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You need a computer because that provides your connection. It connects to a USB port on your computer and the telephone connects into the device. You have long distance and the caller's number shows on your computer screen. You can also put in names and numbers of family and friends just like a regular telephone.
I think this is great and it saves you so much money. I was paying $45.00 every month for my house phone and I didn't have long distance. This is wonderful for anyone looking for ways to control their monthly expenses. With the costs of everything lately and so much unemployment, this could be a big help to many.
Source: Magic Jack TV ad
By Tricia from Ridgeway, VA
By
09/09/2010
I think the magic Jack works great. It is super cheap and sure that causes it to come with it's hiccups but you have to expect that when it is only $20 for a whole year. Overall it cannot be beat. I hope they can stay in business at this price though.
I found a good site that has tons of info on the magic jack. Many people have complained about customer service but on this site they list a secret customer service number that nobody seems to know about. They asked that it not be republished though cause they are worried if to many people know about it then magic Jack may shut it off. You'll have to go to the site to get the number, the site is http://www.magic-jack.com. enjoy!
By
08/30/2010
This is the worst service I have ever had. My Magic Jack was broken. I called to ask for replacement. After long time on hold (about 1 hour) the representative confirmed the replacement within 3-5 days and I have to pay $20. After 7 days I didn't receive it. I chat again with a representative who discovers a mistake from their side. The representative was extremely impolite, she never answered quickly and left me for 15 minutes before answering my questions. She refused to place my replacement in a hurry, not even offering to not pay the $20. She refused to transfer me to any manager (saying this is the policy). I already spent a lot of money for not having a phone for 1 week and now I have to wait for another week because it's their mistake and I'll pay for this service, $20 + tax.
What professional service!
By
06/24/2010
I bought one from Radio Shack and tried it. It worked fine but then I discovered that area codes in my state (NH) are not yet available. That means I'd have to dial the full number (with area code) to dial local numbers and that my NH friends would need to make a long distance call to reach me. Not acceptable, so I returned the unit for a refund.
I contacted the Magic Jack "Live Chat" rep to see when NH numbers would be available. No ETA other than "soon". I see from other reviews that NH area code support has been coming for more than 2 years ["They did tell us that NH will be available shortly" (March 2008)].
As far as I can tell, NH, Alaska and Hawaii are the only areas not yet supported. I can understand AK and HI since they not continental states, but NH is surrounded by less populous states that are already supported (VT and ME).
I'll keep checking for another 2 months. If NH isn't supported by August 2010, I'll have to go with Vonage.
By
02/18/2010
For the latest magic jack news and information I've been checking this site: http://www.magicjackspoker.com/
They update a ton, and it's always really well researched. I hope you can find a use for it!
By
01/24/2010
I was just wondering and this is probably a really dumb question, what do you guys use for the dsl-high speed part of your packages. We have quite the monopoly on phone service over here and so of course I would just love to leave this stupid company. They are the only option for telephone but we can get dish network or directv is that what you use? Thanks for any replies and for the original poster. :)
By
01/21/2010
I've had MagicJack for about eight months now, and I absolutely love it! It's enabled me to keep in touch with folks all over the country, something I wouldn't have been able to do without it.
By
01/21/2010
If I am correct a high speed internet connection is required. Best check on that factor if you don't have high speed internet before buying the Magic Jack
By
01/21/2010
I found that the best way to run the MJ is 1) high speed internet connection 2) have a dedicated computer system for the mj. This elimanates the breaks in the conversations.
Below you can read previous posts and comments about this topic. The discussions on this page have been archived 5 times. Select a discussion and read the feedback here.
(Archived Jan 21, 2010)Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
Chuck
Feedback:
If you do decide to get one, get it from Radio Shack. They were real nice about taking it back and giving me all of my money back. (07/23/2009)
By Cricketnc
By panamapam
By catcrony
By soloenme
By peteosco
By brayj
(Archived Jul 21, 2009)Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
By Angolamom from Lewes, DE
Feedback:
By LULUbobo
By Ummzubair
By towersmom
Cell phones towers can become overloaded in an emergency, and then you cannot make your call. This never happens with a land line. I didn't realize that this could happen, until a major blizzard in nearby city, and everyone was using their phones at the same time. No phone.
I also know there is some issue with 911 service on the internet phone service. I have forgotten the details on this, just that you couldn't call 911.
