OK to buy Quicken H&B 2006 from eBay?

Where is any promise by them not to do that?

Well, for one, the various emails that I've sent to their UK tech support address which still haven't been answered.

Secondly, when they removed all the content from the

site and replaced it with a "Intuit UK has made a "difficult" business decision to discontinue future development of Quicken products for the UK market" message, they failed to make any mention of a facility to convert Quicken UK data files to international versions.

Third, the response from Barry Neilson (e-mail Customer Service Quicken Australia) is: "Quicken Australia cannot assist with UK customers due to incompatibilities in file formats. You cannot use Quicken Australia in the UK financial system. Kind Regards"

I think you misunderstood my question; I was asking where it was that Intuit promised that they would provide a means to convert from Quicken UK to other international Quicken versions (that they would not exit the market without providing a means to convert to other Quicken versions)?

And how did one make such conversions before Intuit announced they were leaving the UK market? As far as I know, Intuit has never provided a conversion from one country version to another, nor ever promised to do so.

John aksed you for proof of a promise from Intuit to provide products and support indefinitely in the UK. You having sent email to their customer support is NOT any proof.

It also raises questions such as timing and content of those emails. There are some questions that cannot be answered by technical support. If this response from you is anything to go by, then you seem to miss the mark by a mile.

They "failed", because they didn't make such a facility available. Quicken does not have an "international" version, it has several versions that in coordination with some local companies are customized for the particular financial environment in that particular country. Intuit wasn't merely trying to move you to another version, Intuit was abandoning the market.

The reasons for that abandonment is not clear, but ultimately it was a profit motive. Either the market size or the legislative environment or anyone of a thousand other factors made it unprofitable for Intuit to continue to support a UK user base. Accept it and move on. My suggestion is you look at either Moneydance or MSMoney as your next sinancial management software. Moneydance works really well with importing QIF, in some ways I'd say it does QIF better than Quicken does QIF.

WTF did you want him to say? Did you want him to lie to you? It's not compatible and that is that. Intuit Oz isn't going to try and grab a small share of what was already an unprofitable market for the parent company.

Incidentally, Intuit Oz is a fine example of a local vendor being responsible for customization and support of a local market.

I bought Quicken 2005 Home and Business from an EBay seller. I am very happy. I did have to open a Paypal Account to pay for it. Quite Easily Done.

Thanks for reply

How have you liked the Home and Business version so far?

What did you upgrade form?

There is no proof and no promise from Intuit. I wasn't saying that there was any.

Bad management?

I understand that. I was upset that I'm now stuck with a product that won't be supported in the future - a product that I use to manage all my finances! And I was upset that Intuit hasn't tried to help...

Well, yes! I wanted him to save the day and be a hero! ;->

I guess so, but if you're going to throw a family member out of the house at least offer to help him pack. But I guess business is business (and customers are just customers...)

They didn't make any promises. They just exited the market and left us "stranded" - and that's what I was moaning about. I just think that it would have done their reputation a bit of good if they had provided some support to users in terms of what they could do in the future. It might even have made me consider buying Quickbooks. I don't expect them to continue developing a product that is no longer profitable...

I didn't. There was no need to...

I asked because broken promises would be a sign of an integrity problem.

I understand your disappointment; but not your belief that this has anything to do with Inuit's integrity.

I have no argument that it is possible that Intuit might have scored a small pr gain, but at what cost?

It is my understanding that Quickbooks can "import" from Quicken; so perhaps that was your natural migration path.

[Does Quicken UK have the ability to export to QIF?].

I didn't ask about "you", but about "one"; as in, could any UK user convert to another country version before Intuit decided to leave the UK? There are some people now, and probably always have been some people, who would like to convert from one country version to another. If Intuit didn't write any inter-country conversion capability all these years, why would they suddenly incur that large expense now? How many ex-UK users would actually use such a conversion? Aren't you making some fairly large assumptions about how many Quicken UK users there are, and how many would want to use another country version?

But I think you miss the point again. It was you that claimed Intut's failure to provide this conversion was an example of Intuit's lack of "integrity"; yet nothing you have said in response to my questions has supported your claim. I fail to see anything that rises to a moral issue here.

