e-mail to Dan

[isleblue65]

Sent today (1/03/09)
To: dborislow(at)aol.com,
Dan(at)magicjack.com

Hello,

My MagicJack stopped working 40 days after I first registered it. My 1 year service began on 11/14/08 and after an automatic upgrade in December, it stopped working completely. I spent several hours over several sessions with MagicJack support personnel and it was finally determined that my MJ dongle had completely failed. There is no communication between the dongle and any of my computers, and no software loading or softphone present.

I was told by a higher support person that outside of 30 days I would not receive a replacement. I then tried to ask a support person if I could purchase a new MagicJack less the 1 year of service which I have already purchased, and apply my existing service to the new MagicJack USB device. I should not have to pay $39.95 and have duplicate licenses. The support person first said that I could have a replacement MagicJack, and later disconnected the chat session. I attempted to talk to another support person who also said she would replace my defective MagicJack, and once she knew what had already been tried in previous chat sessions, she left the session hanging and never came back. I waited for 20 minutes before closing the session.

I would like one of the following to be done:

1. My MagicJack to be replaced free of charge

2 If I must purchase a new MagicJack, My license from the purchase of my new MagicJack to be extended from 1 year to 1 year plus 10 1/2 months from the time I register my new MagicJack to account for the license I have already purchased.

3. A new MagicJack dongle to be sold to me with no license (I have already purchased a license), and my existing license to be continued with the new MagicJack dongle through the end of the term. Since the cost of a MagicJack is about $40 including a 1 year license, and the renewal of the license costs $19.95 per year, the MagicJack dongle should cost about $20.


Saying this, I think that MagicJack should stand up for their product and treat their customers better than this. I am an active participant in many VOIP and MagicJack specific forums, and I report the level of service I receive from MagicJack to thousands of users and prospective users on those forums. I am an enthusiastic MagicJack user, but my enthusiasm is turning to frustration every day that I do not have the ability to use your product.


See the attached files which are copies of my last two chat sessions for more details.


Thank you,

Craig
MJ Phone#: 763-xxx-xxxx

[freekshow]

I sent a letter to Dan yesterday regarding warranty and license tranfer issues also. Hope it will do some good

[az2008]

I sent a letter to Dan yesterday regarding warranty and license tranfer issues also. Hope it will do some good

They really need a way to sell the USB device without time, and to self-serve associate it through the my.magicjack.com account portal.

I understand that for $20 a year service it starts to be rediculous to quibble about unused time. I wouldn't make a big deal out of losing my last month ($1.67). But, when someone's losing 5 years ($60), there should be a way to correct that without making them buy another year attached to a new USB unit.

This would also be useful for when there is a hardware revision.

Mark

[isleblue65]

I received this reply today:

Dan Borislow
to me
show details 9:27 AM (2 hours ago)
Reply

Dear Craig,

Please let me know the first four and last four digits of the Credit Card you used to purchase the magicJack from us and I will look up your order and send you a replacement magicJack.

Sincerely,

Richard
magicJack Tech Support Manager

However, I have been down this road before. I purchased my MagicJack from an Authorized MagicJack reseller on Ebay. The last time I was told I could get a replacement, the MJ support person then said that since I did not purchase it directly from MJ, I was not eligible for a replacement from them and would have to go through the seller directly. The seller of course said that he could not accept any returns or exchanges outside of 30 days.

I have a feeling that I know what Richard will say in his next reply to me. However, if MJ does not at least meet me half way by satisfying one of my three terms outlined in my first e-mail, I will file a complaint with the BBB in Florida and blanket the internet with the truth about the MagicJack company.

Yes, it is a small amount of money to quibble about, but it is the principle of MJ going against their terms of service and treating customers like they are expendable that bothers me. This will either end well or it will end very badly. I hope it ends well.

Craig

[az2008]

However, I have been down this road before. I purchased my MagicJack from an Authorized MagicJack reseller on Ebay.

This gets back to what I opined on before. Dan is his own worst enemy when it comes to the negative sentiment that exists. His business practices seem to be *designed* to generate negative sentiment.

