26
Aug
magicJack Hijacks My Free Conference Calls to 218-339-2500!
My friend Russell turned me on to magicJack about a year or so ago. He also evangelized it to several other people I know and about 4-months ago I decided to buy one myself. I was able to get 5 years of VOIP phone service through my desktop, or laptop when I travel, for under a hundred bucks. It’s not always perfect and sometimes the sound quality is not usable at all, but most of the time it’s great and it has allowed me to drop my cell phone contract from 900-minutes a month to only 450-minutes a month—and I use very few of them. I really do get much more than my $1.67/month out of it. However, Monday I experienced a major problem that I feel the need to rant about.
A lot of my business calls are conference calls. When I schedule conference calls I usually schedule them using Windows Live Meeting because I like Microsoft’s VOIP and I also like to use a webcam so I can see the people I’m talking with and so they can see me as well—expressions and gestures add a lot to understanding another party. LiveMeeting has a lot of other things I like too, but that’s another blog post for another day.
The person who scheduled this particular conference call scheduled it through FreeConferenceCall.com. When it was time, I used my magicJack to dial into the meeting at 218-339-2500. Instead of being asked to enter my conference number, I received the following message from magicJack, “Important announcement! Please listen to this entire short message, the number you have dialed can not be completed from your magicJack. For free conference calling set-up you must dial 305-848-8888. You may press 1 any time during this message to connect. Please use this number for all future free conference calling. Please visit FreeMagicConference.com for more information on magicJack Free Conference Calling. Again, that was FreeMagicConference.com.”
So, I disconnected from this call and called the 305-848-8888 number and entered my conference ID when requested. It was not accepted. Obviously, there was no connection between FreeConferenceCall.com and FreeMagicConference.com. I was really frustrated that I was going to have to make this call and use my cell phone minutes. That’s not why I purchased my magicJack.
After the call, I decided to test and see if I could use Google Voice to place the call. Although I haven’t used Google Voice very much so far, I have configured it to ring my cell phone, home land line, and my magicJack when calls are received. When I received my call from Google Voice, I answered it on my magicJack and then I heard the FreeConferenceCall phone ring once; after that I heard a busy signal. I thought that maybe Google Voice was blocking FreeConferenceCall.com as well. To test this theory, I placed the call again, but had it routed to my cell phone instead. This time there was no problem and I was connected. Somehow, magicJack is even hijacking and diverting these calls even when they are made through Google Voice!
I searched through magicJack’s knowledge-base to see if I could find out anything about this and no matter what keywords or questions I entered, I kept getting answers about how to schedule a conference call using FreeMagicConference.com. No explanation at all about why I couldn’t join a conference call.
I did check out FreeMagicConference.com and it is a service very similar to FreeConferenceCall.com and anyone can use it to schedule a meeting, even if you aren’t using a magicJack. I haven’t tried the service, but I may try it one day and let you know how it works. However, being able to initiate a meeting doesn’t help me to attend a meeting at all.
I planned to document all this here on the blog, but I got tied up with other things. This afternoon I read a blog post by Russell, my magicJack pusher friend, about his recent problems (read MagicJack Call to Free Conference Call not Placed to 218-339-2500). In his post he provides the transcript of a chat session he had with magicJack customer service, so I thought I would chat with them too. Customers have to speak out about this and let them know this isn’t good business. Here is the transcript of my chat:
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
Kiefer: Hello, how may I help you?
Ricky: Hi, Kiefer.
Ricky: I seem to be unable to join a conference call at 318-339-2500.
Kiefer: Please follow the instructions for making conference calls.
Kiefer: First, dial 305-848-8888
Kiefer: Then press 2
Kiefer: Enter a 3 digit pin to create a conference room number.
Kiefer: And write your conference room number down,
Kiefer: Next is to distribute your dial-in instructions to your conference room attendees.
Kiefer: Dial 305-848-8888
Kiefer: Press 1
Kiefer: and enter your Conference room number.
Ricky: I receive a message telling me I need to call 305-848-8888, but that’s not who my conference call is through.
Ricky: No. I don’t want to SCHEDULE a call, I need to JOIN a call.
Kiefer: Please follow the steps above.
Ricky: My conference call was not scheduled through that service.
Ricky: How do I join a call at this other number.
Kiefer: Thank you for your patience. I will transfer you to a higher level of support. Please hold while I transfer you.
Ricky: Thank you!
Kyle: Hi, Ricky.
Ricky: Hi, Kyle.
Ricky: I seem to be unable to join a conference call using my magicJack.
Kyle: May I know the exact nature of your problem with full details please?
Ricky: These calls are one of the major reasons I purchased it.
Kyle: Okay
Ricky: I am trying to connect to a conference call at 218-339-2500.
Ricky: My call gets diverted and I receive a message telling me how to SCHEDULE a call through your service. I don’t need to SCHEDULE a call, I need to JOIN one.
Kyle: Ricky conference call will not work with MJ not unless you will be the host of the conference call.
Ricky: It has always worked before.
Ricky: Why will it not work now?
