A LETTER TO ATX

[1040PRO]

This letter was emailed to ATX president just before midnight on January 30th 2013: i hope some of you on the community can relate and add your comment to help better explain your frustrations to ATX to try and get there attention. IT WAS ALSO POST ON THE ATX WEBSITE COMMUNITY

DEAR MR JEFF GRAMLICH, I understand that this is a trying time for all of us, and don’t place all the blame on ATX as many have on the forums (but many of us have been with ATX for some time and feel that ATX has reasonably priced product that serve our overall needs) and, I feel that many just are venting and using ATX as a scapegoat for whatever their personal problems are in addition to the overall frustration to the delays we have all experience this tax season. I think many of us would feel better if we just knew that ATX cared and was working on the problem instead of getting the standard corporate respond. We all got an email the other day from Rusty Tillman and it sounded like it was written by ATX lawyers. I can’t speak for everyone but many if not most of us are smaller mom and pop type companies and if we felt like ATX cared about us more than just us being another number or your just what we do for your bottom line. We may be just a little more patient so that you could resolve these problems. Yesterday I work from 9am till 3am the following morning to make sure everything was working the best it can. And if there would have been some updates today posting on the web site to problems that have been identified and that ATX was working on them, some of us would not be clogging the phone lines (knowing ATX was aware of the problem). Many of the forum responses seem to indicate that tech. support is Bs’ing their way to the end of their shift rather than caring that they are solving the problem. Also it perplexes me that with all the problem that u all know exist that each and every employee should have remain at the call centers instead of closing and just shutting the phones off and going home like it was a regular day (it is by far not just any regular day). A couple of days of overtime sucks for any company but you must admit it would have showed all of us that use ATX, that you truly care about your customer more. One of the treads indicate that upward of 300 customer plan on or have left ATX which I estimate at minimum represent 500k of revenue ATX may have lost. It would have not killed any of you employee to have stayed, because as a successfully self employed individual for the past 25 years, I have learned that customer come first, and any employee that griped about staying longer for a few days to get over the hump should be put in their place that without the customer they don’t have a job.

I apologize for any grammar and run on sentences in advance for I don’t have a staff of lawyer writing letters for me (and I still have hours of work to go tonight). I hope you read this with an open mind and resolve problems. Because this letter is aimed and helping solving the problem, and is not intended to point a finger at any one.

Sincerely

Cliff Bennett

1040PRO LLC

Dba BENNETT INCOME TAX

GOODYEAR AZ

Also included is a tech support ticket I sent last night about 10 pm Arizona time:

this was email to ATX tech support:

OK I WILL TRY THIS AGAIN AND I DONT WANT HALF OF THE RESPONCE TO TELL ME HOW SORRY YOU. SO CUT THRU THE BS AND GIVE ME A FIX. I HAVE BEEN USEING ATX SINCE 1999 AND AM A VERY EXPRIENCE USER OF THE PROGRAM. I AM ON VER. 12.5.126.3 FORMS VER 509 JUST DID UPDATE AT 9PM ARIZONA TIME AND IT ONLY UPDATED FORMS UPATED PROGRAM UPDATE 12.5...... YESTERDAY.

WHEN WE ROLLOVER FROM 2011 TO 2012 THE RETURN DOES NOT SHOW IN THE RETURNS MANAGER (I HAVE TO CLOSE THE SOFTWARE EACH TIME I DO ROLLOVER FOR IT TO APPEAR) I JUST DID MY FIRST EFILE AND IT APPROVED WITH NO ERRORS BUT WHEN I WENT TO THE EFILE MANAGER IT WAS NOT THERE SO WHAT DID I HAVE TO DO FOR IT TO be SEEN (YUP I HAD TO CLOSES PROGRAM AND REOPEN.) POOF IT WAS THERE.... THIS WASTE WAY TO MUCH TIME WAY TO MUCH TIME. I AM USING NETWORKED VERSION JUST 2, MINE AND 1 OTHER WORKSTATION IT IS AFFECTED THE SAME ON BOTH. WORKSTATION TAKES UP TO 15 MINS TO ROLLOVER AND REOPEN SOFTWARE EACH TIME. (AND PLEASE DONT TELL ME TO ROLLOVER ALL 1500 RETURNS, NOT ALL CUSTOMER WILL COME BACK AND IT IS A LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE TO DO THAT).

