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Hundreds of customers have posted comments in Intuit forums, product review sites and other Web outlets reporting similar problems getting the software to run.
The most common complaints revolve around getting the software to work at all. Customers routinely report that after they go through with what appears to be a normal installation of the current versions of TurboTax, they can't get the application to run.
Intuit vice president
Rick Bunton, a retired software developer from Avon, Conn., said he's had intermittent problems getting TurboTax to run. The only strategy that appears to work is following Intuit's suggestion to log out of Windows XP and log in again when TurboTax acts up, a clumsy solution that will at least allow Bunton to finish his taxes. "Bottom line for me, personally, is that they have at least responded, but they have not provided a fix," he said.
Ken Merwin of Cambria, Wis., said it took six hours of reinstalling TurboTax and fiddling with the Windows XP "safe mode"--in which the operating system runs with minimal supporting software--to get the tax software to work. "I have never had to go through such extra work to install software, not even under DOS," he said in a posting at Intuit's TurboTax support forum. "Shame on Intuit/TurboTax for releasing what appears to be an inadequately tested program. After five-plus years of using TurboTax, I'll be switching to another tax prep program next year."
Intuit Vice President Bob Meighan said installation glitches occur for only a tiny fraction of TurboTax customers and that most stem from conflicts with security software.
"It's not because the software is bad, it's because all these firewall and virus-protection programs are creating more places to have hang-ups," Meighan said. "In almost all cases, we have work-arounds."
Intuit's support document for "TurboTax fails to start" lists almost a dozen programs that can prevent TurboTax from running, including such common applications as RealNetworks' RealPlayer media software and Sun Microsystems' Java updating utility.
Meighan said conflicting software is also to blame for another common class of complaints from customers unable to download necessary updates for TurboTax. In most cases, firewall software and other security products are blocking traffic to Intuit servers, he said. Intuit's solution is to turn off such applications while the update process is at work.
"We don't like to go into modifying people's firewall settings," Meighan said, "We don't know the ins and outs of every single firewall product out there. Just for the moment while TurboTax updates, we ask them to switch that stuff off."
For customers who won't run their PC with shields down even for a few minutes, Intuit will ship update files burned on a CD upon request. Meighan added that customer support calls for TurboTax are down by about 20 percent this year, thanks to improvements in the software and online support resources.
TurboTax is the perennial leader in the market for tax preparation software and online services. But the product gave Intuit a black eye two years ago, when clumsily imposed anticopying technology prompted widespread customer dissent.
More recently, the company attracted attention when a message in the business version of TurboTax erroneously directed customers to an 800 number for a sex talk operation.
See more CNET content tagged:
TurboTax, Intuit Inc., tax, firewall, vice president
Bleah. I may be using the H&R software, next year.
-tom
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Bleah. I may be using the H&R software, next year.
-tom
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
This is tax software, after all. No more is
required than some rule-based logic, arithmatic,
and a boilerplate UI. Sure, the transaction for
actually e-filing requires implementation of an
actual transaction protocol, but that's about it.
The fact that such a paltry application has blown
out of proprtion and is sensitive to normal user
environments to the point where it won't even run
is the pinnacle of poor design. A cute animation
here, some intrusive product activation there, it
mounts up. I think it's rather endemic of
declining standards for Windows-based software in
general -- where it's better to look cutting edge
than to be practical.
What I don't get is why you can't simply download
from the IRS web-site a Java tax application that
does the same thing. Cut out the middleman, cater
to the 10% that don't use Windows, eliminate the
annoying clutter and advertising, support all the
forms and nuances of the tax code, etc. The cost
would be relatively low (about the same as making
new forms each year and mailing them out).
This is tax software, after all. No more is
required than some rule-based logic, arithmatic,
and a boilerplate UI. Sure, the transaction for
actually e-filing requires implementation of an
actual transaction protocol, but that's about it.
The fact that such a paltry application has blown
out of proprtion and is sensitive to normal user
environments to the point where it won't even run
is the pinnacle of poor design. A cute animation
here, some intrusive product activation there, it
mounts up. I think it's rather endemic of
declining standards for Windows-based software in
general -- where it's better to look cutting edge
than to be practical.
What I don't get is why you can't simply download
from the IRS web-site a Java tax application that
does the same thing. Cut out the middleman, cater
to the 10% that don't use Windows, eliminate the
annoying clutter and advertising, support all the
forms and nuances of the tax code, etc. The cost
would be relatively low (about the same as making
new forms each year and mailing them out).
Craven
Craven
I just get disgusted at the continual refrain from the Mac addicts here, it's like they've got no clue about the real world.
I just get disgusted at the continual refrain from the Mac addicts here, it's like they've got no clue about the real world.
"It's not because the software is bad, it's because all these firewall and virus-protection programs are creating more places to have hang-ups," Meighan said. "In almost all cases, we have work-arounds."
Well, the fact remains that is this day and age people have security software. If they can't design their software to work with it then they shouldn't be in business. To expect people to spend many minutes or even hours try to fool around with workarounds or even worse turn off their security software just so their program will work is crazy. He Intuit we are working with important and personal finacial information, we need security more then than ever. Wake up you brain dead morons.
Robert
"It's not because the software is bad, it's because all these firewall and virus-protection programs are creating more places to have hang-ups," Meighan said. "In almost all cases, we have work-arounds."
