iPhone not sending or receiving all texts

I think there is likely a thirty percent chance I will understand any helpful suggestions, but here goes anyway...

I am part of a bookclub and they swear that they send out messages to all of us, but I am only getting a few of them. My sister is the head of the bookclub, so this has caused a few problems, since she thinks I am accusing her of leaving me out.

But my son recently told me that he didn't get a text from me, and some of the bookclub members' texts have been rolling in at 3 am, days after they were sent.

I am using an iPhone 5s. I think my phone has been updating automatically. At least I am not aware of doing anything to update it. My son suggested I get a new iPhone. Of course he did! Why didn't I think of that. Perhaps because I just bought one for him, I don't feel I can afford to buy one for me (and my husband and others on our plan). 

Any advice for fixing this problem? Where can I go on my phone to see if updates are happening automatically and find out where we are with it?

We have Verizon.

And yes I did check and no I haven't blocked callers or initiated the 'do not disturb,' also a point of contention with the book group.

Thanks for any help!

Verizon has no limit on the number of recipients on a text BUT there is a limit of 10 when the text originated from an ATT phone.  Check the senders phone provider if they are ATT then they need to break up the group in 10s

Thanks, hoops. That's good to know. My sister is T-Mobile. And the group has 8 or 9 total. I'll check on the total for T-Mobile. 

on a fairly relevant topic, anyone familiar with Virgin Mobile service? Saw an ad saying if you switch to their plan, it will cost $1 for the first year and $50 a month after!

Too good to be true?

I will check into it mtierney, and let you know if it sounds good.

Thanks.

Try deleting the group texts you have. Check that the  "Send as SMS; Group Msg; MMS Msg" are turned on in your settings. Then hard reset your phone. Ask the group members to send you another one see if it comes in. Not sure if it will work but worth a shot. 

I occasionally find that text messages sent from iPhone to Android or Android to iPhone don't get there or else get significantly delayed, especially when there are more than two people involved. This doesn't happen with WhatsApp, only with Verizon messaging. It happens sporadically, for no apparently reason. 

(And once last year, I recall that my spouse wasn't getting text messages on her iPhone, and then suddenly she received about two dozen all at once. Sounded like a popcorn popper! We asked Verizon about it, but they couldn't figure out the cause; told us to go to the Apple store.)

I find any time I have occasion to turn off my iPhone, when it comes back up, there are always a couple of text messages I had never received. So I always mean to shut it off once or twice a week, but somehow I never remember to do so...