Like the way they send a "redemption code" to the customer, relying upon the customer to receive it, check their spam folders if they don't, understand its significance, and know where to go to redeem it. If you sell someone 5 years of additional service, why not just adjust their account at the time of purchase, instead of going through this error-prone dance? Or, send all the emails to Clamidia in tech. support. Let her enter them in manually?

In this case, Dan is selling MJ units to "authorized resellers." He provides support to customers. Craig spent 3-6 hours with MJ support. But, when it comes to replacing the unit, they'll only replace it if you purchased it directly from MJ. They'll spend countless hours reading scripts to you. But, they want you to go to an affiliate to have that person receive your defective unit, and presumably return it to MJ for you.

That's crazy.

My suggestion is to pursue it with the "authorized reseller." If s/he says it's only warrantied for 30 days, I'd reply to Dan/Richard about that fact, and ask why there is an unpublished difference in warranties between MJ and its authorized resellers? (You might ask that before going to the trouble, just to see if he'll replace it anyway.).

Mark

[kumar]

The only thing that pisses me off is the reply from "richard" instead of dan. If I wanted to talk to someone beside the owner then I wouldn't email the owner. I understand that the CEO can't handle all the emails, but at least the Richard guy should say "on behalf of dan" or something. I don't know why, but it bugs me. Anyway...


Good Luck

Kumar

[az2008]

BTW: You could lie, and say you no longer have the credit card you used to purchase.

I'm not a big fan of lying. But, considering how MagicJack says it's "unlimited," and more money gets you "expedited" handling, and the web site has a random number generator to depict the number of people who started the free trial (which ends today, every day).... I guess we could just say you're engaging in "marketing."

Mark

[isleblue65]

BTW: You could lie, and say you no longer have the credit card you used to purchase. Mark

I could do that if I had not already replied to him this morning with the name of the authorized reseller whom I bought it from. It certainly would be a fitting way to deal with a company who trains it's technical people and managers to do everything in their power to avoid serving their customers.

By the way, Richard never replied back after my reply e-mail this morning. I have a feeling this marks the end of my dialogue with MagicJack. I will try him one more time, and then I'm off to plan 2.

This is just unbelievable! I've never had the displeasure of dealing with such a crappy company before.

Craig

[CDNinKS]

Can I ask? Why did you buy from a re-seller instead of directly from MJ?

[isleblue65]

Can I ask? Why did you buy from a re-seller instead of directly from MJ?

For several reasons actually. First off, I didn't want MagicJack to have my credit card number, and I didn't want to pay with a credit card. After reading some of the stories about people's experiences with MagicJack, including duplicate charges, not honoring the 30 day refund policy and the inability for people to talk to anyone at the company, I decided it would be best to avoid that.

Secondly, I got mine for $28 shipped to me, so the price was appealing. Since I was under the impression that MagicJack would provide the same service (not necessarily good service, but the same...) whether you purchased from one of their distributors or from MagicJack directly, this was another draw. Of course, I question the discrepancy in how MagicJack deals with direct vs. distributor customers now.

Third, the seller I bought it from has a significantly better feedback rating for customer satisfaction than MagicJack does. His hands are tied as far as the 30 day return policy of MagicJack, but he was the first one to get back to me on that. I had to spend 4 hours chatting with MagicJack tech support to get the same basic answer from them.

Craig

[isleblue65]

After 36 hours of hearing no response from Richard (tech support manager), I sent the following e-mail and received a reply to it almost immediately (also below):

Hello Richard,

Regarding my defective MagicJack, would you please advise me if you plan to replace my MagicJack?

A MagicJack chat support person has previously told me that since I purchased it from a distributor and not directly through MagicJack, it would have to be returned to the supplier. The supplier told me I can not exchange it through him. I am confused as to why there appears to be a discrepancy with customer service and taking care of your customers depending on whether the product was purchased from your company direct vs. from a distributor? Three chat support people initially told me they would replace my defective MagicJack since it had been used for only 40 days when it stopped working, until they learned that it had not been purchased directly through MagicJack.

