THE MAGIC IS GONE FROM MY LIFE

Our president expressing my sentiments towards MagicJack

Back in August of 2012, I wrote an article explaining how I didn’t really need a home phone anymore since everyone in the family had their own phone. The only calls I received were from people I didn’t want to hear from such as telemarketers and politicians. So I made the switch from AT&T (about $500 per year) to a device called Magicjack ($25 per year).

The quality of MagicJack was initially very good and I didn’t miss AT&T one bit. As time went on, however, MagicJack became less reliable. It would simply stop working in the middle of a conversation. I started receiving far more “spam” calls than ever before and various other issues. It was not big deal because I hardly ever used the home phone. But there was the issue of thing called “The Wife.” If you’ve ever had one of these, you probably know what I’m about to say; She insists on top quality everything regardless of the price. No, we hardly ever used the home phone but, by golly, when she used it, she wanted it to work. My mamma didn’t raise no fool so I researched alternatives to MagicJack. I finally settled on a device with astoundingly rave reviews called Ooma.

Ooma consists of a more robust bit of hardware that looks much like a router. In fact, Ooma actually is a specialized router that doubles as an answering machine. The Ooma device itself costs $150 but you can find a “refurbished” unit for about $129 (Shhh: I did not tell my wife it was refurbished). Once you acquire the hardware, the monthly costs for mandatory taxes and 911 fees are about $4.00 per month for unlimited nationwide calling.

Ooma as a typical “Voice over internet” phone that allows for cool things such as accessing voicemail over the internet, forwarding calls to your mobile phone, “spam” blocking and getting a text alert anytime someone dials 911 from your home phone.

Ooma will give you a free telephone number if you don’t have one but my goal was to keep my old phone number that I’ve had for a hundred years. That meant that I had to “port” (transfer) my number from MagicJack to Ooma. I started this process in mid-December. It should have taken a day or two but actually took nearly 3 months! Just a few days ago, MagicJack insulted me by asking for $50 before they would release my number to Ooma. I researched this fee and it is probably illegal. The advice I found on the internet suggested I ignore the extortion attempt and the transfer would take place anyway. So I ignored it and was pleased to finally complete the porting process. So kiss it, MagicJack!

For good measure, I filed a complaint with the FCC and the Alabama attorney general so hopefully I can leave MagicJack with a black eye. I’ll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, I have a much more functional home phone and a wife that loves me again.

Do you have a gripe about your phone service? Tell someone! http://www.fcc.gov/guides/portability-keeping-your-phone-number-when-changing-service-providers