It's my belief that Intuit UK has lost their integrity, considering that their handling of the situation will make me think twice before buying or recommending another Intuit product.

Maybe, but Intuit UK never indicated that to me. Besides, Quickbooks is a business product with features tailored towards business. I wouldn't use many of these since I'm only need a solution for my personal finances and I don't see why I should pay for for features that I don't need.

Yes.

Apparently not because the different country versions use different database structures.

As a "graceful" way to exit the market. You're making the assumption that it would be a large expense. I haven't done the math, so I don't know.

I didn't make any assumptions about how many Quicken UK users there are. I just indicated that I need a way to continue using Quicken in the long term and that my opinion of Intuit UK would be greatly enhanced if they had offered some suggestions.

That is my opinion (and it hasn't changed).

I do - I'm stuck with a product that is no longer supported, and no "safe" or "reliable" way to move my years of financial records onto a new cost effective platform.

You don't need to do the math. Simple logic tells one that it is not a feasible undertaking. The UK Quicken was different from any other version of Quicken. Supporting UK users in other versions would add to support costs, plus it would require writing a migration tool. If they wanted to support UK Quicken users, they would not have withdrawn from the market. Bear in mind that it may be that they want no exposure to UK laws, which they may have if they continue to support UK users.

Your *need* is not paramount to the insurmountable obstacle facing you

- that the product is not an on-going product in the UK. Many years agi, I enthusiastically bought IBM's OS2 Warp. I felt betrayed when IBM decided to pull out of their commitment, but in hindsight I realize how bad a blunder it was for IBM, never mind for me as an individual.

I know what it feels like being cut off, but continuous complaints and expressing a *need* is not going to get you anywhere.

You can export your data out of Quicken in QIF format. Bith MS Money and Moneydance imports from QIF files. Move on. Get over it.

Your opinion does not make it so. I suspect you don't understand the definition of the word "integrity". You can behave like a complete bastard to a population and still have "integrity" - as long as you adhere to your moral and ethical code. Companies can lay off workers and still have integrity, Intuit can pull out of the UK market and still have integrity - your opinion does not make it any different.

As I said - Quicken supports QIF export, MS Money and Moneydance supports QIF import. What more reliable way to move your data do you want? Neither product is expensive, so cost-effectiveness doesn't come into play.

Come, come now. Surely you can surmise the inevitable? Someone will eventually come along and knock Intuit from their throne. It's the way of the world. Intuit has alienated enough of its client base to expedite such an event. Any up & comers, now's your chance...

Hark

The 'competition' has yet to catch up. But it will, young man, it will.

LOL! I'll lay aside the fact that you've just admitted that Intuit does indeed have customer realtion problems. Let's instead examine your assertion. Is it your contention that Intuit _can't afford_ to provide decent customer service? Not even you can beleive that!

Why? Because you say so? My money will be 'put' wherever I choose to put it. Quicken is the best software out there right now, no doubt about that, and so, I use it, as that is what is convenient. But, as previously stated, their customer service is worse than pathetic, and I take no issue with announcing that to the world. Don't like that? Too bad. Intuit will have their day of accountability. You have nothing to say about it.

Greed is a character flaw.

Morally confused? Dubious? Strong terms for a disagreement over software, don't you think? Perhaps you'd care to explain upon what you base such a conclusion (if you can...).

Heh! One could surmise that your defensiveness is a dead giveaway, but instead, I'll direct you to re-read the threads, in particular my responses to you & John. It's all there, Mike, if only you pay attention.

Hark

There should be no need to extract promises of integrity and customer service from any company, let alone one as profitable as Intuit. It is indeed an integrity issue when customers are set adrift by a company only interested in profits. Your reasoning is sound. Don't be brow beaten by blind devotees.

Hark

Wow

I didn't realize I would start a controversial thread!

My point exactly!

I haven't tried MoneyDance, but MS Money is far from perfect when it comes to importing QIF files created in Quicken UK.

As a friend of mine said about eight years ago: The Internet is the only place where you can start out talking about golf and wind up being called a Nazi.

Ahh that's funny!

But so true!