Magic Jack | Are You Having Problems with Magic Jack?

Are You Having Problems with Magic Jack?

My Magic Jack Internet Phone worked perfectly for the first 6 weeks or so. Always loaded when I either turned my computer on or re-booted. Then, it started not always loading, and sometimes giving me an error in Red Letters: “Warning: You must plug magicJack into USB”. Well duh, it was plugged in, and after waiting for a few minutes, it would then load and be fine…for a while anyway. The softphone screen started disappearing, sometimes coming back on its own, sometimes not. Then my computer desktop kept freezing up and after rebooting many times while trying other fixes, it finally dawned on me to unplug the Magic Jack USB device from my computer. Voila! No more freezing up! After doing some research on the net, it seems like I may have better success with my Magic Jack if I use it with an A/C powered USB port. So, that is my next step in getting my Magic Jack back to working order. If not, then I’ll bite the bullet and get in touch with their customer service at their web site and go from there. I always hate calling customer service, I’d rather see if I can fix the problem myself, just in case it’s something dumb that I overlooked doing. Also not looking forward to calling their customer service because I’ve heard it totally sucks. I’m going to buy the A/C powered USB port tomorrow, I’ll report back whether that fixes my problem.

Have you had problems with your Magic Jack? If so, how did you get it fixed…if you did?

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Comments

51 Responses to “Are You Having Problems with Magic Jack?”

  1. Dan Waldron on June 16th, 2008 4:16 pm

    Just wanted to say HI. I found your blog a few days ago on Technorati and have been reading it over the past few days.

  2. admin on June 16th, 2008 5:37 pm

    Thanks Dan, glad you said Hi and nice to know you found me on Technorati!

  3. mjfrustrated on June 24th, 2008 2:07 am

    My problem with majic jack is that you cannot connect to an office ext. after you dial the main number, so how can you do without another phone?

  4. admin on June 24th, 2008 12:57 pm

    I don’t think the Magic Jack service is yet at the point where a person could ditch their regular phone service. Magic Jack is great for saving on long distance calls, but that is the best point of it at this time, as long as it works!

  5. Ricardo on June 27th, 2008 5:43 pm

    I want to Find out info on Magic Jack Becouse i have dsl and telephone together pay $22.00 for dail tone and #14.99 for dsl.pluging MAGIC JACK my dsl Service would my phone bill go up becouse i don’t have long distance sevice thank you so much your ceo orworldproducts.com Ricardo

  6. admin on June 27th, 2008 5:57 pm

    @Ricardo,

    The bill on your phone or internet will not go up when using Magic Jack.

    HTH

  7. Richard on June 29th, 2008 11:27 am

    Iam disappointed in majic jack.Very much frustrated that I dont know what to do.First my phone doesn’t ring and can only see it on my computer.Secondly,I cant use my handset to enter my numbers unless the soft phone and the keyboard.Ihave tried all the options prescribed in your knowledge base data but nothing is working.

  8. admin on June 29th, 2008 1:22 pm

    @Richard,

    Have you tried a different phone with Magic Jack to see if another phone will work better? Also check to make sure that “Do Not Disturb” has not been checked…you’ll find that by clicking the Menu button on the Softphone screen.

    Hope this helps!

  9. Linda S. Scott on June 30th, 2008 12:05 am

    —cannot change address for 911,
    —cannot change home number
    —when connected magic jack blocks home phone
    number - (cannot make or receive calls)
    —I am still getting charged for making long
    distance calls from the phone company,
    unlike what your commercials say
    *** I either need to get these things fixed ASAP or totally discontinue the service. When trying reach a live person for help I keep getting caught up in some crazy internet loop & there is no contact phone number to actually talk to a real live breathing person.
    It would be terrific if this really did work.

  10. admin on June 30th, 2008 12:55 pm

    The only thing I can say is to keep trying the live chat as there isn’t any other way to contact the company, as far as their web site shows.

    Best of luck!

  11. Eladio on July 2nd, 2008 10:01 am

    Hi. I live in Puerto Rico and just to say that the magic jack is working fine for me. God Bless

  12. bennie on July 2nd, 2008 4:06 pm

    can anybody give a link/forum with magicjack error message - warning: you must plug magicjack into USB.

    I had performed the magicfix compatibility test but still not working. I also tried all the options prescribed in your knowledge base data but nothing is working. helllllllllllllllllllp

  13. admin on July 2nd, 2008 6:31 pm

    I’m having the same problem with my magic jack, so ordered an A/C powered USB hub…when it arrives, I’ll let you know if that solved my problem!

