TurboTax Automatic Renewal for a once a year purchase! Take a look at the email below; ARE YOU KIDDING ME.  I have been buying TurboTax software since I was a kid and did my taxes with my dad.  Not after today.

Apparently, when I last purchased their software in late 2008 I overlooked an option to turn off Automatic Renewals of the software I purchased.  I am very careful when buying things online to make sure that there is nothing that will cause automatic charges.  So that leads me to believe that whatever radio button or small check box that enabled automatic renewal of the software was intentionally placed to ensure that Intuit hooked its customer with automatic renewal.

My guess is that this is a ploy to drive up recurring revenue more than it is a “service” to the customer.  The purchase of this software is typically a once a year purchase.  The purchase is typically mandated by the need to do one’s taxes. Thus, we all have a nice annual reminder of our need to spend money (whether to a CPA or software) to complete our taxes.  So there is no real need to the customer to have an option of automatic renewal.

From Intuit’s (or TurboTax) perspective it makes sense for them to do this.  It puts all action on the customer to NOT purchase the product.  For example when I initially purchased TurboTax in 2008, I first had to know or read that there was an automatic renewal of my software.  I then had to find out how to disable it and then disable it.  That’s 3 steps on my part to ensure I DID NOT purchase the product.  Well I obviously missed that back in 2008.

Welcome to the email below.  First I had to read the email, which I didn’t because like most Americans I get tons of emails a day. I thought this was a generic TurboTax email telling me about a new product release.  So my mistake.  But the point still stands.  The action is on my part to ensure that I don’t buy the product.  And from this email it looks like it is a 5 step process to do so.

1. Read the email;
2. Login (this requires other steps to find whatever login info I used);
3. Navigate to the proper section to disable automatic renewals;
4. Disable the automatic renewals;
5. Confirm that is disabled.  Well I didn’t do this back in September.

SO THE SOFTWARE WAS AUTOMATICALLY PURCHASED YESTERDAY.  I just had to go through a 30 minute process involving customer service and the web to get my $99.95 automatic order of TurboTax off my credit card.

One of the brilliant things that internet based business does is allow for recurring and/or automatic charges.  Cell phone companies, utility companies, those old cd mail order companies all operate on the premise of creating and sustaining recurring revenue.  If they can switch to recurring and automatic collecting of monies for services rendered then they’ve hit a gold-mine.

Recurring and automatic collection of funds is perfect for business b/c it allows them to put the action on the customer to remove the purchase instead of putting the action on the customer to purchase the product or service.  I’m sure we’ve all seen the $10.00 a month charge for a something (a magazine, blog, online service…etc) and said we’ll get to removing it.  Then it ends up hitting your account another 6 months.

For the small internet company getting a base of these recurring and automatic charges is vitally important.  But equally as important is making sure you retain your customer base and not piss them off by executing sneaky transactions.   If you do piss off your customers then you need to unerstand when it is economically important to win them over.

For example, I have lost COMPLETE TRUST in TruboTax over this issue and will not buy their product.  I’m not going to stand back and a make a moral or ethical claim with what they did.  I had the option at any step in the process to cancel the transaction.  My thing is they pissed me off.  I have other options and thus will use those options.  They could have won me over by giving me a 20 or 30% off coupon.  They didn’t because it didn’t make economic sense for them to do so.  They lose my transaction no big deal.  They probably gained millions in revenue by executing automatic renewals unwittingly to other customers who will not act to cancel the transaction.

The small business owner probably can not afford to loose customers this way. So be prepared to take action to win your customers over if your automatic & recurring charges piss a customer off.  To me customer service is a huge part of building a business.  In this example, TurboTax would have my continued business for a 3o% off coupon.   So they may have lost a little money on me this year but would make it back in later years.  Also, I would have written a positive blog about their customer service instead of this one. Thus, they  lost out on some positive word-of-mouth marketing.  But to a large established company like Intuit with a a brand like TurboTax it doesn’t make sense for them to put this type of customer service in place.

I would say to the entrepreneur it is paramount.

TurboTax Email.

Make any changes to your account by October 23, 2009.

TurboTax User ID: Dear **$%**, TurboTax Advantage makes renewing easy. Your new TurboTax software will soon be ready for automatic shipment. Please sign in before October 23, 2009, to make any updates or to cancel your account,* or visit your customized support site. Plus, when you update your account, you can access your TurboTax Advantage benefits from your own personalized website. Thank you for choosing TurboTax year after year. Sincerely, Bob Meighan Vice President, TurboTax P.S. Remember to make any updates or cancel your account by October 23, 2009.Please see below for more information regarding your account.

Guaranteed low direct-from-TurboTax price— plus FREE shipping! Call, e-mail or chat online and receive exclusive customer and tech support. Personalized website. Quickly manage your account online. FREE Quicken Starter Edition for Windowsor 50% off a more powerful Quicken product.

Guarantee your maximum refund — update your account by 10/23/09.¹

* TurboTax Advantage Program Details: Terms, conditions, features, availability, pricing, fees, service and support options subject to change without notice. To edit or cancel your enrollment for your Tax Year 2009 order, you must update your account by 10/23/09. Please be sure to update your credit card info by 10/23/09 in order to avoid delays/disruptions in your TurboTax Advantage shipment. If you do not update the credit card information we have on file, we will still attempt to process your order and ship your product and/or make your download available. You can update your account online at www.turbotax.com/renew, or call 1-800-414-5644. TurboTax Satisfaction Guaranteed: Try TurboTax software. If you’re not satisfied, contact us within 60 days of your purchase for a full refund of your purchase price. We will authorize your card approximately 2 weeks prior to billing to ensure prompt order processing. Your credit card will be billed at the time each product ships. Your credit card information will only be used to process your order. TurboTax Federal products ship November 2009. TurboTax State downloads become available mid-January to mid-February 2010 (varies by state). Complete instructions for downloading and checking the availability of TurboTax State products will be included with the TurboTax Federal product shipment. Please download your free TurboTax State product promptly, as it will be available for download only until October 30, 2010. Special limited time offer valid only for tax year 2009 TurboTax Advantage program members through your TurboTax Advantage Website at www.turbotax.com/renew. Once your TurboTax Advantage order has successfully processed, we will notify you via e-mail that you are eligible to select your Quicken Product. Good for Free Quicken Starter Edition or 50% off 2010 Quicken Products: Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Premier, Quicken Home and Business, Quicken Rental Property Manager, Quicken for Mac. All other Quicken products are Windows only. Download only. Limit one per member. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Offer valid through 1/31/10. Terms, conditions, features, pricing, service and support subject to change without notice. ¹ Maximum Refund Guarantee—or Your Money Back: If you get a larger refund or smaller tax due from another tax preparation method, we’ll refund the applicable TurboTax federal and/or state purchase price paid. TurboTax Federal Free Edition customers are entitled to payment of $14.95 and a refund of your state purchase price paid. Claims must be submitted within sixty (60) days of your TurboTax filing date and no later than 6/15/10. E-file, Audit Defense, Professional Review, Live Tax Advice, Refund Transfer and technical support fees are excluded. This guarantee cannot be combined with the TurboTax Satisfaction (Easy) Guarantee. Intuit respects and protects your privacy and will not rent, sell or share your personal information with outside companies for their promotional use. We would like to keep you up-to-date with special offers that may benefit you. If you prefer, you may tell us how you would like Intuit to contact you by visiting our website at https://privacy.intuit.com or writing us at Intuit Inc., Customer Communications, 2800 E. Commerce Center Place, Tucson, AZ 85706. © 2009 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit, the Intuit logo, Quicken and TurboTax are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other parties’ trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners. 18415-1