QuickTax From Intuit Canada Is Non-Intuitive
Intuit Canada
is a real misnomer.
QuickTax is the Intuit Canada program that infuriated me into writing this blog post. I might have written a similar post some time back when Intuit Canada forced me to upgrade my version of Quicken, which I use merely to download my bank records. The upgrade was at full price with no recognition that I was already a customer. The upgrade had several non-intuitive features, which was not helped by an inability to access the online Help. They seemed to imply it was Microsoft’s problem when eventually customer service replied by e-mail after 48 hours and suggested a patch to give access. Life is short and one cannot blog about all egregious examples of poor customer service. .. and Mark Minasi has described well the Nonintuitive Actions from Quicken’s Maker about this Quicken forced upgrade, with many commenters expressing similar frustrations.
Then my bank encouraged me to check out the Intuit Canada QuickTax software for tax returns, with the added advantage of being able to submit returns online.
Perhaps I should have learnt. Leopards rarely change their spots. However the QuickTax offer was enticing. I did twice check with technical support on some questions I had and unfortunately on both occasions was misinformed. Surprisingly I had to call a Montreal number, 514-227-3063, which took some digging to find. From the contacts I made subsequently with this number, I was probably being redirected to India.
As suggested on the website I checked with the Canada Revenue Agency Netfile site to ensure QuickTax was certified and read the following:
*Free offering:
Each QuickTax product must be purchased and can produce a limited number of returns over $25,000. However, you can prepare up to 18 free tax returns for anyone who earns less than $25,000 net individual income per year (line 236 on T1).
This same information can also be found on the Intuit Canada website.
So having done sufficient due diligence, as we thought, we started preparing online returns. Perhaps we should have checked some of those reviews that Intuit Canada featured on the website. Here is what jord of Toronto wrote.
That is not an extreme review since more than 10% of reviewers rated the product even lower. One would have hoped that a company bold enough to call itself Intuit Canada would have produced an intuitive software. Sadly that is not the case. If only I had read what Jonathan Chevreau wrote in the Financial Post on the QuickTax package (neither quick nor painless), I could have avoided all this frustration.
Indeed by reading his article, I could have avoided an additional frustration that Intuit Canada creates. Using the online version of QuickTax, you must pay an additional fee for every tax return created. I believe his account is correct, although it’s somewhat tough to figure it out and technical support in my case gave incorrect information.
The CD versions of Quick-Tax Standard, Platinum or Unincorporated cost $40, $60 and $80, respectively, which permits the preparation of just two returns for gross incomes above $25,000, plus up to 18 Freedom returns for those with gross incomes below the threshold.
Beyond that, you can unlock the ability to process other returns for $10 extra per QuickTax Basic return or $15 extra for the other packages. So, for the 40% of its customers that need to process more than two $25,000-plus returns, it will cost more this year. Single users can pay just $20, $30 or $40, for the three Web applications, but couples will have to pay twice that to process joint Web returns.
Fortunately, you can find cheaper alternatives at Canada Revenue Agency’s NetFiling site (www.netfile.gc.ca). One alternative, UFile.ca, is still available for $16 for the Web version and $30 for the CD.
Intuit Canada may feel they are being reasonable in all this. After all you don’t need to pay if you try the product, find you don’t like it and decide not to use it for your return. Given that you have invested a great deal of time in entering data at that point, that’s a tough decision. In addition they suggest they will probably give you your money back in the very small print.
6. Try QuickTax for 60 days. If you are not 100% satisfied, simply e-mail quicktaxonline@intuit.com within sixty (60) days of purchase to request a full refund of the purchase price. Please provide your order number (see confirmation of purchase screen) and the reason our product did not meet your needs.
If Intuit Canada was at all customer-centric, they would realize what an extremely poor job they’re doing with their QuickTax online software.
Related: QuickTax Disappoints
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