Warning on tech NON-support

[Catherine]

Be warned folks, and hope that you do NOT need any technical support from ATX this year, if my experience this week was any indication of this year's "quality".

I had quite the two-day adventure with ATX. This year I had purchased the Fixed Asset Manager (since it was _so_ nice of them to delete the asset history in ATX last year, I needed it). But with one thing and another I never installed it until this week. Or I tried to. Despite what the User Guide said, I could not choose the installation location. Since I have a partitioned drive and keep ALL my tax software on one partition, a default installation to the C drive was not acceptable.

So I called on Tuesday and the person at support for the FAM had an accent so horrendously thick it was almost impossible to understand her. But by asking her to SLOW DOWN we were plodding along trying to make progress. Eleven minutes into the call, and she still did not get the basic point - which was that I could not install where I wanted to. And then, mid-sentence, she hung up on me. Real slick; real professional.

Called back yesterday (Wednesday). This person's accent wasn't nearly as bad (and I do _not_ mean Southern accents) so I could at least understand her. She, however, was utterly incompetent. She kept putting me on lengthy holds (while she tried to talk to someone with a clue?) and after TWENTY-ONE MINUTES she had gotten to the point of understanding the question I called with. Another FORTY (yes, 40) minutes of no progress (but many, many minutes on hold interspersed with her asking a number of _stupid_ questions that had nothing to do with the issue - and then sticking me back on hold) and she said she was transferring me to the technical team. When I protested that a full hour was ridiculous and that should have been done as soon as she knew the question was beyond her, she stated there were "protocols" that had to be followed.

"Protocols" be damned.

It should NOT take ONE HOUR to get to a technical specialist (who was then able to solve my issue in 4 minutes).

This is completely unacceptable and totally unprofessional on the part of ATX/CCH. And it may well be that next year I do what I've been thinking of for several years now and switching to Drake.

And you can be sure that I reamed them a new one (politely) in each of the two "customer satisfaction surveys" they sent after each call.

Catherine

[rfassett]

Wow! I am sorry you had to go through that. I have had nothing but good experiences with ATX tech support. I think the moral to the story here is do not deal with the first line contact at all. Immediately ask to be sent to a tech specialist. After all of the aggravation, I hope you find the product to your liking. I have been using it for a couple of years and I think it is a good program. Much more involved than what they could have put in the tax software.

[RitaB]

So I called on Tuesday and the person at support for the FAM had an accent so horrendously thick it was almost impossible to understand her.

And, I bet she had an All-American name like Ann, Beth, or Carol.

I talk to a lot of "James's" (not necessarily at ATX) that say stuff like: "Haal-looo, thees es Jame-zzz. I WILL be most hoppy to help you wit thot."

And I keep thinking: "OK, when, 'JAMES', when? Is 'Bill' not there?"

[JRS]

My last year's experience with ATX support was similar to this Discover Card commercial:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e48f022e30/frustrated-with-being-put-on-hold

[RitaB]

My last year's experience with ATX support was similar to this Discover Card commercial:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e48f022e30/frustrated-with-being-put-on-hold

Good ole "Peggy." Hahaha, I've talked to "her", too.

Seems like the sound track of hell was playing in the background...

[Mike D]

I would like to say I told you so but then again I'm certain that you have heard all of this before. I was a faithful user of ATX for 6 years through 2008 when I purchased ATX through TRX for 1/4 of the price I was paying.

Since CCH acquired ATX it has been a total disaster. First order of business was to remove the ATX Community Discussion Center, second was to raise prices inordinately and third was to remove additional content without notification, i.e., free cpe, fixeds asset manager, etc,. These continued behaviors prompted me along with many others to leave ATX.

I personally went with TRX and purchased Red Gear Tax Works from them for 2010 for a mere $299. To date I have some issues however the technical support is excellent and instead of eliminating software, they actually add some, accounting software!

The best part of this change is that I will be able to continue to purchase this same software from TRX every subsequent year for the same $299 as long as I do so before May 1 each year.

It's never too late to reconsider the inevitable.

Good luck through the tax season and happy new years to all.

Mike Dubin CPA

[BulldogTom]

Some of you may remember a few years ago when the ATX e-file disaster hit. We still had William on the ATX board and this board was not even a consideration. The phone limes were jammed for days and the board was full of "William - where is my ACK?" posts.

The most annoying part of that whole debacle was the hold music. The song was by Simply Red and the song title was "I keep holdin' on". You just kept hearing that song over and over while you were on hold for tech support. That was the year they gave us the companion air tickets for all our problems.

Did anyone actuall cash in that voucher and use it?

Tom

Lodi, cA

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Thanks for the memory! Yes, I used it for a vacation with my husband. We otherwise would not have flown so it was a winner for me.

