Two phones ignoring each other

[Lolly]

Here's a good one for all you cell phone technology geeks out there.

My mother has a Jitterbug. My dad has a T-Mobile smart phone.

When my mom calls my dad from her Jitterbug, his smart phone doesn't ring, it just lights up. (Unless it's in silent mode, then it vibrates.)

When my dad calls my mom from his smart phone, her Jitterbug doesn't ring, it just lights up.

When each of them call other people, no such problems.

When each of them receive calls, no such problems.

What gives??

[Tartan69]

Are they on the same T-Mobile account? Perhaps there's a setting somewhere that handles received calls differently whenever a call is received from another phone on that same account.

[Lolly]

Nope totally different accounts and networks. Dad's on T-Mobile, mom's on Jitterbug.

[BarryG]

Are you sure the phones aren't programmed with a specialized ringtone for the caller? You could try looking at the contact settings or deleting the numbers from each phone's address book and see if that makes a difference.

[darthsinatra]

I wonder why hipsters don't carry Jitterbugs ironically.

[Lolly]

Are you sure the phones aren't programmed with a specialized ringtone for the caller? You could try looking at the contact settings or deleting the numbers from each phone's address book and see if that makes a difference.

That was my first thought when my mom called to tell me but didn't mention it went both ways. Dad called yesterday and clarified. Seems highly unlikely they both inadvertently programmed theirs like that, especially considering how non-techy they both are. (Oh and I guess I didn't mention this is a new development that suddenly started happening for no apparent reason.) Guess reprogramming both numbers from scratch is a good idea worth trying though. Will talk them through that when we speak next.