As far as free long distance, I have used both MSN and Yahoo on a regular basis (and have friends who use Skype) for voice calls computer to computer, and am completely satisfied with this. I have not used it phone to computer, so I can't say anything about that. (05/19/2009)
By louel53
By Teresa Kay
By lavonneann
I have to test it on another computer and I put my magic jack on usb and give it to my friends if they want to call in the US and Canada. It is simple to use. My aunt gave it to my uncle and I have been using it and hack the magic jack so he could use that also.
I will keep you posted if the hack works because it works for me in my computer, Vista sp2. The call and voice quality is superb and brilliant and clear as the original. I am looking forward that it will work on my other computer and on the usb. (07/04/2009)
By King_2305
(Archived May 11, 2009)Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
Polly
Feedback:
By Ray M.
By Deeli
By slowbob
I have a neighbor who sets up cellular phone systems in other countries. He's the one who turned us on to magicJack. As he is a phone techie, he installed ours, which may be why some people have issues (improper installation or computer equipment). My husband has used it from China, Mexico, and South America, as well as locally. It works great. We only had one password issue that was quickly handled by their rep.
We love ours so much we are considering buying another to use as our main phone. (We currently pay $50.00 a month using an internet phone system. Why not pay $20.00 for the year for the magicJack.) (02/04/2009)
By Lidra
By Noon
By DATJ
By Big Head
By Bob
By me
By Billy
MagicJack's answer is to click on the phone number and then add the last number and click send. Not too handy when you just want to pick up your phone and make a local call. They're "working on it" seems to be the standard line. I think they can have a good product, but it's a long way from being good. (02/16/2009)
By not satisfied user
By Roger
By Guest
By Eduardo
By Window Man
I've probably talked about 60 hours using Magic Jack and all calls have been loud and clear. I think that some people who experience problems may not completely understand how to get help or how to make adjustments to the speaker and volume settings in the menu. In addition, they may have other programs on their computer that are causing them to receive undesirable results. I love it, use it and swear by it. I would not give up my home phone but I sure love to make free long distant calls. (03/01/2009)
By Kevin N.CA
CheeMiss Toronto, Ontario, Canada..
I am doing a lot of homework before I buy the magicJack. Here is what I found out, just today while Google searching. On this site: http://www.arnab.ca/site/2008/07/21/magic-jack-toronto-canada/ (Apparently you have to click on the last portion of this address, as this site seems to print it out twice.)
I found a blog where the person, Arnab is also from Toronto and he pointed out that he cannot call Rogers cell phones or any Toronto cell phone. He bought the M.J. from http://www.themagicjack.ca/. Just under Arnab's post, the owner of "The Magic Jack.ca" Victor, responded with "Hi there Arnab, the issue with the Toronto cell phone calling from your magicjack should be rectified very soon. If you have any questions or issues about magicjack please do not hesitate to call me direct."
Well, I called Victor approximately, half an hour ago and no, the situation has not been rectified. And it does not look like it will be, as Rogers has a block on the system. Sometimes the calls will go through, other times they will not. Victor will not get into any technical issues. He just refers you back to the USA branch, where you spend a long time on real chat time as the chat person is jumping between several calls and gets totally confused with the answers.
I know, because I just went through that with them today. So, I let the chat person know that they are mixed up and not focused on the question when they reply. "Oh", was their response, then the right answer came through. Poor things, I feel sorry for them having to juggle so many people at the same time. They really do try to help. Anyway, not to worry, if you check out Arnab's post, there is a back door code to dial when trying to reach someone on a Toronto cell phone. Just go to his site for the answer.
Also, for those of you who prefer to buy from a store and not online, I found only one located in Scarboro, Ont. near Birchmount. Quite a distance from me, but, I will go there on Sunday, Noon - 5pm. They are called 7 Star Electronics, 3575 Sheppard Ave. East. 416-630-3339. Apparently, they sell M.J. for $39.99 with a 30 day money back guarantee.
For the record, I own an iMac, Version 10.5.6, 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. I am with Rogers, Lite High Speed, which does qualify for the M.J. use. So, you do not have to spend the big bucks with the super High Speed internet. (I hope!) I will let you know how things work out.
I also have spoken to "Apple Care" and they are not familiar with the M.J., so I gave them all the info on it for them to check it out. Hopefully they will become familiar with it soon. I also called Future Shop, Best Buy and The Source, enlightening them, that the same stores in USA carry this product, why not them? It's only a matter of time before everyone in Canada gets on the band wagon. Since most of us are at work in the day time, and most of us have cell phones, it does not make sense to continue to pay "big bucks" for a land line.
