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Review by SlowFreddy  - Location: undisclosed location
- Cost: $2 per month
- Install: about 5 days
Good "sound quality-connection"
Bad "none"
Overall "great Buy-talk all day-no monthly bills"
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Bought MagicJack about 4 years ago, got a deal on the 5 year plan @ 49,00 dollars. took about 5 days to get shipped in to my house (now you can buy at your Local electronice store). setup was a Breeze, about 10 minutes, just plug-in (smaller than a Pack of cigarettes) n go. they have 800 numbers, Vanity numbers and you can pick a number you like, (if available) for your local area code are and outside of your state code.MagicJack plugs into your USB port, (use the extension cord), if you plug direct with MagicJack sticking out, you can drop something on it and break the Plug off..use the extension and let it hang down insted.. you have to dial your (1)-area code, then the number you want to connect to. I like MagicJack and the Sound quality is really as good as regular Phone are better (only speaking from my experience). Made the phone company take all their wires off the house, (hehe). SO INEXPENSIVE!..you dont need a computer that stays on all night, just a connection with the new MagicJack. make sure your Old phone isnt Corroded where your line connects before install. use a Regular phone (I have a 10 dollar one) and it works Great. MagicJack is a Great Deal, GO check MagicJack out. Thanks..
Magicjack is still working strong. Got the new Magicjack Plus about a month ago and it works great and the old MagicJack is working as usual. The new MagicPlus is about 29 dollars a year. Still using the old 10 dollar cordless phone and works on both regular and Plus Magicjacks. I will be getting another phone for the New MagickJack Plus. I use two different phone numbers. These are two different devices so I advise to get the MagicJack Plus, it works in a computer or just plug into your wall socket, plug in your internet connection and phone. Really simple and so inexpensive. If your power goes down you want have a line of communication through MagicJack, so you may want to invest in a USB backup system, if you are concerned. My power has been down maybe three times since my first review and the longest was a little over an hour during a lightning storm. None of my equipment is used anyway, during a storm. You can buy MagicJack from many retailers, or order direct from MagicJack. Save lots of MONEY, go get a MAGICJACK PLUS, just my opinion. Thanks for looking and and have a great day!
member for 4.2 years, 125 visits, last login: 25 days ago
updated 27 days ago
Comments:
 | | Doesn't work worth beans This was one of my bigger mistakes. The quality is awful, constantly breaking up, cuts off in the middle of a conversation, tells me to dial the area code when I already did and I could go on. The customer service is a pain in the neck and then you don't know if the problem is solved until you use it again and for more than a quick chat since my problems would happen after being on the phone for a few minutes. Not worth the price. | |
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| Review by Yakov - Location: Buford,Gwinnett,GA
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Good "Nothing. Just a good price."
Bad "For that good price you'll get a crap."
Overall "Cheap is cheap!"
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Cheap is cheap! Think twice before purchasing this device. Most of the reviews you will read on internet are fake, created by their marketing team. Just imagine – would you run to your computer to write a good review if you are completely satisfied? You are writing a review only if you are angry and want to take your revenge. If everything works fine you just forget about that.
You will have 30 days trial period. Within that time everything will work fine. I started having problems on the very next day after the trial period ended. I’ve been with the Magicjack for about 40 days and already sick and tired of their Customer NO service and technical problems.
If you purchase the device be ready to frequent disconnections. You will not hear your opponents in most cases they are calling you. They will have to either redial few times or you will redial them.
The Magicjack company has no phone number on their site. The only way to contact them is a live chat. I had to chat almost every day in order to reset the device on their end and it did not fix the problem.
They also promised me that I could continue to use my Google Voice IP number when I decided to switch to Magicjack. And within 30-days trial I could use it. On the day 31-st I lost this service. Per their operator: As per terms of service , you can't connect to a non ILEC number if you do not have an IPP on your phone .. This part of Terms of service was already fully implemented.
How could I two weeks ago?
