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Apr 17, 2009 -- MagicJack fined over supposedly free 30-day trial

Heads up, all you MagicJack.com haters!

One of the most polarizing websites on the show has finally gotten a formal slap on the wrist after a number of user complaints.

MagicJack has been prompting both laurels and darts from listeners ever since Clark first mentioned this controversial VoIP service on the show.

Many people love that MagicJack allows them to make unlimited long distance calls over the Internet for $19.99 for the first year of service. Others have griped endlessly about the call quality and lack of customer service.

Clark himself has used MagicJack on 4 continents and loved the money he's saved.

But now the attorney general of Florida has levied a $125,000 fine against the company for charging customers who enrolled in their supposedly "free" 30-day trial.

So here's a radical idea: MagicJack should try charging $5 or $10 more per year and then actually providing some real customer service!

It's the same deal with ZenniOptical.com -- another very polarizing site that Clark loves. Zenni offers complete prescription eyeglasses for as little as $8. Shipping costs are $4.95.

Again, some listeners love Zenni and others loathe it. So why not simply charge a few dollars more and offer real customer service? That way you're still offering a valuable product at a deep discount and not alienating any customers.

We know, we know...Clark talking about raising prices? Can you believe this is coming from the mouth of Mr. El Cheapo himself?!

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

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What others are saying

  • Magic jack
    I had Packet8 VOIP phone before and paid 24.95+tax monthly and I would say call quality is a way better on magicjack.There's no need really for customer service,just plug it in, magicjack upgrades automatically. But if you have viruses on computer, that can mess up your magicjack software as well.So take care of your computer, and you will pay only $2.00 month, and you can talk as long as you want..My house has three wireless phones, 3 computers and router , and I can still talk even 150 feet away from the house..
  • Magic Jack and Zenni
    With Basic Cable , Basic Internet and Basic Phone with Cox Cable cost me $155.46 a month. We have friends that use MJ. and like it. After seeing how everyone likes it I 'am going to try it out. Can I buy it at Radio Shack if so how much does it coast to buy? Also with the Zenni eye glass company do I have to get a prescription first? I know that sounds dumb but the way things are now of days how no if you are getting scammed or not. Please let me know I have very little income and if I can save it would help me out!Thanks for any fedback!!
  • Magic Jack
    Check out this link - This is why I have not purchased this device. Clark is it
    http://broadband-nation.blogspot.com/2008/10/real-problems-with-magic-jack-is-majic.html
    true?
  • magicJack Support
    I'm with Jimbo's sentiments. But I have
    what I think is the best idea:
    If you want MJ Support, you pay $5-$20
    extra.
    If you don't wnat it, you get MJ for $5-$10 less per year.

    I'm in the second group... :)
  • MagicJack
    1. With FiOS (fiber optic), more reliable and faster than DSL or T1, MagicJack exhibits a maddening range of call quality from acceptable to horrible. On a marginal connection it's worthless.

    2. Customer service is a boilerhouse operation in Estonia, so anything not in the script is an ordeal.

    3. If you have a Mac, forget it, because nobody in customer service has any idea how to help you. It's way more irritation than it's worth.

