OldJack Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 >>if they gave me 10% off for renewing and a flat fee of $200.00 for unlimited e-file<< That could imply that ATX is "hurting" for renewals and is willing to negotiate a price for their product. We will never know but I would bet that a large percent of their business has not renewed at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Deb: Good negotiating. Hold out for the coffe pot, toaster, & microwave oven. I have a feeling we will eventually get to that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAMalody Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 I think the issue is not that they phone rep is being abused, but that there is information that they can give back to their supervisor that is impacting sales ( or at least we think so). MIke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Deb: Good negotiating. Hold out for the coffe pot, toaster, & microwave oven. I have a feeling we will eventually get to that point. I am waiting for the Airplane ticket vouchers to come back. Then I will renew. I have a toaster, coffee pot and microwave (well, I COULD use a new microwave, mine stopped spinning the food in circles and I don't know why). I am afraid that what we are going to see is the same thing that happened to my total tax guide. I ordered it, and they sent me the ATX Master Tax Guide instead. Fair enough, since they gave it to me at the same price. Now, they want me to buy the Master Tax Guide that I "ordered" last year for twice as much. Beware that we will be seeing ProSystemfx in our mailboxes this year "at the same price as MAX". That good deal will a one year thing, then we will be stuck with a company that could give a crap about us, now that they have killed a good, low cost competitor. If we stay for the higher cost, they win, and if we leave, there is not many places to go. I fear it will not be long until the big guys swallow the last of the little software companies and we have to choose one of the big ones or go out of business. OK, I am stepping off my soapbox now. Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyman Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Thank you for your post, Deb. I hope my post did not feel like an attack. I can understand your frustration with the e-file price increases, everyone. Let me give it to you straight: E-file is EXPENSIVE to develop, program, maintain, and license. Imagine someone paying $375 for a program that allows them to do 1200 returns. That's about 31 cents a return; a pretty fair profit margin, huh? I have some friends who own a small company in a rural-suburban small town. Their 1120S cost them $700. 2 returns and this guy has paid for his MAX software. I can only imagine what it would have cost them in Columbus, or even New York. Mr.Malody, you are correct. Polite and meaningful feedback goes up the ladder. The $200 e-file fee was not out of desperation but a popular (and fair) customer request. Sadly in some cases the rep is abused. Tom, for your microwave, try undoing the screws on the back (or bottom) and removing the outer shell. Underneath, there should be a small motor that turns the plate inside. Check to make sure no wires are undone; that's what happened to mine. Make sure it's unplugged first :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Thank you for your post, Deb. I hope my post did not feel like an attack. I can understand your frustration with the e-file price increases, everyone. Let me give it to you straight: E-file is EXPENSIVE to develop, program, maintain, and license. Imagine someone paying $375 for a program that allows them to do 1200 returns. That's about 31 cents a return; a pretty fair profit margin, huh? I have some friends who own a small company in a rural-suburban small town. Their 1120S cost them $700. 2 returns and this guy has paid for his MAX software. I can only imagine what it would have cost them in Columbus, or even New York. Mr.Malody, you are correct. Polite and meaningful feedback goes up the ladder. The $200 e-file fee was not out of desperation but a popular (and fair) customer request. Sadly in some cases the rep is abused. Tom, for your microwave, try undoing the screws on the back (or bottom) and removing the outer shell. Underneath, there should be a small motor that turns the plate inside. Check to make sure no wires are undone; that's what happened to mine. Make sure it's unplugged first First, you are suggesting that the customers were requesting that they get charged for Efile? Or was that a complaint by non-efilers that the efile group got charged for all the extra tech support that efile was causing? Personally, Free efile was a great thing when you are trying to gain customers, the only problem is that eventually that cost has to be recouped, and it should have come in slowly introduced price increase. It does cost a lot to support the efile croud. All that extra tech support mainly, but the communications costs are minimal. Programming costs also are minimal since it's a write once application, not custom done for each customer. As for your profit margin, I would suspect that for every 1200 return customer there are a hundred 30-50 return customers having talked to many of them myself. But if ATX hadn't offered efile, there wouldn't be an ATX left. Efile is a requirement in today's processing of returns, especially in CA. Any software provider that didn't provide that solution wouldn't have a business. Who is ATX supposedly 'licensing' the Efile from? Last I knew, it was developed inhouse. Are you saying that the new owners have dropped the orriginal program for another product? I don't recommend anyone removing