Look Out, Vonage. Here Comes magicJack

Rip off!

I have been a loyal customer for the past 2 years. I have 7 months remaining on my service. My port broke on my magic jack and I got my sisters magic jack because she no longer uses their service. They will not transfer my service to her magic jack. It's all about money. I can buy a new magic jack (don't need one I have one that is working properly) or I can pay to renew her service ( shouldn't have too, I still have 7 months that are owed to me). And there are no refunds! Beware once your in, hope and pray nothing happens to your magic jack.

Sheila Madison of AL @ Nov 19, 2009 16:20:22 PM

I was so skeptical, but I'm very quickly becoming a believer.

I gotta be honest.

3 year Vonage customer. I was happy, albeit the price is a bit high up here in Canada. I kept seeing the commercials on TV, but couldn't find anywhere in Canada to pick one up (I didn't want to get it through the mail...in case of exchange issues).

I need a phone line with call display, call waiting, voicemail and free North American long distance.

I dropped my 40 bucks (at Factory Direct, for those in Toronto area....dixie&dundas area) and brought it home.

It really did take about 5 minutes to install.

5 minutes to receive and respond to a confirmation email.

Boom. Done.

NOW....THE ONLY SLIGHTLY ANNOYING NEWS.....IF YOU'RE CANADIAN.....

There are no Canadian numbers available. I picked a Michigan number. Most people I know have N.American inclusive long distance, so worst case, they call me and I call them right back.

And also just in case...you'll probably want a cell phone if you need to call 911 as it won't work in Canada.

Call quality has been pretty darned decent. Not Bell landline, but definitely more than adequate and actually really good...like a strong 8/10.

Seriously though...for 40 bucks my phone bill is paid for a year, and next year will cost me 20 bucks. I get 25 years of potential service for the cost of 1 year of Vonage. And even then, you can sign up for 5 years for like 50 or 60 bucks...and save even more...I haven't even had to enter my credit card info yet due to the first year of service being included in the cost of the device (so no worries there).

I keep my PC on all the time, so the fact that it needs to be on for MagicJack to work is irrelevant to me.

I've had it for 5 days now, and honestly, if the quality is this good (and inevitably improves over time), they have a customer for life.

I cancelled my Vonage 1 hour ago. No hard feelings...it's just too much of a no brainer to me.

As the addage goes, I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this product to friends and family and have already done so at least a dozen times.

Kenny Canuck @ Nov 17, 2009 20:05:09 PM

Just renewed for 5 yrs...

I have an older Toshiba Labtop of which I take everywhere I live and work... so this only makes sense to have a phone with me with no minutes attached to the call... I may say that I have told many of my Magic jack and still a new toy to many... well its here to stay I HOPE!!! I have had a close friend and my MOM purchase not just one but 3 and I wish I could have some $ for the referrals..but I guess helping family and friends is worth the trouble for sharing. Keep up the technology and help the world communicate... stay positive and strive for the best in life. We can help all with this technology! God Bless all who strive to help the world.

Cathy of CA @ Nov 16, 2009 16:11:27 PM

S.T.

I have vonage, I use it as it gives me free calls around most of the globe but I still bought magic jack just to appreciate the technology and hard work put in by its promoters, I wanted to try it out to see if its any good, I dont know if I was luckier or technically far smarter than some of the other people here but it literally worked for me like 1,2,3, the only hickup was that I had my vpn software running and it was interfering with magic jack, once I switched that off, it was like a flash, within 5 minutes after I had opened the box was able to make calls, call quality is amazing and probably even better than Vonage, I highly recommed this product at this price I simply didnt expect the kind of product I got.

saurabh tripathi of CA @ Nov 15, 2009 14:31:02 PM

Not useful for everything

The main problem I have with MagicJack is being unable to use GoTomeeting (or other call in conference calling I'm guessing) as MagicJack has blocked those numbers. I'm having to use my cell phone to call in for work meetings and the minutes add up!

BB of AL @ Nov 10, 2009 13:05:17 PM

No Phone Number?

I, so far, have a few MINOR issues with MagicJack. It's not as easy as 1,2,3, but not too far from it.

The first flag was I had to wait about an hour for the phone system to turn on. I thought it was going to happen at the moment I paid for it. You know 1,2,3, boom! I thought I did something wrong and kept trying to make it work.

Another surprise was Windows Media Player kept popping up to download. I later found out, you can listen to your v-mail though WM-Player. Why I don't know, but that might be good to use someday.

The next flag, and this is a red one, was the fact that a real live customer service contact person, as with most of these type of products, is buried so deep in the information, it's like they don't want you to call. If you have a good product, put this live contact person front and center! Finding this was not as easy as 1,2,3. I needed them because I wasn't E-mailed my V-mail passcode to get my messages from the phone and then change it to my passcode that I want. Nothing heavy, just frustrating.

The other flag after that was that it was not said that you have to leave your computer on for it to work. I was under, and maybe this is my fault, the impression it would be like a landline, working 24/7 ,period. You turn the computer off. The phone is off too. I guess I should've known that I have to leave my computer on sleep mode 24/7 and burn electricity doing it. Not very cost effective, but I have a way around that.

I'm not sure if my E-mail can send me a message to my cellphone that someone called my MagicJack phone and left a message with the computer off, but it would solve that problem. If it does, I'm VERY happy with it. If it doesn't, I'm happy with it.

My last flag, and this was the reason I was in the market for MagicJack, I have a friend in Accra, Ghana and I would like to talk on the phone with her more. I was, and again, maybe this was me, under the impression that ALL calls were free. I was disappointed that international calls are not.

And what's with not accepting debit cards? Credit cards are on their way out. This was not a flag for me, but it's something that should be stated.

But still I'm satisfied that the overall price of MagicJack, the services and perks it provides, outweighs the minor costs of my international calls. It does do what it says and some to good to be true products can't deliver on half of their promises. MagicJack is a toy that delivers right out the box. This product is seriously under priced. It's not 1,2,3, but I'll give it a 9,9,9!

Antonio Miles of MD @ Nov 07, 2009 15:02:16 PM

Disaster

Terrible service ,I tried to reach my grandmother in East-Guetamala.

Could not get through.

Adolt Hitler of IN @ Nov 03, 2009 08:38:13 AM

Credit Cards Still being charged....Put on "hold"

IT says on the site, in nice big letters..."your CC will not be charged for 30 days" It does not say anywhere "the funds will be put on hold for the 30 days".

I read every detail and did not see anything about my funds being put on hold, until 2 hrs later when searching deep into the FAQ's page.... Why is not put in BIG LETTERS, like the your card will not be charged? Then when you want to cancel it, it will take an hour. Then they can do it. THEN when you get a new person, it's 24 hours. When you argue the point they then cancel it (according to them and a really questionable e-mail) it's canceled. Now about your money... gonna take a few days to get the "HOLD" off your funds... Doesn't matter that you may need those funds for something else...No. They can charge you in less than a second, or put a so called "hold" on the funds, but when you call them on it and want your money back it's oh no we cant do that, you have to wait.

On top of all this when you ask for a phone number , there is none. No phone number for a phone service? ask for an address and get the same thing.... No address can be disclosed either.

Sound Fishy? sure does to me. I saved the whole convo with these people. And you better believe I am gonna post it.

BigRedTruck of TN @ Oct 26, 2009 16:08:42 PM