled. At times it is fine and then all of a sudden I can no longer make out what she is saying. I tried to call customer support and they would not speak to me as my name was not on the account. My Mum then called - her name is on the account - and they sent the phone an update - to no avail....a day later the problem persists. (Our friend did turn the phone off and then on again after the update was sent.) Meanwhile my Mum and I are not physically there to help our friend.

My mom just got this phone. We cannot hear her. It is all garbled. Customer service said they cannot do anything but a download which did not clear up the problem. I think we will just go to ** and get a phone over there. Poor service.

We've had Jitterbug phones for 6 years now. The first 5 years we had the phones made by "Samsung" and they were AWESOME! Then I made the huge mistake of upgrading to their latest model made by some company named "Alcatel". Neither my husband or I are very impressed with them. My husband, who uses his phone a lot, is constantly complaining about the problems he has making and/or receiving calls besides getting very poor signal out in the country where we live. He has to go outside to use his phone to get any decent signal. Keeps saying it's the worst cell phone he's ever had. My phone has always been basically for emergencies when I travel alone and taking beautiful pictures that I "use to be able to download to Facebook" right from my phone.

Bought the Jitterbug Flip Phone from GreatCall and had no problems with ordering the phone. Agent was super nice, honored the lower price I found on Amazon, threw in extra phone dock charger, car charger, and 50 more minutes of talk time. Even set up 5 contacts! Received the phone in a timely manner. It was already activated, but had to wait a few hours for my mom’s cell number to be transferred. Absolutely love the phone with the large buttons, and ease of using the phone with Yes and No answers. Scrolling through the menu with the up and down arrows makes finding the section you want on the phone very easy. The volume could be louder however as my mom is hearing impaired and even with the speaker on, an option for a louder level would be nice.

I purchased this phone for my mom who is in memory care. It is easy to use and the buttons are larger than normal. She can call back a missed call easily but the call quality is terrible. It is very difficult for the caller to understand what she is saying (garbled). When I called Customer Svc., they said there is an update coming but she needs to turn the phone off every day to get it. She won't remember to do this or even know how. They also don't have their system set up for someone else to talk with them on the the customer's behalf and insisted that she tell them the answers they were asking. She doesn't know those answers - she's in memory care! Other services will just ask the customer if it is OK to speak with someone else.

I purchased this phone for my 85 year old mother and thought it was going to be good for her but we have had nothing but problems. We had the phone for three months at 50.00 a month and the phone has been sent back twice so this is our third phone. Calls are dropped and when you call her the phone is muffled and you think something is wrong with her. It’s very scary. And then other times she will call me and when I pick up phone we can’t hear one another. This is so frustrating for my mother and I I am thinking of going back to our old carrier. Less problems and cheap.

I bought the flip phone for my 75-year-old husband's birthday in December. He has had problems with the incoming call ringing alert. He was told to switch incoming call ringing alert to a different sound which he did and it worked for a short while. The problem keeps happening. This last time customer service told him to turn the phone completely off and on every other day... maybe even daily. He did this and it has worked. But this seems like a defective product. What well-made phone works like this?

Bad 1st impression for purchasing 2 Jitterbug flip phones so far. It's for my Dad that is in a nursing home. I have not yet in 2 weeks found a good phone that does not have an issue with the microphone on the Jitterbug flip phone. It sounds staticky or muffled on trying 2 new phones so far. I'm not sure I am going to try a 3rd phone to see if it is defective. This is ridiculous how about some compensation for my troubles in the 1st 2 weeks?? And maybe I'll think about trying a 3rd phone??

My handicap mother has been using Great Call flip phone since 2013 and was extremely happy with the phone and service. In the past two years she has been very dissatisfied and frustrated with the phone quality. We have had replacements from Great Call due to charging issues and we have had to purchase two new replacement phones alone this year in order to insure mom's safety when she is away from her home. The phones ALL eventually will not charge. Charging cable and outlets are good. For a phone made for seniors it is very sad that they have to deal with constant issues in order to have the ability to communicate outside their home. Please Please Please go back to your original manufacturing vendor and stop selling and sending out defective phones.

Purchased a new phone for elderly mother as she has this same model that broke. Have been thru two replacement phones and speaker does not work on either. Was now told manufacture defect in software and can't be updated until May. Mother is unable to use regular talk without the speaker as has mobility issues and now I have to wait till May to get another phone that works on speaker. These phones should of never been sent out if they were not working properly. Will have to get refunds and new phone that will have a speaker capable of working. Very upset at this issue.

I purchased this neat phone after 2 yrs. deciding on it. I am not sorry so far. The customer service is top notch. I wanted to address some complaints about not hearing the ring, even as it is set at Max. I had my customer service rep. call me on it to check it out, I too told her I could barely hear it ring, she said they had another option, to scroll down to ALERT, press Yes and it is just perfect. No fancy ring tones but an alert one. Not too loud just perfect at least for me. I could hear the customer rep. perfect on it and she had me call 5* while on the phone with her, they too were very nice, told them I had just received the phone and wanted to check to see if we were connected. So far, everything is fine. I will be giving it a good testing when I go to babysit my grandsons in a few weeks for 2 wks. as it will be my only phone.