Ricky: I don’t understand.
Ricky: This just started happening on Monday, and it persists.
Kyle: I’m sorry but we have a new update that you cannot connect to a conference call not unless you’re the host
Ricky: So, I’m just out of luck? There is nothing I can do?
Ricky: Where should I escalate my complaint?
Kyle: Ricky I am at the escalation level and I am explaining this to you,
Ricky: So, you’re the CEO of magicJack?
Ricky: I want to make sure that people there know this isn’t acceptable.
Kyle: No I am one of the escalations.
Ricky: And, do you have a supervisor?
Ricky: Can I chat with your supervisor about this?
Kyle: Our superior will be available in the morning Ricky
Ricky: OK. How should I contact him or her?
Kyle: You can chat us back Ricky.
Ricky: So, I need to go back through all this again? Tomorrow morning?
Ricky: That’s even more frustration.
Ricky: At what time will the supervisor(s) be available?
Kyle: In the morning Ricky I do not have a specific time
Ricky: Do you know a time zone? Morning where? I’m in the Eastern Time Zone.
Ricky: It’s always morning somewhere.
)
Kyle: We are in FLorida Ricky, it’s EST here.
Ricky: I’m really not wanting to be a pain for you, but I do want to resolve this problem. I purchased your product as my solution to attending costly and time consuming conference calls and now I find that I’m not able to do so. I just need to make sure this gets fixed.
Ricky: OK. I’ll try back in the morning. If I include my Issue ID, can I skip retyping all this?
Kyle: I understand Ricky as much as I want to help you, but I can’t
Ricky: Thank you Kyle. I hope you have a good rest of your evening.
Kyle: And you as well Ricky, have a pleasant evening.
So, the bottom line is that they are no longer allowing their customers to connect to conference calls via the magicJack unless the customer is the host of the call through their service.
I’ll try chatting tomorrow morning and see if I can get to an escalation supervisor. I’ll keep you posted!
Update: I did some research on FreeConferenceCall.com and how they make money. I found a really short and simple article entitled, The Skinny on FreeConferenceCall.com. I don’t know if magicJack has to pay when people use their service to connect to these lines, but I’m doubting it. I end to think they just want their piece of the free US Toll calling pie and they want to force their users to give it to them. I plan to broach this with the supervisor tomorrow morning if I’m able to actually talk to one.
Update: I have filed a form 2000B – Billing, Privacy, or Service Quality Compliant with the FCC. Here is the text of that compliant:
magicJack no longer allows calls to be placed to FreeConferenceCall.com phone numbers, which means that I can’t attend many conference calls that others schedule for me. They play a message that I can schedule a conference call through their own FreeMagicConference.com service, but there is no way to join a conference call someone else scheduled using the other service. They used to allow this and then suddenly I noticed they were blocking the calls on Monday, August 24. I have contacted customer service and they tell me, “I’m sorry but we have a new update that you cannot connect to a conference call not unless you’re the host.” They don’t give any reason for the change in policy, nor was any warning given.
I don’t know if this is a violation of FCC policies or not, but I wanted to bring it to your attention in case.
I have documented my complete experience, including chat transcripts at: http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/
Update (2009-08-27): I was able to chat with a supervisor. The bottom line is that they will not provide any explanation for the change and she says that I can’t chat with anyone higher than her, nor can I call anyone higher. Here is the transcript of our chat:
Morgan: Hello, how may I help you?
Ricky: Hi. I chatted with support last night on Issue ID: LTK419075516900X. Then I chatted with an escalation representative on Issue ID: LTK419075516900X.
Morgan: One moment please…
Ricky: Kyle told me I could chat with an escalation supervisor today.
Ricky: I would like to chat with an escalation supervisor, please?
Morgan: Okay
Morgan: One moment please…
Morgan: Thank you for your patience. I will transfer you to a higher level of support. Please hold while I transfer you.
Ricky: Thank you, Morgan!
Myrene: Hi Ricky.
Ricky: Hi Myrene.
Myrene: One moment please…
Ricky: I’m rather disappointed that I can no longer ATTEND conference calls. I would like to get some sort of explanation about why this changed if I can.
Myrene: aRe you having issue with the conference call?
Ricky: Yes. I can’t ATTEND conference calls that other people schedule through services like FreeConferenceCall.com.
Myrene: Alright, I believe you want to Join a confenece call, right? I am sorry but you cannot call that number, magicjack does not support that number. However, you may create your won Conference call . first, create your free magicjack conference room number, – Dial 305-848-8888.
Ricky: I just get a message saying that I have to use FreeMagicConference.com to schedule a conference.
Ricky: However, that doesn’t help me to attend one someone else scheduled.
Ricky: I used to be able to attend them before Monday.
Myrene: That is the new upgrade in our system that i cannot change it Ricky.. I understand how your feel believe me but we cannot change it anymore.
Ricky: Can you tell me why this was changed?
Ricky: Perhaps, why the company felt this would be good for your customers?
Myrene: Before we do not have our own conference phone number but now since we have upgraded you as a MJ user can create a conference call for free,
Ricky: I hear you.
