No Annual Fees?

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:10 pm

I ordered a magicJack Plus last week. The online process was screwy--I had to fill out the form about 12 times to get it to work and even then--twice--when it appeared to work I received no confirmation at the end. In the process, two offers popped up: 5 years for $99.95 and pay now (instead of at the end of the trial) and no annual fees ever. Having never used magicJack before I turned them both down.

Since I didn't know if my order had gone through I went to chat. I was informed one of the orders was pending and I asked about the no annual fees offer and, if I paid now, I would still have a 30-day money back guarantee (i.e., trial)? I was told "Yes" to both so I said fine, then go ahead and charge my credit card now. I have the chat transcript as confirmation and I'm protected through my credit card.

It seemed too good to be true... Another chat session offered no confirmation of this no annual fee business at all.

Has anyone else heard of this offer? Any suggestions on how to deal with magicJack support? I asked for escalation and/or a phone number and got nowhere. I'll post the chat session here if there's any interest. Thanks!

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:46 pm

Wow. I mean WOW! I had another chat session with them. I didn't time it but it was at least an hour and a half. The only form of escalation was to connect me with a representative in the top 10% of reviews.

I'm intrigued by the company. A super-simple product and maybe online chat is OK if it is that simple... But it creates a written record. And are all representatives really capable or reading and writing that accurately? It seemed that as my chat session got longer it regressed. Obviously, there was no real understanding or authority to resolve. The attempts to cut and paste scripted answers was absurd.

Apparently magicJack Plus was delayed and just introduced very recently. I have no doubt this was a real, initial promotion, but...

All I really asked for was escalation and someone in authority to provide resolution (of some/any sort) so I could activate it and try it...

I did a little research into the parent company etc. I'm curious what a few contacts there will produce. Stay tuned for updates.

Matt9876 · Post by **Matt9876** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:46 pm

I would not trust the "no annual fees ever" until you know all the facts surrounding the deal, never heard of it before.

Take the 30 day trial,if the MJ+ works good for you I would suggest the five year offer for $99. That will put you at six years of prepaid service.

This forum is a much better place for information than the type chat support, once in a while you will chat with someone that knows more than the canned responses.

Good Luck !

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:07 pm

I would stay away from buying a 5 years in advance plan, until you actually get the device and confirm it's working well for you. Anyway, even if you buy the 5 years in advance, you won't get 6 years of service. You'll get 5 years total because that plan cancels the free year you got when you first bought your MJ+. You can always buy the 5 year plan later.

As far as the "no annual fees ever if paid in full now" offer, I did not see that offer when I bought my MJ+ online a couple of weeks ago. Are you sure it wasn't rather "no monthly fees ever" ?

Matt9876 · Post by **Matt9876** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:23 pm

thealien wrote: even if you buy the 5 years in advance, you won't get 6 years of service. You'll get 5 years total because that plan cancels the free year you got when you first bought your MJ+.

Wrong, I own three of them and have never lost any time on any of the devices, the five years is always added on to your current subscription time.

ATTENTION - Your license is scheduled to expire on SEPTEMBER 08, 2017

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:44 pm

Mr./Ms. Alien:

To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what the pop-up offer was. It went by fast and I wasn't inclined to pay extra for anything given I didn't know if it would work well for me. But the trial offer was 'you won't be charged for 30 days.' The pop-up offer definitely said 'pay now and we'll give you this...' You are right, it is a little about semantics as they promote "no monthly bills," etc.

So that's why I went to the chat and specifically asked about it. I think there could have been an error on the chat reps. part.

Again, my efforts to just reach someone who could, would make a decision. I have the chat session. If someone now would just say something along the lines of 'we'll give you another year.' I'd be OK. That to me would be the right way to handle customer service. It just isn't worth days and days of dispute.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:46 pm

Matt9876 wrote:
thealien wrote: even if you buy the 5 years in advance, you won't get 6 years of service. You'll get 5 years total because that plan cancels the free year you got when you first bought your MJ+.
Wrong, I own three of them and have never lost any time on any of the devices, the five years is always added on to your current subscription time.