During our last 2 hydro black outs, I still could not call out on my Bell land line phones, as my phones are cordless. With hydro down, they won't work. Thank God I had my cell fully charged. So why pay the "big bucks" for a land line in this case scenario? Yes, I know, I can hook up a regular phone instead of my portable ones, but that would mean I have to be glued to that spot when talking. The once in a blue moon that we have a black out, does not justify the cost for a land line, does it?
FYI, this info comes directly from the Magic Jack.com FAQ site:
*Please remember that some calls are not considered local calls, even though they are in the same area code. Please refer to your local carrier for more information on local and long distance calls.
Hmmm, those of us living in Canada "beware", all your local incoming callers will be charged long distance fees, as the magicJack phone number will be a USA area code number.
According to the magicJack inventor, Canadian area codes are not on his priority list! This is something that none of the re-sellers tell you. This truly sucks! (03/10/2009)
By CheeMiss When I mentioned that I would contact Better Business if I couldn't get satisfaction, he told me to go ahead and ended our chat! I just called the billing phone number, and after waiting 16 minutes and being the next in line, the call was disconnected. I called back on my cell phone only to be told that the promotion was not in effect when I placed my order. I had confirmation that I was paying for 6 years. Here is one of the orders.
And the splash screen is so annoying! I have used task manager to close the program just so I could use my computer instead of waiting for it to load. MagicJack works fine if I don't use my computer while on the phone, otherwise it messes up the reception, skipping wildly even if I stop using the computer. (04/08/2009)
By En Cognito I love the fact that I can either use my home phone or switch to my microphone/headset. The price is absolutely great, I have my cousin using it and he is saving almost 2000 dollars a year. I had Vonage which was OK, but I was paying 28 bucks a month for it and couldn't do half the stuff I can with magicJack.
One other feature I like about magicJack that I couldn't get with Vonage is that when I receive a voicemail message, it gets forwarded to my email as well. So I can check it online if I'm not home. Now if I can find a company that does this with Cable TV, I'll save a ton of money. You know cable is very expensive. (05/08/2009)
By FAISONIKRE: Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
I ordered 4 (2 for a friend) which came with the first year of service with extended 5 year plans. I have only been credited for a total of 5 years instead of 6 years. I have chatted to customer service numerous times, but have gotten nowhere. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he said, "Sad to say but I am the supervisor."
RE: Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
I am using it and it works great. I love magicJack and wouldn't change it for any other phone service. I will admit MJ screen is annoying because you can't minimize it, but once your on the internet or using other programs, it goes into the background.
(Archived Jan 28, 2009)Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
Kim from Rogers, AR
Answers:
By Candy
By Gary
By fed up
By Bob K
By m72
By Jeff
By Best deal ever
After you have the magicJack® softphone on your computer screen, you should run TCP Optimizer (it is on the net) and do the following to "tune" your computer to run the software most efficiently:
By Eric
I installed this device for 2 of my customers and then for myself and have had not one bit of a problem on any of them. Do you want me to believe I am just lucky that 3 out of 3 went in and performed? I read all of these comments. Before I continue I should add that I have been a PC tech since 1982 and a network engineer since 2001. I suggest that all of you whining about the performance:
By ese
I just installed it earlier this morning & had it working in no time. 3-5 minutes. Did all kinds of tests, in and out. Sound was good. Registration was simple & I had my new phone number provided very quickly. I purchased it 2 weeks ago, and I did go on different bulletin boards like this one, (due diligence and all) and read all kinds of comments: Good & Bad!, before I actually made the decision and bought one. But, I learned this, most of the problems were not with the Magic Jack Device! The problem was usually with the user's computer or internet connection. I found out the following, prior to buying one:
By GuestABC_123
By
By fooled
By SalvadorF
(Archived Oct 14, 2008)Has Anyone Used "Magic Jack"?
Onesummer
Answers:
It seems to work fine, there's not static or anything on it. (03/19/2008)
By Diamondee
By Henry
But for the past two weeks, I have been having serious problems with my incoming phone calls. At times, I do not get any incoming calls. The problem is that you do not know anyone is trying to contact you. Sometimes, anyone calling can leave a message on voice mail but not all the time. It is not constant but enough to become a major problem.