  14. Karen on July 2nd, 2008 7:57 pm

    BE FOREWARNED!!!

    I would just like to share my personal experience that I had with MagicJack and their ‘customer support’. While we watch the cute video of Dan and his child on MagicJack’s homepage and hoping that this will help cut our phone bill costs, they sit back and collect the dollars without supporting their product.

    MagicJack will not support or replace the USB extender cable that they send WITH the MagicJack. After being ru-around on their not-so tech support ‘chat’ and being ‘transferred’ to someone (’Therese’) who claimed to be a floor manager, I was told that they will not replace this part even though it was shipped to me that way. This creates a problem for those of us that cannot have the other USB plug blocked or headphone jecks. It also creates difficulty if your computer tower only has USB ports in the back of the tower. The USB extender cable becomes a necessity in these cases.
    I was never offered an exchange and was refused one when I directly asked and told that they don’t support it.

  15. dorothy on July 5th, 2008 1:43 am

    trying to get live chat. all I get is this website. I bought a new phone because I couldn’t hear from the old one now I do not have a dial tone. I have tried everything. could you help?

  16. admin on July 5th, 2008 1:07 pm

    @Dorothy,

    Try the live chat at this web address at the official Magic Jack website:

    http://www.magicjack.com/4/customercare.asp

    Hope this helps!

  17. garry on July 5th, 2008 10:21 pm

    My magic jack worked one day with my phone. Then could only use the headset and soft pad. So I used a 2nd mj a friend had and it worked great. So after spending over 5hrs with the MJ TECHS?? and many downloads using different 3 comps and 3 different phones the said they would replace it at no charge, Now i check my email and they show a charge of 39.95 for the replacement, They had better give me credit when I return the defective MJ. i will keep everyone informed of if they stand by their word. Oh by the way I asked the techs for a phone # to talk to a tech, and they said they didnt have phone service.. They must be using MJ>>

  18. admin on July 6th, 2008 12:18 pm

    @Garry,

    It is just mind-blowing that magic jack does not have a phone number, even for customer service when selling their product. That has to change or I’m afraid they’ll end up biting the dust!

  19. debbie on July 7th, 2008 7:37 pm

    Sad to say, my mj worked well 1-2nd week. I got rid of my landline, changed my dsl service to dryloop. instead of 14.99 mnthly via Verizon I now pay 25.00 a month. But no monthly bill so ok, right? Wrong. The phone goes directly to voicemail now no matter what. Tried the upgrade & all the suggestions they gave me at magicfix. I got cust svc on a Sunday, they were polite & tried to help. Even got the phone to ring one time but it hasnt since. Verizon made me commit to dryloop service for a year so I am stuck.

    the worse thing is I listened to all the hype. Just call me a magic SAP. Oh wait, you can’t (call me that is…cause it NEVER rings!) Thanks Magic Jack and for all a hard lesson, you get what you pay for.

  20. warning you must plug magicjack into usb on July 15th, 2008 1:53 pm

    [...] [...]

  21. Janet Cadigan on July 23rd, 2008 3:30 am

    Magic Jack is perfect for my situation. We do not make or receive a lot of calls or stay on those calls for long periods. The only reason I have kept my landline phone is for those situations where you are trying to get some business matter cleared up and you are put on hold etc. for long periods of time. Don’t want to use my cell phone minutes that way.
    Only problem I have to keep resetting it. It will work for a day or so and then I have to reset it again. The problem is that when I attempt to call out, the call goes through, but I cannot hear it ringing and cannot hear the person answer at the other end although they can hear me.

  22. admin on July 23rd, 2008 4:08 pm

    @Janet,

    I was having the same problem with my Magic Jack, and it just kept getting worse. I purchased an AC powered USB hub and that solved the problem for me…it’s been working perfectly ever since.

    Hope this helps

  23. ed martz on July 25th, 2008 4:53 pm

    I am a NY attorney and purchasd the MagicJack. I’m severely disappointed! Doesn’t work, can’t get to any cusmtoner service reps, and when I try to get to a “live person”, the site re-routes me to an endless circle of non-communicative crap. I am going to sue them. Anybody else interested? We call it “Class Actions” and, even if the only result is to get theme to provide what they promised, I’ll do it. But right now I’m in my 15 day return period and there is no way for me to cancel, despite their representations that cancelling would be a snap. I hate these kinds of lies.

  24. admin on July 25th, 2008 6:14 pm

    Magic Jack does not have any customer service telephone numbers. All customer service (?) is handled through the chat at the web site or email.

