Bait and Switch

[auplater]

On February 28, 2022 I used TurboTax Premier to file federal and state taxes.  When I got to the payment screen, the charges came up as $99 instead of the $69 for Premier that I used and was recommended to use by you.  Why did I have to pay $99 instead of  $69 as advertised on the website? I figure you might like to resolve this before I go online and issue a bait-and-switch severely negative review on Facebook, Wall Street Journal, FTC, etc..... you get the picture.

I've been a 20+ year user of your product, but this crap sucks!!

[mesquitebean]

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@ auplater wrote:

On February 28, 2022 I used TurboTax Premier to file federal and state taxes.  When I got to the payment screen, the charges came up as $99 instead of the $69 for Premier that I used and was recommended to use by you.  Why did I have to pay $99 instead of  $69 as advertised on the website? I figure you might like to resolve this before I go online and issue a bait-and-switch severely negative review on Facebook, Wall Street Journal, FTC, etc..... you get the picture.

I've been a 20+ year user of your product, but this crap sucks!!

---

This is mainly a user community forum, but I can tell you how to reach Customer Support below, if needed.

The website currently shows a discounted price of Online Premier at $69 for Federal and $39 for state.   If you had both, that would total $108 plus possible sales tax.   It will, however, increase tomorrow to $89 for Federal and $49 for state after the discount expires at midnight tonight.  

So I don't know where a $99 figure came from.   Check your fees this way:

Log in and open your return.

Once the return is open, go to the left menu column and click on TAX TOOLS, then TOOLS.

In the Tools window choose MY FEES.

If you need to discuss your fees with TurboTax Customer Support, here's how to reach them during business hours.

Hours are currently 5AM-9PM Pacific (8AM-12 Midnight Eastern) 7 days/week.

FAQ: What is the TurboTax phone number?
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/using-turbotax/help/what-is-the-turbotax-phone-number/00/25632

[auplater]

Actually, I paid $99, discounted by TurboTax from $119, and then an additional $39 for the state filing, for a total of $138. It should have been $69, plus $39 for thee state online filing, for a total of $108, as you so clearly state is advertised on the website as confirmation of my pricing. I wasn't given this option upon completion, hence the original posting.  So quite simply, TurboTax Premier online version is where the $99 figure from, because that's what I ended up paying. Thanks for the contact info, it's not terribly obvious on the app. 

From my payments screen:

2021 Federal Tax Return                                                                                    $99 

              Prepared using TurboTax Premier

              Electronic filing included

2021 Kentucky tax return                                                                                    $39

              Prepared using TurboTax State: Kentucky

              Electronic filing included

                                                                                                     Total (2 items): $138

[mesquitebean]

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@ auplater wrote:

Actually, I paid $99, discounted by TurboTax from $119, and then an additional $39 for the state filing, for a total of $138. It should have been $69, plus $39 for thee state online filing, for a total of $109, as you so clearly state is advertised on the website as confirmation of my pricing. I wasn't given this option upon completion, hence the original posting.  So quite simply, TurboTax Premier online version is where the $99 figure from, because that's what I ended up paying. Thanks for the contact info, it's not terribly obvious on the app. 

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 If you used Online Premier, I don't know where the $119 figure (pre-discount) for a Federal return came from.    The website shows the undiscounted fee for Online Premier should be $89 and the discounted fee to be $69.

However, the undiscounted price for Self-Employed Edition is $119 (discounted to $89).  That's the only place I'm seeing $119.

 But in any case, nothing account-specific can be done in this user forum.  You can talk to TurboTax Support and let them figure it out in a realtime one-to-one conversation.

[mesquitebean]

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@auplater wrote:

From my payments screen:

2021 Federal Tax Return                                                                                    $99 

              Prepared using TurboTax Premier

              Electronic filing included

2021 Kentucky tax return                                                                                    $39

              Prepared using TurboTax State: Kentucky

              Electronic filing included

                                                                                                     Total (2 items): $138

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I see you updated your comment above with the payment info.  That's very helpful.   Yes, that doesn't jive at all with the current website-displayed pricing.     You should take a screenshot of the current Online pricing info for your records in case you need it.  You should make the image now, because the pricing will change at midnight tonight, or soon after.

Customer Support should probably be able to reconcile your issue, but if not, I can tell you a next-step approach.   They are open tonight until 9 PM Pacific (12 Midnight Eastern.)

[auplater]

Update: Well, I filed 2 refund requests to recover the $30 overcharge, but nothing has happened, other than acknowledgement of the issue, and an email that the case has been closed and would I take a survey about my experience. No mention of the resolution and/or refund. You can imagine my response to the "did we fix the problem, etc."

Who knows, but I can always file a dispute with AMEX about the inaccurate charges.  We'll see.

[auplater]

For the record:

[mesquitebean]

@auplater 

If you don't hear back from your refund request, you can ask someone at the Intuit corporate office for assistance.  That office is generally very good.  Here's how:

You can go to the page below. Just below the page's large title, you'll see a screen-wide blue banner that prominently says:

"Do you have a question, concern, or feedback about an Intuit product or service?"

There is a "Send an email" link with an arrow.  It goes to a designated person in the office of the president of Intuit, and they supposedly will assign it to the right team for review.

NOTE:  Do NOT send any sensitive personal data since that is regular email--not secure email.

https://www.intuit.com/company/executives/

[rsewill]

With my taxes, I should have been using the Delux, but like an idiot, Turbotax got me to use the Premier.

I am so angry I wouldn't recommend Turbotax or Intuit to an enemy, much less a friend.