One of the tools I use a lot in Panama to talk to family, friends, and businesses, in the U.S., is Magic Jack. It is a slick little device that connects to the USB port on your PC and allows you to talk VOIP using a real telephone.

All calls to the U.S. and Canada are covered by their annual fee of $20. We also use it to call Costa Rica and it is cheaper than buying phone cards. When Natalie was in China, we called her for just 2 cents a minute. To call other than the U.S. and Canada just required buying time using a credit card.

I have used it for several years with no real problem until about three weeks ago. I had called Lilliam in Costa Rica and used all of my purchased time. I tried to purchase more time, which had always been simple, only to find that my credit card was not being accepted.

Contacting Magic Jack about problems took some time. Finally I was able to talk to a “Live Person” in a chat session. Everything was cordial but nothing was resolved. The attendant submitted my case for review.

Most companies will send you email conformations related to problem calls. Not Magic Jack. Over the last three weeks, I have contacted them several times. Each time I am told my problem is under review. Now I understand that problems such as this can take a couple days to resolve, but several weeks is too much. I still have receive no email about the problem.

You cannot talk to a real person on the phone to discuss your problem, You can only chat on the Internet. Since the problem has gone on this long, I thought it might be worth posting. Luckily, now that Natalie is no longer in China and Lilliam has returned from Costa Rica, all calls are to the U.S. and Canada. Those still work fine, but if my current contract expires, purchasing a renewal wont work as it used the same mechanism as buying International time.