Agreed. Every year I say I'm going to switch, maybe this time I will. It was actually easier back when I used paper, but I want my refund faster so I need e-file.
Lots of unsolved glitches -- Never fixed the "Apartment number" requirement for those who live in houses, which has been an issue for YEARS. Countless prompts that never apply that I have to click through. The system knows my history, I'd rather opt-in to these unusual things than be asked every time. Constant upsell screens -- this year I think I had five or so different attempts to upsell the package, then at the end it kept trying to get personal information for "free" products I don't want -- it's all just to sell personal info. Those three screens trapped me and I couldn't even get back to the status screen. If the site times out while I'm getting additional info, it never takes to to where you left off. The user interface and layout is terribly annoying and not user friendly. But worst of all, it almost cost me an audit because of a new Oregon transit tax. It can't identify the Box 14 codes, so it tried to apply a default setting that would have meant I paid $40k in state taxes, giving a huge refund which would trigger an audit, I'm sure. Not at all obvious and most people wouldn't notice it as the codes are so obscure. They know it's an issue, it's been reported countless times since 2019 but they refuse to fix these things. And it kept asking me -- FOUR TIMES -- to verify my state employer ID and withholdings were correct. FOUR TIMES! I verified it the first time, dude, why do you keep asking. Verify my name and birthday, well those don't change too often but I guess triple-checking doesn't hurt.
In the forums, people post about inaccuracies, bugs and the like but customer service never even tries to fix them. If the questions people have aren't obvious user errors, they have no answer for you. Don't bother reporting systems problems, bugs or the like. The accuracy guarantee is bogus as they won't help if you have an audit triggered by their own system's glitches. And the upsells! My gosh. And don't bother trying to get help in the forums, the replies from customer service are tone deaf and useless most of the time, as is customer support. If you pay for a CPA to help, it's often backed up for weeks -- live my butt.
It's 2020 people. Design a modern, friendly interface that's streamlined for the average person that allows opt-in for unusual circumstances. That alone would save a ton of time. Use an AI-based engine to go over previous returns to help streamline your session, identifying likely needs based on trends. Stop with the constant upselling and attempts to sell personal info, which isn't obvious to those who don't know better. And provide useful customer service! At least a way to correct their own engineering problems when they occur. Especially those that cause problems for people.
And to top it all off, $80 seems awfully steep for a simple 1040EZ. With as many customers as they have, they're pulling in a huge profit off this. Even the alternative platforms seem expensive for pretty low grade products so I think the market is ripe for a true competition killer.
Whew, I feel better.
-- Fed up Oregon taxpayer
