OKTaxGuy Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 Looks like customer service is again a race to the gutter. On hold music enuf to cause you to lose your lunch, wait time horrible, try and leave voice mail at the prompt - get a message that the mailbox is full or endless loop taking you back to the "I'm Sorry" message. So, its maximize profits by giving crappy service again. I thought they learned their lesson a few years ago? Guess more people need to leave for other software companies - then again, maybe they don't care?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 It's the first day of efiling. They're going to be swamped. Especially since so many users call support for the most minor things. If it can wait, email support or start a case online. I saw just the other day that you can fax support too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDNY Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 My strategy in the past has been to call when they first open, not a minute later. If I'm a few seconds early hitting redial gets me right in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 Yep - time to just kick back and wait it out. There is no company in the world that will stay in business by beefing up man power to what would be the peak time of their business and have that manpower sitting around on non-peak times looking at each other. I agree with the other posts. If more folks would use the knowledge library, the ATX news and any of the other communications that are out there from ATX, the calls to support would drop off dramatically. And if a call is mandated, FDNY's approach is the best. While we are at it, let me take this opportunity to thank all of you first out of the gate users. We will not begin preparing returns for another couple of weeks. By that time, you all should have all (or at least most) of the bugs worked out. Thanks for that! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 58 minutes ago, rfassett said: While we are at it, let me take this opportunity to thank all of you first out of the gate users. We will not begin preparing returns for another couple of weeks. By that time, you all should have all (or at least most) of the bugs worked out. Thanks for that! I used to be the head of the pack out of the gate first. That ended when ATX so much as told me to stop bothering them. 2013 would have rolled out 2-3 weeks later than it did if it were not for me finding a MAJOR main program glitch. It was such a major glitch right after a program update, that they issued another update the next day. Now I just wait till Feb. 1 to even start preparing returns. However, this year, 1099s and W-2s cause me to break my rule. No more beta testing guinea pig stuff for me. ATX DOES NOT CARE!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medlin Software, Dennis Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 Complicated for all sides. Neither the provider nor the customer (at least none I have run into) wants to pay or can afford to have enough techs to never have a busy signal or hold. Nor can the provider cannot force the customer to take advantage of the self help, which for me, is 80 to 90% of all contacts (meaning something already covered either in the program help, or something where the answer is being shown as part of the error/warning message). The fact is, those who do use self help subsidize those that do not (assuming there is no extra cost for support, or that some sort of support is free). If there is a complicated issue (meaning one for which there is no self help) then phone is less than ideal, and will likely be a negative for the provider. More often than not, the customer does not have all the needed information, or is not even at the computer. This means either waiting for the customer, or requiring a second call, neither of which the customer is happy about. If it is complicated or new, it is going to require investigation, and possibly some written information back and forth, to figure out. In my case, with the W2 due date change, my annual support rush is the last week of Dec and all January. This is made up primarily of those who did not order and install sooner (we start a new version every September 1) and need something instantly. Sometimes there is an issue with installation, 99% of the time, caused by not keeping their "security" software updated, and I promise you, is not something I have any control over... Then the last two weeks of January, with some leftover did not order earlier issues, but mostly W2 questions (still have many who do not realize you can print W2 forms on plain paper from approved software), and some who believe voluntarily efiling saves them time or money (the time taken to call is longer than it takes to print the forms on plain paper and stuff them in an envelope). I try to pre-solve these issues by sending out many emails this time of year, but some do not make it (full mailboxes, bad emails, etc.) and some think it is a sales pitch and ignore. Professional tax software is certainly a more specialized user base than my customers, so there are differences, but the principles remain the same. I hold my hand up to say I am not perfect, so software I create cannot be either. The difference is I have no problem owning that as fact, and dealing with it as fast as I can. Those who do test for me generally get their software for free, assuming they provide any feedback at all (most I never hear from). Not something I promise or advertise, as some will sign up thinking it is free software... and I do not want to repeat that fiasco again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee B Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 I always wait until February 6th, after I have all of my Monthly and Semi-Monthly Payroll Processing completed. Many thanks to all of the volunteer guinea pigs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medlin Software, Dennis Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Agreed. My most trusted ones get my cell phone and can call any time, not only during testing, but year 'round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 2 hours ago, Medlin Software said: Complicated for all sides. Neither the provider nor the customer (at least none I have run into) wants to pay or can afford to have enough techs to never have a busy signal or hold. Drake answers in three rings (but not on Sunday, at all). If they need to investigate and get back to you, they do. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the callback from ATX/CCH from Feb2013 that they promised within 48 hours. (No, that particular problem was never solved. After trying several more times, my final call was to Drake.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry D EA Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, Catherine said: Drake answers in three rings (but not on Sunday, at all). If they need to investigate and get back to you, they do. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the callback from ATX/CCH from Feb2013 that they promised within 48 hours. (No, that particular problem was never solved. After trying several more times, my final call was to Drake.) I gotta agree with Catherine. My experience with Drake so far??? Excellent and as it stands, if the rest of the season goes like it is now, then there will be no questions at renewal time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberts Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 I called Drake Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Monday late - no waits on any of them for that lost password. OLTPro has never been an issue calling them at even peak times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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