VOIP etc > Voice Over IP - VOIP > MagicJack > MagicJack unfair competition actions?

MagicJack unfair competition actions?

I use MJ to call a conference hub all the time. Not sure why they would single out one service.

When MJ quality is bad I use a pay-as-you-go Skype or vbuzzer.com account to call the conference hub. $10 to fund either one. Calls to toll-free numbers are free. As long as you use it once every 3 months(?) the money stays in the account.

Maybe you could do that to call the conference hub?

Mark

reply to Plexis
Oh, if you look through old posts on this forum, you'll find lots of folks kicked off for "excessive" use.

Likewise if you look in the main Voip forum on this website, the same issue with regard to other providers.

There's really no such thing as "unlimited" use---
especially for 20 bucks a year!

I am NOT defending it, just explaining that's the way it is.

The amount of money is so small that no court and no regulatory agency would want to bother with it. Even as a class action.

This is just one small part of their Terms of Service:

"If magicJack sees excessive use, including but not limited to, a customer whose usage is twenty (20) times more than the average magicJack's customers usage, or systematic or intentional misuse, it reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate your use of the magicJack device and/or Software immediately, and you will not be entitled to get a refund of any licensing fee or any other fee you may have paid to us."

Aside from that, your mistake was letting them know you were going to use it that way!

Unfortunate you couldn't solve the tech problems without calling attention to yourself. They probably would have taken much longer to notice you!

As of today (August 19), the Magic Jack czars blocked my dialing to connect with Free Conference Call.com. When I dial any of the phone numbers to connect with the conference service I get a recording from Magic Jack telling me that they are not allowing calls to the conference service number(s) and (blah, blah, blah) if I want to conference through Magic Jack, I have to use the Magic Jack conference service.

Since when does Magic Jack get to determine what phone number I can dial to or not? Shades of 1984. This is ridiculous. Unless they rescind this ludicrous policy, I will not recommend Magic Jack to my friends and colleagues.

By the way,I use the conference service one or two times a week for about 1.5 hours on average. So, tell me Magic Jack czars -- how can that be construed as excessive use? Moreover, in reference to the reference of "excessive use" -- being "kicked off" for excessive use seems to me to mean that my Magic Jack is off-ed entirely, not that I am barred from dialing certain phone numbers. This is outrageous.

reply to Plexis
Those "free" conference bridge services are actually paid for through dubious means. The LECs that provide the phone numbers (typically small, rural ones) charge much, much higher rates for call termination than most other LECs do. Typically the termination fees that LECs charge each other end up being a wash but in these cases, the conference bridge's LEC isn't paying other telcos much but collecting a lot. AT&T tried blocking calls to them and got smacked down over it.

The dubious part of the financing is that those LECs share a portion of the termination costs received with the conference bridge provider, similar to 900 and 976 numbers. But in those cases the caller is paying directly for the service. In these cases, the amount is paid via the call termination arbitrage.

Similar schemes are being used widely for fraud now. Fraudsters are using international premium rate numbers, either by fooling legitimate callers or opening fraudulent accounts and making the calls themselves, so that they can collect the money.

Now back to your problem with MagicJack. I think this is a very interesting look into the financial viability of the service. They can't afford to allow you to make these higher cost calls. By not collecting even a moderate monthly service charge, the sales to new users are financing the usage of the existing base. That and those who buy it and stop using it. There is no way that $20 can cover the cost of providing the service for 1 year of the average phone user's usage.

MagicJack has trying to position themselves as a doodad that can be used to make phone calls and not a phone service. I say trying because they are using advertisements offering phone service for $1.70/month. There are other parts of their ads that contradict the "doodad that can make phone calls" claim such as getting "your own phone number" that can't be ported out. But as long as they're able to get away with claiming to not be a phone service, you can complain but I don't think anyone is listening.

reply to Plexis
You don't mention which conference hub service you are using but the drama involving conference hubs is nothing new.

