Intuit
Bait & Switch game

Ualbat
01-02-2007
30

It looks like INTUIT has figured out how to make a little more short-term profit and drive long-term customers, like me (20 years), to TaxCut or some other Competitor.

I was comparing the Deluxe & Premier versions of TurboTax 2006 on the TurboTax web site. On their "Choose me If " pages they stated that a buyer would have to upgrade to the more expensive "Premier" version if they sold stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

In each of the past years, I have used "Deluxe" and stock transactions were part of the year's Income or loss.

This concerned me. So, I sent an E-mail to their Tech support and asked if this were actually the case and I could no longer use “Deluxe” if I sold stocks.

The Intuit Tech Support reply contained the following quote (bad grammar & all):

"1. Yes, the Deluxe version do not offer this feature. If you will try to access this on your product, it will ask you to upgrade to Premier Investment product.

2. There is a question on the Deluxe interview that will ask you if you sold these items. If you will click yes, it will ask you to upgrade to Premier Investment product.

3. Yes, you need to purchase or upgrade your Deluxe 2006 to Premier 2006 to handle stock sale."

Turbotax.com/support

Respectfully,

Elmer L

Intuit Tax Products Customer Service & Support

"Revolutionizing how people manage their financial lives"

Stock transactions are a common item in today's income tax. Now they seem to have removed this fundamental tax item from the Deluxe program, with no notice to consumers.

It’s like selling you software that is useless without the purchase of add-ons or having to pay to buy an activation code.

It's a version of the old "Bait & Switch" con game OR the INTUIT Tech Support doesn't know what they are talking about.