I have contacted Magic Jack and could not get the support to fix this problem. I will probably get a cell phone for a back up. I really did not want a cell phone. I don't know if I can get my money refunded from Magic Jack but I may try. I am still considering to give the company more time to fix this problem.
So for three months, it was great but not now. When it works it is great but when it doesn't it is the worst. But I still may consider keeping it for making long distance phone calls, you can't beat the price. But the question is can you can trust how reliable Magic Jack will be? As of today, I can't recommend it as a main telephone in your home. (04/01/2008)
By Mike
By Joe B.
1) The quality of the phone call is as clear as a regular telephone call when calling telephone to telephone.
2) The magic jack has problems with "press number" prompts. In voice mail there is a lot of studdering at the beginning so when it say "you have X number of messages" it studders "y-y-you have x number of messages".
3) If trying to call a business with press number prompts. The quality gets very garbled when you have to press numbers. If you don't have to press numbers, the quality of the call remains perfect.
If you use magic jack for phone to phone conversation its great but be prepared for a quality drop when you have to press numbers for certain departments or prompts. I had to hang up several times and call them back because the quality was so terrible and choppy. (04/21/2008)
By Chris
The problem is the stuttering - you never know when it's going to happen, but it happened every call I made. I tried plugging it in to the computer and into an a/c powered usb hub - no change. I tried downloading their 'magic fix' - no change.
I did their chat tech support and they wanted me to contact my ISP to open some ports or something like that. No way am I getting that involved with it.
I had to ask 3 times to get the return information, but they finally did.
A friend of mine has had the same problems -t think she will be returning it as well. (04/21/2008)
By Lynn
I got 2 phone Jacks and they have there own #'s assigned and when I call them they are disco. After research on youtube and google I found out I am not the only one. In fact I saved my live chatswith Magic Jack tech support so I can post them and expose them. (04/21/2008)
By Jose M.
I don't want to spend a lot of money since I'm not sure if it will work. The MJ reps told me that I might have a corrupt driver. Does anyone know how I can check to see if any are corrupt. Thanks. (04/22/2008)
By Mike
By RCox
By Cajun62234
Their TV ad wasn't very true to their stating their return procedures. If you plan to return the jack, be prepared to fight tooth and nail for the return information. (04/27/2008)
By redroses
Next I tried to contact someone via the live person chat at the magicjack.com site and low and behold my email address that they have already sent me stuff too is not listed when I try to contact them and there is no phone number , Hummmm. Makes me wonder how on the up and up these people are, then I tried the phone directory to find their phone number from the Post Office Box 6846 West Palm Beach Florida 33405 where the magic jack was mailed from there is not one , Hummm , then I tried the return form at the site and it won't accept my email address and I cannot send in the return form.
Hummm, this is starting to upset me off so next step I will tell all who are interested if you want to return yours too, contact you states Attorney General's Office and report this company as Fraud, and then turn to your local Newspapers and ask about running a "Warning Notice to the General Public" I have been told this ad will run free of charge . Even if they did charge for it, it would be worth it to put these people in their place if you ask me.
Also I intend to return this magic Jack to the address it was sent from with a confirmation delivery on it , then if they still try to charge you for this piece of merchandise then you can file grievances against them with your credit card company .
If you are not happy with your magic jack product don't let them get away with it. Look here for other dissatisfied customers: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf31071682.tip.HTML
I just learned from the Mailman that if you think "Fraud" has been committed then contact your local Post Master General and file a complaint. I intend too. (05/01/2008)
By shorty_sport
By john e
Very clear and fun to use. I use it on my desktop. I have earphone with a mic, instant handsfree phone. Try it for 30 days if you do not like it send it back. (05/06/2008)
By Dan M.
By bill
By Joe
By Don in Laytonville, Ca
By Al
By alice
By Bonnie
By Marcos
When I complained they said they had no record of my order. When I tried to send it back they didn't want to give me an address. I'm hoping to get a refund but am doubtful. Sounds like a great idea but I would never recommend it to anyone. Too much hassle. (05/29/2008)
By Beckie
P.S. I do use a track phone for important stuff but not having a massive phone bill for me offsets the negatives. (05/31/2008)
By Bill Hoeft
I downloaded the software and plugged the unit in; and guess what, it works as advertised. You can either plug in a phone, or make calls directly from you computer. I think issues like call quality, or operation probably have to do with your internet service and/or viruses on your machine. Am still playing with it to see what other features it has. I like this unit, and would recommend it to my friends. (06/02/2008)
By sandriver58
By Paul G.
