The Volokh Conspiracy

A while ago I recommended the "MagicJack" device, which allows unlimited U.S. internet calls from anywhere in the world. I still like the device, but I must report that the company's customer service leaves a lot to be desired [But see updates below]. My daughter pulled my MagicJack out of its USB port, and broke it. I tried to find a customer service address on the MagicJack website, but all I could find was a "techchat." Here's the transcript of the chat:

Jim: Hi, how may I assist you today?

David: Hi, my two year old daughter pulled my magicjack device out of the computer and broke it.

Jim: May I know how many days has the magicJack with you?

David: I think I got it around September 07.

Jim: My apology for that, but we cannot do your request. You have to buy another magicJack for you to enjoy the services.

David: Fair enough, but I paid for an extra year of service.

Jim: We have nothing to do with it sir. I'm afraid it's in your part that the magicJack broke.

David: Can you please ask a manager to come on line. I paid the $40 for the MagicJack [which comes with one year of service], but $20 for an additional year of service, and I'm not going to pay for service I"m not getting.

David: Or is there a customer service email address I can contact, someone in customer support, not tech support.

Jim: Please understand that we currently only handle technical support chats.

David: Fine, but are you telling me that Magicjack has no customer service email address? I simply want a refund for my unused license for the extra year, I will then buy another Magicjack.

Jim: I'm afraid so.... I understand your issue. But we don't have a customer service support as for now. It may be available in the near future.

UPDATE: A Commenter points me to a page that "has a post from a guy who claims to be the 'inventor' and offers help via his e-mail address, Dan@magicjack.com." I wrote to Dan, and got a quick response that a free replacement will be on its way tomorrow. Great, but ... odd that you can contact the inventor and get support, but there's still no customer service email address on the website.

FURTHER UPDATE: Dan writes in to say that "there are a number of places to send an email regarding returns or replacements." After playing around without the website for a few minutes, I did find this link for returns and replacements. The main problem is that clicking on either "customer care" or "FAQs", which is where I looked, doesn't help much. Also, it's not at all clear once you find the relevant page whether you can return a defective MagicJack after the 30-day trial period, and the Jim the tech support guy, who was apparently misinformed, told me you could not.

Anyway, it's still a great product--I even used it in Israel to make free calls via my laptop to the U.S.--and I'm glad to find out that the customer service issue was primarily a matter of miscommunication and a poorly designed website.

(link)

wb (mail):

As Click and Clack are fond of saying, "It's the stingy person who pays the most."

2.20.2008 9:33pm

Waldensian (mail):

[Editor: It wasn't funny the first time. Please stop.]

2.20.2008 9:37pm

Let the market decide.

2.20.2008 9:44pm

Christopher M (mail):

FWIW, this page has a post from a guy who claims to be the "inventor" and offers help via his e-mail address, Dan@magicjack.com.

2.20.2008 9:48pm

DavidBernstein (mail):

W, this is a benevolent dictatorship, not a free market. Chris, thanks, I'll try that and report what response I get, if any.

2.20.2008 9:55pm

LM (mail):

Wow, if that tech chat doesn't say it all. And by "all" I don't mean Majic Jack. I mean life in the 21st Century.

2.20.2008 10:11pm

Elliot Reed (mail):

Hrm, it appears to be impossible to find any contact information on this company's webpage. No email, no phone number, no address, no names of anyone who works at the company. All it tells you is that they REALLY WANT YOU TO BUY THEIR PRODUCT. With nothing but that to go on, I'd guess this is a scam of some kind. I'm surprised anyone likes their product.

2.20.2008 10:18pm

W, this is a benevolent dictatorship, not a free market.

I was thinking more along the lines of a "marketplace of ideas."

"Benevolent" dictatorship? Puh-leeze. You simply delete comments you don't like.

2.20.2008 10:19pm

I'd add, DB, that your restraint was admirable. Of course it's not as if some tech guy in Bangalor had anything to do with the company's CS policy, but that doesn't mean you can necessarily contain yourself in the face of such challenges to your patience and common sense. More than once in that sort of scenario I've lost it, then apologized. Or apologized first and then lost it.