Myrene: Thank you for that Ricky
Myrene: And for allowing me to explain it
Ricky: However that addresses why you don’t want people to SCHEDULE calls, but it doesn’t explain why you won’t allow people to ATTEND calls.
Ricky: From a customer perspective, it’s rather rude.
Myrene: We are open with your opinions and suggestions Ricky.. Please do not worry… I let the higher dept know about this so that they are aware of this as well.
Ricky: Can I chat with anyone higher, myself?
Myrene: I am sorry but this is the higher level that you can chat with Ricky.
Ricky: OK. Who can I call and talk to about this?
Myrene: we as a supervisors… and once we end this chat i will copy and paste our conversation so that they are aware of this.
Ricky: So, you’re saying there is nothing more I can do to get an explanation unless I involve a body outside of magicJack? Like the FCC or BBB or something?
Ricky: I would really prefer to talk to someone there and get an explanation.
Ricky: I just don’t see why some explanation is that difficult.
Myrene: If you are going to create a conference call… the other can join the conference
Ricky: Even if you lie to me, I won’t know the difference.
Ricky: But I don’t schedule these calls. Other people schedule them. I can’t force them to use one service or another–the way you’re forcing me.
Myrene: I know that you are now frustrated with this but i do not want to lie with you because i do not want you to expect.
Ricky: Just so we are clear: are you saying there is no way for me to get an explanation about why I can no longer attend a conference call that someone else schedules via FreeConferenceCall.com or any other service?
Myrene: I am afraid yes.
Ricky: OK. I’ll take this as gospel… for now.
Ricky: Please let my displeasure be known where you can, and I’ll let my displeasure be known where I can.
Myrene: Sorry didn’t quite catch that
Ricky: Please let your supervisors know that I am displeased and why.
Ricky: I will do everything I can do publicize my experience.
Myrene: Affirmative Ricky
Ricky: Thank you, Myrene. I hope you have a good afternoon!
Myrene: I hope so.
Myrene: You are welcome
Update (2009-08-27): I have just found out that calls to FreeConference.com are being blocked in this same manner as well.
Update (2009-10-07): About a week ago I received my paper copy of my complaint to the FCC and I filed it away. Personally, I think these paper copies are quit wasteful in the modern electronic age, but that’s what they do. Oh well. 
This afternoon I received a call from someone named Andrew at magicJack saying that they had received their copy of the complaint and were offering me a full refund on my 5-year contract. I called him back. He was very friendly and professional; I think we had a really good conversation. I told him that I was generally happy with my magicJack and wanted to continue using it–so I didn’t want a refund. I explained that I wasn’t sure about the legality of them blocking access to certain numbers and the only way I could discover that was to file a complaint and leave it for the FCC to decide. He explained that they had reached out to the free conference call companies but said they don’t seem to be willing to work with magicJack to provide free access to their numbers for magicJack users, so it’s unlikely that this functionality will be coming back any time soon. I expressed to him that the consumer will continue to lose as long as CLECs, the VOIP operators, and the Free Conference Call companies all continue to hold onto their current business models and are unwilling to work together to find a solution that works for their customers. A third party will come along eventually that does meet the consumer’s requests and they will wish they had worked together sooner rather than later. It was nice to get to finally express my opinions to a real person at magicJack. [By the way, I am not at liberty to disclose Andrew's direct phone number at magicJack, sorry.]
Hi Rick,
I have the same problem with MagicJack and Conference calling from a non MagicJack number as an attendee.
Here is what I run up against:
08-27-09
Re: LTK419075189917X and
LTK419075558961X
May I communicate with your
manager.
I like to clarify this problem I now
have had for a week.
My calling to a conference room of
another company, (non MagicJack)
as an attendee is now being intercepted
by MagicJack.
I call: 269 320 8200 and I receive the
following reply recorded message by
MagicJack:
“Important announcement! Please listen
to this entire short message, the number
you have dialed can not be completed
from your magicJack. For free conference
calling set-up you must dial 305-848-8888.
You may press 1 any time during this message
to connect. Please use this number for all
future free conference calling.
I press 1 and dial the access code, given to
me by the other conference calling party:
513324#.
MagicJack voice responds with:
“This is an incorrect code #.
Obviously MagicJack has no connection with
the conference party I’m trying to reach.
MagicJack is blocking my call to the outside
conference call.
Question:
Does MagicJack have a program error to
be corrected?
Or is there an intentional company decision
not to accept outside conference number
but reroute them to MagicJack’s #:
305-848-8888?
I bought MagicJack on the adverticement
of being able to call anyone in the USA.
Please give me a direct reply to my
question and identify your position
with MagicJack.
Thank you.
Customer since Sept 27th 2008.
(Paid until Sept 27 2010)
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with ‘Ruby’
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK419075594170X
Ruby: Hello, how may I help you?
Perry Bazell: Hi Ruby, I have some additional communication I would like to state. Is your manager available?
Ruby: Hi Perry.
