I purchased MagicJack in March 2018. I opted for selecting my own phone number, which I believe cost an extra fee of $10 one time only. I set up "Auto Renewal" on my account online as I pay all of my bills with auto-pay. I have a cell phone, and use it for everything. The ONLY reason I purchased MagicJack was in case I lose my phone in the house, I can use the MagicJack phone to call my cell phone. I also can use my home phone if my cell phone is broken, and I have no phone, or need to call my cell phone provider from a different phone other than my cell phone. My subscription expired in March 2019 but, because I set up "Auto-Renewal," my service automatically renewed, however, in August 2019 I misplaced my cell phone and picked up my MagicJack home phone to call my cell phone to locate it. There was a dial tone, but when I started to enter my cell phone number, I received a message on the phone that said I needed to renew my service???? So why did I receive a dial tone then? And why would I have to renew since I set up auto-pay? As everybody says, customer service is a FRICKIN JOKE! In order to get someone on the phone, you need to call the sales department 8006244252 (M-F 9am to 11pm ET and Sat/Sun 10am to 7pm,) and press Opt 1, enter your MagicJack phone number, then option 1, then option 0. I found this out after numerous attempts to reach the billing dept (8448662442 10am to 7pm ET, closed on weekends.) I explained that I am on auto-renewal but picked up my phone to use it for the first time since my service renewed on 3-24-2019, and received a message that I need to renew my phone service - why??? After being on the phone almost an hour with the cust svc rep, I found out that even though I was set up for auto-renewal, IF you paid to select your own phone number when you got the service, auto renewal DOES NOT renew your phone number!! Auto renewal ONLY renews the service, NOT your number. You have to call customer service every year to renew your phone number. The rep told me she could renew my number, but suggested I turn off auto-renewal as I have to call to renew my number EVERY YEAR. Not only that, calling to renew is cheaper than auto-renewal! I highly recommend auto-renewal ( IF you did not select your own phone, so you don't have to spend hours on the phone with a customer service rep.) Auto renewal is $45.61 per year whereas manual rennewal (calling) costs $44.83 yearly - it's cheaper but only less than a dollar cheaper, so it's easier to auto-renew, again, ONLY if you did not select your own. I also recommend NOT renewing for more than one year at a time because several reviews mentioned consumers purchasing 3 yr plans, and some 5 yr plans only to expire 1 yr later and MagicJack tells them they have to renew AGAIN, AND would NOT refund the money they already paid for a3 yr or 5 yr plan. The main thing i wish to convey here, though, is IF you opted to select your own phone number, setting up AUTO-RENEWAL ONLY renews the phone "service" for one year, and does NOT renew your phone number - you have to call EVERY YEAR to renew. The customer service rep I had was HORRIBLE, kept cutting me off! She'd read stuff off real quick, and when I'd ask a question, she just kept talking over me, like she couldn't hear me. It took an hour to understand what the issue was when I called, because she talked fast and refused to let me ask questions. I finally got mad and asked her to stop talking over me, and ANSWER my questions!!! She was the WORST customer service rep I have EVER dealt with. Other than all of that, I really do not use my home phone. But when I have on occasion, the service is fine, the call is clear. MagicJack does NOT offer Caller ID-Name. Your phone will display the phone number that dialed you, but no name is displayed. If your home phone is programmable, and you can program phone numbers into it, when someone calls you, who's number is programmed in your phone, your phone itself will then display the caller's name; it works the same as a cell phone - if the person calling you is already in your contacts, their name will show up when they call you. Now MagicJack is charging an extra $10 for "Concierge" service - I do not pay for this service. It is for "Premium Support" (they give you a different phone number to call,) and discounts on replacement devices. Because MagicJack runs off of wireless internet, you need to have a good connection for MagicJack to work when dialing out or receiving calls.