[Catherine]

My last year's experience with ATX support was similar to this Discover Card commercial:

http://www.funnyordi...ing-put-on-hold

I just LOVE those commercials! There was another set, too (not discover) that talked about affixing an Amazonian forest secret token to your rebate request and then waiting six months for your $10.... it was a radio commercial, I think, not TV.

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

The "Peggy" commercials are great. This time of year, whenever someone I know well calls (like my wife), I answer in Peggy mode. It is a GREAT stress release for me - especially after being yelled at because we are calculating employee SS wrong - it cannot be different from the employer amount, or that the news said there was a tax cut so why did FWH go up? Or being yelled at by someone who has submitted hinky charge card order(s) and is trying to play "credit card roulette" to guess the missing information.

[Terry D EA]

I too left ATX for the same reasons. I had to contact them this year to purchase one return on a PRS for 2004 and did receive poor service. The offered me the one lonely return for $100.00 and not the original 12.00. I can understand the price going up a bit but $100.00?? Really?? Thanks to friends on this board, I got the return completed. This is my second year using TaxWorks thru TRX and while I have had minor issues, the support has been above average. Last year most of my issues were the learning curve for me and their support was more than patient with me. If you have noticed, the level of incompetence from employees of alot of companies is reaching ridiculous proportions. I blame it on the attitudes and education received or attained by our younger generations. I can say that as I am an educator and sometimes, I am embarrassed to say so. I have been teaching quite a while and you can see the changes over the years.

Good luck to all with the support folks this season regardless of who you purchased your software from. As for all of us old timers here, as long as we are here for each other, we will get thru.

[Gail in Virginia]

Terry, I sympathize with your frustration with the attitude and education of our younger generation, but don't blame educators entirely. Much of the blame rests with parents who seem to expect their children to learn everything from their ABC's to morality and manners from school, and don't bother to teach them anything at home. Then when educators try to actually correct the problem behavior of their child, the parents throw a fit. I am not an educator, and there isn't enough money in the world for me to become a teacher in today's litigious, angry society. I do work with young people through Scouts and church, but this typically means that I am seeing the best and not the worst. When my son was in school, I volunteered regularly, and what I saw was enough to convince me that teaching sometimes deserves hazardous duty pay. But I don't blame the children or the teachers - I blame parents and the courts. My pet peeve was mothers who watched their elementary aged children misbehave right in front of them, and their only reaction (if any) was to say they just couldn't do anything with them.

Sorry - this will serve as my rant for the day.

[estherjb]

You may have gotten someone with an accent but their support is not outsourced. It's in Georgia.

[Catherine]

You may have gotten someone with an accent but their support is not outsourced. It's in Georgia.

Never said or implied they weren't in Georgia. Just that this woman's accent (a type I did not recognize) was so thick that she was, for all intents and purposes, incomprehensible at normal speaking rates.

[Terry D EA]

Terry, I sympathize with your frustration with the attitude and education of our younger generation, but don't blame educators entirely. Much of the blame rests with parents who seem to expect their children to learn everything from their ABC's to morality and manners from school, and don't bother to teach them anything at home. Then when educators try to actually correct the problem behavior of their child, the parents throw a fit. I am not an educator, and there isn't enough money in the world for me to become a teacher in today's litigious, angry society. I do work with young people through Scouts and church, but this typically means that I am seeing the best and not the worst. When my son was in school, I volunteered regularly, and what I saw was enough to convince me that teaching sometimes deserves hazardous duty pay. But I don't blame the children or the teachers - I blame parents and the courts. My pet peeve was mothers who watched their elementary aged children misbehave right in front of them, and their only reaction (if any) was to say they just couldn't do anything with them.

Sorry - this will serve as my rant for the day.

Well thanks for the reply and I certainly don't blame "teachers". I am a teacher and have taught college level as well as high school. Currently, I am teaching HS and will continue to do so for at least 6 years and then retire. I do blame the parents and the educational system. Some systems have dumbed down testing, adpoted multiple attempts, facilitate low level of student accountability and cannot institute a dicipline plan that is effective because of parents and federal laws as well. Contrary to what most think, the Bush no child left behind act has not improved education. I agree every child can learn and should have the opportunity to learn so he/she can be successful. However, the only thing this act has done is placed a higher level of accountability for the teacher, increased paper work, increased administrative duties that take away from the classroom planning and instruction. School systems receive funding based on student performance so you can see where a major part of the problme lies. I am of the opinion that poor parenting is a major contributor as well. Of course, I can't leave out the medical profession. The general fix all is to shove a pill down their throat and expect it to correct a problem that the parents lack the ability to do. Simply put, we are doing our young people a disservice by not educating them properly and holding them accountable. Again, I am a teacher and do enjoy my teaching job and will continue to do so to the best of my ability. I love watching my kids succeed. My rewards come when they walk across the stage in June. I get especially touched by those who I made them work thier tails off to accomplish their goals simply because I knew they could do it despite all of the other things they have been told.