Ruby: You can just state your problem or concern here Perry
Perry Bazell: 08-27-09 Re: LTK419075189917X and LTK419075558961X
May I communicate with your manager. I like to clarify this problem I now have had for a week. My calling to a conference room of another company, (non MagicJack) as an attendee is now being intercepted by MagicJack. I call: 269 320 8200 and I receive the following reply recorded message by MagicJack:
“Important announcement! Please listen to this entire short message, the number you have dialed can not be completed from your magicJack. For free conference calling set-up you must dial 305-848-8888. You may press 1 any time during this message to connect. Please use this number for all future free conference calling.”
I press 1 and dial the access code, given to me by the other conference calling party: 513324#.
MagicJack voice responds with: “This is an incorrect code #. Obviously MagicJack has no connection with the conference party I’m trying to reach. MagicJack is blocking my call to the outside conference call.
Question: Does MagicJack have a program error to be corrected? Or is there an intentional company decision not to accept outside conference number but reroute them to MagicJack’s #: 305-848-8888?
I bought MagicJack on the adverticement of being able to call anyone in the USA. Please give me a direct reply to my question and identify your position with MagicJack.
Thank you. Customer since Sept 27th 2008. (Paid until Sept 27 2010)
Perry Bazell: Okay Ruby
August 27th, 2009 at 1:09 pmRuby: Thank you for your patience. I will transfer you to a higher level of support. Please hold while I transfer you.
Please wait while I transfer the chat to the best suited site operator.
You are now chatting with ‘Cassy’
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK419075594170X
Cassy: Hi, there. Cassy here and I’ll be assisting you.
Cassy: Please hold for a moment while I’ll review your previous chats. Thanks!
Perry Bazell: Okay Cassy
Cassy: Alright, I believe you want to Join a conference call, right? I am sorry but you cannot call that number, magicjack does not support that number. However, you may create your won Conference call . first, create your free magicjack conference room number, – Dial 305-848-8888
Perry Bazell: Please read my communication again. You are not understanding me.
Cassy: You can actually set up conference call and be a moderator, you only need to dial 305-848-8888 to render it
Perry Bazell: Cassy what is your position with MagicJack?
Cassy: I’m a supervisor here, Perry
Perry Bazell: Okay.
Perry Bazell: Please read my communication again – I’m not understod and also read my earlier communication today and from 08-25-09
Cassy: I understand it, Perry but you can actually be a host on conference calls using magicjack, however, some other line block magicjack conference as they don’t allow magicjack to join on conference call
Perry Bazell: Please answer my question
Cassy: Magicjack didn’t block any phone company, some VOIP block magicjack to join on their own conference calls so it is not a company’s fault or decision in regards with your issue
Perry Bazell: You are stone walling me! Who is your manager?
Cassy: I believe that I have already provided you all the information needed; I will not end this chat with you. Thank you
Chat session has been terminated by the site operator.
Perry – Thank you for providing your transcript! I can’t believe that Cassy told you that someone else is blocking the call and it’s not them. Well, isn’t it nice of that blocking party to also play an advertisement for magicJack! And then to tell you she wouldn’t end it, but she did.
I just want an explanation about why they made this change. And I think everyone else feels the same way. We all know there are problems with the magicJack network, but we deal with them because the price point and product is so good. However, this decision is just like slapping us in the face, and each failed answer is another slap.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:26 pmI have been trying to join our conference calls too at 712-432-3900 and have the same problem. I can’t afford the cell minutes and have missed some of our learning sessions on the conference calls and webinars. I sure hope they change things soon!!
August 27th, 2009 at 5:15 pmLouella
google voice blocks freeconferencecall too.. just dial out through google voice using another phone and you’ll get the same busy signal.
August 28th, 2009 at 9:18 amHerry – When I wrote this on Wednesday, I did a test call to FreeConferenceCall.com through Google Voice to my cell phone and I was able to connect to the meeting. I didn’t try doing that with my land line though. I just now tried it with both my land line and cell phone and both are now giving me a busy signal. So this may be something that Google Voice has started blocking too.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:19 pmThis is a messy issue.
I respectfully posted to Warrior Forum (”The #1 Internet Marketing Forum since 1997) regarding this because I thought internet marketers who promote their products might be concerned that they’re being blocked from doing so. (Here’s the link: http://www.warriorforum.com/internet-marketing-product-reviews-ratings/120309-big-magicjack-freeconferencecalling-com-problem.html#post1143901)
Now they’ve warned me about bashing “product creators.”
I’ve registered a complaint with the FCC. I encourage people to consider doing the same. http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:52 pmI have had the same experience but did not save the chat, but it was the same story. I am definitely no longer a strong supporter of MagicJack. I used to tell people that I was 90% happy with my MagicJack but some deficiencies could be ignored for the low cost. This policy plus their attitude has dropped my satisfaction to around 50% and I will no longer recommend it to anyone!
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 pmHoly Crap! Read the part of my transcript near the end about terminating service at any time with no notice:
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with ‘Jocel’
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK419076859190X
Jocel: Hello, how may I help you?