My wife & I both have flip phones. Mine has had frequent problems with the controls/yes-no etc. I use it way less than my wife used hers. Yesterday it went dead, will NOT take a charge. Tiny light under charge light comes on when put on charger. No response no matter what I try.

Called GreatCall today to get a flip phone activated, for my elderly mom. From the start of the call, it was sorta obvious they were more interested in collecting as much data from me than giving me information and rate plans. I assume now they will $ell this information or start telemarketing calls to my poor mom. Their presentation of rate plans was very confusing, and the woman on the other line was not friendly, way-too-scripted, and huffing and puffing into her headset with what sounded like 50 other people talking in background in a "call center." They seemed to have bait-and-switch tactics too, and would not give me a preferred area code phone number where my mom most uses her phone. They tried to promote the rollover minutes but then it turns out they cancel all rollover every thirty (30) days.

My son purchased a Jitterbug Flip phone for me and I was assigned a telephone number that I cannot use in the area I live in without my friends and family paying long distance charges for the call to me. When I called customer service today to see if the number could be changed to a local number, I was more or less told that was just too bad, that they had no control over the number assigned. The lady was very rude to me. I am sorry my son wasted his money on this product, as I won't be able to use it as it stands now. If anyone reads this that can help my situation, any help would be appreciated. I have yet to make the first call on my phone and probably will never use it considering the response I got with customer service.

I'm currently looking for another cell provider. I happened to bump into a Jitterbug phone which "as it says" is simple and easy to use. I just make and receive phone calls and I don't text because I only have one hand. However, I noticed from a number of complaints, that the older versions of Jitterbugs were GOOD and the new ones are trashy? Is there an explanation to this other than GreatCall changed manufacturer for lower costs and more profit?

Avoid this company at all costs. The phone will not charge in the base charger when we received it. They send a replacement base - same issue. Obviously it's the cheap phone. They said they will not replace under warranty because nothing is wrong with the phone. "Just wiggle it a few times." they said. I asked to speak with a manager. He said the would call back... He never called back as promised. I guess they like to take advantage of the very people they claim to help!

Purchased flip phone for my 92 year old father. The speaker on the phone did not work. The service was not good. It pings off of Verizon tower in my area. The ringer very low for the hearing impaired. The buttons on the phone where your fingers rest to hold the phone are in the wrong place. Constantly moves the volume to low. I cancelled in 1 day. I read only the set up section. Somewhere there must be a section regarding restocking fee I called to find out where my refund was. My CS agent did not tell me I had a 10.00 Restocking Fee! I explained that the speaker did not work. Cell service terrible. Supervisor would not refund due to the phone wasn’t my satisfaction! It didn’t work!!!! Never ever will do service with jitterbug or Great Call service!!!

My 97 year old dad had a Jitterbug Flip for several years and no complaints. The billing statement had an offer for an upgraded flip phone which I ordered and which I regret. Requesting the upgrade is another story. It was ridiculous, and I told them so. Now back to the problem with the phone. While my father could hear the caller, it was a different story for the caller. The sound was very muffled with loud static and no one can understand a word he was saying. I called customer service two days in a row, and they took me through troubleshooting which did not help.

Purchased 2-11-19 Jitterbug Flip Phone for 87 year old neighbor based on my father's experience with Samsung Jitterbug from 5 or years ago. Neighbor loves the new phone, BIG #s & easy to use, but we can't understand him when he talks to us. His voice is all distorted. Great Call sent another phone, but same thing. When I put it on speaker, it clears up, but then he has trouble hearing us. Thinking our only option is to go back to a landline. Wish I could say they can fix, but from what I've been told it's as good as it gets. :( I'm thinking new phone builder has cheapened up mic to the point it doesn't work.

Telemarketer CONSTANT NUISANCE calls are being billed to my plan. Bought for elderly parent. Customer service says he is answering their calls. He is NOT answering their calls to him, he BARELY answers mine! Going back to previous provider. What a SCAM!

I bought this for my Dad after he left my Verizon package. From the get go, there were problems. Intermittent ring tone: on the "ring ring" phone sound, a known issue I was told by call center person #3. Low volume on speaker Phone: caused by new program upgrade I was told by person number 4. Should be fixed in next upgrade. Went through 2 phones, sent back the third and demanded credit towards another carrier's phone which I was given, even after 30 days, so Best Buy did the right thing, but at my insistence. The final straw was poor signal standing in front of Best Buy while my Verizon phone had 4 bars. Jitterbug is on the Verizon network. Their phones must be really bad. As a former Firefighter of 20 years I would not trust this phone to help my 83 year old father if he needed it during an emergency.

My 95 year old dad had a Jitterbug Flip for several years and loved it! After it stopped working we tried to replace it. We are now on the second replacement phone and it doesn't work. The sound is very muffled with static and no one can understand a word he is saying. We called customer service and they sent another new phone. The second new phone is just as bad.

My 94 year old father in law is hard of hearing and just bought the flip phone. The volume is not very loud even turned up to max. We put it on 'speaker' and it was even worse. I could hardly hear it. We returned it to Best Buy for another one and it has the same problem. Are these phones reconditioned?

