QuickBooks Vs Trend Micro

Tiger

I recently purchased software from two companies that highlight how different it can be from the customer's point of view.

Trend Micro

I tried their free trial "light" version for 30 days and then purchased it for a year. I got a CD for $11 more just because I like having software CDs. It's good for up to 3 PCs but I couldn't get it to go on the laptop. Since I'm nearly helpless with PCs it was probably my fault. I go to the Trend Micro site and had a free chat with their tech rep who resolved the issue in a few minutes. Love the software. Love the support.

QuickBooks

I purchased my first QB in 2008. I don't know if it transfers files well from Excel. I wanted to be sure the new database was good, so we entered ALL the client data from scratch. I LOVE this software. It's the center and heart of the business.

So, when I purchased a Mac I got QB for Mac expecting the same beautiful software. There were a few clouds on the horizon when the Apple guy said he heard someone had an issue, but not on their end. I took that to mean it was a person-problem or an Intuit problem, not an Apple problem. I also had a friend say they like the PC version better.

It was a little quirky because you have to create the Mac data file on the PC. The software seemed to load OK and the file seemed to be on the Mac OK, but it asked for a password and wasn't accepting the password that I've used for almost 2 years. The files wouldn't open.

I go online and Intuit has a pay-to-play support and a screen comes up that says something strange like "How much would you pay for the answer to your problem" with 3 check boxes ($13, $18, $30 I think). It's already on $18 so I continue, feeling a little like a hostage. I get in a very slow chat session with someone who's playing it very close to the vest in my opinion.

I'm thinking that I'm not the only one with this issue, but he's not very forthcoming. Rather than walking me through and resolving the problem it was, as I recall, more like "I have the answer to your question, approve the $18 charge to your credit card". It seemed like paying for an answer rather than resolving the problem. It was all very time consuming and frustrating. In the end I quit and did a Google search of something like "QuickBooks 2009 complaints".

It was interesting reading for about an hour of someone else who couldn't get past the password screen, along with how poor the Mac version is compared to the PC version, along with the poor software support. The other interesting reading was how poor the 2009 version is compared to the previous. If I recall correctly one complaint was from an experienced CPA firm who had to add staff to support the 2009 upgrade. There were strong warnings from people not to upgrade to the 2009 version and recommended other software. If I recall correctly one guy joked how Intuit would go to pop-up ads with QB.

Anyway, what a difference between two software companies.

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