warning: beware of turbo tax 2002 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 02-25-2003, 03:33 PM

VIRUS COMPLIMENTS OF TURBO TAX…INTUIT
WARNING: USING TURBO TAX 2002 MAY CRASH YOUR COMPUTER

I received a turbo tax CD and it wreaked havoc with my computer, making it useless. I called intuit customer service and was told that they had mailed out some corrupted Cds. They said I would have to speak with their customer service to rectify the problem. They wanted me to pay $14 for their technical support which I refused to do. After speaking with a supervisor, 15 minutes later they waived the $14 fee; however, I had to pay for the call as their technical support does not have a 800 number, nor will they call you. After an hour with technical support it became obvious that this was beyond their capabilities to fix. They gave me a number for microsoft free technical support. I called microsoft technical support, which was not free but $35. After 2 days with tech and about 4 hours the problem was found and repaired. The CD was corrupted and it had changed the windows operating system…basically it was like a virus compliments of intuit. I called intuit back to ask they pay for the $35 for microsoft tech support and the long distance call to their own technical support. They gave me the run around about not being authorized to do so, and there was no one I could speak with who was authorized. Customer service at intuit knows some of these Cds are corrupt, they actually told me this. However, they will not take financial responsibility for the damage these Cds cause, nor will they contact the individuals they have mailed Cds to.

The only thing I can do at this point is to exercise my freedom of speech. Please forward this message to everyone you know and post on forums/news groups. Lets all help make it hurt a little financially when a company refuses to treat a customer properly.

Ashman · #2 02-25-2003, 03:39 PM

I would contact as high up as you can go.

and inform that person that you are out however much money due to a problemw ith their software CD.

Takes names of everyone you have spoken with, and get them to tell you on the phone again the cd was corrupted, record it if you have to.

Keep all evidence of this, and go as high as you can in their company to get results.

Be stubborn, firm, but not offensive. Keep demanding the next higher person when you reach those unwilling to help demand their supervisor.

I have done this numerous times with various companies when calling for support, and have gotten over many hurdles this way. The key is to never take no for an answer, and the key is to never let them get away with it.

most software agreements state the software is AS is and they are not responsible for damage. so check the end user agreement for the turbotax software.

Alon

jsmith · #3 02-25-2003, 04:34 PM

It appears that the problem is already resolved. I have done a search and this is the first I've heard of the problem for the 2002 version but this is not the first time this has happened if I recall. Can you give us more specifics? This info should really be circulated.

-Most important - was it a real virus and not the spamware / spyware that some people are calling a "virus" on usenet right now?

-Did you have to disable your virus software to install the software? I heard that it installs C-

-What was the procedure for the fix?

Here is a post on usenet about similar problems - is this what you are talking about?

TURBOTAX 2002 COMPLAINT

MTI · #4 02-25-2003, 04:58 PM

Finished using TuboTax 2002 last night on the XP computer, no problems. Which flavor of TT were you using, aren't there 3 different feature-ladden versions?

#5 02-25-2003, 06:25 PM

i'm sorry its hard to provide more details....four hours of tech support leaves you wondering excatly what the fix was at the end of the process as many many steps were taken. i don't know what version i had tried to install, but i do know that they are aware of these problems and that are not making any attempts to warn people or to train their tech support to deal with it. reminds me of ford and the pinto; where an internal memo was inadvertantly disclosed to the puplic stating it was more economical to settle with lawsuits rather than to recall and fix the car.

MTI · #6 02-25-2003, 06:41 PM

Looks like the problem is Intuit's decision to use Macrovisions' "SafeCast" anti-piracy software. It's not a "virus" per se, but actually a modified version of "spyware" that keeps track of what computer the installed/registered copy is sitting in, in other words, like Windows XP, you can't install TT on another machine after the initial install.

jsmith · #7 02-25-2003, 08:33 PM

MTI,

That's the clarification I wanted to get.

mark300cd,

Was there a virus or was it the spamware/spyware that you had to take off your system?

#8 02-26-2003, 04:51 PM

i'm sorry i can't be of more technical assistance. after 4 some odd ours with microsoft i was mentally left in the dust. at this point i just want to get the word out via internet to as many people as possible, like a chain letter. all i know for sure is what i posted to start this thread. please post my first message to any forums you think appropriate and email it to everyone you know....i did. only think that got my sanity back was a nice drive in my 84' 300CD with 144,000miles and everthing working, with my beautiful wife...yeah.

jsmith · #9 02-26-2003, 05:10 PM

i don't think it is a good idea to spread your message unless you can be more specific about what actually happened. you could be liable for making statements that could technically be not true.

if it makes you feel any better the issue i pointed out is already all over the usenets so "the word is out" in a manner of speaking.

Gary Ganaway · #10 02-26-2003, 05:47 PM

Try Tax Cut from H&R Block. I have used it for 4 years and no issues. Easy to use, provides good info and almost makes doing taxes fun..(.well as long as you are getting refund.)

Richard Eldridge · #11 02-27-2003, 12:18 AM

In years past, I woiuld buy TurboTax at Sam's discount and make a copy right off to assure that i could use it even if it got damaged.

This year, Turbo Tax was over $30 everywhere, ebven with rebates., so I bought TaxCut, wihich was $25 with the rebate.

My buddy bought TT this years and noticed the evil virus protection and so I'm glsd I didn't get TT this year.

Copy protection sucks! If we refuse to buy it, they will be forced to take it off.

#12 02-27-2003, 09:42 PM

js,
your probably right. however if push came to shove they could check their own files of 1hr with their tech support and i could supply them with the microsoft tech support case number as well. i do have a anti virus program on my computer. i believe what the microsoft tech had me do was dozens of disablings on the "msconfig" utility startup, with dozens of restarts to isolate the problem. we also ended up deleting files and reinstalling them from the windows 98 CD. the tech wasn't sure but thought it had corrupting one or more of the files. if i had written down all the steps we did it would make "war and peace" look like a short story.

chowpit · #13 02-28-2003, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Copy protection sucks! If we refuse to buy it, they will be forced to take it off.

posted by Richard Eldridge

Well, I hope you are a Linux user then. Unfortunately that is where software is already heading. If you use Windows you will be forced to upgrade as newer versions come out and program writers write new software to support only the new versions of Windows.

Thanks for the tip Mark300CD. I hope this is not a pattern for Intuit as I have use their programs for years with minimal trouble. As TT '02, I received the CD in the mail which took me to the web where I downloaded TT '02. So far no problems.