My Mom, age 90+, used the old style Jitterbug phone happily for about 5 years. When it finally died in early 2018, we replaced it with a Jitterbug Flip. Flip #1 became defective and was exchanged for a new Flip after less than 3 months use. Replacement #2 became defective and was replaced shortly after purchase. Now Replacement #3 is failing. While Best Buy allowed me to exchange the 1st defective phone for a new one, we had to purchase replacement #2. I am unwilling to purchase another replacement Jitterbug Flip and will probably have a landline installed in her room instead. Three failed Flips in a 12 month period is ridiculous. The Great Call folks however, are wonderful.

Junk. Expensive and could never get it to work right. CSR person was really rude and not helpful. After having for less than 2 months we wanted to return but they said it's ours after 30 days. DON'T FALL FOR THIS. I recommend **. They at least are serviced locally by Target. Jitterbug has no local customer support.

My father-in-law purchased the Jitterbug flip phone and associated daily check-in service through Great Call. There was nothing inherently wrong with the flip phone but the service was absolutely useless. Great Call would make daily check-in calls to him and due to poor hearing, he would not answer them. The Great Call service then had alternate numbers on file, my wife and a neighbor, to contact if he did not respond. They were only used on a very few occasions after he purchased the phone and service.

Purchased as a replacement for an existing Jitterbug phone but older model for my 79 year old mother. Phone seemed to work okay for the first few days but then started to notice the buttons were sticking and when I would open the phone up it would take a minute or two for the screen light up. Open it today and the phone appeared dead here. Try to turn it on and had no luck. Attempting to charge the phone now but having no luck. Returning the phone for a replacement that will hopefully work.

I listen to my voicemails then delete them. However, now the message that "You have 1 new voice messages" persists. When I listen to voicemail, the operator states I have no new voicemails. I talked to customer service a week ago. She was able to delete the incorrect notification message but now it is back again. Do I have a defective phone or are these just "new but annoying features" of this latest model?

I tried Jitterbug Flip because I don’t use those other phones and it's much better. I can tap a button and get whoever I want. I got a problem with paying my bills now though. They automatically take my money out on the 18th of the month and I don’t like that. I tried to get it changed for my money to be taken out on the 3rd of the month because that’s when I get my little money and that’s when I pay my other bills. At the 18th of the month, if I don't have money in the bank then I have to pay that plus the $35 fee from the bank. I couldn’t get it changed though. But besides my payment statement, my experience with Jitterbug has been good so far.

I have been with Jitterbug for about 8 years. I love my old Samsung Jitterbug phone but it was getting old so my husband and I thought we would buy new flip phones. At first I bought a Jitterbug Smartphone for me and a flip phone for my husband. They are both cheap junkie phones. The sound quality is like a old transistor radio, the ringer comes and goes, the reception is not as good as the old phones. I guess as I've always heard, you get what you pay for. I called customer service and was told that Samsung doesn't make the Jitterbug phones anymore and that the new ones are made by a different company. Apparently that isn't a very good company at making phones. I'm going with another company.

I’m not a techie person and the Jitterbug seemed like it was going to be easier. But it was a pain in the butt. I even said, "Forget it," because it was supposed to be so easy. That was the advertisement on it and that’s exactly what I wanted. I don’t like reading directions. I like to be able to figure it out and it was difficult. It took me a long time to be able to text. I’d push the A when I was trying to get the B which was next on the same key but I didn’t really know how to do that. I read a little bit of the directions and then I sort of figured it out on my own. Then it was better. But you have to push the same button three or four times and then if you push it too fast, you don’t get the letter you were looking for. I can capitalize the beginning of a sentence if I use a punctuation mark but I have yet to figure out how to capitalize somebody’s name. I haven’t spent a lot of time on it but I don’t wanna have to.

I’ve had several very expensive telephones that I wasn’t able to use because they were too complicated for me, and Jitterbug wasn’t. I only use it when I travel, so it mostly just sits here. Still, it’s very reliable. Also, the billing process has gone very smoothly.

The Jitterbug is easy to operate. It's easy to read and the numbers are big. Right now, my price is okay too. My sister liked Jitterbug. She had one when she lived up here because it has the big numbers. I, on the other hand, needed it for emergencies in case I’m out and have car trouble. I also took it with me to the hospital in case I needed to call long-distance. I thought I’d use it more but I hadn’t been able to get out much. I can’t walk unless I’ve got a walker. At least I’ve got it if my other phone goes out. I've got that phone that I'm paying with my television so I don't use the Jitterbug much. I've got it for backup. Not too many people even have my Jitterbug phone number. My daughter does and she lives at Georgetown. Nonetheless, I’m satisfied with it. The Jitterbug people have been super nice too.

The Jitterbug Flip is a nice phone. I like the color. It's red. Visually, it’s beautiful and it’s functional. The big number feature is very nice. I have a hard time reading so that’s wonderful. But I’m not a big phone user. I've used it maybe 20 times and I don’t think I’m gonna have it long. I have a land phone in the house. I also have a computer and I hardly even use that. I’m 85 years old and I have a car. I bought the Jitterbug Flip for emergencies, like when I’m driving out. But I never use it and I’m gonna give my car to my granddaughter. I even forget to take the phone with me when I walk outside. But I live in an adult community and there are 2,000 people here. If I fall, there’s security right here. So I really don’t need it.

I will never use GreatCall service again. I never received a bill until I received a last payment after they abruptly cut off the phone. The only response from the service was that, "We'll send the bills out on the 2nd of each month." They were not willing to discuss the fact I never received any bills. There are too many competitors I can go to who will not insult someone.