Richard: Why is MagicJack blocking my access to other free teleconferencing numbers? This is a violation of FCC rules!
Jocel: Hi, Richard.
Jocel: magicJack reserves the right to block calls to phone numbers that abuse its services. Any service provider who is currently being blocked may interconnect with magicjack for free so our customers may complete their calls. Have your conference service provider email us at connect2magicJack@magicJack.com
Richard: How does me calling someone else constitute “abuse to magicjack?”
Jocel: As of now, you cannot call other conference service except for the conference service that magicjack has.
Jocel: Please have your conference service provider email us at connect2magicJack@magicJack.com
Richard: As a VOiP service, you argue that you’re not a “phone company” so to limit my connections is quite hypocritical. I will now submit a formal complaint to the FCC.
Jocel: Alright. Feel free to submit that.
Jocel: You may also check the terms of service for magicjack and see if we have violated our rules.
Jocel: http://www.magicjack.com/tos/
Jocel: Click on the link above for the terms of service.
Richard: Furthermore, Syndicated Radio talk show consumer host, Clark Howard, has notified his millions of listeners that MJ is doing this scurrilous practice. This is not good PR for MJ. I want to see your service succeed.
Jocel: Okay.
Richard: You’ve already been legally sanctioned for violating your own “Free Trial Policy” why are you doing this?
Jocel: Please try to check first our terms of service and you will see there that we can change and upgrade the software of magicjack without prior notice.
Jocel: It is stated in our terms and condition. 13. Modification.
Jocel: MagicJack reserves the right to modify or discontinue the magicJack device and Software, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice to you.
Richard: You can do anything you wish. Whether it’s Legal, Moral, or Intelligent is a completely different matter. Again, I’m not the enemy, but I feel this is dead wrong on MJ’s part.
Richard: Do you have to refund me if you terminate my service?
Jocel: You will be refunded if and only if you are still on the 30 days trial period and you need to return the magicjack device.
Richard: But if you terminate my service for no reason after 30 days, I get nothing??
Jocel: Your service will not be terminated since you are given one year free of service.
Richard: But you just stated that you could terminate me anytime with no notice, so which is it?
Jocel: It means for modification like the conference service.
Richard: Ok, again my fear is that this is bad PR. Clark Howard’s Radio Program and website http://www.clarkhowar.com are very powerful and he’s been a pretty ardent proponent of MJ in the past…
Jocel: Okay.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:13 pmI just checked http://www.clarkhoward.com (typo in previous post) here:
http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2009/09/02/16566/
I can now see MJ’s point–I wouldn’t want to pay these fees either if I was MJ. These CLECs sound smarmy:
Sep 02, 2009 — MagicJack blocks free conference calling, offers own service
Yesterday a caller named Chad was upset that MagicJack had begun blocking him from using a free third party conference calling service. He was instead being told to use MagicJack’s own free service.
Clark did some digging with MagicJack and the FCC and has a somewhat esoteric explanation for what happened.
Certain states offer small phone companies known as competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) a special deal that’s little known. If your free conference calling service of choice is routed through a CLEC, the CLEC actually charges huge fees (known as termination charges) to your phone company. That’s how they make the free service available to you.
The original thinking here was these termination charges would effectively help rural customers because they would incentivize companies to run phone lines in the countryside.
MagicJack is blocking other free conference calling numbers at this time so they don’t get hit with the hefty bill for termination charges. That’s why they set up their own free conference calling service as an alternative.
No word yet from the FCC about whether or not MagicJack’s actions are legal.
If you find yourself in a similar situation to Chad, you have several options: You can either use another phone — like a cell — to call in to the conference call line of your choice; or you can have a friend patch you in on a conference call via 3-way calling; or you can consider using the free MagicJack conference call service.
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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 sayingFree Conferencing Block
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:21 pmIDT Calling Cards block these calls as well.
By Kathy @ 09/03/09 02:04:53 PMreport abuseFree Conferencing
I live in Windstream’s network, pay for unlimited long dist, but my work conference calls are charged an extra 10cents/min. I’m looking for an easier way then 3-way or using my cell. I did not have this problem with Callvantage, but they are no longer an option after next month.
By Cindy @ 09/03/09 01:29:54 PMreport abuseWhy use the “Free” Conferencing?
These services are blocked by a lot of companies since it is very sleazy. The ability for Rural CLECs to charge higher rates for termination was not meant for this purpose. Most carriers terminate to each other for fractions of a penny and most of these sleazy gray shaded free to consumer services charge anywhere from .08 to .13 per minute. That is ridiculous and puts a lot of strain on carriers. Since a carrier can’t pick and choose where calls go, this is highway robbery. I know free is fun, but it is not always worth it to make charlatans
Chat InformationPlease wait for a site operator to respond.
Chat InformationYou are now chatting with ‘Kenny’
Chat InformationYour Issue ID for this chat is LTK419076867318X
Kenny: Hello, how may I help you?
james: kenny
james: i am trying to join a important conference call and the magic jack is not allowing me to do so
james: please fix it
james: so i can tget on my conference call
Kenny: Thank you for addressing your concern, James.
