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TurboTax Activation Fiasco
kurtinatlanta writes "Though the news broke in September, no one cares about tax return preparation software until January. Apparently Intuit's activation scheme for TurboTax will only allow you to print or file your returns from the computer on which you first installed it. The phrase "one computer" in their license literally means one computer. Moving the software (i.e. disk reformat, buy new computer) requires buying it again. There are all kinds of negative reviews on amazon.com as a result. Is this problem real or overhyped?" There's a more recent story about the flap. The Intuit PR rep is quoted as saying that people can install the software on multiple computers using the same activation code, but I don't think an unworking installation really counts.
Last year I needed to file a 1040 for the first time. Usually I just go for the 1040EZ, but I had a few items I needed to use the 1040 for. Ok, whatever.
I was looking for a good e-file solution, so I found Turbotax online. For $10 you can file your 1040, no software to install, it's a secure java applet. Cool. I spent a good 45 minutes filling everything out, triple checking my numbers, submitted it, life was good.
Three weeks later, I get an envelope from the IRS.
It seems that Turbotax f#@%ed up my taxable income, and stiffed me $320 on my federal return. The IRS fixed it and sent me a check for the difference, but I was still ticked. I printed off all the info and studied it carefully. All the data I put in was right. I ran the numbers manually, and what do you know, my taxable income was lower, and when I comp[uted the tax table I found the missing $320.
F@#% YOU, TURBOTAX.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Sorry Susano, but I shouldn't have to "slashdot them with complaints" to get good service.
/. friends to harass them to get this stuff fixed...
I should be able to shut off the ads in quickbooks.
I shouldn't have to pay $75 for technical service that I never recieved.
I shouldn't have to pay $149 a year for tax tables when the gross margin must be 98%.
I shouldn't have to call and explain to them who I am to reinstall my 1999 tax software
If I have to call them, they should be open 24/7 not just when it's convenient for them.
Just the ads in quickbooks alone are reeediculous. I generate an invoice, intuit wants to sell me a service to check if the customer will pay. I write a check, they want to sell me checks. I quit quickbooks, they want to sell me back-up services.
I shouldn't have to get 200K of my closest
They aren't devoted to customer satisfaction, they are devoted to squeezing the absolute most they can out of their customers. I think just a few google searches will be enough to demonstrate that they have squeezed too hard and will therefore, like they have with me and many others in on this article, lose business due to an almost complete disinterest in customer satisfaction.
Oh, and I've written them about all of these issues. Not even the courtesy of a reply. They couldn't be bothered to lift a pen, much less fix the issue. Customer service indeed.
I've been trying to post this "review" to Amazon for a couple of days, but there seems to be something wrong with their comment posting code. So here's MY experience with TurboTax 2002
[amazon posting starts here]
I won't reiterate many of the points made by other reviewers on amazon -- I'll just summarize the reviews as "good software, but the copy protection sucks".
I had the copy protection suck more than most. I dual boot WindowsXP and Linux, using the "GRUB" bootloader (which is currently used now by, among others, RedHat linux), and installing TurboTax 2002 made my entire computer unbootable! The activation code writes some information to the front of the harddrive (before the first partition), which overwrote my bootloader, which was already living there! (This may happen with other bootloaders as well... I've only tested with the one).
And fixing my system so it would boot again (by reinstalling the bootloader) produced a copy of TurboTax that a) thought it wasn't activated, and b) Thought that my productid had already been used "by another computer", so couldn't be re-activated.
Intuit did eventually give me another product ID that worked, after I spent several hours trying to explain the problem to tech support, and rebooting time and time again as the reps had me uninstall, reinstall, install in safe mode, install while standing on my head...
The software itself is OK (Though I still wish it could import from Quicken based on the "class" of the transactions), but I have the strong opinion that installing tax software should not render my computer unbootable!