I know there is some of you on this message board that use Pro Series. Also I believe some of you rarely if at all use Pro Series customer support. I spoke to one of the customer service managers suggesting Pro Series offer their users/customers a "pay as you need" customer service. Then maybe that will improve their customer service. I have been with Pro Series since 2006 and customer service quality has been decreasing each year and 2014 TY was the worst since I been using Pro Series. The manager said they have kicking around the idea of "pay as you need". I suggest you contact Pro Series and suggest they change their customer service as a "pay as you need" basis then hopefully the software price will stabilize.
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If your concern is that the price of software will stay the same or go down because of pay as you go customer service, it may be short lived.
Look at the history of Turbo Tax and what happened when Intuit acquired it and Lacerte?
If price is your main concern then look for other tax prep software because that is how you can take control of what you want to pay.Taxes after all are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. - FDR -
Originally posted by ATSMAN View Post
Also, Intuit is a publicly held company... they have to have increases in revenue every year, else it will affect stock prices.... time to look elsewhere.
ChrisComment
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Honestly, without bashing ProSeries, I would have switched to them about four years ago if I could have dealt with their customer support. I was given versions of their 2008 and 2009 software and promised that I could "print" up to five returns.
While there were features that I considered to be poor at best ("Why won't it remember my zoom settings for the return preview screen?" comes to mind immediately), I thought I could live with it. However, despite entering the required registration information, I never got a return to print, so I could not determine if I could get it to fit my existing supply of return folders. Sales let me "audition" their technical support to get the printing issue resolved. I gave up about a week later.
In short, if I had to pay for their renowned lack of support, I am not sure I would have even considered auditioning the product. I had been a user many years ago and left them after an argument with their Technical Support who informed me that it was correct that Schedule D was not activated when the proceeds and basis were the same and that CPAs had reviewed this and determined that I was wrong (and, no, I cannot speak to these vaunted CPAs...I believe that this was fixed after some lawsuit was filed when the CP 2000s started arriving).
Back to the topic, it would be very hard for them to determine how to price their product with fee-based customer support. Some, like me, would never use their support if I had to pay even a dollar extra for it. Others would expect better service if they are paying for it (and will likely be very disappointed). They could either fire over 90% of their telephone support people (the ones who simply run interference until you reach someone who can help you) and charge a reasonable fee for the few who will likely use it or keep the staffing much higher and charge an exorbitant fee. I think I know which path Intuit would take.DougComment
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Answer with questions
ANSWER: the least costly way is to get the forms free from the government and manually prepare the returns and charge a lower fee to the client. Has anyone considered that?
DTLEE. reading your post "without bashing", goodness what do you call what you wrote?
Think Pro Series offers a "pay per return" option one can explore.
AZ. As far as increase in Pro Series, since 2009 there has been approx. a 3.5% increase. Would like to see Intuit go back to the cost in the year 2002. Also cost of CE credits, office supplies,etc. should be held at the 2000 cost level. Probably make us happy if that happened as long as WE can keep our current fees.
Also PTIN cost go back to "free" as in the earlier years. Why are they charging now to have a PTIN? Who came up with that idea?
There are other tax software companies offering lower prices and you get what you pay for. No one holding you back from making the switch. Business is business and decisions are made.
The profession is more costly than 10-15 years ago and the unfortunate part it is the client that gets the higher increase. Clients would like to see reduced tax preparation fees charged and no increase in their taxes. Can it be done in today's world?Always cite your source for support to defend your opinionComment
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Bashing Software
"Bashing" by any other name is not a rose. You can count me among those who read legitimate complaints against companies when the complaints are well-deserved. It is especially repugnant when the company is a huge corporate conglomerate with enough resources to address the most obvious of problems, and fail to do so.Originally posted by TAXNJ View Post
Not all complaints are well-deserved. Some of them come from cynical customers who are never going to be satisfied, no matter what. And some companies cannot respond with perfect solutions to imperfect scenarios such as those launched by the IRS.