the shielding from their microwave, there are some seriously dangerous componants in that thing and if you don't get the shielding back on correctly, you won't have to worry about having kids anymore, or you might just wonder what is wrong with them. I highly doubt that this is William resonding, it's not his writing style. Bulldogtom... If ATX went out of business, I guess I would just have to step up to the plate and open up shop... There has to be someone out there to service the small office market. But in reality, there is going to be someone to fill that market, even if the big guys do their best to shut it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Guess again, Bob :ph34r: How about Henry? "Well I'm just a monkey man. I'm glad you are a monkey, monkey woman too." A good Rolling Stones tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyman Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Personally, Free efile was a great thing when you are trying to gain customers, the only problem is that eventually that cost has to be recouped, and it should have come in slowly introduced price increase. It does cost a lot to support the efile croud. Melvin, Any price increase, slowly introduced or not, would be viewed as unfavorable. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. I will not comment any further on inner workings. I didn't suggest removing the shielding, just the outer shell which allows you to access the motor. I did it with mine and only experienced a third eye in the middle of my forehead However, you probably have much more technical experience than me (so I have heard), and different models have different components, so maybe Tom should spring for a new unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in Upstate NY Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 However, you probably have much more technical experience than me (so I have heard), and different models have different components, so maybe Tom should spring for a new unit. Mine is an older unit, with a mechanical gear train the couples the turntable to a hamster on a wheel. It isn't clear if the energy from the magnetron is coupled into the hamster or not, but he does seem to go faster when the unit is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Don: You'd better get it fixed or your turntable drive might become a hamster steak. The little fellows can only stand so much irradiation before they begin to cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Bulldogtom... If ATX went out of business, I guess I would just have to step up to the plate and open up shop... There has to be someone out there to service the small office market. But in reality, there is going to be someone to fill that market, even if the big guys do their best to shut it down. Melvin, If you were to open shop, I would be right there with you. Might you consider a joint business venture? We could call the software "two buck Tax" (that is a take off on the "two buck chuck" wine that recently won a gold medal in napa valley). We could get lots of customers, and then take CCH or Intuit to the cleaners when they buy us out. What a plan, your brains, your work, OUR profits. You ready to go into business? Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Melvin, If you were to open shop, I would be right there with you. Might you consider a joint business venture? We could call the software "two buck Tax" (that is a take off on the "two buck chuck" wine that recently won a gold medal in napa valley). We could get lots of customers, and then take CCH or Intuit to the cleaners when they buy us out. What a plan, your brains, your work, OUR profits. You ready to go into business? Tom Lodi, CA I have actually thought about offering complementing software before, gone over it and never went anywhere with it for fear of offending some of my friends who still work there. Not having to support the 'legacy' framework the software was built on would be a good reason to start over from scratch. Of course, knowing the program would make it easy to support a rollover routine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Melvin: So what would be a reasonable amount of start-up capital if you decided to do this and required some investors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redux Posted July 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Melvin: So what would be a reasonable amount of start-up capital if you decided to do this and required some investors? I too might be interested in a solid investment, Melvin. Perhaps you can give some more serious thought to the development phase and get back to us. You might be on to something. EDIT: It may be presumptuous of us to assume that you would want investors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 I too might be interested in a solid investment, Melvin. Perhaps you can give some more serious thought to the development phase and get back to us. You might be on to something. EDIT: It may be presumptuous of us to assume that you would want investors. I want in. Pick me! Pick me! Don't leave me off the team like they did in grade school. Seriously, if you ever decide to put a program together on a relational database platform with the functionality of ATX, I will be right in the front row to sign up and beta test it for you. Since you have another year before ATX software will go away (just my opinion - no facts behind it), you might be able to get up and going for the 2008 Tax Year. Unless you have already started development and could have something out for 2007 tax returns? Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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