Kenny: Please wait while I check that for you
Kenny: Thank you so much for patiently waiting, James.
james: go ahead with how to fix it
Kenny: magicJack reserves the right to block calls to phone numbers that abuse its services. Any service provider who is currently being blocked may interconnect with magicjack for free so our customers may complete their calls. Have your conference service provider email us at connect2magicJack@magicJack.com
james: kenny how will this get me on my conference call now??
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:27 pmI think everyone should file a complaint. I made the mistake and bought a Magic Jack… For crying out loud, they have info-mercials playing around the clock on a cable channel, Radio Shack is pushing Magic Jack. They make you feel like an idiot for spending more than $1.60 per month for long distance.
I think it is an anti-trust problem if you price lower than your costs.
I think it is an unfair trade practice Magic Jack trys to switch you to their conferencing… and they show they have no understanding of the problems they are creating when they try to get you to switch when you are trying to be a participant of some one elses call.
I think it is fraud that they sell you an entire year up front and they change who you can call after you have purchased
I think it stinks that they try to blame this on FreeConferenceCall.com
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:39 pmI live off-grid without a land line and just found out I cannot access an important conference call using Magic Jack as I did last month. This is totally unacceptable. I won’t recommend this product to anyone else.
September 8th, 2009 at 1:37 pmi am sending out emails to everyone I know who is contemplating buying majic Jack. this is a total scam!
September 8th, 2009 at 2:39 pmYou are now chatting with ‘Fong’
Fong: Hello Debbie
Fong: how can i help you?
Debbie: I cannot access this site with a majic jack andy idea why
Debbie: I called for my morning conference on my majic jack line and was not able to connect
Fong: A number of our customers that also happen to be MagicJack customers have recently made us aware that MagicJack is intentionally re-routing their calls. When a MagicJack customer attempts to participate in a FreeConferenceCalling.com call by entering one of our dial-in numbers into their phone, MagicJack plays a message telling them they need to hold their call on a different number. This initially can cause confusion because it seems to the caller that if they just dial the new number they can participate in their call. Only after a number of failed attempts at joining the conference will the caller then contact MagicJack support who informs them that the entire call needs to be on this competing MagicJack service and that they will no longer connect to our conferencing service.
Fong: We believe that this is an unwarranted and possibly illegal degradation of your telephone service and we are looking into steps on how we can remedy the situation. Unfortunately, the most timely way this problem can be rectified is if the voice of unhappy customers forces MagicJack to change their wrongful practices.
Fong: For an example of what one MagicJack customer has gone through and what steps he took, please check out the blog post below.
Fong: http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/
September 8th, 2009 at 2:45 pmFong is the name of the person at FreeConferenceCalling.com that I spoke to as well. He was helpful.
Please take the time to register a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
This policy of MagicJack is contrary to the features they advertise on television. Plus, if they refuse to connect calls to certain telephone numbers like conference lines, what’s next? Refusing to connect calls to adult services? Telephone numbers of competing companies? People of religions they don’t like?
September 8th, 2009 at 4:11 pmI posted earlier and see that there are many people having this problem. I feel that once this issue is shared with potential customers, it will drastically reduce their sales. I am very sorry I signed up for 5 years and am stuck with it unless I just choose not to use it but get no refund at all.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:58 pmmore of the same, can no longer call freeconferencecall.com numbers, and when contacting MJ about this, you get the same responses. I was asked to get hold of freeconferencecall and ask them to contact MJ, but they said they would not do this, and that MJ are doing something illegal. so i contacted MJ again and they said they would send my concerns to someone in MJ and that i should wait for an email from them. I don’t expect a resolution anytime soon.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:11 pmPLEASE ALLOW ME TO CLARIFY:
MJ is having to pay exorbitant charges to connect these calls due to CLEC rules and the shifty methods that FreeConferenceCall.com and others have used to profit from CLEC.
Initially, I was hopping mad at MJ, but if I were them, I’d have done the same thing. Plus, they offer an alternative conference calling service.
If you want to complain, hit up the FCC or whatever agency regulates CLECs. MJ is just protecting itself from HUGE fees for any MJ user calling these services.
The bigs like AT&T and Verizon are letting you connect for now and they’re going to head to court with the likes of FreeConferenceCall.com later, in an attempt to recoup the massive charges.
I hope my explanation helps.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:49 pmRocky – Since I originally wrote this post, I’ve received some direct correspondence from others in the free conference call industry that have chosen not to comment publicly here–I wish they would though. One industry executive has told me, “It does not cost MagicJack anything more to handle or route calls to [free conference call] numbers [than to any other long distance call].” I’m not saying this is truth, but it is just as likely to be truth as your assertation.
I’m sure that long distance calls to different areas cost different amounts depending on the routing. But it seems to me that this can’t be any more expensive than a call to some person or company in some very rural area. So, what’s next? Will magicJack start blocking calls to people and companies that aren’t in or near big cities?
