What's the deal with Direct Buy and Magic Jack?

[disneygoof]

Not curious enough to call the number, but curious to know what is the catch?

 

[Nayan]

Magic Jack is a good product that works. Direct Buy is a huge scam!

 

[vicki_c]

There are tons of reports on the Internet about what a scam Direct Buy is.

 

[powellrj]

no catch with magic jack, you just get your phone service through your home computer. We had it when it first came out and sent it back because they didn't have anything in our state for a home phone number so it wasn't convenient. Now they have local numbers so we should get it again.

From what I understand, its $1,000's of dollars for direct buy to join.

 

[Nayan]

From what I understand, its $1,000's of dollars for direct buy to join.

Yes it does cost $1,000's to join and their prices, which they make you think are a good deal, are marked up over 1000%. The same faucet that I bought for my kitchen at Lowes for $100 is over $800 at Direct. It is a huge scam and here's a couple links showing how 'wonderful' they are:

http://consumerist.com/2011/04/directbuy-pressured-me-into-signing-up-but-wont-let-me-buy-anything-i-want.html

http://consumerist.com/2007/09/direct-buy-pay-5000-to-save.html

http://consumerist.com/2010/09/directbuy-wont-let-me-in-their-showroom-without-my-husband.html

 

[DawnM]

I wonder how they (DirectBuy) even stay in business?

If you are really looking at replacing home phone service, we opted for Ooma over MJ. We have had it for almost 2 years now and don't have a phone bill (we pay $11 per year for taxes) now and have unlimited calling, voicemail, call waiting, and caller id.

They also offer a premium service for $9/mo that includes a 2nd line, call forwarding and a few other features we don't need. They also offer this for $69/year various times.

Ooma is $199 (Costco) for the "hub" and is an internet based phone service (uses your modem). You don't need to have your computer on for it to work.

We love it.

Dawn

 

[katrina1122]

We got magic jack to have an extra line at our business just for faxes. It doesn't have the oomph to run a fax through for some odd reason, but when we dialed out as a phone call it was fine.

 

[AmandaRG]

Wow! Interesting info in the news piece. We had thought about it, and I called to see about making an appointment because we were doing some buying of furniture/flooring/fixtures. The rep was so rude to me on the phone that I wasn't about to waste our time, so I cancelled it and haven't looked back.

As for Magic Jack, I have been wary of it even though our local news station did a demo and it worked fine for them.

 

[girli565]

We have magic jack. Works exactly like the commercial says it does. You literally plug it in, pick your number, and it's working. The only downside I see is that the computer has to be running all the time. But we normally have ours on always because we use it often and now bc of the phone. It's cheap, and even cheaper when you use the offers they have on the pop up window; 5yrs service for $69 is cheaper than te normal yearly price. It sounds great and is exactly what we need for the house. It even has caller I'D and voicemail that gets sent to your email as a sound file.

 

[timmac]

Just to add a different perspective on MagicJack, though in most cases it works well, if your computer is older/slower or your internet connection is at all flaky, then your mileage will vary with the product. DS has a friend who's parents have that as their only phone, and it's nearly impossible to talk to them on the phone, ever.

 

[goofyfatherof2]

I was wondering how magicjack worked for so cheap. I switched to vonage over 5 years ago and no real problems after initial set up. We pay $34.52 every month for unlimited north america calling vs over $50 every month for limited calls with Verizon. I also have home voicemail sent to my cell phone as a text. No more missed voicemails because my dd's listen to the voicemail and then forget to tell anyone.