    4. Skype is vastly more consistent in both call quality and customer service.
  • Magic Jack
    Got one last year,some minor gliches occasionally which are easily fixed by hitting the "fix" button on the main screen. 1st yr cost,$49.30,including the jack and a year of service. Signed up for 5 yrs renewal,cost $63.55, Highly recommend this for anyone on Comcast internet,$28.13/mo.including modem rental. Total cost for unlimited calling and internet provider is $29.75. Was paying $75+ for sprint,$46+ for internet,and basic cable was included in my rent. Basic cable in this area starts at $20+, my service is the extened which would cost me $35+, if it was not included in the rent. I am interested in hearing other cost from readers of this site for cable,internet service,and phone.
  • MJ ruined my laptop
    New Jack, on calls people could not hear me. Followed chat support to make changes in Audio settings. When powered laptop back on just get a loud screech, will not logon. Now I have a Jack and a laptop that don't work.
  • Magic Jack Quality
    I have had Magic Jack for a couple of years now and the problem with poor connections is not neccesarily Magic Jacks fault. What most people forget to take into account is that voice transmission can be interrupted if you are downloading something at the same time you are trying to talk. At least with DSL it is that way and I wonder if reception at night is worse for Cable internet because more people are on line at that time. I am not sure if Magic Jack can write code to interupt downloads to let the connection take precedence. I literally check to see if any software is downloading updates or my MP3 interface is downloading podcast. Then I will use my magic jack. Not sure what you do with cable since it is not a designated subscriber line. I will also sign up for Magic Jack again.
  • Majic Jack
    I've had this service for almost a year now & I'm a satisfied customer...I'd had some call quality problems early on, but I believe they were all computer related, not MagicJack. I'll be signing up to extend my service for sure !
  • MAGIC JACK
    THEY WOULD NOT LET ME KNOW WHERE THEY ARE FROM WHEN TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT CITY THEY ARE IN ...
  • Zenni Optical
    Their customer service is great. I had a problem with my glasses and they sent a full set of replacement hardware to me no questions asked and in reasonable time. Huge value there, even over Costco!
  • Magic Jack Customer Support
    I've had my magic jack for about a year now. Twice I've had it where the computer could not recognize it. Both times I got on their online support and had the issues fixed in about 30 minutes. It always involved going in and deleting registry keys, etc. Very in depth, the online support has been great.
  • MagicJack
    I have two MagicJack lines on two computers. Every now and then I need to reboot my computers or plug and unplug the MagicJack. My sister uses one in England to call home. Phone quality is excellent -- better than land lines. Ill now try out ZenniOptical if it is as good or as bad as MagicJack - it is well worth the money.
  • MajicJack
    I have a MajicJack and use it daily. You do not need tech support if you can read. It was easy to set up (plug and play) and it works every time I plug it in. Some people are just willing to read FIRST. Our country has decided to do away with personal responsibility and it is sad.
  • I love Zenni!
    I started wearing glasses about a year and a half ago. My first pair came from JC Penny's and cost almost $200. I heard Clark talk about Zenni on the radio and I ordered a pair to try them out. I absolutely loved them and they were better than my expensive glasses. I now have 14 pairs of glasses that I obsessively coordinate with my outfits. It's awesome.

    On a side note in regards to their customer service, I did have an order that got lost but they replaced it as soon as I notified them by email (I find that to be the best way to communicate with them). That situation caused it to be about 2 weeks longer than I expected but keep in mind, the glasses are made and shipped from China.
  • Zenni Optical
    April 10
    At Zenni Optical, our goal is to ensure each customer receives their order in a quick and expeditious manner. Unfortunately, due to an unexpected customs inspection, the shipment containing your order has been delayed an inordinate amount of time. As Customs has provided Zenni Optical with no release date, we will immediately remake and resend your order at our expense. You should expect to receive the remake of your order before the end of next week. When the shipment containing your original order is released, it will likewise be shipped to you at no additional cost.

    We apologize for the delay this has caused and are working diligently to resolve this issue promptly. We thank you for your patience and appreciate your patronage.

    Sincerely,

    Zenni Optical Customer Service
    April 21--- Tom B Still nothing but the charge on my credit card!!!!!!!!!
  • Zenni
    I have used Zenni and have recommended them to other people. I have always received answers to my emailed questions.
  • MagicJack
    Have used it flawlessly since day 1, Jan 09. Saves me a ton of ph Long dist. since all the family is out of state.
    Great product, no problems yet.
    Will have to try that glasses company..
  • magic jack and zenni
    used them both , top notch, all good ...
  • MagicJack and Zenni
    Use them both. Love them both! Signing up for 5 years w/ MagicJack and will continue to purchase glases from Zenni!
  • MagicJack
    I've been using it for 2 months now (bought the 5 yr plan, with 2 jacks), and haven't had any problem, other than the initial setup ... had to run the update, and then it installed fine (Vista 64-bit, Sp1, 6 Gb RAM, core i7 920 cpu - ie, FAST HARDWARE).
    Have the Comcast cheap plan, here in Houston and the quality is much better than I used to get with Vonage, when I had them over a year ago.
    Online support person helped me to get the 5 year plan recognized, and was polite and nice.
    In summary - I had no problems; my hardware is fast; my cable modem is on the slowest speed from comcast.
  • Zenni Optical
    I recently ordered a pair of $ 8.00 glasses from Zenni Optical. There was a delay in my order due to some customs thing (they are actually made in China), but the glasses arrived within 30 days. Their customer service explained the situation and very helpful. I had even made a mistake on my prescription which they caught and corrected. The glasses are exactly what I ordered, excellent quality. Heavy metal wire frames, not cheap as I was expecting. Same glasses in the store would have been at least $ 100. Highly recommend. You must have patience, but since I have more time than money, I will order from Zenni in the future.
  • MJ
    Some people love MJ so much that they eat and breathe MJ and have a forum to help others with questions and issues.

