Category Archives: Scam

The best eFax alternative: FaxZero

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Fax Zero - The best eFax alternativeIf you’ve ever tried using eFax, you’ve probably learned to hate it by now. Between their unscrupulous billing practices, and their outrageous price for fax services, they are now labeled as nothing more than a huge scam in my book.

These days, I only need to send a fax two or three times per year.  Nobody I know owns a fax machine (let alone a copper telephone line to send it over).  The biggest problem, however, was that until recently, there was no good alternative to eFax.

Now, like a bright ray of light descending from the heavens, we have faxZERO.com. Not only is their process simple, clean, quick and easy, but it is also…. FREE! No trial periods, no hidden fees… just FREE for faxes that are 3 pages or less.  If you have more than 3 pages to send, the cost is a fixed $1.99 per fax.

I do not make any commision with this post… I am just a happy customer after using their service for the first time today.

I can’t wait for the day that fax machines exist only in museums, but until then, just save yourself a HUGE hassle with eFax and use faxZero.

 

How to get your money back from eFax

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eFax is a huge scam. That isn’t news to anyone. Between the harassing calls from eFax and their shady billing practices, I’m not sure how they are still in business. After trialing their service, and then cancelling within my trial, I received a cancel confirmation email. But this didn’t stop eFax (J2 Global Inc) from charging my credit card 15 days later (charge appeared as “J2 *EFAX PLUS SERVICE 323-817-3205 CA”).

efax_charge

The chat and phone support provided by eFax is awful, and you won’t get anywhere by contacting them. If eFax scammed you, here’s how to get your money back very quickly:

  1. Document any contact with eFax support. I saved the chat logs, and all emails from them.
  2. Request a refund with eFax: If eFax wrongly charged your card, request a refund via their online chat. Save this chat log by copying and pasting. If you’d rather call, the number is 800-287-3499. Keep in mind you can not legally record the conversation without telling the other party on the phone.
  3. Submit a BBB complaint: You need to do this on the local BBB site. For J2/eFax, it is the LA office. First, look up the company using this information: J2 Global, Inc – 6922 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 500, Hollywood, CA 90028. Phone: 888-760-1112. Be very detailed. Outline the date that you signed up, the date that you cancelled, and when your card was charged. Demand that the company issue a full refund and close your account as a resolution.
  4. Do a charge-back: After submitting the complaint, I got a full refund to my card the very next day. If you do not get any results with the BBB after a week, or if you don’t even want to bother with any of it, just contact your credit card company and dispute the charge. If you have a half-way-decent credit card (Amex), they’ll just refund your money without too many questions.
  5. Small claims court: If you really want to screw with this company and have a well-documented case, consider a small claims case. You can file in your local court (you don’t need to fly to California). Small claims courts are designed to proceed without lawyers, so just bring your documented case. The company may ask for the case to be moved to a higher-level court, but it will at the very least create a headache for them.

Here is the response received from eFax within 24 hours of filing the BBB complaint:

Our customer contact data shows that the consumer had contacted eFax® support via chat on December 18, 2012, and requested to close his account. However, due to anomaly the cancellation was not completed and the consumer mistakenly incurred a charge. We have since corrected the error and completed the closure of the consumer’s account. Additionally, we processed a refund of $16.95 (consisting of all charges incurred) to the consumer’s affected credit card. The Collection Number for the reimbursement is XXXXXXX. The refund should be reflected on the consumer’s account shortly and is dependent on the consumer’s credit card provider. We apologize for any misunderstanding and any inconvenience it may have caused. We appreciate the consumer’s patience, as well as understanding in this matter.