    You can go to their FAQ page here:

    http://www.magicjack.com/4/faq/

    Then Click on “how do I return my magicjack” for instructions on how to return your Magic Jack, including how to request a RMA form.

    Hope this helps!

  25. SHANNON on July 26th, 2008 6:07 am

    I GOT MY MAJICJACK WORK FANTASTIC,Iwould like to know with the AC power USB hub can multiple Majic jacks be used on a hub.

  26. Joe on August 2nd, 2008 2:27 am

    Hello - I had a horrible experience with MagicJack. My voicemail stopped working completely, so I got online and chatted with their tech support. In the process, however, the product completely died on me. I have submitted for a refund, but it gets worse because the MagicJack number I created is printed on business cards and the number is where clients called to reach me. It has ruined my business. I hope people are reading this and re-thinking their decision. I think if you do enough research online you will come to the conclusion that it’s not worth the risk. I would also suggest that you check the Better Business Bureau’s site. There’s plenty there to convince you that it’s not worth it. I wish I had done more research.

  27. SBROOKS on August 3rd, 2008 9:28 pm

    I am so sorry the problems that I hear of this majic jack. I was just about to order it and gave them the wrong credit card information. So I received an e-mail that my credit card was declined. So I began doing some research and this is how I got to you all. Thank all of you for your help in allowing me not to go through these problems.

  28. Sam on August 5th, 2008 4:52 am

    Their customer service is anything but customer service. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to talk to a human, and when I finally got to chat (with Tanya), she was totaly inpet and she provide no help at all. All I wanted was to know how to order the product via express delivery and pay the associated higher shipping costs, but she never could direct me. Finally i got frustrated and swore them off. I will shop for a more expensive service that works

  29. Mel Buebel on August 5th, 2008 6:18 pm

    I heve found that the only # is 877-901-5225 and it is full most of the time. My phone worked the first setup and only the first week. Now I gat a dial tone but when I dial another number the phone goes dead. A class action suit sounds great. Just email everyone to get started. I noticed in the other comments there was no central email address to send our complaint to.

  30. jinni on August 6th, 2008 12:00 am

    magic jack work really good for me exept …. when I try to call someone on their cell phone in canada it doesen”t work !!!! I try and try and try and still dosen’t work

  31. Dave on August 7th, 2008 7:46 am

    I have been thinking about buying MJ but It seems there are still some bugs to work out {with all of internet PHONE COMPANIES that Screw with the public} so that a system like this will work perfectly everywhere for anyone with DSL access.

  32. admin on August 7th, 2008 3:00 pm

    There are some bugs to be worked out with Magic Jack but if you’re interested in saving money on long distance calls, it works really well for that. And you can’t beat the price!

  33. mubeen on August 8th, 2008 1:20 pm

    my phone is not ringing. magic jack is connected well i can dial and receive calls..but my phone is not ringing…when an incoming call comes it is just alerting me on my computer screen..

    what is the problem..help me out people

  34. admin on August 8th, 2008 2:27 pm

    Mubeen,

    I don’t mean to state the obvious but you didn’t say whether you had tried more than one phone with your Magic Jack. If you have and they still don’t ring (but ring on a regular landline incoming call) I would contact magicJack’s customer service and also check out their FAQ pages at http://magicjack.com

  35. Dick Chevy on August 14th, 2008 6:36 am

    Mine worked well then quit suddenly. After messaging with support for 2 hours, they agree’d to send a replacement. When I used the new jumper cable, the original unit worked fine, so check that jumper if you seem to have connection problems. Have never had trouble with ringing a any phone and have tested half a dozen including several wireless headsets. Sometimes calls won’t go thru for awhile and when they do, the other party’s audio cuts in and out. One day I made a call and ended up chatting with some other party with an MJ. I suspect the things were so popular, they are having capacity problems. I agree with the party who said the investment/risk is too low to worry about, but I wouldn’t rely to heavily on it or try to run a business with it. YGWYPF Skype has far superior audio and is very reliable but costs a bunch to have a call in number which is included in MJ’s $20/yr fee.

  36. admin on August 14th, 2008 12:04 pm

    I agree with you Dick, magicjack is growing so fast that they are bound to have problems as things get worked out. Still, for only 20 bucks a year (plus the initial cost of the device), it is a great way to save money on long distance calls.