    http://www.magicjacksupport.com/

    It is NOT related to MJ the company.
    Remember 3 things ...
    Research
    Verify
    Common Sense
  • Zenni
    I paid over $600 for a pair of glasses at the optometrist. I bought a similar but somewhat "fancier" pair at Zenni for $61 (including shipping) and I like the Zenni better. It is hard to find what you want on their website but for that kind of savings it's worth it. It's where I will get my next pair.
  • Magic Jack
    I have used Magic Jack for over a year and when I first got it I had a computer with very little memory left. Thus my Magic Jack worked terrible... couldn't make calls or got hang ups and a lot of static. However, in comes a new computer with a lot more memory and guess what, the MJ worked perfect. I can call all over the US and there is no static, nor is there any hangups. Upgrade your commputer and/or inrease your memory - it will save you a lot of headaches. Also, if you want customer service, you might need to stay with those expensive phone companies that tax you crazy. I got great customer care online so... if you like paying a lot of money go ahead. The MJ is also easy to use and setup- just follow all of the prompts and you will be hooked up and ready to go. I have 3 phone lines and use one mj.
  • "Lucy"
    Do you have your modem on? The modem must be on in order for the MJ to work.
  • Zenni
    I had ordered glasses from Zenni and had absolutely no problems with them. I lost a nose pad (my fault) and they sent me two whole new sets FREE. I told my daughter about them. I helped her order her glasses. No glasses after four weeks. She called them and they said apparently they had been made and shipped but they would check with the lab and let her know by e-mail when the glasses shipped again. No e-mail. Instead, she got glasses delivered by DHL. I was somewhat jealous as mine came in the mail. BTW, she loves her glasses and is amazed at the quality and the price. She and her husband have a very limited income and she has to stretch her money as far as possible. Zenni worked out great for her.
  • Magicjack
    I purchased a magicjack. I had nothing but problems trying to get it to function on the pc. I went to radio shack to purchase a $40.00 part that was suppose to fix the problem. When I called mj many times, I spoke with people, who had not been trained properly to answer my questions to fix the situation. Only once did I speak to someone, who actually knew what he was talking about.

    I never had a problem getting my money back from MJ or Radio Shack. It's just a darn shame that it didn't work as they said it would.
  • Best price on meds
    I got an e-mail a month that said Costcos had the best price on meds.
    I had a prescription that Cost 56.00 from Kroger(Cascade Store), I told that to the pharmacy and she said they would match any price verifiable by phone.
    I call Costcos and the price was $22.60
    They matched it and I was a happy camper
  • Zenni
    Love Zenni! Have purchased several pairs of glasses and have been very happy. One pair I've worn for 2 years and they still look great. Took my son's glasses to have the prescription checked at Lenscrafters and the prescription was exactly correct. I'm tired of paying hundreds of dollars for eyeglasses to the bricks & mortar sellers!
  • Worth for the money.
    Do not keep complaining. We pay $30 for a month with other land lines. why not pay $40 for 1 year. There will be some ups and downs. But we have used up the money in approximately 1 month.
  • magic jack
    We have dumped our phone line and use the MJ as our home phone. It may not be perfect but it is pretty close. We have cell phones as well. We love that MJ sends us an email when we get voice mail and we can get it on line. We just extended our service for 5 years. Thank you Clark for putting us on to MJ. $20 a year (or $14/year with the 5 year deal). Can't beat it!!!!!
  • Magicjack
    I've had magicjack for over a week now and for the most part, so far anyway, the quality has been good. We don't make that many phone calls anyway so it works great for us. I've used vonage for about 2 years now with no problems but really like the $20 per year. Also, I did a little tweaking on the outside phone box and I'm able to use all phones in the house from the 1 jack.
  • ZenniOptical
    I love this company! I have ordered 6 pairs of glasses from them, never a problem. I think you have to be careful to have an accurate prescription. I used to pay almost $400 for progressive lens/frame. I took a chance paying $78 for the first pair and was I ever pleased!! I heard about Zenni from Clark Howard. Thanks Clark!!!
  • MajicJack
    Where can I file my lawsuit? The same thing happened to me today. I paid, but nothing happened. Customer no service. Tried telling my my computer clock was the issue???? I even paid for one year and they charged me for the 5 years.
  • Zenni
    Zenni rocks! The glasses I used to pay $400 for I can get for $89.
    I have had several great experiences with their customer service. Very helpful with ordering questions.
    And, I damaged a lens tightening the screws and they replaced the glasses for 1/2 price. More than exceptional to me. of course I am always very nice to all customer service people
  • MJ customer service sucks!! And they are liers too.
    Just like Dave Ramsey talks about the credit card service reps calling them a bunch of fools in a 5 foot cubicle that's what I think about Magic Jack's customer service. I used MJ for a year and it worked fine on my DSL PC my problem was I could not get them to take my money to renew my license. My license expired on Feb 28,2009. I tried for some 8 weeks before to renew it all the information on the renew page was correct and when I clicked the next it kept saying that it could not renew. I spent hours chatting with some people I guess they were in Florida promising that it would be straighting out before it expired and that they would not shut it down they had my home phone number they told me that they would e-mail me of the problem but nothing ever happened except that my MJ was turned off. The only recourse I had at the time was to purchase a new one for the full amount with a different telephone number. I wrote the maker Dan Harrison a e-mail telling him of the problem but I never heard from anyone. I just read the note that Clark has posted about the Florida attorney general I'm going to write the Ohio attorney general too along with the better business bureau. Beware the MJ works fine for me but if you have a poblem with it your on your own.
  • Magic jack price for support
    Clark is wrong yet again. Trying to get prices higher for those who don't know what they are doing. Why should we all pay for the idiot population Clark. Come on already with increasing prices on everything we buy. Stop promoting this nonsense. I have MJ and I have contacted them and gotten support. Theres not much to it. Now stop telling companies to raise prices. We can't afford your logic anymore. Just like gasonline, no one is stopping you from paying $14.00/gallon for gas if you want. Just leave the rest of us out of your smart ideas. But you know better right!
  • MagicJack
    I've been using MJ for about 10 months now, after my father-in-law recommended it. I'm about to drop my Vonage account as I've had very good results with MagicJack. It's connected to a Pentium IV PC with Windows XP Pro on a 6Mb down/1.5 Mb up cable connection. The sound quality is great. And yes, 911 does work. My computer uses about 60 watts when idling, which works out to about $10 a month in electricity. Plus I leave the computer on to access remotely.