ATTENTION - Your license is scheduled to expire on SEPTEMBER 08, 2017

They supposedly had that policy on the regular MJ at one time. There was a ton of ranting about it in another forum more than a year ago. They either developed a conscience, got enough complaints, or the reports were totally wrong, but their ordering page for the regular MJ is clear that you also get 6 years, as you say.

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:44 pm

nailgunner wrote:
Matt9876 wrote:
thealien wrote: even if you buy the 5 years in advance, you won't get 6 years of service. You'll get 5 years total because that plan cancels the free year you got when you first bought your MJ+.
Wrong, I own three of them and have never lost any time on any of the devices, the five years is always added on to your current subscription time.

ATTENTION - Your license is scheduled to expire on SEPTEMBER 08, 2017
They supposedly had that policy on the regular MJ at one time. There was a ton of ranting about it in another forum more than a year ago. They either developed a conscience, got enough complaints, or the reports were totally wrong, but their ordering page for the regular MJ is clear that you also get 6 years, as you say.

So I was wrong? Sorry, my bad. Maybe this is another case of Live Chat confusion ? I was told by a Live Chat help representative that if I were to buy an additional five years, it would cancel out the free year. Hopefully this is not the case...anymore.

There is a substantial amount of misinformation floating around this company. Prices and conditions seem to change frequently.

About the same as their audio quality on the new MJ+ but only when used as a stand alone unit.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:50 am

thealien wrote:So I was wrong?

Yes. Probably. Maybe. I personally have quit telling anyone they are positively wrong regarding ANY MJ policy. From what shows up on the ordering page for the regular MJ, and Matt's experience with the Plus, it does appear that you are incorrect.

But I also know from my interactions with them recently, that any policy of theirs is subject to change with no warning or written notice. And how a question is asked and looked up in their database by chat personnel may be the deciding factor on what answer you receive.

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:39 pm

Interesting, the other SNAFUs.

Here's an update on my situation. I called my local phone company (CenturyLink, formerly Qwest) and they slashed my home phone price; at least until I am 1000% behind MJ+ I will keep it, and maybe after that--if it ever happens--too.

Yeah, MJ pisses me off. I can't be secure with things constantly changing and people/companies I cannot trust. I might call it a situation of people thinking they are smarter than everyone else and having found a brilliant new way--I mean, you just cannot NOT have customer service when it is required to solve a situation.

So I'm still investigating and haven't yet activated my MJ.

Today I tried calling my credit card company. I don't think I have ever spent so much effort tracking a charge, or in this case "pending" charge. A few days ago, and last week, there was a pending charge for the trial. The dummy chat person said it would stay there for 30 days. So today there is no pending charge and my credit card company has no record of any charges, pending or otherwise, EVER. Usually my credit card statements have phone numbers for transactions. That's why I called them, to get a phone number. They are looking into it...

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 5:41 pm

peterinco wrote:Interesting, the other SNAFUs.

Here's an update on my situation. I called my local phone company (CenturyLink, formerly Qwest) and they slashed my home phone price; at least until I am 1000% behind MJ+ I will keep it, and maybe after that--if it ever happens--too.

Yeah, MJ pisses me off. I can't be secure with things constantly changing and people/companies I cannot trust. I might call it a situation of people thinking they are smarter than everyone else and having found a brilliant new way--I mean, you just cannot NOT have customer service when it is required to solve a situation.

So I'm still investigating and haven't yet activated my MJ.

Today I tried calling my credit card company. I don't think I have ever spent so much effort tracking a charge, or in this case "pending" charge. A few days ago, and last week, there was a pending charge for the trial. The dummy chat person said it would stay there for 30 days. So today there is no pending charge and my credit card company has no record of any charges, pending or otherwise, EVER. Usually my credit card statements have phone numbers for transactions. That's why I called them, to get a phone number. They are looking into it...

I've been using my MJ+ for about 2-3 weeks now. It's still a little "buggy", with quirks like occasional dropped connections, and calls resulting in dial tone instead of ringing. But all in all, not that bad. AND considering that this service cost me about 4 times less than my regular land line (even after adding the initial cost of the device), I guess we get what we pay for.
Next year it will be 8 times less expensive than my regular land line !!!

A funny thing happened when I called my local land line phone service to cancel them, they've asked me if I was going with Nettalk or MagicJack ! So they're aware that they'll have serious competition. I tried to "deal them down" just for fun, but they flat out told me that they could not match Nettalk or Magicjack prices.

