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Customer Service Expectations

ajcpa
Level 3

I have been using Proseries for over 30 years.   Has anyone notice the constant decline in service and delays in getting responses.  Years ago we could speak with someone who know how the program worked and not have to stop and check with someone else.   We are no longer able to elevate a problem to a supervisor or person with more knowledge.  Three times this tax season, I have requested a supervisor but  was unable to speak with one and was told a supervisor would call me back.  Fat chance.   I never received a call back. 

Over over the last 4 to 5 years, I have seen lots of program changes some are worthy but others are not well thought out.   More recently, there appears to be more effort in making sure professional do not make a mistake but it has gotten carried away.       

It does not appear that Intuit is concerned about the needs of tax professional preparers.   We want a program that works and efforts should be made to save time, clicks and effort.  Having to turn off validations, missing efile files, requiring a number of steps to be completed to file an extension is a waste of time.  Other issues ling printing hard copies of ES or changing printers or dealing with pop ups is not efficient.     Even errors that are not errors are occurring more often.   One must asked what are the criteria for establishing an error.  .   All these extra key strokes takes time during a period when time is a scarce resource.   

Has anyone had to amended a clients 2020 tax return for the March 2021 tax changes.   The program is a joke, it automatically changes the program to confirm to the new law even if you filed the return already.  NO warning that the data will be changed resulting in the original data being lost once you open the program.   What were these programmers thinking!!

We have little control to set defaults that will save paper or key strokes and I am curious with other prepares have the same frustration as request to make program changes have been far and few that actually saves us time.  One example, if you want to print out a form, it will automatically print out the smart sheet.   You have to uncheck for it not to print rather the having the default if you want it to print go ahead check the box.  Another example, If you use a double sided printer, you do not get the choice to print single sided, and you can not print out all the ES Vouchers at one time. No ability to put printing of state returns to start printing on a new page rather than on the on the back of the federal return or printing out Efile Authorizations.   Same problem when you print out K-1s you will not provide a page break between investors.   

When you call customer service, you need to provide Customer number and then when get a representative, you need to provided, customer number, email and name.   Is customer impersonation that big of a problem?   

Our fees for the program have gone up every year but customer service has declined.    I learned today, Proseries no longer provides customer support for tax years still in the statute of limitations.   For example, CA statute of limitations if 4 years form date of timely filed return how ever the 2017 tax is no longer supported by customer service.  What gives?

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7 Comments 7
Just-Lisa-Now-
Level 15
Level 15

I cant remember the last time I needed to call support, so I have no experience with phone support reps at all.

When I first installed 2020 it started printing duplex for me as well (hate that!), but its not a Proseries option to set, you have to change it in your Windows printer settings. Once I unchecked that box, I didnt have anymore issues.   To print all the ES vouchers at once, I just choose Print Preview, and only check the forms I want to print, easy peasy.

Yes the tax law changes automatically changing the returns is a hassle, Ive been locking the file after its accepted, so if I open it again just to look at it, its still the same as when it was filed.

Thankfully the majority of my clients preferred to wait to see if the UI exclusion passed prior to filing their return...I think I only had 6 or 8 that we filed prior and IRS will correct those automatically, so no amendments for them.  IRS is automatically adjusting for the APTC exclusion as well, so no amendments there either.


♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥Lisa♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪
PATAX
Level 15

@ajcpa Another issue which I have noticed is sometimes you have a hard time understanding the English that the representative is speaking.... I usually understand broken English as I come from "foreign stock".... but the immigrants in my area have enough common sense not to work in customer service unless they have mastered the English language and that is just plain common sense.. And as you know it is also just my opinion...

IRonMaN
Level 15

Who calls customer support?  I've been using ProSeries for close to 20 years.  If I counted on my fingers how many times I have called support over those years, I would still have a lot of fingers left over.  In the early years, if I had a problem, I would figure it out or figure out a work around.  These days, I check into this forum on a regular basis to see if anybody has hit any road bumps that I need to watch out for.  

As far as the program making changes after the return is done, yeah that is a nuisance.  It would be nice if the software would be able to recognize that the return has been e-filed and accepted and not make any changes unless it asks for permission.  But then again, you complained about price increases, so doing something like that would probably involve an increase in price.  

As far as PA's point goes, the foreign accent isn't just a overseas based issue.  Over the years I've dealt with Valley Girls rambling at a thousand words a second on the phone or folks that moonlight at a support job and catch alligators in the Bayou as their primary occupation.  I have trouble understanding those folks just as much as I struggle at times dealing with overseas support.  But then again, those folks might struggle when they call Minnesota support looking for information about hotdish recipes.

So to sum things up, when it comes to customer expectations, I have none with dealing with Intuit.  Their main focus is reeling those dollars in and really could care less if you have a problem later.  This place is the main focus for support these days.  That way they don't have to pay those overseas support people $12 a day for their work.  They can get by paying zero dollars for support ------------ more good news for that Intuit stockholder's annual meeting.

 

 


Slava Ukraini!
PATAX
Level 15

@IRonMaN you hit the nail on the head... But those Valley girls are so rad...👍😉

Just-Lisa-Now-
Level 15
Level 15

Anyone else excited to see what fresh new hell Win 11 brings along with it?


♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥Lisa♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪
Skylane
Level 11
Level 11

@IRonMaN Jeff, your reply nearly as long as the rant.  @ajcpa  Next year will be 33 years with Turbo Tax Pro aka Proseries….. their support is okay for the most part. After all these years, navigating Inuit is fairly easy compared with other help desks…. I guess (after all these years) the alternative is retirement.     @IRonMaN  Runs a very nice (lutefisk) ice fishing camp

If at first you don’t succeed…..find a workaround
PATAX
Level 15

@Just-Lisa-Now- I am also sick and tired of these window updates... Every time I get one I keep my fingers crossed.. In my opinion, what a joke...