RitaB Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 It seems to me that in every discussion we have about software, the time it takes to "get through" to Tech Support is a major consideration. I don't understand why this is at the top of the list. I didn't call Tech Support one time this past season. I don't think I even called ATX during the season from hell. I read the ATX forum daily, and this one, and it was helpful. I did call another software provider, when I tried them out briefly during the season from hell, and I remember getting through quickly, but my question had to do with removing a form from a return, and the solution the technician offered would have removed the form globally. As in, "Kiss Sch C-EZ goodbye forever, who needs it?" When I told her that her solution would result in removing a form globally, I was on hold a good while, I suppose while she consulted someone with more experience, or looked up "globally". I don't know. Is it the norm for you all to call Tech Support for your software? If so, why are you calling them? I'm not being facetious. I just really cannot get my head around why this is so important to some of you and not important to me at all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I have a small clientele with complex returns. No two are alike. Getting new situations each year is fun and challenging. Researching the tax law is great, and I might hit one of these boards for clues. But, there comes a time when I understand how the return needs to flow but have never done that in my software. Usually in March or April when I don't have time to duplicate the return and try a couple of possibilities. Probably once or twice a year I end up calling support to find out how to do something new in my software, or in which order to do several things so it flows correctly and does not duplicate something already picked up from the K-1, for instance, or even to find out why something IS duplicating. A year or two ago I was sleep-deprived and preparing a partnership with a SEP, a partnership with a SIMPLE, an S-corp with s SEP and an S-corp with a SIMPLE, two also had HSAs, one had employees, both shareholders and non-shareholders, that contributed to SIMPLEs. (When I'm king of the world, I'm going to make partnership and s-corp returns more alike.) One of the returns was duplicating the SIMPLE or the HSA as the numbers were identical. Tech support came into my computer and fixed it in moments. I took notes and have them in those four folders. But, the time I saved late that night paid for itself. As a sole proprietor when I went out on my own, tech support was at or near the top of my list as I shopped for tax prep software. I called one support line re downloading Flash to run their demo. The techie fixed the issue (Norton) but asked what I was up to and offered to walk me through using their software. I chose trusts, as I was new to trusts but getting some, and he walked me through all the menus in a trust return, spending hours on the phone with me. When the salesman called, I was ready to buy and have never regretted my decision. I don't call but once or twice per year, but the time saved is huge. When tech support saves me enough time to prepare a couple more returns instead of struggling on one with a problem, it saves me enough money to afford my pricier software. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I know that I can count on one hand the times that I have called tech support for anything. My support is "here" or I figure it out for myself. I called William Tasker once, years ago, and he was awesome. Since then, the only times I have called were for the issues I had with Beta testing 2013 and I got way more help from Jack than I did from ATX. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 The old ATX company used to have great support. I would need to call them 1-2 times per year for functionality issues. Normally, it was just not knowing how the software handles an issue. Two years ago, I stopped calling tech support. It got so bad that you had to sit on hold for more than 1 hour to get someone to answer the call, then they did not know anything about the software. They were KB readers and I had already read the KB looking for my issue. There were also issues with the integration of the bank products, and then there were issues all over the place last year with the simple task of loading the software. There are a few people at ATX that know what is going on, but they don't answer the phone. You have to find a way to "get" to them. It is too much brain damage for me. I get my support here. Tom Hollister, CA 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 I have gone years without calling tech support. If I had platinum software like Lion, I'd want that level of support too. But unlike a menu driven software, I find ATX input to be intuitive enough. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 This year, (or the previous) I didn't call ATX support. Was this past tax season the best ATXwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 This year, (or the previous) I didn't call ATX support. Was this past tax season the best ATXwise?Certainly one of the best, but always with the support offered on this board. IMO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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