Intuit TurboTax Premier Home & Business - Tax Year 2002

I have used TurboTax for a few years and bought a ...

Strengths: Does tax OK if you don't need help from support or have activation problems

Weaknesses: Don’t Buy TurboTax!!! terrible support and activation disaster!

Summary: I have used TurboTax for a few years and bought a copy this year. I installed it and made the mistake of adding a second hard drive a few days later. Because my system no “looked different” TurboTax said I needed to buy the software. It took me 3 hours and $25 to finally track down someone who could give me a new activation code. The TurboTax support web site is very poorly designed. I went to there online support (even that is only staffed for business hours Mon to Friday) and got no help what so ever. They finally gave me an 800 number for sales and service. I went through 5 or 6 menus (if ... push this... ) and finally received a message that they do all TurboTax sales and service support ONLINE ONLY! I went to the web site and paid $15 to get a service support pin so I could call support on a non- 1-800 line (another cost to me) and waited online for 20 minutes before getting disconnected without talking to anyone. I had spent over two hours and wasn’t able to talk to anyone. I finally decided the only way I might talk to a person was if I tried to buy the product. Sure enough, they have people willing to take your money. After another 10 minutes I finally got a new activation code and can use the product I paid for. End result - I’m out about $25 and 3 hours of my time just to reactivate a program I paid for.

Last year it only took me about 3 hours to do my taxes. Their new activation code system succeeded in doubling the time it took me and their support is terrible!

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I can understand placing Estates and Trusts suppor ...

Strengths: None under consideration. I do not deny them.

Weaknesses: Lack of Form 1041 to file tax return on a deceased individual's estate.

Summary: I can understand placing Estates and Trusts support in the Home and Business product line, but does Intuit do that? Nooooo. They put it in the Business product, along with corporations, LLCs and partnerships.

Everybody who dies and leaves an estate needs to have a 1041 (and the state equivalent for most) filed once or more. This is in addition to the 1040 return for the final partial year lived (with $45 cost of TurboTax PH&B plus free state). Form 1041 is a part of individual taxation. Putting it into a $100 package (plus $40 for state) for complex businesses is a ripoff! Even worse, it only runs on Windows! What, do they think the relatives of Mac users never die??? Good thing I own Virtual PC. Not everyone does.

Intuit, you are losing hearts and minds. I will be looking at TaxCut's features for next year after using your products for thirteen years.

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Spent more time setting it up than it would take t ...

Strengths: NA

Weaknesses: To many codes, products keys, activations keys, priorty code plus an order number.

Summary: Spent more time setting it up than it would take to do a simple tax form. Sent it back for a refund. Looking for a better program.

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