They advertise millions of customers are join their company, but they don’t tell you how many customers leave after they experienced problems with them. Cheap is cheap!
member for 37 days, 0 visits, last login: 37 days ago
lodged 37 days ago
Comments:
| | Not Just Cheap But Free! The service is Free if you use the Android app so try that and you'll have nothing to complain about. | |
| cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL | Due diligence There are enough real reviews out there warning any potential buyer. If you did your homework this would not have happened to you. | |
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| Review by khol999 - Location: Scottsdale,Maricopa,AZ
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Good "Not So Much... Only In The Beginning"
Bad "Yup. Bad About Sums Them Up."
Overall "If you like headaches and the feeling of being ripped off, magicjack is for you"
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Once you even remotely have anything that is true against what they have script you will just get the message that the chat has ended due to length of none reply, which will happen in about 5 seconds when they have tired reading their script to you. Had another MJ that I wanted a refund on less then 24 hours after renewal due to them dropping their forward feature. In one day they charged a renewal for $30+, then a port charge was $30+, then a yearly vanity line charge $10.00+. They also made 3 accounts for the same # and kept trying to get me to renew on each!?! They said they would turn it in to the billing dept and be back in touch. I then got in touch with them a week later to see status and they informed me they only refund within 24 hours. What a joke! I would guess that top insurance underwriter is running the billing dept. Deny, Deny, Deny. Customer will give up.
Bottom line... you will not end up saying money. You will think your getting a smoking deal, then about a year later, you will be forced to go to their online chatting only customer service which is monkeys reading from a monkey script and it will go on and on and on. Then you will end up losing multiple hours of your life and not getting anywhere. You will either have to get ripped off or cancel account that you will NOT be getting refunded for No Matter What!
member for 102 days, 0 visits, last login: 102 days ago
lodged 102 days ago
Comments:
| Review by Nanoprobe - Location: Crab Nebula
- Cost: $1 per month
Good "Was able to ditch the land line"
Bad "occassional line noise"
Overall "For $20 a year it's goog enough as a cell phone backup"
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I tried MJ when they first came out. At the time there were no local numbers in my area code. Why there were none for Orlando made no sense. Anyway, it didn't work very well and I returned it during the trial period. About a year later I checked and they offered numbers in my area code so I tried it again. Much to my surprise It worked much better. I have it set up so it works on every phone jack in the house. I ditched my land line and hopefully they will offer portability so I can put my old land line # back to use.
They now offer portability for your old landline #. The new MJ that plugs directly into the modem is much better than the one that ran on your computer. Makes for a good back up and emergency # in case your cell phone isn't working or you need a throw away number for all the nuisance calls.
member for 10.4 years, 4333 visits, last login: 102 days ago
updated 114 days ago
Comments:
| Review by brut7 - Location: Babylon,Suffolk,NY
- Cost: $3 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 5 days
Good "Very Inexpensive"
Bad "Needs an always on Computer"
Overall "Works great, Very Inexpensive"
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After reading many reviews here I decided to give it a try.
I'm familiar with VOIP in many flavors having been on P8, Sunrocket and most recently Optimum Voice. I have an old P3 1100 based laptop with a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card that I decided to dedicate to this task; it wasn't doing anything anyway. It's wired into my router, not on wireless. I want to use the service like a land line for the whole house. Had the laptop all set up, fresh install of xp sp3 and power options set appropriately. I think a lot of people have computers that are infested with spyware and/or so many BS applications that it slows down the computer to a crawl. With a clean proper computer, the requirements are low. Optonline in my ISP and that is of course, very solid. MajicJack device arrived, plugged in my Uniden wireless phones that I originally got from Sunrocket! One base and 2 sattelites, I replaced the battery packs on all 3 recently and they still work great.
Plugged the jack into the usb 2.0 port, it started doing stuff and downed updates.
I chose my number and after a few minutes it all started working.
I went to the website and downed an update file and it did another update.
Rebooted the computer for good measure.
I called my Mom.