    VOIP is a relatively new technology and comes with its potential problems. There are so many variables when it comes to home computers that to expect something this new to work flawlessly is asking for disappointment. Those who are more-tech-savvy, like myself, are more apt to work problems out either by trial-and-error, or by looking to online communities, separate from the manufacturer. Those less geeky are left in the cold when there is little to no service, like MagicJack.

    I'm all for paying for tech support when needed, but the size of the online communities, whatever you need, is so large, the right search will yield vast amounts of great people and information. How 'bout a extra $20/year if you want MagicJack tech support? I think it's more than a fair price.
  • Magic Jack
    We've use Magic Jack for over a year and most the time it has been good but there are times I couldn't use it at all due to bad connections.
  • MJ
    I heard about the customer no service, so i waited until it was sold at radio shack, that way if it didn't work i was assured i could save my reciept and get my money back with no hassles....thankfully there was no need as it works great for me...the best feature was being able to tell the giant monopoly ATT/Bellsouth to suck it, i have no need of them anymore!!
  • Zenni
    I've had 2 pairs now and have not had any problems.I got the transitions and no-lines. great deal
  • MJ
    Only had it for a month now but online service has been excellent and quality is better than my land line. No hang ups here.
  • Zenni
    Don't be player haters! :-) I'm wearing a pair of Zenni glasses right now, and they work great. Frankly, for $10 for a pair of glasses, I'll take the gamble that things may go poorly. Frankly, if I can get 20 pairs for the price of a single pair at retail, then it's okay if some of them turn out bad. Sure, you're taking a risk, but I think it's vastly worth it.
  • mj
    I have not used it much because I was unable to use it to fax. I see a posting that said it was used to fax. Is this a new model or was I doing something wrong? I got my mj about a year ago.
  • Magic Crap
    I think it's wonderful that Clark has been successfull with Magic Jack on four continents, but for hundreds of thousands of us, it was money down the drain...qualifying for my scam of the year. Florida's AG is on top of it. Great! To bad Georgia hasn't a clue.
  • Zenni
    I have ordered a half a dozen pairs of glasses from Zenni. One pair broke after only a couple of weeks. I returned them under the 30 day, 50% refund guarantee. I was surprised to receive not a refund but instead a brand new pair of glasses. The last two pair were "stuck in customs" for a couple of weeks but for the price, they were worth the wait.
  • Zenni
    I have ordered three pair of glasses from Zenni with no major problems. One pair was slow getting delivered. Other than that, I won't buy glasses anywhere else.
  • Zenni
    it's worse than poor service. ordered one pair of glasses from their website had a problem with the ordering form, customer service said redo the form, computer glitch, received two pairs of glases (both unsatisfactory), customer service now says I should not have ordered twice. I am paying an equivalent of one pair of glasses as a restocking charge (50%) thanks to their help and I have NO glasses. I consider this place a rip-off.
  • Magicjack
    I get what I pay for, but I can sympathize with anyone who gets caught up in the nearly useless LivePerson chat system. Gladly, they finally got it right for me. Quality varies. When it isn't going great I use 2 and a half cent a minute phone cards.
  • MJ and VOIP
    I have 2 Magic Jacks, Still have no idea how to set them up. I got there 5 year deal on 2 units. However I had SunRocket before it went Belly-up and switched to VOIP.com. I get great Telephone Very cheap International Rates (I call South America) and love the $16.00 per month rate ($199.00 per year Plus $14.00 In Tax). Will never have a "traditional" Landline again.