You could at least try it out by activating your MJ+ and see if it's working good enough for you ? You can always get a RMA return number later, before the 30 days trial are over, and cancel everything if it's not to your liking ?

Because, either way, you'll have to pay return shipping charges. Might as well try it out then, right ? Anyway, it's up to you.

Pablo123 · Post by **Pablo123** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 6:18 pm

who was your local telephone company?

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:08 pm

Hi All,

I think some folks here may find this worthwhile. Today I tried another chat--I set a time limit and made a simple ultimatum: if you charge me I will protest the charges. I also provided, once again, a phone number and e-mail address and asked someone to contact me.

Given that there were no holds on it, I canceled my credit card (they suggested it; a great idea!), effective immediately. A replacement will be here in 2 days. There is no way magicJack can charge me.

So I am now the proud owner of a brand new, never used magicJack Plus. Any takers?

My guess is I will be hearing from someone at magicJack. If so, I will demand and negotiate like Hell. I didn't try to get anything that didn't exist, I simply accepted an offer made to me. The turmoil that resulted really annoys me.

So what is the best magicJack alternative?

Oh, forgot to mention. I was able to obtain, through my credit card company, two different phone numbers (one "billing") for magicJack.

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:34 pm

peterinco wrote: ...So I am now the proud owner of a brand new, never used magicJack Plus. Any takers? ...

Huh, no. Because as soon as someone else will activate it, the company will know right away (by communicating with the device and reading its serial number in memory) that it belongs to you, and will prevent anyone from using it after the 30 days trial, since it wasn't paid for by way of cancelling your credit card before the actual payment took place.

Moreover, your name and address will still be associated with the device through your order info, and again will be listed in their system as "not paid for" at the end of the 30 days trial.

They would require you to send the unit back to them, and could even file a suit against you in court, for non payment, if you failed to do so.

Don't you think that they know all the "tricks" people can think of, not to pay them and still keep and use a "free" MJ ?

After over 8 millions unit sold so far, according to them, I'm convinced they must have seen every attempt at defrauding them by now...

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:35 pm

Pablo123 wrote:who was your local telephone company?

Were you asking me, or someone else ?

Pablo123 · Post by **Pablo123** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:45 pm

Im Asking the alien

sabresfan · Post by **sabresfan** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:54 pm

peterinco wrote:
So what is the best magicJack alternative?

It all depends on what you want.
Free alternative after purchase of obi 110 or 100 you can use Google Voice for free calls. Downside is no customer support and no guaranty how long the service will stay free.

Nettalk has the same price as the MJ+. Has better customer service and is now available at Walmart. Downside with them lack of certain area codes and GV does not work well with this service.

Ooma has great call quality but costs more upfront than MJ an NT put together. They offer the most features but again the cost per month for their premiere service is expensive.

There are many byod providers that are outstanding like Callcentric and VOIP.ms and other providers that will supply their own ata like Voipo and Phone Power.

pbjandfritos · Post by **pbjandfritos** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:56 pm

Hello peterinco,

The Best alternative to Magic Jack is the NetTALK Duo. They have great customer service and technical support. Their website is http://www.nettalk.com

Hope this helps.

Ernie

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:05 pm

Pablo123 wrote:Im Asking the alien

Sorry, I wasn't sure...

I'm in Quebec, Canada, and my previous land line phone company was Videotron, which I was glad to be able to cancel, greedy bastards that they are.
Unfortunately I still have to pay them for my internet and cable TV though...
lol

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:14 pm

pbjandfritos wrote:Hello peterinco,

The Best alternative to Magic Jack is the NetTALK Duo. They have great customer service and technical support. Their website is http://www.nettalk.com

Hope this helps.

Ernie

Both companies offer very similar (almost identical) products (MJ+ and Duo), identical pricing, but one seems to have a better customer service than the other. I've never tried Nettalk but from what I hear (and after taking a look at a similar help forum on their site), their device also suffers from the occasional glitches and bugs. But their technical support seems better equipped to offer solutions than MagicJack. And you can actually talk with someone, which is much faster than spending hours typing back and forth in a chat window.

But Nettalk doesn't offer a "free" 30 days trial. I wrote "free" in quotation marks, because if you choose not to keep your MJ+, you have to pay to ship back the MJ+ to them.

Pablo123 · Post by **Pablo123** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:32 pm

you can buy it in store in canada: http://www.nettalk.ca/where-to-buy

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:44 am

Alien. I appreciate your suggestions earlier. My guess is I could try it and use it for a while over the course of a few days, at least I'm likely to try it. I will find out some more answers when they contact me. My thinking is I've seen enough to be scared away, i.e., the ultimate choice of a customer is to go elsewhere. Please see my post in the "Advertising Fraud" post on this forum--I am pretty aware of the ethical and legal implications. I'm certain I have enough ammunition to avoid an $80 lawsuit. The problem here is with magicJack. They're anticipating selling a gazillion of these things this year and at Christmas. Is it worth it to play such games?

My credit card company told me a pending charge doesn't stay on, ever, for more than a few day. This particular card is a new one for me--they made me a great cash-back offer, and since it was new (no recurring charges) it was easy to just say 'get rid of it.' Done.

Pablo: When I called my home phone company they reduced my bill from $61 to $8-some dollars (plus fees, maybe $15). I don't know. I used to work for them and I trust them. The carrier/information is in this thread.

RE magicJack? No, I'm not trying to use it for free. Obviously, that was never my motive. I'm trying to rid myself of a bad situation. At this point I believe this is a dumb company and they're exposed to a loophole.

And Alien, per you previous (friendly) reply, I think I've improved my position by never activating or using it. As I have written, it is, to me, not worth the headaches. Not, or questionably, legitimate? Not for me.

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:53 am

A bunch of fast replies.

I really do appreciate the feedback. Thanks. I'm gonna look into nettalk.

Pablo123 · Post by **Pablo123** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:56 am

You can pick up your Nettalk at your local Walmart store.

peterinco · Post by **peterinco** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:54 pm

Again, thanks to Ernie, Pablo and others for the help.

I don't know, the whole thing kind of scares me. Committing to, paying in advance, some of these companies are suspect. I do like having a home landline and at this point I'm inclined to keep it as basic as possible and do the rest wirelessly.

More on magicJack... Yeah, I suspect they will come after me in some form. Probably the first thing I will say is "How am I going to be reimbursed for the four-some hours I have spent in intolerable, go-nowhere chat sessions?" No way would I want to go through a RMA and return process based on my experience--they're going to have to provide something in return. Of course they are a good-size company and are legitimate but it is clear there are many bugs. I will be curious how they track and follow-up on my order. My guess is there are bugs there too.

If there was an error or misunderstanding during the sales/purchase process it is their responsibility to resolve it and satisfy that customer. I am satisfied that I have done my due diligence.

As far as I could tell Nettalk doesn't yet offer number porting.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:26 pm

peterinco wrote:As far as I could tell Nettalk doesn't yet offer number porting.

They don't. Supposedly it is coming soon. Someone was reporting on their forum that it was going to be available this month. He/she was pretty much told to quit posting a set date since nothing is coming from NetTalk officially. A moderator, who might work for NetTalk, subsequently posted that it would be available by the end of the year.

https://forum.nettalk.com/viewtopic.php ... 51714fc2f9

thealien · Post by **thealien** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 2:50 pm

peterinco wrote:No way would I want to go through a RMA and return process based on my experience--

It's very easy, and much "safer" than simply not paying.
Whilst I was trying out my own MJ+, I had obtain an RMA number because I was having troubles with my unit, and kept it until the 30 days trial was over. I finally settled on keeping it, even with all the "bugs".

My father in law has been using the regular MJ since about 3 years now, and he's pretty satisfied with it. At the equivalent cost of about $2 a month, as he said himself, he can't complain. He just wish they would have offered the "plus" model earlier, so he would have to leave his computer on all the time.

My final suggestion to you, obtain an RMA return number, spend a few bucks to send the whole MJ+ package back to them. And wait for Nettalk to offer number porting, and when they do go buy it in a big store chain that has a 10 days money back return program.

magicJack and magicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Tricks

No Annual Fees?

No Annual Fees?

Update

Update #2

Re: Update #2

Resolution

Re: Resolution

Re: Resolution