Mom said it sounds fine but had a bit of a too quiet sound to it when no one was talking but it was fine with her.
Did a bit of tweaking on both the laptop and the MJ sofware (not that you can do much) and was ready for the all important "Wife Test"! (dramatic music here).
My wife calls Montreal Canada every day from here on Long Island to talk to her parents and sometimes several times a day. MJ passed the wife test! The in-Laws one of which is hard of hearing said it sounded better than Optimum Voice, especially the hard of hearing one, he had no problem hearing my wife and he had been straining with OV (they have a pots line). BINGO, the primary goal is calling Canada and it passes the test with high marks. Set up my voice mail, forwarded my OV number to MJ, closed the lid on the laptop and put it up on a shelf where it will remain on all the time. A laptop is better for this use as it consumes less energy than a full sized PC but probably a bit more than a full device like a Sunrocket Gizmo. Called Cablevision and reduced my bill from them quite significantly and reduced my TV service as well, down to 65 a month for ISP and basic TV (times are tough). MJ works fine now for a couple of days, no complaints from the wife. At $3.33 a month for the first year and half that for the hopefully next couple, you can't go wrong. Voicemail, caller ID and a working home phone. Two thumbs up.
The Bad, it needs a computer but that wasn't a problem for me. I do wonder how much the electricity for the laptop will actually cost but it's probably not much. Anyone have any ideas on that?
Bad reviews on MJ are probably from people who are technically challenged, impatient or have a lousy ISP.
I can't really comment on tech support being someone who usually figures things out himself but it looks like it's not that great though it does seem to have a live instant messanger type service.
Update 6/1/13
I now have a Magicjack Plus device, the advantage being I no longer have to run a laptop or thinclient 24/7, it works all by itself.
The disadvantage is I no longer have any call logs at all, not on the computer or on magicjacks website. If they could make call logs on the website and add e911 it would be much better. The call quality is the same as with the old magickjack or any other good VOIP that I've used, it's excellent. It's nice to have a "real" home phone number in addition to prepaid android cell with google voice app on it.
member for 13 years, 789 visits, last login: 63 days ago
updated 126 days ago
Comments:
| | | When MJ fails, plan on fixing it yourself says ex-MJ fan I WAS a fan of MJ. I have used it for a couple of years. Have two. I spend a lot of money calling foreign countries with MJ. I did not mind the sometimes lack of quality or dropped calls. I did not mind the occasion call to support to fix something simple. I did not mind the wait while it came up and downloaded my phonebook. BUT NOW I have had to concede that Magic Jack is not worth it. I am a patented electronic engineer from HP labs therefore not technically lacking. My MJ quit working for no apparent reason. Both. On all three computers. Magic Jack support has fixed very simple things before, but they are worthless for anything more. They are script monkeys, just read what is on the screen. They are ignorant, not bright and extremely insincerely script monkeys. They will try the same thing over and over again. They have you load defective software, Anchor Free Hotspot over and over again. You load it and two minutes later it says you have an old version that you must update. They say they are passing you up to the "top level" of support only to an unsuccessful while later pass you up again to the "top level" of support. They make you wait 10 or 15 minutes to be connected to remote access which then never did takes control of your computer. One "highest" level support person told me to close all windows but chat and then do a ctrl-W. It turns out that ctrl-W closes the current window thereby disconnecting the chat. Very clever. And MJ "support" can NEVER reconnect you to the same support person from whom you were disconnected. Each whats to follow their little script from the beginning all over again! Bottom line, 7 hours of time wasted with this worthless support and not only were my magic jacks not working but they had not even tried the obvious, bypassing my router. I did that. It worked for about 10 minutes and then failed (error 3). Btw, I had confirmed with my ISP that they do not block VOIP. So I said to Magic Jack, I have a years of service paid for which I have not used, please give me a PARTIAL refund. They won't do it. The question to ask yourself before getting magic jack is what is 7 hours of frustration and loss time worth to you? I figure I lost whatever money i saved over the years in time not to mention the time previously spent to save that money. MJ=NOT WORTH IT. JUST ANOTHER COMPANY THAT DOES NOT SUPPORT IT'S PRODUCT. My email is wanconm@gmail.com. | |
| | | | Re: When MJ fails, plan on fixing it yourself says ex-MJ fan I had nearly the exact problem! Once you even remotely have anything that is true against what they have script you will just get the message that the chat has ended due to length of none reply, which will happen in about 5 seconds when they have tired reading their script to you. Had another MJ that I wanted a refund on less then 24 hours after renewal due to them dropping their forward feature. They said they would turn it in to the billing dept and be back in touch. I then got in touch with them a week later to see status and they informed me they only refund within 24 hours. What a joke! I would guess that top insurance underwriter is running the billing dept. Deny, Deny, Deny. Customer will give up. | |
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| Review by David - Location: Granite City,Madison,IL
- Cost Contract price not specified.