I expect one of the three requirements I outlined in my first e-mail to be met by MagicJack:

1. My MagicJack to be replaced free of charge

2 If I must purchase a new MagicJack, My license from the purchase of my new MagicJack to be extended from 1 year to 1 year plus 10 1/2 months from the time I register my new MagicJack to account for the license I have already purchased.

3. A new MagicJack dongle to be sold to me with no license (I have already purchased a license), and my existing license to be continued with the new MagicJack dongle through the end of the term. Since the cost of a MagicJack is about $40 including a 1 year license, and the renewal of the license costs $19.95 per year, the MagicJack dongle should cost about $20.

Should you not choose item #1 (my preference, and the solution that any customer-oriented company would stand by), then I expect you to honor either #2 or #3. Should you choose not to meet any of these requirements, then you are clearly violating your own terms of service as outlined in the Payment section of your TOS below:


9. Payment

Use of the magicJackTM device is free. Your purchase of the magicJackTM device and registration of the magicJackTM device gives you a license to use the magicJackTM and the Software for one year.



Again, I have paid for 1 year.


I hope that you will provide satisfactory and amicable resolution to this issue.


Thank you,


Craig



DBORISLOW(at)aol.com
to rikard.bone, me, Dan

show details 10:09 AM (13 hours ago)


Reply


We will make this right for you

Dan

[az2008]

We will make this right for you

Dan[/color]

Good for you. I wish they'd make this a standard policy instead of making customers play a round of Three-Card Monte to get it.

BTW: That's the fourth email address I've seen. I added it to the wiki http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/MagicJack/ ... gicJack.3F

Mark

[isleblue65]

Thanks for putting that Wiki together Mark. That will be very helpful to many. When Dan replied to me, he had also carbon copied this address:
rikard.bone(at)magicjack.com
I'm assuming this is "Richard" whom I have been talking to, but I'm not sure. In any case, this is someone higher up than the standard chat people, so it may be worth adding it as well.

I'm not holding my breath until I hear something back from them or receive a new MagicJack in the mail, but the signs are promising.

Even though this stuff takes a lot of time and effort, I hope that it makes MJ a little bit more honest, and maybe the next guy won't have to jump through quite as many hoops to get decent customer service. As they say, 'The squeaky wheel gets the oil'.

Craig

[az2008]

Even though this stuff takes a lot of time and effort, I hope that it makes MJ a little bit more honest, and maybe the next guy won't have to jump through quite as many hoops to get decent customer service. As they say, 'The squeaky wheel gets the oil'.

I also noticed their BBB rating (find link at the bottom of the wiki "criticisms" page) changed to "NR" (not rated) from "F". Maybe Dan's begun responding to complaints, or joined the BBB (buy some "protection").

Mark

[az2008]

Thanks for putting that Wiki together Mark. That will be very helpful to many. When Dan replied to me, he had also carbon copied this address:
rikard .... bone ((( a t ))) magicjack .... com
I'm assuming this is "Richard" whom I have been talking to, but I'm not sure.

Thanks, I added it to the wiki as a spam-resistant image.

I have mixed feelings about encouraging (making it easy for) people to email Dan, et. al. I think Dan's vision is to keep overhead low, and be notable for the low price. I hate to contribute to any need for him to have more overhead to deal with customers. For people who don't have any problems with MJ, they'd probably pay the $1.39 per month that it costs over six years. For those that it doesn't work, they'd probably be happy with $3.00 per month if it meant getting problems fixed.

I think that's the problem with MJ. When you get down to these price points, it's easy to dismiss losing a couple months. What's $2 or $3 spread over a year or two? But, when someone loses 11 months (or five pre-purchased years) it looks different.

And, even in the $2-$3 range, those who can rationalize it as just the cost associated with an inexpensive, no-frills service can feel ripped off. That's not a good feeling for a company to instill in their customers. Just because it's 10 cents a month doesn't mean a person won't feel there's a principle involved. Like the guy who's international minutes disappeared, and it's just chalked off to MJ's low-overhead business systems (that don't have audit trails?).