2.20.2008 10:24pm

TonyRyan (mail):

The transcript reminds me of the many times I have gotten customer service that has been outsourced to India. They aren't lying when they tell you they can't do anything for you; there isn't a manager within 8,000 miles and they certainly aren't given the ability to contact them. I remember when I tried to cancel my LawCrossing membership online (the same way I had signed up). They always "understand your issue," "apologize for that," and then tell you there is no way to contact any living person remotely associated with the company.

2.20.2008 11:10pm

wekt:

Seems like their tech support isn't the only part of the company with problems with English. "If you are not fixed"?! What, do they think some of their customers are dogs or cats?

2.20.2008 11:41pm

Thomass (mail):

Just to verify, you paid them for the year of service and didn't buy a third party service plan from a retailer (where you may have bought the device) that had nothing to do with them?

Cheers

2.21.2008 1:23am

Smokey:

You're a lawyer, David. Sue 'em for breach of contract! Or at least do like the UN, and send a threatening letter.

2.21.2008 4:04am

Dan Borislow (mail) (www):

I am the inventor of the magicJack.I do not mean to be argumentive,but there are a number of places to send an email regarding returns or replacements.It is availbale in the Knowledge base and in customer care in at least three places.You do not need Technical Chat to repair,replace or return.When we get these type of emails,a qualified person makes his best decision on what to do. We have gone from 6 people in Tech Chat to over 50 people within six weeks,so every answer will not be perfect from some inexperienced operators,but expect much better in a few weeks.It is open 24/7.Pretty good I think at this price point.Thanks Dan

2.21.2008 5:03am

Samir Chopra (mail) (www):

Listening to people's complaints about outsourced customer service, one would imagine that at some point, we lived in a world where all customer service was oh-so-wonderful. As long as I can remember, customer service over the phone has always been singularly crappy. Outsourcing just makes it possible for people to complain about accents as well now.

2.21.2008 6:31am

Boyd (mail) (www):

I also purchased a MagicJack based on David's original post on this. I had trouble getting it to work on one of my computers, so I used the Tech Chat to pursue it.

The big problem for me at the time was the limited hours tech support was available, although I'm glad to see Mr Borislow's comment that they're now open 24/7. They were also a bit terse without any explanation for why they recommended the various courses of action (which ultimately led to resolution after I followed their recommendation to buy a powered USB hub), but it got the job done.

My brother has now purchased one and put it into use at his business, and I'm thinking about getting another one for my ex-wife and kids to save her a grunch of money. They support international calls now, too.

2.21.2008 8:04am

Guest101:

You can get the same service through T-Mobile's Hotspot@Home program, which comes with a phone capable of making calls through a wi-fi network that are free to U.S. numbers from anywhere in the world. The phone itself (there were only two models available when I enrolled in the service last summer, not sure if there are more now) isn't particularly good, and I've found T-Mobile's service to be generally less reliable than AT&T, from which I switched, but it is generally cheaper and has the advantage of making free calls to the U.S. from any open wi-fi hotspot in the world without needing a laptop or a MagicJack device.

2.21.2008 10:05am

Tracy W (mail):

I once had a contract at a financial company where every permanent employee above a certain level was required to spend one day a month answering phones at the call centre.

They had apparently started the policy out of some sort of airy-fairy-huggy motives, but continued it because it turned out to be a great way of identifying when the call centre operators were giving the wrong answers.

What that taught me is that getting every call centre operator to give the right answers to all the questions customers come up with is a tough job.

2.21.2008 10:40am

Kazinski:

When someone is offering phone service at about 1/5 the price of cheapest alternative, then something has to give. In this case it seems to be customer service, not that it is a bad thing. Customers that need ~~a lot of~~ any customer service should find an alternative.

2.21.2008 11:20am

Virginian:

Listening to people's complaints about outsourced customer service, one would imagine that at some point, we lived in a world where all customer service was oh-so-wonderful. As long as I can remember, customer service over the phone has always been singularly crappy.

It has been many years since I've called LL Bean (I do everything online now), but I remember always being very impressed with their customer service agents.

2.21.2008 11:35am

qwerty (mail):

i don't understand why you think you deserve a free replacement. it's not a breach of warranty and you didn't insure it. yes, you do have a plan, but the customer service guy was probably on the right track when he said that it's not their fault you can't enjoy the services.

