Connie Certusi’s GM Blog

[#1]

Hi, everyone.  I would like to ask you a very simple question: “How can we support you better, ensuring that you get the most out of your Peachtree Accounting solution?”  

As you think about your response, realize that the term “support” can take on many roles.  Often times the first thought that comes to mind is traditional telephone support.  I can assure you that we take this support function very seriously and we’re always looking for ways to improve your experience when you call us for help.  We take thousands of calls each year and if you’re one of the ones that has called us in the past year, let me know how we’re doing and most importantly, what we could have done differently to improve your experience.  I can tell you that we continually listen to these suggestions and act on them when possible.  In fact, the change we made last year that provides existing customers with 30 days of support when they purchase an upgrade was introduced due to customer input we received on our satisfaction surveys. 

I would also ask you to think beyond telephone support to other learning systems that we could improve or make available to you.  Learning systems can be delivered in many ways, such as through in-product help/assistance, online training, and even through this community, which allows you to network with other Peachtree customers.   We are going to be focused heavily in the coming year on improving our learning systems and would like your input on where to focus our efforts.   Have you seen other companies take an innovative approach to learning systems?  If so, what did they do and how would you rate the learning experience they provided?   

Thanks in advance for your responses and innovative ideas related to how we can better support you as a Peachtree customer.

Connie Certusi

[#2]

It'd be nice if you didn't CHARGE a "fee" if we need to call with a question about your products!! If we need help with making some aspect of your program work correctly, we have to PAY you to talk to us?? Thanks, but I'll go back to doing it by hand...*pfft*

[#3]

Thanks for your response (least I know someone is reading this blog) :-). In all seriousness, we have made changes in our policies over the last few years to make support more affordable (in some cases free). Just last year we moved from allowing only 1 support incident with the purchase of the upgrade to 30 days of free support. We ungated the online knowledgebase making it free to everyone(prior to this change only support contract holders could access the tool). We also launched Business Care which provides heavily discounted unlimited support along with annual upgrades (and tax updates when applicable). I realize that our customers would prefer free support all the time - no matter what; however, from a business perspective, that's impossible for us to do given the cost of the support effort. Although not perfect, I will tell you that we pride ourselves in the service we provide but we're always looking for ways to improve (adding more value to you as a customer). Again - thanks for responding.

[#4]

Connie - your posts are being read with interest.

[#5]

Thanks - why are we both on this community on Saturday? :-)

[#6]

I'd like to add some general perspective regarding support. Peachtree is a complex product with what I believe to be a smaller general market than, say, another complex product such as Microsoft Excel. Yet Sage can offer Peachtree for as little as $69 for someone setting up a business on a limited budget (significantly less than Excel).

Depending upon how you intend to use the product, you may need some help with configuration and use. But consider the value of your own time as you look at what it would cost to support one hour of service for a $69 product. When you 'bake in' everything it takes to protect the life-cycle of complex software, this 'free' support would hurt the company in the short-term and the customer in the long-term. Peachtree could certainly raise the selling price of the product and offer a fixed amount of 'free' support in the process. But that strategy would be counter-productive to delivering a cost competitive product.

As with Microsoft Excel, there is a significant aftermarket of product literature and many 'free' online communities available fill this void. Microsoft will not field questions regarding Excel for free and Peachtree should not be held to a different standard. This online community is an example of Peachtree's committment to delivering value to the customer and improving user effectivness. The free help on the part of certified consultants and employees in this community has been of very high grade. I suspect that most questions regarding product use could be successfully resolved in this forum.

[#7]

Thank you for providing this perspective. I also hope that this forum will grow and ultimately provide our customers and partners with another source of free support - bringing the Peachtree ecosystem together. That's the main reason we launched it a few months ago. Thanks again.

[#8]

No doubt about peacetree being the accounting solution. But, it pains me when i still see some accountants not peacetree compliance.
I recommend peacetree accounting to all companies and i want to say that, i am ready to train anybody on the use of peacetree accounting. You can reach me on : 234-803-424-1328 or mail me at : oduwol@yahoo.com.

Thanks for this wonderful familiy

[#9]

Thanks for your support. I can tell you that we're seeing a growing # of accountants recommending Peachtree every year. In fact, at the end of this fiscal year, our membership in SSAN will have experienced double-digit growth for the 2nd year in a row. Thank you again for your commitment to this product.