By
By Fredrick
By David
MJ is NOT always reliable. Sometimes it works perfectly well, other times there's no audio, or the sound is garbled. Usually unplugging it and replugging it fixes the problem.
When pressing numbers for extensions on business calls, it sometimes works fine, and other times not at all, other times so-so. There is frequently an echo on the line. As people have warned, customer service is nonexistent. Their "online chat" cust. svc. is a joke. But if you're willing to put up with occasional hassles in order to eliminate a phone bill altogether, I'd say Go For It.
I've only been using it for a month, btw. (06/15/2008)
By Linda
By jason
By SFOMAN
By gg
By Prez
By danny
By
By Steve- Las Vegas
By Daniel
This would also solve any problem with power from the USB (unless your computer's power supply is overloaded). If you suspect that too many devices are running of the USB port, buy a powered usb hub. This means that the power to the USB is coming from the hub and not your computer. If you buy a hub, you will still need a USB 2.0 port on your computer. If you don't know if it is 2.0 or 1.0... here is a link that will help you find out without having to open the computer: http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_tell_if_i_have_usb_20.html
I hope this information helps all that are using Magic Jack. I am very impressed with this company and I believe their biggest problem is they are having a hard time keeping up with the demand for their product. They have a dedicated phone network, unlike other VOIP services, so there are many advantages to this service. I will be getting mine as soon as I can figure out how to get internet service without home phone service (it's bundled from AT&T).
Best regards, Stephen Davidson sdavidson AT 3danimationmagic.com (06/20/2008)
By Stephen Davidson
By Jeff
By Ripped off
By Danny
By mcloide
By Will
It arrived in about 5 days. I unpacked it and followed the directions, plugging it into one of my USB ports - nothing. I then tried another port. This time the blue light came on but no functionality. Tried a third USB port and it started. Finished the installation (ran the Vista upgrade) and tried a few calls. It worked OK, one call had static, another could not hear me clearly.
The next day when I 'woke' my system Magic Jack did not run. Unplugged it and plugged it back in. It then started OK. I went to the Magic Jack website and ran the 'Fix-It' program which is basically just a compatibility check. It told me all was OK. Later in the day I had the same problem with Magic Jack not working. This time I had to re-start my system. It still would not work. Only by unplugging it and then plugging it back in could I get it to work.
The following day both Internet Explorer and my email programs started to become unresponsive. I unplugged Magic Jack and restarted my system. I then plugged Magic Jack back in and it started OK. The phone calls I made did work fine with only a bit of static on some lines.
The third day I again started to have my programs become unresponsive. I again repeated yesterday's steps to get it working. This time I decided to contact Support through their 'Live chat' feature. After explaining the issues I was having, the agent instructed me to unplug Magic Jack, disable my firewall and anti-virus, and then plug it back in. It started and I resumed both my antivirus and firewall protection. v The fourth day I again started to have my programs become unresponsive. I unplugged Magic Jack, restarted my system and went to their website to return the product - I had had enough. I selected the link for 'Returns' and it took me to the 'Fix-It' program. This time, about 3/4 through the check, my browser stopped working completely. I had to re-launch it and go back through the steps. I did this three times and each time I got to the same part of the 'Fix-It' program, it would cause Internet Explorer to stop working completely. The next time, I decided to reach the Live Chat support. I managed to by-pass the 'Fix-It' program and connect with a support agent.
I told him what was happening and asked for instructions on how to return Magic Jack. He provided a link for Returns - the minute I selected it I was put back into the 'Fix-It' program which again caused my browser to stop and of course, end the session.
I again connected with a support agent, explaining what just happened, and again asked for the return procedure. This time he gave me a different link which took me to an RMA form, already pre-printed with my information with instructions to Print and return in two weeks in order for my card to not be charged.
In conclusion, Magic Jack may work well for a lot of people but they clearly have software compatibility issues with Windows Vista. (06/25/2008)
By CLK Group
By bearlyyours
By boo
By Mike Herrera
By jim b
After talking for 5-10 mins call becomes garbled. Must unplug and replug to fix! My Vonage works much better!