2.21.2008 11:49am

Qwerty, if you actually read the post, you would note that I conceded that I wasn't entitled to a free replacement, but just didn't want to pay for an additional year of SERVICE.

2.21.2008 11:58am

Fraidy (mail):

This is perhaps the stupidest thing I have ever read on Volokh.com.

You signed up for two years of service and then broke the tool to access that service and you want your money back for the second year?

This strikes me as certainly not their problem. Man up and buy a new one or go back to the phone company.

2.21.2008 12:20pm

Geez, I rarely get so annoyed at commentersk, BUT READ THE DAMN TRANSCRIPT. I was willing to pay for a new "device." I just didn't want to double-pay for the same service. If there was an easy way to just pay for a new device, and keep the service I already paid for, I would have been willing to do that, too.

2.21.2008 1:34pm

JunkYardLawDog (mail):

I got 2 magicjack devices based on DB's prior recommendation. They have worked well for me. They have very good voice quality, and I haven't had any bad problems.

However, the website has gone from OK to really bad, and despite Dan's comments that there are lots of places to find links for help. Those places aren't obvious and deliberately so, I believe.

If you don't need help. Like me and most people its a great product and a great value. If you do need help. You are going to have problems.

There is also this site where the most knowledgeable helper went when Magicjack closed and scrubbed clean their own official user forums.

http://unofficialmagicjack.forum2u.org/

Says the "Dog"

P.S. My sister in law who is not at all good at setting something up or troubleshooting got a magicjack. It installed no problems and has worked great for her as well. So again in general works great, but if you are one of the few with install issues or otherwise need help from the company or website you are in trouble.

2.21.2008 4:17pm

MajicJack works for us!:

We have a MajicJack and both my wife and I love the thing. We probably put $40 of long distance on it in the first two months (we've had it since August 2007). We have had one customer service conversation with them and our service was GREAT. I would not be able to get a refrigerator repairman to give me the time of day for less than $60, so MJ must be doing something right to provide such great value for such a low cost.

No question about it, no Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) solution is as robust and glitch-free as the telephone today, but $40 for a year of "all the long distance calls you can make", even with only 99.5% reliability, is quite an amazing accomplishment of the open and technologically-innovative society we live in.

2.21.2008 4:41pm

Ruth:

I bought a MagicJack in August of 2007. My MagicJack also installed with no problem and voice quality is terrific. When I re-read the details about not having any other USB device plugged in while installing (every time you turn on the computer), I solved the fact that I could dial numbers but sometimes the receiving end did not receive numbers I entered in response to automated menus.
Service:
1. This is the only high-tech product I have ever owned (out of dozens or hundreds) where I could post a request and find it implemented as a feature within a month.
2. Then, later, I had a problem with the voicemail. Besides regular voicemail, they email the msg as a .wmv file -- I LOVE that when I'm traveling! I could check for messages in the usual way but they were no longer being emailed as little voice files. The only contact avenue I could spot on the web site was for Sales -- this was a change from when I first acquired MagicJack. About then, Dan, the inventor, sent an email to customers to tell them where the company was in their beta testing plans and invited comments. So I emailed him saying I would have contacted tech support but couldn't find any on the web site. Some great email correspondence ensued, the problem was fixed, AND he had a free MagicJack sent to me.

Having been on the provider side of a new product in a new company, I appreciate the growing pains. Now that several of us have commented that it's hard to *find* a way to submit a customer service kind of request ... I bet the web site is soon improved.

General comment: If on the phone with an Indian tech support person who does not understand my American accent well enough to even get how I spell my name, instead of "D as in David, A, M as in Michael ...", I have been successful when switching to "D as in Delhi, A, M as in Mumbai ..". :-)

2.21.2008 6:20pm

TonyH:

Um, was the Turing test just passed?