  • MJ and VOIP
    I have 2 Magic Jacks, Still have no idea how to set them up. I got there 5 year deal on 2 units. However I had SunRocket before it went Belly-up and switched to VOIP.com. I get great Telephone Very cheap International Rates (I call South America) and love the $16.00 per month rate ($199.00 per year Plus $14.00 In Tax). Will never have a "traditional" Landline again.
  • Magic Jack
    I have used Magic Jack at my vacation home in FL since hearing about it from Clark over 1 year ago. Although it is not always perfect, it works well enough certainly for the price. My cell phone has very bad reception at my location. Although I paid for 2 years, my subscription expired at the 1 year mark. I contacted Magic Jack tech service online and got immediate satisfaction. They gave me an order number and my contract was expanded. I thought the customer service was fine but you must be willing to "speak" with them online.
  • MagicJack
    Call quality is horrible. Customer 'service' is worse. No one to TALK to, 'chat'-only script-readers in India. Been waiting for over 3 months for replacement device.
  • Magicjack
    I've been using it for almost 2 years. Yes, there have been a few problems but I've been able to fix them within a short period of time usually by checking the unofficial Magicjack forums. I've tried their customer service and they are polite, but seldom can quickly fix a problem. Overall, I'm very satisfied. I make many calls a day outside my area code and the call quality is good.
  • Magicjack
    I have used magicjack, and the service is poor, along with the technical support. Noone there knows how to fix problems. I changed to Ooma a couple of months ago, and am really impressed with the service.
  • zenni
    i ordered a pair of progressive glasses and they were unwearable. the presciption was so far off they gave me a headache. i would rather pay $400 and get decent pair of glasses than waste money on this junk.
  • MJ and Zenni
    I've had MagicJack for about 6 months now and have no complaints. I do have to close out of everything else on my computer, but that could because of my comptuer(2.8Ghz cpu, 1 GB RAM) or because of my DSL speed(768K). Other than that it works great.

    I've had 3 orders with Zenni and the last order was delayed. But with the money I saved I didn't mind the delay.
  • Magic Jack
    I have had MJ for over a year and service is spotty, so I basically only use it for faxes. I also have Packet 8 residential service, which costs $199 a year for unlimited everything. It works directly off of your router, not your computer and service is outstanding!
  • Zenni Optical
    One of the reasons I don't like Zenni optical is because they sometimes have trouble delivering their product. The price is great but if you don't receive what your ordered, the price means nothing. I ordered glasses on 3/8. Get delayed in customs excuse. Told last week the glasses were being re-made and would receive them at the end of this week. Still no glasses. You can hire more customer service reps, but would good does that do if they are unable to deliver what they sell in a timely fashion. Right now, I don't know if I will ever get the glasses.
  • saving the most money I can
    I agree if you want "customer service" then go to a company that offers it at a higher price. You can't get "customer service" for nothing. Keep these "low cost" "do it all yourself" companies in business for those of us that truly want the LOWEST PRICE......
  • Fines
    Our courts only decide who has the most money.
  • Magic Jack
    When I first got my MJ two years ago, they didn't bill my CC, till the second month, so thats how the first free month comes in. So far it's working pretty good for me, no complaints.
  • Why?
    If they raise the price to offer better customer service, then the customers who don't use customer service will complain about the higher price. Get a land line if you want customer service
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