Very disappointed with Turbo Tax's deception. I've been using them for several years. This year I logged in online through my browser to do my taxes, and there were the usual 3 options to choose from: Do it Yourself - $119, Turbo Tax Live Premium - $209 (gives you "live help" with your taxes) and a third option for having someone else do your taxes for you.
I selected the DIY $119 version. Went through, filled out everything, got to the "file" section where you pay TurboTax and file your taxes. For some strange reason, it was trying to charge me for Turbo Tax Live Premium, the $209 version. That's not right, so immediately start looking for the "Help" section.
There is a large red button on the bottom right of the screen that says, "Live Help". I click on that, and get some sort of AI-generated system where you ask questions and it brings up articles. I ask how to contact TurboTax, and the AI gave me the article that gives me the phone number of who to call. So I call TurboTax.
The person on the phone was very nice and tried very hard to help me, but I wasted an HOUR on the phone, only to find out that because I clicked "Live Help" in trying to figure out how to fix being INCORRECTLY CHARGED, they couldn't fix the problem, because I had technically used their "Live Help". Mind you -- I did not opt into this to begin with. I had no idea what I was clicking on, I was just trying to fix the problem that THEIR system created. I did NOT ONCE get any live help with my taxes. And they were unable to fix this.
Absolutely unacceptable, deceptive business practices.
The person on the phone tried to help me by giving me a "courtesy discount code" that removed $70 of the $90. I was also told that I could completely START OVER and redo all of my taxes, and that should remove the accidental premium charge (I'm not holding my breath -- it already tried to charge me without me using it to begin with -- not to mention I've wasted ALMOST TWO HOURS NOW on my taxes unnecessarily because of this problem.) I was also told I could purchase TurboTax Desktop and this "should" fix the problem. The guy on the phone was very nice and I know it's not his fault that he couldn't fix this. I tried to ask if there was someone above him who could fix it and he said no.
I am absolutely furious with Turbo Tax. It's the principle of the thing. The fact that they tried to charge me for something I DID NOT SELECT and then they still have a huge red "Live Help" in the bottom right anyway, so of course I'm going to accidentally click it when there is a problem with the billing, not realizing that by clicking it, now no one can reverse the charge-- EVEN THOUGH I NEVER USED THE SERVICE THEY ARE CHARGING ME FOR.
That is a completely deceptive business practice. How many people do they do this to, who don't even think twice and just pay the full price because they don't want to deal with the hassle?
I've WASTED almost TWO HOURS now that I didn't need to spend, and wasted over an hour of their support's time, just to save $70, when I should have not been charged $90 to begin with. No, I'm not going to bother with wasting my time on the other options. I'm going to spend the extra $20. And you know what? I will NEVER use TurboTax again.
Do deceptive things to make an extra few dollars, and guess what? You lose your customers.