2.22.2008 9:51pm

Kenneth Goen (mail):

I sent the following email listed on this site to magicjack. Dan@magicjack.com
Dear Dan,
1. First of all your customer service is broken and needs fixing. There are already web sites posting problems with customer service. Example:
volokh.com/posts/1203564092.shtml The VOLOKH Conspiracy. This web site posted your email address and said you were one of the companies investors.
Also, if you go to your order line and need customer assistance with any transaction you can't bypass any menu to do so. The number I called was 1-800-683-4939. I tried every trick in a attempt to get a human. This problem alone will cost you many customers. Even when the trial is free customers may have questions, other than, "Just get our product and all of your questions will be answered." I don't know how you shop but there are many products I don't just order without researching them first. Next, having your customer service in another country might save you money, but it sure doesn't help when your techs type broken English bringing out attention to that fact. Also, this doesn't get you to employees that can fix problems in your computer or with problems like mine. Even having just a few customer service people that can talk to customers would help the image of your company greatly. However, I have used your tech support several times and this was the first time I was completely upset with your technical support. Don't get me wrong I own your product and I love using it, but I had a problem with tech support explained below.

2. I tried to get resolved a problem with my MagicJack 2nd year of service not showing up on my customer page. I asked customer support to fix it and Allan had the following to say:

General Info
Chat start time Feb 24, 2008 3:05:12 AM EST
Chat end time Feb 24, 2008 3:25:27 AM EST
Duration (actual chatting time) 00:20:14
Operator Allan

Chat Transcript
info: The good news is that sales of the magicJack have exceeded our expectations. We are working quickly to ramp up our tech chat staff. There may be a short delay for an available tech chat representative. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
info: You are now chatting with 'Allan'
Allan: Hello, how may I help you?
Ken: Hello I was reviewing my account and found out that my magicjack expires in Nov 2008. However, I purchased an additional year that is not showing up.
Allan: Please give me your magicjack number.
Ken: 1-702-(DELETED)
Allan: Please wait while I take a look.
Allan: Please wait while I check that for you.
Ken: ok
Allan: Our records says that you are charged total $64.85.
Ken: Yes, I know. Look at message above. $57.90 + 6.95 tax = $64.85 for 2 years not 1 year of magicJack.
Allan: Yes it is for two years.
Allan: Do not worry .
Ken: When I went to my account page, it shows an expiration of November 2008. Not November 2009.
Allan: It will show later on
Ken: Can someone fix the page so it reads correctly. I don't want to have problems this November.
Allan: It will be updated later on.
Allan: No you will face no problem .
Ken: Ok I hope so. Will keep a copy of this message. I hope I don't have to go thru this again. Thank you for your time.
Allan: Our record shows you paid $64.85
Allan: Thanks
Ken: OK, thank you. I will leave now.

3. I believe I was given a brush off, leaving my problem for someone else to fix. It seems easy to fix because of my personal page for your company, it has the option of extending for the second year for which I have already paid for. I would like this fixed right away so I can be assured that my account will be in working order for another year after November of this year.

4. I would like to be part of the solution. You need order takers for people that need help with making their orders, or a customer rep than can get in and really fix problems like replacing magicjacks for defective equipment, transfering things like the second year purchased to another magicjack without risking losing a customer like mentioned in the web site link I have above, and adding 2nd years as an option to your ordering when contacting your order line. Not all people are web site knowledgeable, I know because I have helped people of varying ages with that very problem. Some people know little on how to even use their computer properly. A few people working for you that really believe in your product and having some personal contact with people will I believe will go a long way. You might want to know I have tested other devices like Vontage and Skype. Skype is the second best product I tested next to the magicJack for the price.

Thank you for your time and any help you can give me in fixing my problem addressed above.

2.24.2008 5:22am

Kenneth Goen:

For all of you that are having trouble getting around the MagicJack web site, I have two direct links to help you. Go to this link for a direct connection to magicjack technical support. (Had to shorten link, more than 60 char, take out all spaces between lines in below link after you copy and paste it. If it doesn't work for you then use the next link, have to go thru some hops, just not direct)

http://server.iad.liveperson.net/hc/73335289/?cmd=file&file

=visitorWantsToChat&site=73335289&byrel="nofollow" href=1&SESSIONVAR!

skill=tech&imageUrl=http://server.iad.liveperson.net/hcp/Gal

lery/ChatButton-Gallery/English/General/3a

Also for other questions for returns, and other questions you might want to go to, try this link.

http://help.magicjack.com/SupportFaq/Browse.aspx

I hope the above will help all you that visit this website.

2.24.2008 7:09am

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