Retail

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In TurboTax vs. Consumers, Consumers Win

turbotax08Please excuse the following unprofessional comment: the folks at Intuit who market TurboTax tax preparation software are a bunch of money-grubbing creeps. You will see why in a moment.

The company decided to pull several fast ones on purchasers of their software this year, including by limiting the usability of their product in a way they never have before. On the back of the box is the following disclosure:

MOUSE PRINT*:

turbo08disclaim

The little “4” refers to a virtually unreadable footnote that says “Product includes preparation, e-file, and print of 1 Federal return.”

Translation: This year if you wanted to prepare a second return (say for a spouse or child) and merely print it on your own printer, Intuit was going to charge you $9.95 extra for each return beyond the first. What chutzpah!

At the same time, on their website, they are claiming “NEW – Free federal efile included”:

*MOUSE PRINT: What TurboTax does not tell you is they raised the price of the software by one-third from 2007 to 2008 to cover the “free” efiling.  Last year, TT Deluxe retailed for $44.95 and was commonly available for $39.95.  That price did not include $17.95 extra for OPTIONAL e-filing.  This year, Intuit raised the price of  TT Deluxe to $59.95, but included one “free” efiling. (For Costco customers last year, after a $15 coupon, the price was only $19.99. This year, the price actually doubled because the software went up to $49.99 there, and the coupon is only for $10 off that price.)  So in essence, customers have no choice but to pay extra for efiling whether they want to use it or not.

These two policy and price changes caused an uproar. Consumers were livid that they had to pay $10 extra to print a second return on their own printer, and that they were being forced to pay for efiling via a $15 price increase for the product itself.  And for once, consumers found a way to get even.  They downrated TurboTax 2008 on Amazon, so that it was only rated as a one star product.

turboreviews

Then, on December 9, 2008, H&R Block announced that their competing software, TaxCut, would include completely free efiling without raising prices.  Intuit gave in to the pressure three days later and issued a press release allowing purchasers to print unlimited copies of returns for free on their own computers (offering refunds to anyone who paid the extra $9.95), and they now included FIVE efiles.  That is a bona fide savings compared to the $17.95 each they used to charge, but we are still paying $15 extra for that privilege.

Unfortunately, Intuit has a history of trying to take advantage of consumers by deliberately disabling online functions for its Quicken software three years after issue thereby forcing customers to buy the software again; eliminating, reducing, or hiding rebates on certain software and thus raising prices; and giving away non-upgradeable software as a bonus (forcing the purchase of a more expensive edition in the future in order to view the already entered data).

Here is this year’s hidden TurboTax rebate of $10.

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Retail Return Policies 2008: The Fine Print

Return policies in some cases are more lenient this year, but in others, they are more strict than ever. An example of the latter is the Buy.com policy, that used to be called “easy returns”.  This year they could just have well have renamed it “hard as nails” returns.  Note the almost nastiness of the wording at the beginning:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Returns Must Meet ALL Applicable Criteria
If your returned product does not match all applicable criteria listed below, it will be rejected by our Returns Warehouse and returned back to you at your cost. Consequently, your RMA will be nullified, any credit request will be denied, replacement orders will not be made, and you will be charged for all shipping to and from our Returns Warehouse that may be incurred by Buy.com. By requesting an RMA and/or shipping a return in violation of this policy you hereby agree to accept our shipment of the return back to you and to the payment of all shipping costs to and from our Returns Warehouse. Our arrangements with our suppliers and manufacturers allow us no room to make exceptions.

Before you make a return, therefore, you better understand the particular store’s rules (including restocking fees), so you will know what you are  or are not entitled to.

Here is a list of leading retailers with generous regular return policies and those with extended holiday return periods (so you may be able to grab the after Christmas bargains rather than wait in long return lines just after the holiday).

*MOUSE PRINT:

Holiday Return Deadlines and Restocking Fees

Amazon.com Jan. 31 (most items shipped 11/01 through 12/31). 15% restocking fee on open computers. Additional rules may apply.
Best Buy January 24 for most purchases Nov. 1 or later; Jan. 8 for cameras, gps, monitors, etc.; Only 14 days from purchase for computers. 15% restocking fees on certain opened items.
Circuit City Jan. 31 all items bought since Nov. 2; 15% restocking fee on open computers, cameras, etc.
Costco No deadline (but 90 days for TVs, computers, cameras, port. music players, cell, projectors)
Kohl’s No deadline (with receipt)
Macy’s 180 days from purchase; 10% restocking fee on furniture.
Marshalls January 5 (for purchases Oct. 26 – Dec. 5).
Overstock.com January 31 for most items purchased Nov. 1 or later. Fees apply if opened, used, or late.
Sears 120 days if purchased 11/16-12/23; 30 days for electronics, software, beds; 15% restocking fee on electronics if missing items, built-in appliances, and certain special order goods.
Staples No deadline for office supplies. (January 10 for electronics & furniture bought since Nov. 28)
TJ Maxx January 5 (for purchases Oct. 26 – Dec. 5).
Target 90 days from purchase (15% restocking fee on portable electronics, digital cameras, camcorders; specially marked clearance items only qualify for current sale price).
Toys R Us 90 days most items (45 days for unopened electronics, video products, collectibles, more; if opened, identical exchange only).
Wal-Mart 90 days (15 days [PCs, portable players, gps], 30 days [cameras], or 45 days [PC accessories.])

Many happy returns.

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Macy*s: When the Price is Wrong

Here is part of an ad for a recent Macy’s “one day sale” (yes, I know, they are never really only for one day):

Macy's items

(Note: the ad above is from the main section of the newspaper, and not the Macy’s color circular itself. But, it contains the same items for the same sale.)

While shoppers may have hoped to scoop up these items at the advertised bargain price, that was not to be the case. Why? Because most shoppers probably didn’t pay attention to the little “we’re sorry” box that appeared in the first few pages of the newspaper. It corrected the errors in Macy’s then current print advertisement (Dec. 6, 2008).

*MOUSE PRINT:

Macy's Correction

It is interesting to note that the five items mentioned with pricing errors were all advertised at a price lower than the correct price, so consumers will be asked to pay more than they expected at the store.

ITEM AD PRICE REAL PRICE
Cuisinart Food Processor $99.99 $149.99
Presto 20″ Griddle $19.99 $29.99
Stainless Accessories $8.99 $9.99
Tools Soup Pot $8.99 $9.99
Pyrex Baking Dish $8.99 $9.99

While it may appear that Macy’s is trying to bait customers with low advertised prices that they will not honor, it is hard to find a pattern in their corrections to substantiate this.  Many times, the actual price is lower than they advertise, and they correct that too.

The ultimate questions are, why are so many errors being made, and where are the corrections for all the other retailers?  Surely their prices are not perfect, and sometimes they run out of goods too.