2 out of 5 stars rating for this product. (07/12/2008)
By Matt9876
The phone runs on a dedicated PC and had intended to use it as my only land line. (07/13/2008)
By John
Second, a neighbor of mine who also has the unit told me that he was unable to access touch tone automated menus, for checking bank account and reordering prescriiptions, etc.. I tried myself and found the same issue to be true. I contacted technical support via the MagicJack website on 07/14/08 and was advised that they were aware of this and that their technicians where working on it. Today, 07/15/08 the issue has been resolved and I can now access automated touch tone systems.
I am cancelling my Vonage account this week. Although Magic Jack is not quite equal to what I have become accustomed to with Vonage, the price difference far outweighs any concern I may have. (07/15/2008)
By Chris E
By CrEePfAcE
I went to magicjack.com to fix the problem and have had no luck. They have a link on their website that says "Customer Care/Live Person", you click the link & your forwarded to another page that says "Get Live Help In Seconds" you click that you are forwarded to another page that is suppose to fix your issues but has not yet worked for me.
If you scroll to the bottom of that page there is another link that says "To reach a live person, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Click here" which takes you to another page, you then click on unsatisfied with results at the top and never get to speak with a live agent. You get to chat with an automated one Who runs you though the same q & a help you have already been through that never fixed your problem.
I've even tried typing live agent, it seems as if you are talking to one, but who really knows; you then soon read "chat session has been terminated by the site operator"; unhelped and now frustrated, your vicious cycle of trying to get help with the magicjack has just begun. "If I ever get help with fixing this product, I will let you know".
Feel free to call me on this if you wish. My home phone is 903-874-7843 (07/21/2008)
By Jeremie H. TX
They are indeed the worst for customer service. They really make themselves look like snake-oil salesmen when it comes to human contact. Horrible. No options were given for returning it (despite a 'free trial' offer) and no information was forthcoming from their 'chat techs'. We just had our credit card company remove it from our account and took the box back to the shipper and told them to return it to wherever they had picked it up.
Bad experience. With kids in the house and relying on our phones a lot we didn't trust it. (07/21/2008)
By Jack C
After 6 tries to live chat to fix, by the way that converted to about 7 hrs. of my time, NO help, same old repeated run around. Tried to get an exchange to no avail, after I had a phone /computer technician look at the Mj and told me it was defective. Upon rebooting the MJ it worked to dial out 1 call than failed again. We tried it on 3 different phones, 4 RJ-11 cords, 3 pcs, and also tested each phone on my still hooked up telephone line, that I kept hooked up just in case! Thank god!
This is a SCAM / BEWARE! I would not wish this kind of service on my worst enemy. PLEASE be careful! (07/23/2008)
By Fred Heinly
Calls to several businesses could not be completed. Also, many cell phone numbers also cause MJ to fail. Online technical support is staffed with dedicated people. However, some of the glitches of the Magic Jack simply cannot be solved. For some customers, it is possible that they may never have a glitch depending upon their calling requirements.
For most of us, Magic Jack is not yet the answer. Another note, I tested the endurance of the tech support staff. The glitches that I experienced simply were not solvable and I wanted to take the support to the logical end that it could not be fixed. After 8 to 9 hours on one day with no solution, I was prepared to continue the next day. I made one call.
The techie, after reviewing my call history, told me that because of my Operating system (XP with SP3) MagicJack was not compatible. I have 3 computers in the house: one with XP SP2, and it did not work on that one either. The interesting point here is: When they no longer want to chat with you , they remove the only link to technical support from your magicjack.com page, effectively shutting you up. (07/23/2008)
By Ralph
By Erik
Apparently 30 day trial period also means if it breaks down you are screwed. The warranty is misleading. It is not worth the hassle to try to save a few bucks on your phone bill for the hassle you have to go through with their live chat people. They had me resetting ip address and and going thru my computer. My computer is brand new. There is nothing wrong with it. This issue is in dispute with my credit card company. (07/25/2008)
By NOT HAPPY
http://www.411-voip.com (07/25/2008)
By ronmojohny
By DON FROM BRINY
By Rom De Guzman
By Greta B.
