Intuit Upsets Users With Quicken Upgrade

In addition, Quicken 2005 imposes a new file format that isn't compatible with information from many banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions, making it difficult to import transactions that used to be accessible with previous versions.

And users are complaining that tech support for the conversion is lacking.

This is not the first time Intuit has gotten into hot water for making significant changes. TurboTax users last year were steamed when Intuit instituted a new product activation scheme that made it difficult for users to transfer their tax data to another computer. Intuit ended up having to make a public apology to its users for the snafu.

The Move To Metavante

Larry Geller, a Honolulu-based executive director of a healthcare consumer advocacy organization, has been a user of both Quicken and CheckFree since 1989. When he received the CD in the mail for Quicken 2005 and installed it, he spotted the first sign of trouble when the software wouldn't recognize his personal identification number and asked him to pick a new PIN. He called customer service and discovered that his bill-paying service had been changed from CheckFree to Metavante.

"I asked, 'Why did you do that?'" Geller said. "They told me, 'We can't discuss that.'" Geller said Intuit also told him the change wasn't reversible, so he couldn't go back to Quicken 2004 and his old CheckFree service.

"I felt like I had been switched to another long distance carrier," he said. "It doesn't say anything about changing the service in the documents or during installation. It just looked like an incremental version upgrade. Now I've got to figure out what to do about it."

In the meantime, he has switched to using paper checks and has filed a complaint with his local consumer protection office, which told him it would refer the complaint to the California Attorney General.

Geller said the change reminds him of the TurboTax activation controversy. "Intuit has done it again without the customer's consent and I think they have an obligation to put me back the way it was," he said. "I'm really angry."

Michael Klieman, group business manager at Intuit, acknowledged the switch in payment processing companies and file formats, but said the changes result in the programs being faster and more powerful.

He said the overwhelming majority of customers are satisfied with the changes.

"I have a pulse on how the conversion is going on a daily basis," he said. "We monitor whether the conversion process is really working. With the tens of thousands of customers who have completed the conversion, literally only a handful have had issues that have come through the support center."

The change to Metavante from Checkfree is transparent to users, said company spokesman Chris Repetto. "The only impact that a customer will see is that they use a different support phone number," he said.

Klieman said that Quicken 2005 has a conversion wizard that automates the process of converting from CheckFree to Metavante. "With one or two button clicks, we handle everything behind the scenes in moving from one service provider to another," he said. Klieman added that the rate of customers converting is above their "already high expectations."

"Customers are upgrading at a relatively fast rate, and the rate of problem issues is well below the conservative forecasts," said Klieman. "We did have a couple of issues that came up and, within a day or two, we've been able to get those issues fixed so the rest of the customer base hasn't been impacted."

Repetto said the earlier data file is saved, and can be restored. He said that if a customer support rep told a customer that the upgrade was irreversible, then he was mistaken.

QIF Is Quits

One of the new features of the upgrade is a change of formats from QIF (Quicken Interchange Format), which was widely supported by many financial institutions, as well as other software programs. QIF is a means of allowing users to quickly import financial data from their banks and other financial institutions.

Instead of QIF, Quicken 2005 relies exclusively on the OFX (Open Financial Exchange) and QFX (Quicken Financial Exchange) formats, which Intuit has been phasing in over the last few years. Intuit licenses these proprietary formats to financial institutions for a monthly fee.

Robin Brumfield, a Quicken user in Charleston, WV, said the three banks where he does business use the QIF file format for downloads. But only one of the three banks where he has checking accounts supports Web Connect or QFX, and the other two have told him they have no plans to change from the QIF format.

He has decided to stick with Quicken 2003 for now so he won't have to manually enter information. He claims that Quicken 2004 removed most of the credit card capability he was able to use with previous versions, and Quicken 2005 takes out the rest of the credit cards and brokerage houses.

"The only thing I use it for is checking and savings accounts," says Brumfield. "Only one of my checking accounts uses OFX format at this time. One of the financial institutions allows you to use OFX but charges $3.95 per month. With QIF, the file format is free."

Even though Quicken 2003 is working for him now, Brumfield expects it won't operate by the time the next version of the Windows OS, Longhorn, comes out, due in 2006. In the meantime, he's been looking at other personal finance software packages, such as AceMoney.

Mitchell Gartner, a Quicken user in Oakland, CA, says he tried to import his QIF-formatted investment files into Quicken 2005, but the process did not work. "Now I am forced to do it by hand," he said.

OFX is not a new format and has been around since 1998, Intuit's Repetto said. Quicken 2004 customers have regularly received warnings from Intuit that the QIF format would soon be discontinued.

OFX is much more accurate and easier for transporting data, and QIF wasn't really designed to support the online banking needs of today, he said. OFX was originally designed by CheckFree, and almost 2000 financial institutions now support downloading data through OFX, he added.

"We equate QIF to an eight-track player," says Repetto. "It works, but why would you want it when there are CDs and MP3s? Technology has gone forward."

Intuit is looking for more banks to support OFX and is encouraging customers to let their banks know that they are using Quicken with OFX.

Repetto acknowledged, however, that customers whose banks only support QIF will now have to manually enter their data into Quicken. He also acknowledged that some financial institutions charge customers for using OFX.

Trying Tech Support

Another Quicken user experiencing problems with the upgrade is Mary Osmanski, a schoolteacher who lives near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. She recently bought a new Sony Vaio computer, and tried to install Quicken 2005 before porting over the files.

Intuit sent her a notice in late August saying that Quicken 2005 had to be installed by September 4. Although she was busy getting ready for the school year, she tried to install it on a Saturday. A paper that came with the software claimed it would be as easy as 1-2-3 to install, but after following step 1 of putting the CD into her CD-ROM drive, the procedure soon got more involved. "Step 2 was follow the instructions on the screen and there wasn't a thing about how complicated the user instructions would be," she said.

She encountered several other problems with the upgrade and, when she tried calling tech support for help, found that the service was open only on weekdays until 5 pm.

"This was rather silly," said Osmanski. "If people are paying their personal bills, a lot of people might not be able to make that kind of a call during their working hours."

She added, "I'm a schoolteacher. This was my first week of school, and I have a lot to do. I'm thinking of completely canceling my Quicken account because of the confusion here."

Klieman said that, for customers needing after-hours support, the Intuit Web site has a knowledge base and FAQ pages, and a chat function that's available on weekends as well as weekdays.

*This story courtesy of Techweb.com.