I think there's only so far Dan can go on low price due to low overhead. If it's a gamble that it might only work for a month, with no way to recoup the annual cost, I think it will always be a niche market. So, making it easier for people to put demands on MJ probably won't do any more harm than MJ conducting business as usual.

Mark

[isleblue65]

Mark,
I know what you mean as far as making Dan's e-mail too accessible. I would not want that to contribute to fewer people getting taken care of when they run into problems. However, I think it is important to have a conduit to higher level people, because clearly the chat level technicians do not have decision making power, or the will to consult with management when higher level decisions are warranted.

I received the following e-mail today. Good news, and hopefully it (and the BBB rating changes) are signs that MagicJack is trying to become more customer-focused. I am just glad that persistence paid off:


from Dan Borislow <Dan(at)magicjack.com>
to "craigabc.com"
date Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 12:44 PM
subject RE: MagicJack License issues

hide details 12:44 PM (27 minutes ago)

Reply

Dear Craig,

A new magicJack with the same phone number as the old will ship today.

Tracking Number: xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xx

You can track it at: www.usps.com

Please let me know when you receive it and have it up and running and I will take a look at extending your license.

Sincerely,

Richard
magicJack Tech Support Manager

[FredFriendly]

I received the following e-mail today. Good news, and hopefully it (and the BBB rating changes) are signs that MagicJack is trying to become more customer-focused. I am just glad that persistence paid off...

Craig,

Congrats on your replacement. I hope you keep us informed when you receive the replacement. I would like to know if, in fact, it comes with the same phone number as the first one.

I marvel at the wide discrepancy of the 'customer service' when writing directly to Dan's email addresses. You got your first response on the same day, January 2nd, that you wrote your email. I wrote Dan an email on January 1st, and have yet to get a reply at all, yet your problem is already resolved.

FredFriendly
=========

[isleblue65]

Craig,

Congrats on your replacement. I hope you keep us informed when you receive the replacement. I would like to know if, in fact, it comes with the same phone number as the first one.

I marvel at the wide discrepancy of the 'customer service' when writing directly to Dan's email addresses. You got your first response on the same day, January 2nd, that you wrote your email. I wrote Dan an email on January 1st, and have yet to get a reply at all, yet your problem is already resolved.

FredFriendly
=========

Fred,

Thanks. I'm very glad I finally got some resolution on it.

Did you have an online chat history about the problem you are experiencing? Prior to my e-mail to Dan, I had chatted online to at least 5 support people at MJ. Also, document EVERYTHING and have it organized and on-hand. I saved 6 hours worth of chat logs from MagicJack tech support, including some where they deliberately closed the chat session mid sentence or left the session running but stopped responding for 20 minutes until it was clear to me that this was their way of getting rid of me. I sent these chat logs to Dan. I would recommend not taking 'NO' for an answer as long as what you are requesting is reasonable and supported under their terms of service.

If they see that you are not going to go away quietly, they are more likely to do what they have to do to get you off of their back. There is a fine line between gentle persuasion and getting nasty, but if you can walk it, you will most likely get what you want.

After MagicJack agreed to replace my MJ unit, I of course thanked them graciously and told them how much I appreciate their help and the MagicJack Service.

I hope you find some resolution.

Edit: I did get the replacement yesterday, it works!!! and it has my old phone number programmed in. The only downside is that my Panasonic phone still does not break dial tone, even with a 2000mA powerd USB hub.

Craig

[tjnamtiw]

Thanks for putting that Wiki together Mark. That will be very helpful to many. When Dan replied to me, he had also carbon copied this address:
rikard .... bone ((( a t ))) magicjack .... com
I'm assuming this is "Richard" whom I have been talking to, but I'm not sure.

Thanks, I added it to the wiki as a spam-resistant image.



I think that's the problem with MJ. When you get down to these price points, it's easy to dismiss losing a couple months. What's $2 or $3 spread over a year or two? But, when someone loses 11 months (or five pre-purchased years) it looks different.


Mark

It may only be $2 a month lost when a dongle fails but if 100,000 fail in a year, that's big money in Dan's pocket!!! Pennies for you but big bucks for him. Designed in high failure rates???????