But what all of you are seeing is corporate America functioning at its expected behavior. Maximize revenue, minimize expense. And left to its own device, revenues grow without value tendered, and expenses are squeezed to whatever cheapest levels the customer will put up with.
For all of us, just be happy that competition still exists. We have enough software companies competing for our business that we don't have to put up with ever-escalating prices and sub-par customer service. As far as Intuit products, I've got a special bias against a company that is trying to put us out of business and advertise that their product will enable the user to be as knowledgeable as we are, given our years of experience, training, and CPE. But their products are out there in the mix and are subject to evaluation of price and service just like the others.Comment
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I am sorry if this came off as "bashing" because I truly wanted to convert to their product but their technical support team could not even get it to print a return for me. The product and its pricing are probably appropriate, but it seems to me rather difficult to assess what possible value to place on their technical support. If few people use it, they will need to raise fees or cutback support further. If the service improves and is used by many, there will be incentive to have poorer documentation so that even more people use it to make it a true profit center.Originally posted by TAXNJ View Post
I truly was not intending to bash the product nor the technical support team...
Regarding their pay-per-return option, I had to cancel my order for that when they could not get their demo software to work.DougComment
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I am sorry you found my post illegitimate and repugnant. I spent hours (as much as 4 hours per day for a week much of it on hold) on the phone with Sales and Technical Support, with each of them passing the buck to the other. At some point, it became obvious to me that the sales person did not care if she lost a customer and I gave up trying. This was intended to be a statement of fact rather than a complaint, though I agree that it hardly praises them.Originally posted by Nashville View PostLast edited by dtlee; 05-12-2015, 12:35 PM.DougComment
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4 years later
Pro Series made changes since 2009 and hopefully addressed the issues you experienced. It is frustrating especially during tax season to run into problems.Originally posted by dtlee View Post
As you know if there is a drop in sales with any company, hopefully the the companies get the message. In talking to other tax professionals about software issues, Intuit issues are not alone, even higher end software.Always cite your source for support to defend your opinionComment
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I realize that they have changed....all companies have and I realize that all software products have issues. The one I was using had issues I could not tolerate, and I wanted to change to one that I could. Having known the product from the past, I figured that I would not need their support and did not have an issue with the fact that it did not match what my other provider had.Originally posted by TAXNJ View Post
My point was that I would be a ProSeries user today had it not been for their Technical Support. I evaluated four products that year to determine which would best suit my needs and ProSeries was by far the one I found most closely matching what I needed. It was only when I encountered their support teams when I came to a dead stop. I know people who have used it for years and others who have discarded it. No product is perfect. I ended up using TaxWorks that year and for a couple more until they had their issues and disappeared.
This was really not intended to bash them or their product.DougComment
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Nashville
Glad to hear you agree with the fundamentals of Capitalism, if reading your post correctly.
Curious with some of your comments and hope you don't mind but,
You are a business person, so how do you differ from?
But what all of you are seeing is corporate America functioning at its expected behavior. Maximize revenue, minimize expense. And left to its own device, revenues grow without value tendered, and expenses are squeezed to whatever cheapest levels the customer will put up with.
Would the comment below include other companies that offer "free e-file" for Federal but not state and similar marketing strategies?
As far as Intuit products, I've got a special bias against a company that is trying to put us out of business and advertise that their product will enable the user to be as knowledgeable as we are, given our years of experience, training, and CPE.Always cite your source for support to defend your opinionComment
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I would totally be okay with support priced as a separate optional item. I'd also be fine to pay separately for the client presentation and client advisor since it's a worthless joke. Same for the data import.Comment
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Just curious what do they want for the 2015 full tax prep package?? Is is significantly more than $1800.Taxes after all are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. - FDRComment
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1,948 for individual less 10% discount if renewed by 6/19. Business returns are additional.Originally posted by ATSMAN View PostComment
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$1800 was the quote I got last year!Taxes after all are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. - FDRComment
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