I bought my Jitterbug 2 through Great Call... Only had phone 3 days but so pleased. Of course it takes a little time to get acquainted with all the features. Give yourself and your phone a little time. This is the best phone l have ever had. You're expecting magic! There is no such phone but this will surprise you, if you be patient and take your time, you will be pleased. Customer service has been great. They have been patient, courteous, thoughtful and most of all very good at teaching me/explaining all I needed to know of my question or concerns. Enjoy your phone

My 94 y.o. mom has had a Jitterbug since they first came out. The Flip phone has been a problem for her. It frequently won't turn on or give a dial tone. Then I take the back off, and the battery is popped out of its placement. When I take it completely out & then reinsert, put the back cover back on, it usually works. My mom is 94. She can't get the cover off to do this by herself & guess what? She shouldn't have to. BBC did we get a lemon???

Finally found out that GreatCall borrows towers from Verizon. Talking with them was told that they only supply towers and have nothing to do with them otherwise and that if congestion is encountered their customers come first!! Understandable.

My husband likes his Jitterbug Flip well and he is pleased with it. It is what he wanted. It is small but he can read the numbers okay and he can use it without glasses. He just wanted to take pictures with it. It is also something convenient for him. He can take it with him on his walks around the neighborhood. In case he needs me for something, he can get a hold of me and if he goes to the store or somewhere, I can get a hold of him too in case of emergency as I’m on oxygen. So far, everything seems to be going well with it. We liked that with Jitterbug, he did not have to go on a contract. Jitterbug bills us monthly so I don’t have to worry about trying to put minutes on it. It is a very reasonable phone and we would recommend it to anybody.

I have been pleased with Jitterbug Flip. I like that it is easy to do what I wanna do on it. Plus, their buttons are bigger so it is easier to push. I recommend this company.

My 86 year old father ended up in a nursing home. He's unable to use the phone. The only way I was able to deactivate his service was to sign up with another service. The other company canceled GreatCall, then I canceled the other service. GreatCall sends me a final bill showing nothing is due. A month later, I see a debit to my father's checking account for service, then received a bill showing zero minutes used and a $44 fee for service. Nobody reactivated his phone (it's actually broken in two pieces). I called GreatCall, but I'm not on the account, so I can't get anywhere. My only option now is to go to his bank and have the debit reversed and further GreatCall debits blocked. Can't believe that's my only option, especially when dealing with a company that deals with many elderly customers.

On 3rd day of trying to migrate a prior phone # over was then told 1-3 business days to accomplish feat. For a phone targeted to seniors this company does not make the switch easy. Other companies in past migrate numbers in minutes not days!

My daughter suggested that I use Jitterbug because it has a speaker on it and it's simple to use. With the one I have, I can let everybody know where I am. When I'm out I can call people. Smartphones are too smart for me. I'm satisfied with my Jitterbug.

While I don't use the Jitterbug phone too often, I'm satisfied with it. I take it with me when I go to the lake. Plus the price was right.

I appreciate Medical Alert even more since I used Great Call for over a year and had poor service with fall detection. I had to recharge the device every 6 to 8 hours. I have poor signal strength with the Jitterbug phone. I am looking for a different phone service provider as well. Great Call falsely advertises their company is number one. Last time I checked it had fallen to number 8. I recommend number 1, Medical Guardian.

I have had the upgraded Flip phone for two months, the original phone was of better quality. The new phone is hard to hear, the ringtone volume is poor when called. I have excellent hearing and have missed calls because of the poor quality. I believe that I was provided with a refurbished phone. Thinking seriously of cancelling this service and going to another company like Straight Talk.

I have a sister with Down Syndrome who had been asking for a cell phone. I finally bought her the Jitterbug Flip phone. The numbers are large, the display is large and it is very easy for her to use. She can now call her family and she also feels like everyone else who has a cell phone. I like that I can manage her numbers and her account usage, the website is very user-friendly. I highly recommend this phone!

Hi I've used it 5 times since I bought it, tons of scammers call every day. Wish it had call blocking, and I can't figure out how to empty the calls in or out... The camera is fair, what do I do with the pictures now... Not happy but it's cheap.

I'm 80 years old and not in the best of health so I like to carry a phone around. I got Jitterbug Flip as it was cheap and I take it with me everywhere. It’s working fine and I’m happy with it. My wife has one too.

I've been with GreatCall for over 10 yrs and this is the first phone we do not like. The phone takes a long time to come on when you flip it open. Shuts off by itself, thinking it was the phone I ordered a new one, still doing the same thing. The old flip was so much better. Because my Husband has cancer and needs to get a hold of me in a hurry this phone won't do it. Thinking about the smartphone now may work better, been with GreatCall so long now would hate to change carrier but may have to.

Oooh my gosh! I feel sorry for anybody over age 60 that tries to sign up for a plan. I purchased this phone from Best Buy today! I attempted to activate it online and was driven in circles between the security phrase and credit card information. Every time I chose a security phrase of 1-10 characters - it would be rejected... but it also wiped out my credit card information. When I completed another phrase - it would be rejected and wiped out my credit card information. But the best part is when I called and got a rep. The basic plan of 19.99 balloons to close to 40.00 a month. I asked the rep at least 6 times do I get minutes and the 5 star coverage for 19.99. I was told yes. But when she gave me my estimated monthly total - it would be $40.00! How do we go from 20-40? The call lasted 45 minutes until I finally said, "I can't do this. I'm returning the phone." Beware!!!