If it really doesn’t cost any more than any other call, it makes it seem that magicJack is really strong-arming their customers into using their own service so they can get a piece of the free conference call pie themselves.
magicJack’s own elusiveness about this is part of the problem. If in my first chat the representative had said, “I’m sorry, but these calls are more expensive for us than other types of calls and we can no longer afford to allow those calls at the low rates we charge for our service,” and they should have given us some notice that they were doing it instead of just cutting it off all of a sudden when we needed it, then I would be much more understanding. But even if magicJack is paying more for these calls, they way they have handled it, and the way they have taken advantage of us customers, is bad business in my opinion.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:36 amThanks for the blog about Magic Jack. On Sept. 9 2009 I got blocked from a conference call. I submitted a complaint to the FCC too. Thx. for the tip.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:45 amRocky, what accounts for the huge change from your previous comments vs. your comment from yesterday? Tanna
September 10th, 2009 at 9:18 amHello
We are a local CLEC. We work with Some of the companies and Yes magic Jack is Blocking us.
IT is Illegal. In 2007 the FCC state that call blocking was illegal via this order (Establishing Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange Carriers, Call Blocking by Carriers, 22 FCC Rcd 11629 (2007).)
You should do many things. Contact the your State AG office and file a complaint based on false advertising. They clearly state that you can call anywere in the US. Then on block the conference call companies. They are only blocking free ones. Which is also Anticompetitive.
Lastly what they are doing is criminal fruad. Think of it this way. Freeconferencecall.com advertised for people to use their service, you call the service and get rerouted to a different service. That is Fraud. Stealing the customer is illegal.
Report them to the AG.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:08 pmJohn – Thanks for adding your comments here. Since you work for a CLEC, can you confirm that calls to the free conference call numbers you provide cost the same as other calls for magicJack? Also, is magicJack blocking all calls routed through you or just the calls to free conference call numbers? I think we’re all still missing some important facts like this.
September 10th, 2009 at 9:00 pmRicky
It is hard to say the cost, Generally they may be a bit more then other areas but remember this. You are talking Marketing Versus Regulation.
Becuase Magic Jack chose to Market their product at 19.95 a year, has nothing to do with the Regulations that have always been around. It is truly a marketing problem, not a rate problem. Their poor business plan, does not let them do Illegal actions by blocking calls.
Think of the big picture of why this is illegal. If we allow people to block whoever they want. What if Verizion and AT&T get in a fight? They say, ” hey are people can;t call your people” This would mess up the entire USA calling system. That is why if they don’t like the rates they can not pay them and go to court. But they cannot block calls and commit fraud.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:35 amFreeConferenceCalling.Com is now being blocked as well…
September 11th, 2009 at 11:55 amThis is also happening to me. I can not use freeconferencecall that someone has setup. This really puts a black mark on MajicJack product!
September 13th, 2009 at 12:45 pmWell it looks like Magic Jack does have a problem with the CLEC’s. I am now not as angry as I was earlier today. I will simply use a long distance phone call for my conference calls on my landline. Tapping into conference calls is by far not the way I use my Magic Jack phone line most.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:57 pmIf MagicJack has a problem with CLECs, maybe they could deal with it head-on instead of:
(1) lying about it;
(2) calling the service reduction a “new feature” (LOVE that one);
(3) suggesting an alternative that doesn’t work (their conferencing service does not allow you access to other companies’ conference calls; and
(4) reneging on their claim that we can call any number in the US and Canada.
My main use for MagicJack for the past 18 months has been 95% conference calls. MagicJack is effectively rendering themselves useless to us.
John’s right — allowing all calls BUT a certain few creates a slippery slope that would ultimately make telecommunications in the US into chaos. I do hope that the FCC and other entities step in and require MagicJack to do what they say they’re going to do.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:18 pmI had the same problem last night – can’t believe they would change it without so much as a email to notify us of the up coming change. I guess they did not want us to know – might loose some customers -
Thanks
September 17th, 2009 at 10:20 amI’m going to leave comments open on this thread for a while longer. I really appreciate so many people contributing their comments and experiences here–both customers as well as executives and employees of magicJack, some CLECs, and some of the free conference providers. I never expected to so much great input from so many people.
All three of these seem to have a few things in common: they all have established business models, they all are unwilling to change in their business models, they all have either laws or terms of services they reference as the reason they don’t have to change anything in their business models, and they all feel the legal side of what they are doing is more important than their customers.
This scenario has played out many times over the centuries: companies become complacent in their business, refuse to give their customers what they are asking for, and another company comes along and meets the customer’s needs. Eventually, all these companies will need to either adapt or lose part of their business. This is how each of these companies got their start. The CLECs saw a need for phone service in remote areas. The free conference call companies saw a need for free conference call services. magicJack saw a need for cheap VOIP service. As with most businesses, they usually seem to forget how they became successful–by meeting people’s needs–so they will lose their success by failing to meet people’s needs. Company executives see it happening all around them, and it frustrates them when they experience it as a consumer, but they erroneously feel their businesses will survive through legislation alone.
The sad thing is that the customer loses because they all refuse to see it.
