Ok gang - I have had one problem with my Magic Jack and it was a issue with voice mail. One message and if anyone else called me - they got a mailbox full recording.

Now - on to customer service, and I will be brutally honest here - the online support was effective for me. That being said, here is my advice to buying a Magic Jack.

I too saw the infomercial. The first thing I did was google them. I can't believe that with all the people complaining here that they did not see the issues with credit card charges and take the retail route.
Best Buy carries it. Buy it from the store and you will have no suprise charges.

There have been some tech issues with the device. This is a mass produced device that is subject to a MFG
flaw now and then. AGAIN - buy at retail. If it does not work, bring it back to retail. If they don't replace it,
call your bank and cancel the transaction.

Back to customer service - folks you have purchased a device that retails for 40$ off the store shelf and includes a year of phone service inclusive of long distance, voice mail, caller ID, 3 way calling. Heck, I was suprised to find out after using call waiting that when I picked back up on my first call my friend said he was treated to music on hold!!! My phone bill thru Cox Cable in Oklahoma was 40$ a MONTH and DID NOT include those features. I think you need to be realistic in your expectations. For a $20 a year dial tone dont expect to be able to reach out and touch someone each time you have a question. LOOK at the website. LOOK at the materials provided. AFTER you have looked - THEN open a chat with a rep and be nice. Don't spend 10 minutes telling them about how "you feel" about the problem. Give them the specific tech problem that you have and follow the instructions. If you decide that you want to challenge the questions, end the conversation with the rep and figure it out on your own. I do tech support for a living (NOT Magic Jack) and I assure you there is nothing more fustrating than dealing with a customer who has a problem and won't follow the troubleshooting steps because they have decided the the suggested solution wont help them. If you are going to be that hard headed,
get string and a couple of dixie cups and have at it. Nuff said!!

If computers scare you, if you don't like reading instructions, or if it is your preference to have someone "walk you thru" instead of reading the owners manual, then don't buy a magic jack. It's not for you.

I purchased one for two reasons - 1st - my landline was way too expensive for no features. 2nd - I wanted a i-phone from at&t and they insisted that I buy a $40 a month media package to have it. All I wanted was a MP3 player that was a telephone and I pay a ton for broadband at home. So I cancelled one at&t cell (my wife keeps her's) and my cox line. I saved $55 a month.

If you want to buy a Magic Jack I will offer you this simple check list. Make sure you have the following or you will have problems:

1 . High Speed Internet - Cable preferred - DSL will work but it has to be very fast. You will normally have to keep your dialtone so consider Magic Jack to be a solution for a second line or unlimited long distance .

2. A good PC with available ram. My magic jack is connected to a older laptop connected to the modem with a ethernet cable that is basically only used for the Magic Jack. It has less than 1 GB of RAM and If I surf on it while I use the phone my calls get choppy. That's not Magic Jacks fault, it's my computer. I WOULD NOT reccomend using a magic jack on a PC that has a wireless connection. It will be more likely to have problems.

3. Your computer must have a POWERED USB port. It will not work with a hub. Look in the owners manual for your PC and make sure your computer has this. If not - your Magic Jack WILL NOT work.

4. A backup power supply for your PC is not necessary - but helpful (if it's not a laptop). Make sure if you get a backup power source if you are using a cordless phone that it is also connected so that if you lose electric you still have a dial tone. A cordless phone can also have issues, so before you contact the magic jack crew with a problem make sure you've tried a regular phone and have the same problem.

5. A cell phone. Folks it is an electronic device. It can fail. Have a plan B. Even if I had to replace the USB device every year - I would still save a ton of money!

I don't work for Magic Jack. I'm just a dad that has figured out a way to save enough money to help pay for other things. I hope this helps. God Bless you!

We ordered the MagicJack in mid February and did not receive the unit until March 10th. They 'guarantee' a 30 day USE of their phone service for free and if you are not completely satisfied for any reason, you can return the unit within 30 days.

What they fail to mention is that the 30 day money back guarantee actually starts the day that you Order NOT when you receive it. By the time that we received the MJ it had already been over 3 weeks from the time that we ordered it.

We tried to use the MagicJack for about a week and the reception and sound quality was so bad I tried to contact the company to return it. This was a major hassle as there was no phone # given for the company, everytime I tried to go online, I could not reach a 'live' person.