By
Well worth the money. I recommend it and unless I am unusual, I don't understand all the complaints. (07/30/2008)
By Alec
I have submitted for a refund, but it gets worse because the MagicJack number I created is printed on business cards and the number is where clients called to reach me. It has ruined my business. I hope people are reading this and re-thinking their decision. I am considering litigation. (08/01/2008)
By Joe
The ONLY downside to using magic jack is I have to leave my computer on 24/7 and I dont like using their voicemail system, so I just use my answering machine. I set my answering machine to allow incoming calls to only ring three times before my answering machine will pick up. This way it doesnt activate Magic Jack's voicemail. Unfortunately there is no way to disable MJ's voicemail service.
Overall, I give this product 4.5 out of 5 stars! I love it! (08/02/2008)
By Just like a regular home phone.
Now the phone calls: I called my sister in Florida, my other sister in Washington, my brother in Ohio, and made local calls. No problems, just like using a land phone. Phone quality is excellent and it's a great product. Thank you Magic Jack. (08/03/2008)
By DAN
A great job opportunity ended up going to someone else because I didn't know I had no phone service. Chatted with live chat help (whatever) for 5 hours, to have them tell me several different stories on why my service was not working. Wanted me to uninstall firewalls and virus protection and asked me to open several ports for trouble shooting. Of course I didn't allow this, but I kept them talking, and saved chat with her where she attempted to reassure me that she wasn't doing this to gain access to my pc.
Right up until the end she tried to reassure me it was just for updates and she wasn't trying to access my pc. Even though through out the conversation so it would be on record that I didn't feel safe doing this, that she wasn't trying to gain access to an open port on my pc that she did not have any permission to gain access of any kind and if she was lying to gain access to my pc, that it was a violation of federal law. Her response was if we didn't want to comply with magic jack that we were basically screwed.
But we are not taking it lying down I'm compiling a file from all you good people on the internet that have been robbed by this company and I will be sending it to the FCC newspapers local tv station, any body that can read and has an email address. And to all that have given them good quotes, I'm glad your service was fine but how can you support a company that has done wrong to so many fellow Americans? (08/06/2008)
By Disatisfied. It's time to act
By Eugene
Made a good amount of local calls no problems. Sound quality excellent. The only drawback takes from 30to40 seconds for the phone to dial the number. But i can live with that for $20.00 A year. Good by phone. Hello magic jack. Thumbs up from this user. (08/10/2008)
By Dan B. NY
By Alayne
I got the free trial...they did not even charge my card $1.00, until the 30th day, the took their money.
The only real problem was that others could not hear me, I could hear them... fixing that problem? had to go thru 3 chat reps at MJ. What I had finally realized is that I needed a strong USB port, so I upgraded my USB ports to the highest grade, I then bought a 6.0 mega hertz phone, I originally had a 2.0.
Be careful with the customer service, some dont know what they are talking about. some told me, to use only a a wireless phone or they would keep having me got thru the fix it.
If you have a seperate fax phone hooked up to the main phone line that goes to your computer for your DSL service, his can cause you to have dropped calls. unplug the phone, GET RID OF IT, get efax.
The only problem I may experience now is the first call may not connect clearly, and Have to hang up and try again.
BUT! all else aside... $20.00 yr, they get no complaints from me. I saved $300.00 year ( had Packet8 unlimited calling at 24.00 mo), pluse phone line $15.00 + DSL service $21.00. SO I eliminated the 24.00 month and now I pay a falt 36.00 to have everything. WOW what a steal. The regular phone company only gets pennies from me. ha! ha! (08/11/2008)
By simplired
My Mother needed to reach me one time to get picked up because her car had broken down but the telephone she was using would not let her place the call to my home even though she was only a few miles from my house! She can't walk long distances and lives on a fixed income.
Something is definitely not right or fair here. All I want is my own area code. Seems to me that magicjack are in bed with the certain telephone companies. (08/11/2008)
By kamikaze_CoPilot
Installation was a little trickier than expected on my xp machine. There were no instructions or illustrations, either of which would have helped greatly with those situations where some minor tinkering was necessary as well as when it comes to enabling various features.
The product is supposed to include call-forwarding but I cannot find this feature in a menu anywhere. The voicemail setup is unnecessarily complex because voicemail is supposed to simply take messages when the human can't or won't answer the phone. I was expected to record a greeting, a "busy" message, and an "unavailable" message.
I have tried phoning our home number as well as using our home number to call the jack. If I don't answer the jack, voicemail responds within 5-6 rings. Calling the voicemail a few moments later took several attempts. They use 7 to both delete and undelete, so I had to call the voicemail twice (5 actual calling attempts were made before I was connected the two aforementioned times) to completely get rid of the message.