- Install: about 7 days
Good "Cheap phone service"
Bad "wifi app constantly drops,"
Overall "getting rid of it entirely."
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original review:
Well I did it, I plunged into the VoIP with a magic jack. I figured it's nice to have a 2nd phone line for say my basement instead of the wife calling my cell phone. Was really easy to set up. All I had to do was plug it in and before I knew it I got to pick my phone number. One thing that wasn't explained well, I felt like I had to catch this one. It was the outbound thing in the setup. If you are not careful and don't put a check in the box you won't have inbound dialing capability. It didn't seem like that was explained quite so well. Like they could have put a "If you want people to be able to call your magicjack click this box" or something like that.
Order process went great, went to magicjack.com and ordered, it was pretty straight forward. It arrived in a first class envelope, only had the magicjack unit and a USB extention that wasn't required to use. On the computer it adds 2 drives one a read only drive and another 16MB USB drive with a note that says to put no files there.
I tried it on a wireless network around the area and the phone call quality was good during my lunch hour. Seems like it could come in handy when I go out to a wireless hotspot for lunch and am able to make free phone calls. Monthly cost for the first year will be about $4 a month, after that each additional year (according to the paperwork) will be $20/yr or a little less than $2/month.
Call quality is very good, my parents couldn't even tell I was using it. I was as clear as if I picked up my phone line and talked them! I probably won't use it for a primary line because I don't have much need for it, plus when I fax magicjack doesn't do quite as well as old reliable. Anyone that lived in the St. Louis, MO area within the last 5 years got an idea what a extended power outage was, so that will be the biggest reason why I probably won't put it on as main. It makes a nice 2nd line anywhere I need one.
8/10/12:
Stopped buying the service as of late, have the free magicjack iphone app which is nice for either 3G or Wi-Fi calling. I have it renewed for free all the way to the end of 2013. I will save the dongle for now as it comes in handy. May buy the google voice jack software for $15 and use it that way.
05/15/13- I haven't renewed the service and don't even have the app on my phone anymore. the Free Wi-Fi calling cuts out quite a bit.
member for 11.3 years, 5626 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 143 days ago
Comments:
| | Faxing with MagicJack Do you need a separate set-up (and phone #) or can you use the same one for voice & fax? | |
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| | MagicJack scam if you live in Canada I ordered a 'free 30 day trial' magicjack after reading that it would provide me a local phone number and I could port my existing cell # to it. When it arrived and I tried to activate I discovered that no, there is no local area code/prefix unless you live in specific Canadian cities. AND magicjack doesn't have the ability to port Canadian numbers. Nowhere on their website is this disclosed. I immediately returned the device so that I would not be charged outside of the 30 day window (it had already taken 2 weeks to arrive). Two months later magicjack says the returned device has not arrived. The Canada Post tracking number only tracks to the U.S. border. As the device has not been returned to me I am quite sure it did arrive at magicjack. Magicjack does not have phone support, only internet chat with reps who don't have authority to resolve a problem, only say 'apologies for the inconvenience'. The entire process has been incredibly frustrating and expensive ($65 for the device charge after 30 days). Do yourself a favour - avoid magicjack. | |
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| Review by dickybilly - Location: Plano,Collin,TX
- Cost: $3 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 5 days
Good "quick easy setup; good voice quality"
Bad "nickel and diming over service costs"
Overall "cheap"
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I'm switching from TMO@home broadband to magicjackplus. I've been testing for the past 2 months and have found no issues with voice quality compared to TMO. The only setup issues I've had is with the priority of the MJPlus h/w on my primary FIOS router. Magicjack support insists that the MJP must be connected to the primary router. I have it connected to the TMO@home linksys router w/o issue. The TMO linksys router is connected to the FIOS router.
I'm not happy with magicjack charging for every change and NOT publicizing their rates. I started with a free MJP phone # which I chose for the 972 area code. No issues. When I decided to port my TMO phone# to MJP they charged me one time $10 line change fee and one time $19.95 port fee. The annual port fee will be $9.95. If I decide to drop MJP and port my # from them to another service they'll charge me $30 to leave them (which I think is illegal).
I'm still in my first year so cost of service is included with the hardware cost. Second and subsequent years w/o contract $29.95. If you take their prepaid $100 5yr voice service contract the price/year reduces to $19.95. Once you take their 5yr plan if you decide to quit magicjack there's NO refund given on the prepaid $100.
As I write this there's NO call fowarding service. At one time it was available and free but I think when it becomes available again they'll charge for it. My work around for it is attaching a home answering machine with message notify..clunky but workable 4me.
As I write this there's no call forward busy service. I'm not sure if they'll ever support that. I have that now with TMO@home.
As I write this they don't have visual voice mail notify. If you pickup the phone you get a stutter tone telling you there's a voicemail message and/or you get an email message that you've a voice message waiting. My work around for it is attaching a home answering machine with message notify..clunky but workable 4me.
Overall the price I'm paying for MJP is less than half per year that I have been paying for TMO@home which meets my objective of lower home phone costs. I have a suspicion that w/o any kind of cost protection they will be raising their rates over time to meet their business model. If that happens I'll probably drop my home phone line (right now I need 2 lines, home and cell) or switch to another service.
One last note.....you can't beat the portability of the MJP hardware. Being able to take it with me on trips out of the US to make FREE local US phone calls anywhere is a BIG plus.
member for 12 years, 115 visits, last login: 71 days ago
updated 238 days ago
Comments:
| | poor service I have had MJ for a couple of years and have never been really happy. I could not talk on the phone and be on the computer at the same time because the person I was talking to sounded like they were under water. MJ tried to fix it but couldn't. I am now leaving MJ and I too am being charged $30 to port my number to another service. I would never refer MJ to anyone. I guess you get what you pay for..For them it is only about the money not providing a good service.  | |
| | | | Re: poor service As far as the $30 port out fee, there is no reference of it in their terms of service, and they are not allowed to refuse the port if you do not pay the fee. I don't think I would pay them.
»www.fcc.gov/guides/portability-k···roviders | |
| | | cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL | Re: poor service I never paid the port out fees to MJ an I ported 2 numbers.
Apparently there are still some people who have consistently good call quality, I never met one in person but anything is possible. | |
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| Review by cb14 - Location: Miami Beach,Miami-Dade,FL
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Good "easy set up, relatively inexpensive"
Bad "unreliable, no real tech support, hidden fees, crooked business."
Overall "would not want it if it were free"
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I have had MJ service for several years. In the beginning somewhat liked the service, there was not much comparable around.
Currently, the costs are much higher than years ago. Free call forwarding not available any more, many exchanges cannot be reached or only for additional charge, hidden fees and phony ' regulatory charges'.
Company extremely deceptive, unpleasant to do business with.
Call quality varies, from very good to substandard, sometimes changes during one longer call.
Service unreliable.
Customer service miserable, technical support fully worthless.
