mastertax07 Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 ATX Layoffs Caribou Posted Thursday, December 27, 2007 5:45 pm A major employer in Caribou is seeing a major reduction in it's workforce. About 200 full and part time jobs at ATX have been cut although officials did not confirm the total number. According to a company statement, CCH Small Firm Services is centralizing ATX customer support and sales functions in our facility in Rome, Georgia, which requires the relocation of positions, and regrettably the elimination of positions, from the Caribou site. In a highly competitive marketplace, this decision was necessary to our business. Affected individuals are being provided with severance benefits and assistance in finding other positions. We will continue ATX operations in Caribou, and this office will now operate as the center of development for ATX products, with a team of professionals focusing on product development. The company was founded in Aroostook back in 1992, and in September 2006 ATX. was acquired by CCH, a provider of tax and accounting law information, software and services that has been serving professionals and their clients since 1913. Caribou City Manager Steven Buck says he is disappointed about the lack of communication from the company. (WAGM-TV) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 --> Caribou City Manager Steven Buck says he is disappointed about the lack of communication from the company. (WAGM-TV) <--- Join the crowd, Mr. Buck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Yeah. And when you think of it, the upper barely inhabited part of Maine has got to be a low cost place to do business...except maybe for snow removal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 >>requires the relocation of positions, and regrettably the elimination of positions, from the Caribou site<< Some of the user support is moving, but some is being dumped. The down-sized, inexperienced support staff will be separated from the developers who know the program, and the programmers will be separated from the CCH management that doesn't give communication a high priority. Right when the whole system just got shocked by major last-minute changes, too. But don't worry--CCH has a strong commitment to their ATX products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxperson Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Any word from monkeyman? An insider's perspective would be welcome right now. I'm hoping he isn't among the fallen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Saving money by moving to GA? That's full of bull**** and everyone knows it. Maine is one of the most inexpensive places to hire employees in the nation. The one benefit that I see is that they can't have a blizzard shut down operations, trading that off for a hurricane every so often. BUT, if they already have a support staff in GA, then they can double up the responsibilities so they are supporting two programs and intermingling the way things work. Maybe their knowlege of tax forms will improve, but having to know two different programs won't help. Another area of concern is that during the non-support season, we used to use the tech support people to help with forms development years ago, with these people having much more knowlege to help the customers during the support times. I wonder if that means more 'temporary full time' possitions to handle the heavy load during parts of the year and layoffs during the light portions of the year. I wonder what happened to William if they laid off the support people. He REALLY was a company asset that was worth more than anything that they paid him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Sorry, but this really irks me... What company in their right mind does a major change in technical support staff like this right at the VERY beginning of a technical support rush? What's the hidden agenda here? Try to push people to another program? Technical support staffs should be finishing their ramping up, not shutting down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAXBILLY Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 That is so sad!! taxbilly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GERALD Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 And so stupid!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 And so stupid!!! Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Maybe with all the extra technical staff that CCH has, the 2007 product will be so free of bugs and problems, that the phone help staff will not be needed.... :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tax Prep by Deb Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 I have to agree with Mel about timing, but from a slightly different perspective. Had I known that the support people that we all have grown to love and respect, been laid off prior to my renewing I never would have done it! There was basically two issues that caused me to renew, one being the fact that if I really needed help I could rely on William and others from the old ATX to respond and help me fix my problem. The second thing that helped me decide to renew was being a part of this community. A program, now matter how inexpensive or how expensive, is only as good as the support. Now it appears that we have lost that. I definitely will be test running other programs next year. I'm with Mel, I'm very ticked! Deb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William-ATX Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Hello! This is William. Thank you for your concern, but I am still with the company. While it is true that customer service has been consolidated in one office, the number of jobs here in Caribou that were affected were overstated. The total number was 54, but that number will be reduced by several of those who have already decided to transfer to the centralized call center. I know the people personally who are in charge of customer service and have worked with them. I can tell you that my observation is they care very deeply for the customer experience and will be able to take care of all of your support needs. Thank you again for your concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Somehow, I can't believe the support staff in GA (which I bet will know Taxwise very well...actually does anyone know where they are based? Are the Taxwise people going thru the same crap?) will know anything about ATX. This may be my last year with them as well...and William was worth his weight in gold. I rarely used tech support..mostly because I had William to answer my questions on the board when I had them. Since the training classes were crap, and there's not much support that I can find with the program, I'm glad all of you are here. I have a feeling we will have to be tech support for each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Hello! This is William. Thank you for your concern, but I am still with the company. While it is true that customer service has been consolidated in one office, the number of jobs here in Caribou that were affected were overstated. The total number was 54, but that number will be reduced by several of those who have already decided to transfer to the centralized call center. I know the people personally who are in charge of customer service and have worked with them. I can tell you that my observation is they care very deeply for the customer experience and will be able to take care of all of your support needs. Thank you again for your concern. My apologies. I was told that you had been let go. I've removed my previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Hello! This is William. Thank you for your concern, but I am still with the company. While it is true that customer service has been consolidated in one office, the number of jobs here in Caribou that were affected were overstated. The total number was 54, but that number will be reduced by several of those who have already decided to transfer to the centralized call center. I know the people personally who are in charge of customer service and have worked with them. I can tell you that my observation is they care very deeply for the customer experience and will be able to take care of all of your support needs. Thank you again for your concern. William, we are DELIGHTED to see you on here. I sincerely hope that you will grace us with your presence whenever you have the time. And I am happy to hear that you are still with the company. I must say, after the farce that their 'Training Seminar' turned out to be, my feeling about the future for the company are very mixed. It sure seems that they are letting TaxWise take over things that they are not competent to take over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William-ATX Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 William, we are DELIGHTED to see you on here. I sincerely hope that you will grace us with your presence whenever you have the time. And I am happy to hear that you are still with the company. I must say, after the farce that their 'Training Seminar' turned out to be, my feeling about the future for the company are very mixed. It sure seems that they are letting TaxWise take over things that they are not competent to take over. Thanks, KC. It's nice to see you too, my friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John-CPA Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 I am hoping they will be able to provide adequate support as ATX always has in the past. However, it is difficult to find out when I am waiting on hold for 35 minutes with still no answer. Does anyone know if there is another number to call or can I still use the one I have been using all year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 So William, glad to hear you are still there, but what's your 'new' title going to be or are you transferring to GA too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldJack Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Maybe William can tell us if ATX has lost many of its customers since last year due to the CCH blunders? Is that maybe part of the reason for such lay-offs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William-ATX Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Maybe William can tell us if ATX has lost many of its customers since last year due to the CCH blunders? Is that maybe part of the reason for such lay-offs? Renewal rates are excellent and ahead of previous years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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