I emailed my son the "new" phone number as something he could attempt calling from Japan for a very short conversation so we can evaluate whether or not the device provides a clear sound.
There were 22 total items added in my ZoneAlarm Program Control tab. After "killing" each of the splash screens, I then disabled the auto-update feature. This feature was mentioned elsewhere as a means for the folks at magicjack to alter the software, rendering it less useful or altogether nonfunctional after the trial period had elapsed. By using ZoneAlarm's other options, I have prevented any of the magicjack programs from "sending mail", and, more importantly, prevented ALL of them from acting as a server.
It is doubtful that I will choose to keep the jack; much depends on clarity to and from Japan. I will consider phoning a friend in Canada later tonight, but for my purposes, it looks like Skype wins. (08/13/2008)
By angelhelp
I know Magick jack works FINE however the computer connected must have 768/128 minimum broadband speed and also have the USB port working properly with Version 2.0.
I am a certified broadcast engineer and computer network certified. I got my Magic Jack on QVC two weeks ago and have tested it by making many phone calls to friends all over the US. I spoke for two hours to California the second day I got my Magic Jack from Massachusetts. WORKS just FINE! (08/15/2008)
By Dick R.
By Guest
By Mike
Disadvantages: 1. It only works when the computer is booted up. This seems to surprise many people, but since the thing is designed to work via a computer I would have thought that they may have reasoned that it had to be booted up. Takes all sorts I guess.
2. It takes around 30 seconds to start up when u boot up the PC. So what? Some people seem to have a big issue with that.
All in all I am well pleased with the device BUT because of limitations when dialing 911 I would not consider Magic Jack as the only phone in the house. But then I have to have a phone line for broadband - so again, what's the problem.
I think Magic Jack is getting a lot of negative feedback that it doesn't deserve. DL (08/15/2008)
By David Latimer
By Ray
By Richard
It might be worth having for the occasional business trip but a cell phone is probably more practical. As far as a home phone - you really want a device that plugs into your broadband router and is independent of your PC.
btw - their customer service really sucks. Odd that they sell a phone device yet do not have a phone number. (08/25/2008)
By
Long story short. If you feel like gambling $65, do so. You might get lucky. If the product works for you, great. If the product does not work for you, be prepared to spend $300 of your time to get a refund. They will try to help you to get it to work. If that doesnt fix the problem, whether you are in the 30 day trial or not, it will take every fiber of your being to get a refund from these people. They are not interested in customer service or making sure you are happy. When they have your money, they are done. (08/28/2008)
By Westwind
You can use magicjack to make calls without tying up your cell phone or running your mobile minute, and you still have your cell phone in case of an emergency. Plus you'll save on landline phone charges as well by just getting rid of it. When I must provide a retailer a phone number, I give them my magicjack number.
That way if they use or share my number for telemarketing reasons, they'll be greeted by an answering system since my magicjack is turned off most of the time. If it's an important phone call, they can leave a message, which will be sent to my email. It also has many useful features, like call forwarding, three way calling, voice messages straight to your email and many more. I chose their five year service because it is cheaper; about $10.00 a year.
There are some disadvantage of course, as some users pointed out: The computer must be turned on in order for it to work, so if you don't own a mobile phone, you are going to need a land line for emergencies. Depending on your ISP, there could be some interference. It does not support Linux based operating systems. (08/28/2008)
By Papo
By Joan
Because this is phone through your computer, you should only order this product if you are computer savvy. Yes, they only have live help through text messaging, but, like I said, only purchase this item if you're savvy enough to handle an online chat! I personally prefer the chat, and I just utilized the help line the first time this evening and didn't have to wait more than a minute for someone to help me!
I don't think this product will entirely replace the phone company (I could never see my mother working this, lol) but as a second number, it's great. I love how I get caller id, call waiting, and my voicemail messages sent to my email. I don't like that it slows down my computer's startup a bit, or that the screen will pop up when I'm trying to work. However, overall, this is not a scam--just not for everybody. (09/07/2008)
By
By MARK
I've even sent one to my girlfriends Mom in Canada and hers works great too! I keep my computer on all the time anyways, so whenever i'm not using my pc I just turn off my screen. Like I said for the money it's way cheaper than ANY other phone company will EVER be! (09/16/2008)
By Leo Daniels
By TSR
By Tony FRom MA
By Mary
By no one
By DAJ
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