I was just wondering why we got so many questions about
TurboTax? . . . a huge percentage of
the questions this year have been TT related.
TurboTax is by far the most widely used consumer tax
software, so it would naturally be involved in a high
percentage of the questions from non-professionals.
Do they not support their customers?
I can think of at least three reasons why people would
prefer to ask their questions in the newsgroup, rather than
going to TurboTax support. (This is just my opinion.)
First, the TurboTax support organization seems to try to
maintain a sharp distinction between technical support and
tax advice. There are separate staffs, with different
contact channels, for the two types of inquiries. If your
problem is a blend of both tax issues and software usage, as
is often the case, you will probably get better answers from
this newsgroup.
Second, because of the nature of a newsgroup, the answers
will tend to be of higher quality. When you contact support,
you get hooked up with one particular support rep before
they even know what your question is. Obviously the level of
expertise in various areas is going to vary from one rep to
another. So you may get one who is weak in the particular
area you have trouble with. In any event, at best you get
only one person's response. In the newsgroup, lots of people
read your question. Those who choose to answer likely have
some particular knowledge about the specific issue. Others
who don't know much about it aren't under any pressure to
try to give you an answer. You can get multiple responses,
which may contribute different viewpoints or experiences.
And the responses are then read by other people in the
group, who can offer corrections, refinements, or differing
opinions. So in effect you get peer-reviewed answers from a
group of experts.
Finally, the people who respond to questions in the
newsgroup aren't rated on the basis of how quickly they can
give you an answer and go on to the next inquiry.
Bob Sandler