So, what do I think will happen? If these companies don’t begin working together to meet customer’s needs and expectations, a new player will surface that will meet customer demand. Right now, people want to use cheap, or free, VOIP services like magicJack, Skype, and Google Voice to make free conference calls. The companies who currently provide these services need to either start putting the customer first and find a way to provide these services instead of pointing fingers at each other, or they will all be pointing their fingers at themselves when someone comes along and steals this opportunity from them.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:36 amI just think Magic Jack should have given us a warning before they started changing things around. A lot of my conference calls are BUSINESS related!
September 17th, 2009 at 7:26 pmChat with a MJ higher up support personnel today. Indications are they are hearing what we are saying and intentions are to get it resolved.
Evert: Hi, this is Evert, from higher level support and I will be assisting you.
frank: When do you feel may be a reasonable time frame to check back on a possible resolve on the CC blocking issue?
Evert: I cant give you any ETA for this, since we have just implemented this..But I believe that we will fix this matter
With that our call ended on a “positive tone”
Your guess is as good as mine?
But it sure looks like this could hurt MJ sales in the long term if un-resolved. I trust they are earnestly addressing the issue. MJ is a great service right up to about Sept 1st,’09
Let’s keep beating those drums and banging on their doors.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 pmLLMJ!(Long live MJ)
in addition the message from MJ higher up support personnel is ..”..Dont worry, once this issue will be fixed, it will advertised thru TV and Internet”
Evert: I appreciate that you understand the situation ..Dont worry, once this issue will be fixed, it will advertised thru TV and Internet
frank: that will be fantastic. I’ll earnestly await for the fix to happen soon.
LLMJ
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 pmHello,
A few months ago I too purchased a magicJack as I needed a seperate number as I have recently started to work from home and cannot afford the high land line prices from the big telecommunications companies. Unfortunately most of my training is done via teleconference and magicJack is blocking the conference numbers assigned by the company I work for. As soon as my term with them is up I will NOT be renewing. I am also contemplating on filing a complaint with the FCC as this is really affecting not only my training, but my business as well.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:12 pmI bought 5 years of service and rarely use the phone but when I did pick it up last week and tried to dial a number (after having it a year) nothing happened. It says “your service has expired.” Not only do I have 4 more years, but they gave me absolutely no notice that (they thought) it was going to expire. I emailed but of course got no response. I have an Ooma phone and absolutely LOVE it. Forget Magic Jack!
September 27th, 2009 at 12:26 am[...] Apparently MagicJack blocks calls for FreeConference.com – more evidence that FreeConference.com feeds off of high call termination rates. http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/ [...]
September 28th, 2009 at 7:14 am[...] year. They go beyond just blocking some of the conference calling services — they actually redirect calls to a recording encouraging customers to instead use one of their own partners [...]
September 28th, 2009 at 1:56 pmIm having the same problem. I work from home. all my trainings is through free conference callingcom. They need to fix this.
September 28th, 2009 at 5:17 pmI got a call from magicJack today about my complaint to the FCC about this. I’ve added this information to the article above as “Update 2009-10-07″.
October 7th, 2009 at 3:00 pmI just signed up for Magic Jack and paid for 3 #’s, 5 years up front, a little over a month ago and call conferencing is one of the things I needed. I just found out it is blocked and then found your web site. I will be contacting Magic Jack as well to see when they will have this resolved. If I don’t get a straight answer, I’ll have to cancel and get my $ back. They did not say anything in their ad about “no conference calling”. They said I can call “anywhere” in the US. Their ad is misleading. It should say “almost anywhere in the US”.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:22 pmI contacted magic Jack and talked to “Ken”. He said that Magic Jack reserves the right to block their service to any one that abuses it. I told him I resent the insinuation. He said for me to have the company I work for, to contact Magic Jack to allow their conference calling system to hook up with Magic Jack. I suspect this is baloney, but I wanted to see if any one had updates or got a similar answer.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pmTom – You will see that several people who have posted here have been told to have their conference calling companies contact magicJack for information about how to connect their systems for free. I think it’s probably true that they can do this for free, but I also think it’s also true that the free conference calling companies and CLECs don’t want to lose a single penny they they think they can earn by not doing this. It can’t hurt to let them know though.
October 10th, 2009 at 3:11 pmPlease, if you have the time to post here about your experience, please take time to register a complaint with the FCC. It takes only a few minutes: http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
It’s not complicated; just tell your story in your own words. This is just so illegal, it’s not even funny.
October 10th, 2009 at 10:10 pmI filed a complaint with the FCC. I also contacted and left a message by phone, the conference call service weblm, as the gentlemen “Ken” from Magic Jack suggested. According to “Ken” weblm is supposed to contact Magic Jack to get hooked up so I can call in. There was no mention on any fees involved.
October 11th, 2009 at 6:14 pmI am incredibly disappointed at the fact that magicjack is pulling this manipulative practice. As much as I liked their service for the great price, I will be returning it and bad word of mouth spreads 10 times faster than good word of mouth. Shame on them.
October 30th, 2009 at 12:49 pm