I'm a fellow user volunteering in this user community forum. I don't work for or speak for TurboTax. I only responded because I noticed you had posted in an old thread where the threadowner was inquiring about "Expert Services" for desktop product. And since you are using Online TurboTax, I mentioned about how in Online TurboTax "Expert Services" had evolved to "Live TurboTax."
I'm familiar with the way their products have worked over the years, and was only responding to their wording in the features you pasted from their website. And knowing how TurboTax carefully chooses its words, that's why I suggested the meaning of what they likely mean by phrasing it as "TurboTax specialist" and why I suspect they worded it that way, as opposed to "tax expert."
I said above: "it's possible that an agent you reach is both a tax expert and product expert or may transfer you." There are tax expert employees in this forum who answer both types of questions.
Using this contact form (during business hours I posted above), you can enter whatever topic you want into it. See who you get and if your question is answered. If not, ask them to transfer you to someone in "tax help." If they won't, then there's nothing I can do about it, obviously.
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact
You wrote: "I can purchase Desktop Premier for $69.95 at Costco, and not pay the nearly double from Turbotax directly."
I always recommend desktop product (CD/download) over Online. And it does pay to shop around as long as it is a reputable authorized well-known retailer like Costco, Amazon, Staples, Office Depot, and a few others, and not a scam site. The desktop version has several advantages including the ability to prepare multiple returns and the popular Forms Mode for direct viewing/editing of forms during preparation, which Online TurboTax does not have. It's also easier to print or to amend a return down the road, if needed. Desktop Premier also includes a state program, while in Online Premier, a state return is an additional $50.
In the desktop product, there is a 24.99 fee to efile a state return (except free for New York state), but no fee to print and mail the state returns.
