Yes my husband does have a premium block, also. We did this just  to be on the safe side. My phone is a LG env touch. His is a motorola flip phone, sorry not sure of the exact model of his phone. 

 I asked my mom and nephew  to try texting and see what happens. The weird thing is,  she had the same response as me (no response) and my nephew got a response back from them. They are also Verizon customers.

I wanted to let you know, I truly appreciate you helping me