@Tim
I was with several service bureaus before considering Guardian and I was left unaffected by these Service Bureau Fees that you speak of. The only difference I experienced with TRX and Refunds Today before them was; I called a different support team put together by the service bureau. That was the only discernible difference I ever experienced, other than software fees. It was the exact same product for less and my service bureau fee was negligible as it was only applied to bank products and bundled into the already existing transmission fees. Usually, because service bureaus are smaller, they focus a bit harder on customer satisfaction. I suppose the software manufacturers have a transmission fee while service bureaus label their transmission fees as service bureau fees, but I never felt a difference in my pocket book from the switch. I do know that working with service bureaus is a viable option to working directly with the software manufacturer and it's the not the scam you or he makes it out to be.
That's weird, I called Drake and confirmed that Guardian is legit. They said Guardian has a license to work as a service bureau for Drake. Could you post a link to where this is discussed on the Drake forums?
@ATX is not dead
While ATX is still improving there's been a marked difference in the level of innovation and support since the buyout from CCH. Perhaps dead is not the right word, but I've noticed strong amounts of decay in service and innovation. Remember the first year through the change of ownership? That year was horrible and the support staff did not know the product. It was apparent that they sacked all their old support staff and tried to use their existing support team and retrain them to learn ATX at the last minute. I left them that year and been bouncing around ever since looking for a new home. The ATX line of tax preparation software competes with the new owners already existing line of tax software. They're certainly interested in keeping the business they already have, but the product will certainly not be upgraded to keep pace with the market and industry. I speculate that new development will stagnate in comparison to other software, as it doesn't pay for CCH to payroll a redundant set of developers and support staffers work on a separate product that undermines the market share of their already existing brands. So, while CCH didn't kill ATX immediately it will eventually erode into non-existence. I just want to be with a brand that I know has a strong interest in staying in the market.