After about 3-4 days, I tried again and actually got in a live chat room with supposedly someone that works for Magicjack. The person then informed me, with very poor spelling, that the guarantee started the day that I ordered the unit. I tried to explain that how can I test a product if I physically have not received the unit and thus unable to try the product. They said it did not matter that is what Magicjacks policy is. I have never in my life heard of such an absurd 'guarantee'.

I am going to contact the Better Business Bureau along with my Attorney General. With businesses failing left and right in this country, you would think that customer service would be top on the list. Instead, we have been treated extremely bad and have yet to talk to anyone in the United States. This company should be ashamed of itself. I am also going to pickit outside of the Radio Shack in my area the next couple of days to get the word out. I am very tired of foreign companies bringing nothing but junk in this country and expecting us to pay for it.

I am writing to tell my experience with Magic Jack. Before I purchased one, I checked it out and found they did not have a local prefix for my area. They did tell me that in early 2009 they would be adding local numbers, so I was going to wait, because I thought people would get charged if they called me from my hometown. However, when I went to their website, it clearly stated that as long as someone lives in my area code, that incoming calls would be free for them. I also talked to their customer care chat and was told the same thing, except they actually said anywhere from the US or Canada. For this reason I went ahead and bought one and tried it for a week and it seemed to work fine, so I dropped my old phone service. However, after a month and a week, my brother called me and told me he had been charged for long distance for calling me. I then contacted Magic Jack's customer care and at first was told the same thing again, but when I informed them of what my brother had said, they changed and said, 'Well, it depends on the prefix' This is when I began getting very suspicious. I asked for contact information and was told they could not give that information out. The only way to talk to these people is through online chat and you can not file complaints and can not actually get any information about their corporate offices. One of their customer reps actually gave me an email address claiming it was for their corporate offices, which the email addy looked very strange for somebody in upper management, so I asked directly if this was really for their offices and was told yes. However, when I wrote them I got a response and it was from their billing office. They simply lied!!

Now, I wanted to give information to anyone that has experienced problems with Magic Jack and can't file a complaint. I have talked to my state's department of consumer affairs and they gave me several agencies to file a complaint, which I have done. I recommend all of you to contact the Federal Trade Commission, The FCC, and your state's attorney general's office on this matter. This device is a good idea and mine does work, but it is a problem when someone calls me from 100 yards down the road and has to pay, all because I was not aware of this and was basically lied to so I would go ahead and purchase this device. I have been told lies on 4 occassions by them. This needs to stop and they need to be forced to provide information to people that do have problems and start telling the truth about their product if people ask. I do ask, PLEASE, if you have had a problem, to contact the agencies listed above. This is the only way to make them change the way they do business.

This is a ripoff Do Not order this product, you never speak to a live person if you have a problem. I ordered this products believing that I would not be charged during the 30 day trial period but was charged immediately.
When I tried to reach their customer service I found out they don't have a live person you can speak to, in fact they don't have a telephone number that takes you to their customer service desk.

What a shame, the television stations allow this type of rip off on the air. Buyer Beware!!! Do not Buy this Product.

I purchased the MJ in May of 2007. It worked for about 2 months with little glitches. After that it went downhill. First it would disconnect my call. Then I would dial and it would just go dead for about 30 seconds and go back to dialtone. Then it started sounding like I was talking on a walkie talkie and also it would skip like a scratched record.

Well, I have been trying to get it straight since it started going bad. I have talked on their 'Tech Chat' on many occasions and each and every time they told me that their engineers were fixing it and that it would work properly within the next hour, NOT! Every time you need them to do something, you have to go back to their 'Tech Chat' and it is a royal pain in the ***. They start right from the beginning even though they tell you they are reading your previous chat sessions. If they have read the previous chat sessions, then they should Know what needs to take place on this call. They don't!!!

Yes the magic jack is a good deal, if you want to have no phone. Like the post that I read from someone else, ' If it sounds to good to be true, it usually is'. Or you can use the addage, ' You get what you pay for'.

For those of you contemplating purchasing this product, Don't!!! If you value being able to call for help, 911, or need to have a landline for emergency purposes, this is not the product for you. That is from a realistic perspective, having gone through the ringer with this company.

Last words of wisdom, if you want a good deal on a good phone, go with cable, at least there you have someone that you can Call to get help, and they are more than willing to help you when you need it. Cable also has a good 911 system, called E911 or Enhanced 911, it works.

P.S. I am a computer engineer and this, as with all new technology is in the beginning stages and should be considered as such.