Well, the fact remains that is this day and age people have security software. If they can't design their software to work with it then they shouldn't be in business. To expect people to spend many minutes or even hours try to fool around with workarounds or even worse turn off their security software just so their program will work is crazy. He Intuit we are working with important and personal finacial information, we need security more then than ever. Wake up you brain dead morons.
Robert
I have three PC's, all of which are configured with the same "security software" and two of the three will install the software, the third (the one I originally tried to install on) won't. I tried for about 4 hours with no luck. Even WinXP safe mode would not work. The only software difference between the three systems is that the one that wouldn't install was a clean installation (formatted hard disk) upgrade from Win2K. The others were preloaded with the PC. This is the first software install problem I have had on this system. Most people only have one PC, not three on a home network like I do.
If I ignored a file problem during installation (one of the tax form documents) the install would complete, but who knows what kind of tax issue that would raise? When trying to update either through the program or by downloading the update and running it off the hard drive, the install program would crash.
Now, Intuit can blame "Realplayer" or Sun's Java, but let's be real, those are ubiquitous programs and only serve to highlight the poor level of product testing in this version. AND those software were not the issue with my system as they were also on the PC's that did install.
I have been using TurboTax for six years now and if I have another year of problems like this one, I will be looking at the competition VERY hard. In fact, I will probably run both side-by-side next year and if they are comparable, Intuit will lose a TurboTax customer and I may consider dropping Quicken as well.
Intuit, get your "stuff" together. Another year of this and you will lose many of your loyal customers and proponents. A deny the problems and/or blame other software for your software problems is NOT a method of endearing your customers to you. Embracing the problems and finding solutions is a sign of good customer support. Get a clue or face the fact that customer will realize what you think of them. Actions are much louder than words.
Sincerely,
Scott
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
I have three PC's, all of which are configured with the same "security software" and two of the three will install the software, the third (the one I originally tried to install on) won't. I tried for about 4 hours with no luck. Even WinXP safe mode would not work. The only software difference between the three systems is that the one that wouldn't install was a clean installation (formatted hard disk) upgrade from Win2K. The others were preloaded with the PC. This is the first software install problem I have had on this system. Most people only have one PC, not three on a home network like I do.
If I ignored a file problem during installation (one of the tax form documents) the install would complete, but who knows what kind of tax issue that would raise? When trying to update either through the program or by downloading the update and running it off the hard drive, the install program would crash.
Now, Intuit can blame "Realplayer" or Sun's Java, but let's be real, those are ubiquitous programs and only serve to highlight the poor level of product testing in this version. AND those software were not the issue with my system as they were also on the PC's that did install.
I have been using TurboTax for six years now and if I have another year of problems like this one, I will be looking at the competition VERY hard. In fact, I will probably run both side-by-side next year and if they are comparable, Intuit will lose a TurboTax customer and I may consider dropping Quicken as well.
Intuit, get your "stuff" together. Another year of this and you will lose many of your loyal customers and proponents. A deny the problems and/or blame other software for your software problems is NOT a method of endearing your customers to you. Embracing the problems and finding solutions is a sign of good customer support. Get a clue or face the fact that customer will realize what you think of them. Actions are much louder than words.
Sincerely,
Scott
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Bob Meighan
------------------------------
Although installation and updating work as designed for the vast majority of our customers, a small number experience problems. For this small number of customers, we believe that improper settings for firewalls, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers, etc. account for most of the issues. Nevertheless, we work to resolve these issues with every customer who contacts us. Ultimately, we want every TurboTax customers to have a great experience using our products.
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
Bob Meighan
------------------------------
Although installation and updating work as designed for the vast majority of our customers, a small number experience problems. For this small number of customers, we believe that improper settings for firewalls, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers, etc. account for most of the issues. Nevertheless, we work to resolve these issues with every customer who contacts us. Ultimately, we want every TurboTax customers to have a great experience using our products.
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax
- Intuit response
- by February 24, 2005 3:00 PM PST
- Although installation and updating work as designed for the vast majority of our customers, a small number experience problems. For this small number of customers, we believe that improper settings for firewalls, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers, etc. account for most of the issues. Nevertheless, we work to resolve these issues with every customer who contacts us. Ultimately, we want every TurboTax customers to have a great experience using our products.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (46 Comments)We have 3 processes that we use to test TurboTax compatibility and functionality before we release it to the public.
1. In-House Testing - we have a lab with over 100 computers of all different configurations that we test on year round. This is supplemented by hundreds of computers that our tax analysts and engineering teams use to test things other than compatibility.
2. Beta Testing - Over 1000 TurboTax customers beta tested TurboTax on their own computers this fall. This provides additional assurance that TurboTax will run on a wide variety of hardware and software platforms in real life environments.
3. We use PC Test (www.pctest.com <http://www.pctest.com>), an independent software compatibility testing firm, to put TurboTax through additional compatibility / verification testing. Their results did not turn up any compatibility issues with the major firewall, antivirus, antispam, ad blockers and other miscellaneous utility/applications software programs. PC Test results for TurboTax are available at <https://pctest.com/intuit2005>.
We continue to conduct additional testing with products and configurations that our customers use. As a result of this testing, we have identified issues that have resulted in other companies updating their software. Just as we always encourage our customers to update TurboTax for the latest forms and calculations, our customers should do the same for other applications on their computer.
Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax