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.