With the choices available these days, there is absolutely no reason to settle for Magic Jack.
member for 243 days, 258 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 242 days ago
Comments:
webcol
join:2005-03-01
Miami, FL | MagicJack you get what you paid for The call forwarding feature is still active, it is now a hidden feature. What disappoints me most about MagicJack is that it won´t let you renew the service as it is supposed. They invent any excuse not to renew the service, in many occassions they said they will sent you an e-mail after putting your account under review, but they don´t. I see more lawsuits coming if MagicJack don´t let renew the USD 70 dollar device. | |
| | | | Re: MagicJack you get what you paid for call forwarding was never a feature for PLUS devise. But they sold PLUS advertising this feature. Crooked business. | |
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| Review by abitbent - Location: Brantford,ON
- Cost: $1 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 7 days
Good "Cheap."
Bad "Call quality and hidden charges for Canadians"
Overall "Tired of the call quality and hidden fees."
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I was just looking to drop my Bell Canada land line. Everyone in the house has a mobile phone and I was paying an additional $80/month on a Bell land line with a few features.
Considered Vonage however I didn't like the fact that monthly credit card transactions was the only way to pay.
I've had MJ now for about 3 years and admittedly I'm getting tired of it. I mean you still can't beat the price but I've found call quality has dropped off within the last year. It's hit and miss.
I upgraded to the MJ Plus which plugs right into the router so the whole thing with needing a pc on 24 7 is not an issue any longer.
The yearly charge is $29 which is still dirt cheap, but they surprised me with also charging me and additional $10 each year for a "premium" number. All Canadian numbers are considered premium.
I went a couple of years without paying this, then all of a sudden MJ notified me that although I was paid for the service for the year, I'd lose my number if I didn't pay the premium for a Canadian number.
To me, this was a little underhanded and a little snake oil slick.
Still, the price is cheap but if I'm now looking at approaching 50 bucks a year, I may as well pay a few extra bucks for better call quality with another voip based system
I think I'm going to cancel MJ this year, I'm sort of tired of it.
member for 9.4 years, 206 visits, last login: 3 days ago
updated 245 days ago
Comments:
| Review by (hidden by request) - Location: Las Vegas,Clark,NV
- Cost: $20 per month (12 month contract)
Good "Low price"
Bad "See review"
Overall "MagicJack is not worth any short-term savings."
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Rating 1 star of 5 stars
MagicJack itself doesn't work well and the company is horrible:
1. The low cost attracted me...and the benefits end there.
2. Calls regularly don't go through. Fortunately, my phone has a redial
button and it's gotten a lot of use with MJ.
3. Calls drop sometimes out of the blue.
4. The other party often hears tones that they say sounds like I am hitting
my phone keypad, which I am not. Sometimes I have to repeat comments
because the extraneous tones prevent adequate communication.
5. The service is pre-paid, but if you want to leave them, they require a
$30 extortion fee to keep your own number that you gave them when signing
up for their horrible service.
6. Their tech support system is only a chat box. They seem to not like it
when a problem is brought up and they regularly disconnect the chat with:
"Since we haven't heard from you, we must release this chat," which is
sometimes done 1 second after their or my last chat note.
7. MJ doesn't have 3-way calling. They offer a conference line instead, but
it has to be set up every time it's used.
8. The system dies and needs to be rebooted almost weekly. When contacting
their chat support people about it, they act as though it's a rare
occurrence, but it isn't. This happens regularly in the middle of a call or
when no one is on the phone so when someone calls in under this situation,
there is no ring and the call is missed.
9. When disconnecting from their service, they require more lead time than
anyone in the industry, almost 4 weeks.
10. Their advertising is deceptive on their basic product, which requires
that the computer be left on to receive calls, but they don't reveal this
until after the product is sold.
Summary: they are unethical, unprofessional, have lousy technology and are
not worth any short-term savings.
For perspective, I used to work in telecom, but have no allegiances to any
telecom company.
(review was emailed from domain gmail.com)
lodged 259 days ago
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