  37. eloy on August 16th, 2008 3:46 am

    How to get your magic jack to work again. You need to go to my computer and right click vista mj and then click start on the window that will pop up. then click OK. This will wipe out your contact list,but you will be able to use your magic jack. I don’t put in a name contact list for if the message pops up again it will just wipe it out when i have to it all over again it up the next time. Good luck

  38. admin on August 16th, 2008 4:58 pm

    Thanks for that tip eloy!

  39. ladylivy on August 16th, 2008 9:11 pm

    hi…..i set up my mj and it does not make calls…when i dial a number it redials it and goes straight to ring tone

  40. admin on August 17th, 2008 1:38 pm

    Try unplugging the mj device and plugging it in again. If that doesn’t work then try the magic fix at the official website magicjack.com. Then if you are still having problems chat with magicjack’s customer service and see if they can fix it for you.

  41. ed on August 20th, 2008 1:35 am

    MJ worked great for 4 months. Now it says an upgrade is happening within the next 60 days. And gives an error code 3. Tried on live chat. Spent 45 minutes with customer care. Says I now after all this time have to open a bunch of ports. Not sure if this is advisable. The upgrade will not download at all.

  42. Dave Olson on August 20th, 2008 2:38 am

    The MJ has worked great on my desktop. My son-in-law used it for a week for his work while here visiting and liked it so much he has ordered one.
    I decided to use it with my laptop(CompaQ) and the blue light goes on for two seconds and then off. The computer sends a flag saying it detects a new harware trying to use a USB port and does not recognize it. Any thoughts?

  43. admin on August 20th, 2008 11:55 am

    Dave,

    I use my magic jack on a laptop also. Usually any problems like this have been solved by rebooting my computer. Also, it may work better for you with an external ac power usb hub. I had problems with mine working until I bought one of those usb hubs.

    Hope this helps.

  44. admin on August 20th, 2008 11:56 am

    ed,

    I have gotten any messages about an upgrade yet, so I hope my magic jack keeps working!

  45. David on August 25th, 2008 11:25 pm

    I know several people that have gotten them and been happy. When I first plugged it in, it stopped trying to connect to the Internet to update faster than i could OK the firewall. So I had to manually download the update from Magicfix. I noticed it installed a small driver and service so as a matter of procedure, I rebooted.

    At first, I found the sound broke up a lot. I found that the USB extension cord I had was not good enough but if I used the supplied one, it was much better.

    If you leave your computer on all the time, you may find it useful to restart once in awhile. Windows has a way of building up memory issues, etc that can clear with a reboot. Just unplugging and replugging MJ can help too.

    Sometimes, new programs or security updates can break other things if they don’t ‘play nice’. That MJ loads from itself helps but if it was working and now doesn’t, what’s changed? Careful with those firewall messages - you may just approve blocking it.

    People also should keep in mind that it is a demanding device. You’re feeding 2 ways audio and data. If your computer is heavily loaded with auto-loading programs, has a lot of background things going on, or has issues, such a device can highlight them. It won’t work for everyone. And that’s no fault of the MJ folks. PCs are almost as unique as people.

  46. admin on August 26th, 2008 4:40 pm

    David,

    Thank you for the great insight and tips! The MJ company does tell you to unplug and replug the device once a month, but that direction isn’t anywhere in large bold blinking letters. But as with anything with your PC, rebooting does solve a lot of problems at times.

    Thanks again, great post!

  47. Kathy on August 28th, 2008 8:23 pm

    Please tell me what is wrong when I call out on my regular phone. Everyone that I call can not hear one word that I am trying to say. They say it is like someone is trying to slap me in the mouth. Please help. Thanks, Kathy

  48. Kathy on August 28th, 2008 8:25 pm

    I already did.

  49. admin on August 29th, 2008 12:53 pm

    Kathy,

    Have you tried using a different phone to see if it makes a difference?

  50. James on August 29th, 2008 5:46 pm

    Kathy,
    Try hard booting or unpulging it wait one min. and replug.

  51. JoeAnn on September 7th, 2008 5:57 am

    All,

    I bought two MJ for communications with my spouse. This thing worked fine up until a month ago. I utilzed the customer service for a total of 10hrs and I still get the “Warning you must plug…” message. I bought a AC powered USB hub today and this thing is still inop. I’ve done everything from installing, updating, rebooting to now a AC powered USB Hub.

    I use Windows Vista….any suggestions?
    My spouse has the same computer and Vista system and hasn’t had any issues…

    I found this site tonight and the computer savy people are having trouble too…

    http://forums.technet.microsoft.com/en-US/Forefrontedgegeneral/thread/f629ee1c-6e15-4550-be14-a024877f73d1/

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