Purchased for my 92 yr old Mother in law. Big hassle getting activated. Everyone I spoke with had a different story and service price. They were rude and hard to understand. I got cut off and had to call back. I finally told the last person I talked with to forget it and I wanted to return the phone. I have since spent two days trying to get in touch with customer service at CordlessWorks where I purchased the phone from to get instructions to return the phone. I have emailed, called several times a day only to get the recording that they could not take my call at this time. I left a message and never received a response. The ads are not truthful and I would never recommend this service to anyone! Got a much more straightforward phone and service locally.

I didn’t want the smartphones that I have to go to graduate from college again to learn how to run. I’m 77 years old and I don’t need all that technology. The Jitterbug is great and I’m satisfied with it. The numbers are bigger and I everything on it is easy. I also take pictures with it. One time, the Jitterbug wouldn’t go on. I called and the young man that I spoke with was very helpful. He told me to take the battery out and reinsert it. It has been fine ever since. My other friends have flip phones and the functions on it aren’t very good so I told them that they should get a Jitterbug.

Do not buy this phone or the service. I did and it was a HUGE mistake. 1st) This review is for those thinking they don't need the button that will call for an emergency response. That being said, most people think they are buying a cost-effective plan that will do what a phone is supposed to do. Make and receive calls. I live in a major metropolitan city. The service was shoddy from the start. When I opened the phone to make a call it waited a second or two before it would allow me to do so. Great Call even sent me a second phone with only slight improvement. The service was so bad that when I had the phone (at maximum volume) near my reading chair and a call would come in - the phone would not ring. Seriously!!! This happened many times. A minute later a ding would be heard and it would indicate I missed a call.

My parent's phone was frozen. I called customer service and they were extremely helpful. This was a common problem and a new software update was needed. I had to remove the battery for 30 seconds first, then was able to receive the software's update.

I'm very satisfied with the Jitterbug phone and I will continue to use it. It's easy to use, the price is very reasonable, and I'm not locked into a contract. I just need it for emergencies and it works for me for the little bit that I use it.

I work outside a lot of times and I put the Jitterbug in my pocket or in the little holder for it, but it falls down on the ground. It’s so slick so I don’t take it with me. Instead, I just leave it sitting on the table. Over time, I'm gradually using it more. I'm 90 years old and had gotten it for that five-star thing on it, so if I have trouble in the house or if I fall, I can get to it. However, I've got three or four phones in the house that are easier to use than the Jitterbug. Also, one time it had gotten about 10 minutes slow on the time. I called them and the guy said to hold on the line and that he’d fix it and he did. Still, I watch it like a clock a lot of times and I like the calendar very much. I'd recommend the Jitterbug to older people.

Somebody told me that she has a Jitterbug phone and that she liked it. What I wanted mine for was to carry it with me when I got in the car, in case the car broke down. My Jitterbug phone is okay, but the ring is pretty awful and I don’t use it very often. Also, I don’t get very many calls as I don’t give that number out. The only problem that I’ve had with it is with the charger of the phone for the car. I used it once and I’ve never been able to use it since as the plugs are too wide and won’t go in. Nevertheless, I’d recommend Jitterbug to a friend.

My wife and I both bought Jitterbug Flip-phones a couple of years ago. We've kept them ONLY because changing phones, phone companies, etc. is a hassle. Thus, this review covers MANY MONTHS OF EXPERIENCE with GreatCall, its phones and, most importantly, its customer service people. Any intelligent person who reads through these reviews will soon see a pattern emerge: Too many people who have problems! Now you can add us to the list. When we recently relocated, my wife and I diligently informed GreatCall of our new address. Lesson learned? Don't even bother with the change of address notification on the back of your statement. I filled it out TWICE. Yet today, when I contacted customer service, the GreatCall rep [named "Jessie"] still showed my old address as being current.

Bought one for my elderly Mom and Dad. Awful experience. The phones didn't work most of the time, they WERE NOT easy for them to use. Flip phone did not work for visually impaired. The customer service was terrible. When we tried to cancel the service, we had a very difficult 1 hour discussion/wait time and they made us pay for a month in advance! DO NOT USE GREAT CALL - JITTERBUG.

I ordered a Jitterbug phone, they took my money, they sent it, and I got it going. Everything was fine. That’s a unit I can use without a lot of hanky-panky. I’m an old man and I don’t go for computers very well. I don’t like them. But Jitterbug has been very good so far. However, I’m changing banks and they’re taking money off my credit card but I’m not gonna be using that credit card anymore. I’ll call them about it to change it over to some other system. So far, I’m satisfied with my Jitterbug phone. It works great, they’re very simple and easy to operate.

Purchased as new from Best Buy, but when charged and started it was already registered in someone else's name, for whom we continue to receive calls and texts. Battery will not hold a charge for more than a few minutes despite overnight charging. Service keeps cutting in and out. Has not worked properly from day 1. Appears to be refurbished phone likely returned for problems, sold as new.