The problem is newer non-traditional phone companies route calls so that they can "bridge" the calls and tack on, often exorbitant, fees. That's how the conference service makes it's money, generally through a kick back from a non-traditional telco. Who has to pay the higher charges? The originating phone company, in this case, MJ.

Here's a blog by one of these conference services that fights to continue their "free" service which isn't actually free for the telco that has to pay the bill:

»blog.freeconferencecall.com/Default.aspx

Here is a 2007 CNET article describing how small telcos, like you might find in Iowa, or bridging calls through participating telcos so they can charge high fees to the originating telco:

»blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=409&t···xccnbzd1

I can't address the legality of MJ blocking calls to these so called free conference hubs but I can't blame them for not wanting to pay for them.

In this matter, I personally side with MJ. You wouldn't expect MJ to pay for 976 numbers or to those scam high priced numbers in the Caribbean, would you? I wouldn't expect MJ to also pay for the scam fees charged by conference hubs either.

The posts here seem to point towards MJ as being unfair or singling out a particular phone number or user for some nefarious reason. However, it's pretty widely known that nearly ALL telcos balk at conference hub calls and their unreasonable fees. The big ILECs like AT&T are largely stuck paying the fees due to existing laws but most smaller operators like CLECs, VOIP, and wireless telcos seem to wriggle their way out of having to connect/pay for these types of calls.

reply to Plexis
Thank you all for your posts. It would seem this is not a new situation. However, I will say that because of this issue I now look closely at any "phone service" I am considering. And what I've found is that even though the price is much higher it is still cost effective to go with a more reliable system. Currently, I am looking at installing a multi-line phone system that will no doubt be more reliable and just as expandable. Also, because I cannot use MJ for why I purchased it they will NOT get another dime out of me, besides I have filed a complaint, for false advertising against MJ. Seeing the FL Attorney General just finished a case with them in April it looks like they didn't learn a thing from all the scrutiny and fines they received. Pete has left the building and now here come repete.

reply to Plexis
I signed up 6 weeks ago and have been using freeconferencecall.com for 6 weeks. This morning, important client meeting, and they block the number. This is a violation of Anti-Trust laws.

I am working on a class action lawsuit and taking these guys court.
I will be setting up a website shortly.

We are going to litigate the f$%K out of them.

reply to Plexis
Today had same thing happen to me. Was using conference call-in for while, now they are blocking it?
Take them to court - make them pay for this illegal activity.

reply to Plexis
If you are suing Magic Jack, I guess that you will each want 20.00 for a year's service.
After all, for $40.00 retail you also get the "dongle" that can be used as a sound card/telephone interface for other computer based voip services.

If push comes to shove, MJ will alter their advertisements and say that you can call any "geographicial" number in the United States.

For $20.00 per year, it is cheaper than virtually any toy on the market, and it makes a good secondary service. But if you are using it for business or commercial purposes, you may wish to consider a commercial business service.

reply to Plexis
I don't understand any of the tech speak in the posts, but I am in the same situation where my calls were blocked after a couple of months and am really angry about it. I think this should be, at the very least, common knowledge to those who purchase this product and I have filed a complaint with the FCC. I let go of my phone company and incurred cancellation charges because the product worked for two months! Now I have to pay more service charges and change my number yet again and don't even qualify for a refund of the MJ price because they decided to do it on a whim, at their discretion, conveniently after the money back period! At the very least, THAT is illegal! That's bait and switch and yes, consumers have a right to be extremely angry about that practice even if the bait really is too good to be true -- that's the point of that law! You might not be justified in expecting that a car can take you to the moon or a jar of cold cream can make you young again or a candy can cure cancer but it still makes sense to make it illegal for a company to claim that theirs does! It's advertising that has gotten out of hand. I would not even have considered MJ if I had known about this. This company is just begging for a class action suit on all these grounds.

Is the company located in Florida that I need to file with the BBB there? I think the FCC is a better choice anyway. This isn't a small, local company that didn't offer good service. This is a nationally advertised product for an essential service and they really should be stopped from making the claims that they do.