I HOPE WHO EVER READS THIS HAS ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE TO TELL ME THE TRUTH. I WOULD RATHER BE TOLD THAT U ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND ARE ADDRESSING IT RATHER THEN THE USUAL NON ANSWER. OR TO TRY SOMETHING U KNOW WILL NOT WORK. ALSO PLEASE DONT TELL ME TO CALL TECH SUPPORT, AS U KNOW WAIT TIME ARE 2 PLUS HOURS LONG I WOULD RATHER HAVE SOME ONE CALL ME AT 623 932 1971 BETWEEN 9AM AND 9PM ARIZONA AND REMOTE LONG ON. AND SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING. MY STAFF HAS BEEN INFORMED THAT IF ATX CALLS I WILL TAKE IT IMMEDIATEDLY..... MAYBE IT THAT HAPPENS WE CAN COME UP WITH THE SOLUTION TO HELP EVERONE, RATHER THEN JUST A BUNCH OF JUNK EMAIL THAT WASTE YOURS AND MY TIME. I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON ATX YET. BUT I AM NOT STUPID AND WILL SPEAK WITH MY $$$ IF I FEEL I AM GETTING THE RUN AROUND BS.

I WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY DOUBLE THE PRICE FOR YOUR SOFTWARE JUST TO KNOW I DONT HAVE TO FACE THIS AND ALL THE OTHER PROBLEMS I AM HAVING WITH THE SOFTWARE THIS YEAR AND ALL OTHER THE OTHER NONE FUCTIONALLY ITEMS THAT I HAVE TRY TO GET FIX FOR THE PAST NUMBER OF YEARS. AND YES I HAVE BROUGHT THE OTHER ISSUES UP FORM MANY YEARES NOW..... ALL I WANT IS HELP AND THE TRUTH.... IT IS FIXABLE... FIX BEING WORKED ON....., OR JUST TELL ME TO BLOW OFF THAT IT IS WHAT IT IS.......

[kcjenkins]

Cliff, I think you must have missed the blog note that explained that the reason they had to close down was tornado warning in GA where the tech people work.

[1040PRO]

so i take it the tech center has been closed down all month!!!!!! you must have missed the point!!!!!

[cnccpas]

easy answer to this question and will probably repeat it for every problem.

1. Somebody felt smart and switched to the Raven database system using .net. Basically a total overhaul of the program. Notice they separated the "Payroll" returns from the program? They are still using the old ATX engine and the payroll program is perfectly fine.

2. The raven database is a document-based database and apparently in ATX is using UNC mapping for running the program which causes massive amounts of unnecessary network calls and packet congestion. UNC mapping has been on Microsoft's kill list for years as it is also easily exploited. Those fam with how a particular Intuit product took performance hits when they began using the file monitoring agent (aka license checker) were also victim to this. Since opening a QBW file over a network connection was horrendously slow compared to prior years. It's all in the database calls, SEND, ACK, RCV, that good stuff. However you look at it, UNC mapping is one of the most ill-thought ways to run a program and is an insult to any IT professional. If it was the preferred way of accessing data why has UNC program access been on the security zone block from the OS for years? H-E-L-L-O? There is a reason Microsoft does this.

3. Another thing, the Raven Database is coded to use the Application Data folder under All Users in non Windows 7 and 8 OS, a BIG NO-NO. Notice to all cloud-based backup users, CARBONITE IS NOT BACKING YOUR ATX DATA!!! Windows 7 and 8 users will find their ATX data in the hidden System Data folder off their C: drive, since the true user data folders are system access only and no users can touch. Again, CARBONITE will not seek this out. This is what causes so many multi-user issues too.

4. Simple comparison of 2011 to 2012.

2011 Time to open up the program for the 1st time, search a client name, open the return and see it on the screen, 20.8 seconds.

2012 Time to open the program - 52 seconds

2012 Time to search the client by last name - 1:30 not included 2 prior failed attempts (program crash)

2012 Time to open the same return after the first initial time (don't count rollover time). 3:45 minutes.

Simply don't see how the wool was pulled over somebody's eyes in the conference room when somebody proposed this. Unless it involves a cheaper developer software license or the leftover crap from that other tax program they recently bought. Great job though, took a good program and ruined it.