Jitterbug phone for "seniors" is a joke. I wondered why my bill was so high, then I found out by talking to customer service, that if a person receives a call from anyone, from anywhere, Jitterbug will not only charge you for the call out, they charge you for any call you receive. I had telemarketers call me and I was charged for the call. My brother called me and I was charged for the call. My doctors call me I'm charged for the call. I quit Jitterbug after two months. Here we are retired seniors and thought this would be a great phone service and it is just a rip off. Tell your friends, etc., so they won't get ripped off.

Half the time it doesn't ring in. I get a little sound that says a missed call. Which happens more than I get calls. I open the phone and nothing for about 30 secs. Which when I open the cell it's suppose to be there and please please don't get me started on CUSTOMER SERVICE. It's worse than horrible. It's so bad I can't stand to call so I can cancel. I was on the line once for an hour. I'm done. I just hate Jitterbug.

My wife and I have had our Alcatel Go Flip phones for about eight months, and the phones have been nothing but trouble. At first, we could not hear the phones ring although the ringer volumes were set on maximum. Then later on my phone I would telephone someone and the person could not hear me, but I could hear them. If someone called me and I heard the phone ring and saw the phone light up, I opened the phone and said "Hello", and the person on the other end could not hear me. The foregoing included calling GreatCall customer service in attempt to get the phones to work properly. Open the phone and it would say, "you have a new voicemail", and I would go to the voice mail and the voicemail would say, "you have no new voicemail messages".

Very disappointed with the whole thing. Bought 3 separate phones which could not be activated, even by their tech support, with error codes. Spent so many hours on phone trying to get for my dad who lives 10 hours away from me. They said they would activate a phone themselves and send to my dad and for me to send the phone I had, to them, which I did, complete. They then send my dad only a phone with no charger or manual. I call AGAIN to be told they would expedite these to my dad. They sent in incomplete charger, 7 days later and still NO manual. I call AGAIN and they verify they never sent the manual and they will send out with the rest of the charger. But that I should call them AGAIN on Monday to confirm they did their job. I only wanted this for my dad so he could have some communication when he goes out but it has been an awful experience! Don't do it! I don't know about the phone itself because we haven't been able to use it yet.

I keep getting letters requesting a survey about my recent purchase. Trouble is I never purchased one due to the fact I never bought one. I immediately canceled my order because they had no service in my state. If they charged me they never sent me a phone. Which I don't want anyway. They need to refund me if they charged me.

So many times the phone does not ring. Charging takes a long time. Went back to Best Buy after purchasing it and they were of no help. I so thought this was going to be my husband answer to a useable flip phone. They are getting harder to find, at age 71 he wants simple!!!

NOT $19 as website list but $37.50 monthly! One week customer and already double charged! Hung up on twice. Spent hours now days trying to fix activation problems and much more. I now want to give them one last chance however so far this has been one of the worst new phone services I have ever purchase. Worse is this is suppose to be an emergency easy to use phone for my mother.

Jitterbug was on RateIt and then I called them to find answers about the alert. That was what I had in mind because I don't like the idea of wearing something around my neck. And since I always have my walker, it's easy to put it in one of the pockets. So, I always have it with me. But I'm not the best person in the world for cell phones and computers and I've found it very hard sometimes to get it to on and off, as well as to erase stuff. I just had troubles. I've been in and out of the hospital and I have relied on it in the hospital in order to call out from my room. I had them bring it in and I plugged it in. There was one woman in there who had one that was was similar but older and she didn’t have any problems. But the people in the house who picked it up have had troubles too.

I helped an older friend acquire a Jitterbug Flip phone, which is GREAT as a phone. And the mobile service (through Verizon) has worked very well, as expected. Trouble comes when discovering that many to most of the additional services offered by GreatCall are not worth the costs for this user. Other users will have different preferences, but there is NO WAY to see clearly what service options are available, at what prices. The only way, confirmed through more than two phone calls to GreatCall Customer Service, is to pretend one is a non-customer, shopping for a new phone and service. Then one MIGHT find details about content and pricing connected to the various packages. Or, perhaps only discover through trial and error that, for instance, the talk and text options do NOT include Voicemail. This is not fair, transparent, nor kind to the senior customers GreatCall services.

I've had this phone for about 2 years, and have begun experiencing a problem with receiving and sending text messages, and receiving voice messages. I'll send a text, and the screen will say that the message had been delivered, but the message is not being shown as sent when I choose Read Text Messages. So I don't know whether or not the person got the text. This is unacceptable. Also, sometimes I receive only part of a text, which is totally frustrating. But the worst is when I don't receive a text. Someone will say "Didn't you read the text I sent you?", and I have to say that I didn't get it. The manual doesn't mention anything about this, like why it happens or what to do about it. There are many times when someone leaves me a voice message, but it doesn't come through. One time I received a voice message that the person had sent 2 weeks prior. Why is this happening? I think it's time for me to lose this 'toy' and buy myself a smartphone.

I got this phone because of its emergency help button - which I haven't had to use yet, thank goodness. I also got it because I like flip phones and this one has big numbers which make it easier for my arthritic fingers. I had trouble with the charging stand, called the manufacturer and they sent me a new one. I like this kind of service.

My dad needs a phone that's as simple as possible. We got him a Jitterbug phone and so far, it's been a good experience. I need him to remember to use it though. He doesn't remember to use it or take it with him when he leaves the house. He misplaced it recently and so, I had to call Jitterbug to see if we could ping it and put it on hold. We found the phone, and all is well now.

My husband had a different cell phone but he wanted to try Jitterbug because he liked the emergency feature in it. We just got it about six weeks ago. The Jitterbug Flip doesn’t work very well and it takes days for the battery to charge up. I have a cellphone, not a Jitterbug and it charges within an hour. The Jitterbug has been plugged in for 36 hours and it still doesn’t have a charge. It’s really useless and if you have a cellphone, it shouldn’t take days for it to charge. It’s not gonna work on an emergency if it doesn’t have a charge.

I had bad service from Verizon so I decided to get a phone from Jitterbug. I’m getting better service now that I have Jitterbug. The phone is fine and their customer service has been all right.

We have a landline, and, once in a while, the squirrels chew the line and we don't have power or service. So we thought it would be a good idea to have the Jitterbug just to fall back. We feel very comforted that we have it, especially if it's stormy or we have animals chew the line on the landline. Everything has been going all right. We recommend it.

My son Joe bought Jitterbug for me. Their team helped us set it up when I first got it and they were on point. However, the phone makes a lot of static and the reception is so bad on both ends that they can't hear and I can't hear them.

My niece knew about Jitterbug. She ordered one for me so that I could have some security with the phone directly on me.

My mother is 86 years old and sometimes, it’s hard for her to make the Jitterbug work right. It’s getting her used to how to use it but I love that when she’s not at home and she goes off with her sister, she has that red button to hit. When we started, we tested it and the team was right there. She has a bracelet here but it’s a good idea. I had one problem with it where it just quit working but other than that, it’s fine. Jitterbug’s service is always good. We tried other phones and they just didn’t work.

Jitterbug's features are more in line with what I wanted -- the larger screen and the simplicity of not needing all that other stuff that goes with most of the phones. I like Jitterbug's camera because I have had a couple of occasions to use it. I use two different phones. The other one is a Tracfone and it does not have cameras. Also, Jitterbug's customer service has always been very polite and helpful. I'd recommend it.

Beginning in February of this year, my 86 year old mother began experiencing issues with her Jitterbug Flip phone and the service from Great Call. At times, the phone would not ring sometimes not work at all. We would reboot the phone and it would work for a few days and the issues continued. The following is a recap of the customer service we have received from Great Call. 2018 4/20 “New phone” received from Great Call. 4/22 Phone activated and worked properly. 4/23 Phone not working. I needed take my phone to my mother's home so that we could use my phone to talk with a Great Call rep to have them troubleshoot her phone. Phone worked for a short time.

I live alone and I had a heart attack so the Jitterbug is added security that I can get help right at arm’s length if I need it. Their team was very helpful with me setting it up initially and they were also very prompt in answering any questions I had. Everything works fine and even though I haven’t had mine too long, so far, I’ve been satisfied with it.

I contacted Jitterbug as I wasn't having good things with AT&T. Jitterbug looked so simple but there's always a kink in the roads. Jitterbug’s customer service said it was easy like ABC but my experience with them has been a mess. The phone has frozen up twice and I had nothing but trouble. One issue I had was the phone ring. I had the phone sitting right next to me because I’m old and I'm not running around to get the phone. People asked me where I was all day yesterday but the phone didn’t ring. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. My daughter takes over for me having to contact the Jitterbug team about the issues because I can't take it anymore. One man in customer service was very nice, helpful and he listened to me. But the rest of them were very abrupt like they couldn't be bothered.

The most expensive phone I can get does not work where I live, so I thought I’d try something else. A friend told me about Jitterbug and I needed it. However, I can’t get anything on a cellphone where I live, so I use Jitterbug for emergency in my car. I've had it for a year and I’ve used it four times. It’s a backup and I’m very happy with it.

My wife saw some advertisement about Jitterbug and it costs less than some of the other providers so we reached out to them. I’m now on the senior plan for several months. However, the phone doesn’t work well. I can call but the phone doesn’t ring. My wife had called technical support, and a woman worked with the phone. And they were quite helpful. The phone worked for a few days and then it stopped ringing again. Nobody could call me on that thing. It’ll buzz and vibrate if I have it in my pocket. But I don’t have a lot of faith in the phone now. And I would tell people if they ask me about my phone, I’d say, “Yeah. Mine doesn’t ring.”

My husband got a Jitterbug phone last year. He never used a phone because he doesn't know how to use one, but the Jitterbug, he can because it's simple to use. It has a big screen and he understands how to use it. It also takes really good pictures. On the other hand, we can't hear the phone when it rings and sometimes, it doesn't ring and the only way he knows that there is a call is if it lights up.

I liked the set-up of the Jitterbug phone for my age and interest. I didn't want anything too big or too small and it was down the middle. Also, it's simple. However, there were some glitches with it that I didn't get, and I also had a problem where I had to call them up. Now I understand that when you open the phone up, you won't necessarily be able to use it. Also pushing the 'on' button was the one thing I had to get used to.

I heard about Jitterbug from some friends and it turned out to be so different. The numbers come up big and clear. You could see it.. You gotta hit it to make a little number. But I don’t use it a lot because right now it’s hard to put some numbers in there. You have to go so far to get some numbers right. They don’t show up right. It’s difficult to record. But when you message, it’s just different from the other phone because when you dial that number it will stay on the phone. With Jitterbug if you call on a different phone, it just kind of stores the number in until it goes away. It doesn’t store it unless you put it in yourself.

I'm 94 and I needed an emergency instrument. I've seen Jitterbug's advertisements and it seemed to fit our needs. Since I'm legally blind, I like that it has a big keyboard. You can also get an operator 24/7 and they can get anybody in the United States for you. It’s not hard to carry as well, even outdoors. Jitterbug is good for older people.

I wanted to be able to text my deaf grandson and so I got a Jitterbug after seeing it on an AARP publication. While I am able to text my grandson now, I don’t use it that often. And the Jitterbug team are very helpful anytime I call for help. I also tell friends who ask to go ahead and get it.

My daughter got the Jitterbug for me and I like it very much. I'm not a phone person and I just use the Jitterbug when I need it. But I enjoy it.

The Jitterbug looked like it was really easy to use and it fit what my needs were. When I ordered the phone, I talked to their rep and the interaction was fine. It would be nice if they rolled the full unused minutes over. But it is what it is and they were upfront that only so many per month would roll over. Jitterbug is a nice way to go for a phone that just does phoning and texting.

I had a different phone company and an alert necklace and it was hard to keep up with that. A friend of mine has a Jitterbug and if I got it too then the alert is on there. I like the Jitterbug and the letters are big for me. It’s real convenient and I've told friends that it is good. In fact, I’m supposed to show it to two different people on Sunday as they wanna get one.

My daughter told me about Jitterbug. I wanted a phone where I can just call my people when I'm on the road so I won't be going back and forth. I used it rarely until I don't even know I got one. After my daughter has set the phone, she taught me how to use it. I try to save my minutes and tell Jitterbug to go on and check it. I also take the phone with me because if I'm on the road I want my phone working. I enjoy the phone and I feel good having it. I don't know how long I can afford it but I hope I can keep it for a long time. The reps from Jitterbug were so nice really nice as well as the lady who walked me through the phone. My friend also wanted a phone so I'd give her some papers that I have. I have also told others about my phone because they have seen mine and they like the color of it. Overall, it's really nice to have if you can afford it and I'm glad I got it.

My husband, John, is gonna be 88 years old next month. He carries his Jitterbug phone with him in case he needs AAA or 911. I don't think he even uses it, but it gives him confidence. His phone does its purpose and he's happy with it. The customer service reps are wonderful. When my husband set the thing up, it went through our Fred Meyer account and it's with Mastercard, and I was afraid that they would get changed over. I called the Jitterbug number and the rep was a nice gentleman who talked to us. Our interaction with him was fine and the process went as smoothly as silk because we're on auto-pay.

My husband and I use the Jitterbug when we're both traveling in different cars or when he leaves. We had an occasion where I was driving the car and he had the truck and trailer, and we needed to be in contact with each other but we couldn't do that because he didn't have a phone for traveling. We need the cellphone when we travel. The Jitterbug was cheap, it works fine and he likes it. I like the phone too because it's easy for him to use and he can hear it. It's perfect for him.

We were having trouble with our other phone and I wanted something simple that we could use for emergencies. I like to carry our Jitterbug with us when we are out in the car and use it occasionally for long distance calls and so far, it seems fine. If a friend wants the same thing that I wanted, I would tell them the Jitterbug is a good way to go.

I contacted Jitterbug on account of my wife. However, we hardly use the phone since we hardly talk on the phone. My wife talks every now and then but not enough to use the phone. Still, my wife likes it since it has big letters. Also the customer service reps were very nice and I would recommend the Jitterbug phone to others.

My 89-year-old wife had trouble with her other phone. So we got a Jitterbug phone that has the right size and it's more user-friendly. She has an eye problem and she has to use a magnifying glass but with her phone now it’s easier for her to see and she’s not having any problems. Also she likes Jitterbug's customer service and we've had good experience with them.

I love my Jitterbug Flip phone very much. So far, I really enjoy everything about it and I love its camera.

I had NetPen and was having problems every time I had to make payments. I was getting disgusted so I started looking for a new vendor and wanted something simple, and Jitterbug sounded good. Also, when I had a question, the rep I spoke to briefly had my question answered. I'm very satisfied.

We wanted a cellphone for long distance and the Jitterbug looked like a good deal and so we got it. We have it turned off most of the time, but if we wanna make a long distance phone call, we use it 'cause we only have a landline. For our purposes, it's working for what we need it for.

I’m 86 and I’m in an independent senior citizen home. And in this place, they don't give a pendant for medical alert, I have to buy it. So I decided to have the Jitterbug phone. The Jitterbug team is very kind and my daughter helped me start calling this and that number. I like the phone's big numbers so I don’t have to wear glasses and it’s really good for seniors like me. Also, the phone has the 5 star push button in case I need it for an emergency. I catch this senior facility’s bus to go shopping and when I'm finished, I have to call this office and they come get me. But usually my daughter takes me to places so I just have the Jitterbug on hand and I feel very secure.

I got a smartphone and I wanted a dumb phone so I signed up for Jitterbug. I saw it in a magazine and I didn’t care about all the fancy stuff; I just wanna dial and that was it. I don’t really understand some of the things about the phone but I get along with it okay.