[#10]

You customer service STINKS - absolutely stinks. It always has and I have been a Peachtree customer for over 35 years. Why? who knows, just too lazy to switch.
Now you your programs are not supported for anything over 3 years old? Do you have any idea what kind of pressure that puts the small business company into? Forcing their hands every three years on products that work perfectly well for them?
I have had to do it since DOS was used by Peachtree. And I still think 3 years is unfair. Too often.
There is nothing wrong with our Peachtree 2006 yet if we want to use the website programs offered by Peachtree then we have to upgrade by November.
I am totally afraid to get involved with this company to the point where I have to commit this business to an upgrade every three years in the accounting software now I suppose that will also hold true for the website Creator Pro and the Website Trader. Now you are talking big bucks every three years PLUS the annual cost of the PRIVILEGE of doing business with peachtree and the online programs listed above.

You think this is fair? Of course you don't but it sure is a below the belt way of making Sage/Peachtree more money.

AND IT ALL STILL STINKS
jackie

[#11]

YOU MUST BE KIDDING to compare peachtree to excel. You MUST be kidding. And, your support has always been terrible. At least the $10 fee per fax question was somewhat fair.

[#12]

Hello, Jackie.

First of all, thank you for the posting. It's obvious that you are frustrated with our obsolescence policy. Let me take a moment to explain why we have such a policy. It's truly not meant to strong-arm our customers into upgrading. On the contrary, it allows us to focus our resources on a maximum of 3 product releases, allowing us to better serve the needs of our customers better and at a lower cost. If we supported all Peachtree releases our expense infrastructure would be higher (from a support and R&D perspective) since it costs real $s to support these older products. We would be forced to pass these costs on to our broader customer base which would result in increased prices. That's not something we want to do at this point in time. It's also industry standard to obsolete product releases at some point in time. As far as I know, every product in this segment has similar policies. I realize I probably didn't address your concern, but thought it important to let you know why we have such a policy. Thanks again for the posting.

[#13]

Connie,

I’ve been using Peachtree since it was version 1.0. Two years ago, I joined the Sage Accountants Network.

Before I go any further, I want you to know I have an advanced degree in accounting as well as an advanced degree in information sciences. Too, at one point in my career, I was actually a software developer and design engineer.

In June, 2008, I received the 2009 Peachtree Quantum, Accountants version. The first weekend I had available, I think it was June 7th; I began the process of upgrading the 2008 product to 2009. It was a nightmare. Problems abound, receiving error messages that the database couldn’t read the file server; messages indicating firewall problems; the list was endless. So I popped out to the Peachtree web site to research some of these things only to discover the only testing this product went through was against firewall packages that are consumer-based that won’t load on a server software (specifically 2003 Microsoft Server) and against anti-virus packages that, again, won’t load on a server software and the product was never tested against an anti-virus package that is centrally managed, specifically, Symantec’s anti-virus corporate version.

Once those problems were alleviated, I pulled up the first of more than forty datasets to convert from 2008 to 2009. The dataset selected was destroyed. Luckily, I had daily backups of all the datasets, as I require my company and all client companies to backup their data daily and send copy of the backup to my server.

So I uninstall 2009 across the network and try to reinstall 2008. Oops, I began getting the same installation errors as was received attempting to install 2008. So I uninstall everything across the network, edit the known registry entries for the server and workstations to remove all known entries; go through the Windows file explorer to remove (and it took me a while because many of the components of 2009 would not come out cleanly) files.

Still no good, as 2008 would only load locally and the only option for datasets was on an executable drive. (no! no! no!...any freshman in any beginning IS/IT class learns this is a no-no.) It seems your design and development teams got lazy, very lazy. Sage produced an upgrade that was not worth the box it was shipped in. Making matters worse, the 2008 version will no longer load and operate across the network.

This amazes me. In two short years Sage has taken a product that was the best on the market and destroyed it. Not to worry though. If the Sage executive management team continues to allow shoddy workmanship to drive company revenue, then it will also drive down customer confidence; ultimately the Sage stock prices will fall and the lack of revenue will put the company on the brink of bankruptcy. Then you can take comfort in the promise that Congress will send you a welfare check ranging from $85 billion to $700 billion to waste on something else.

You guys need to do a total recall of the 2009 product. You need to go back to the drawing board (maybe even blow it up) and start over. In the 2009 product, I see nothing but lazy short-sidedness; take some pride in your work. After all, you’re supposed to be reasonably-educated, professional adults.

By the way, I’ve told my 40+ Peachtree-using clients to forget about upgrading until further notice. I refuse to spread the disease known as Peachtree 2009.

Suggestions! Put some thought into the platforms your customer is using. We use XP Professional for workstations, Windows Server for our domain controller and file server. We use Cisco routers and firewalls as well as Symantec corporate security; by the way, your processes for using the Windows firewall is useless, scrap it. Don’t think of small business as an extension of the consumer market, you’ll quite quickly discover that our depth of knowledge and talent far surpasses any talent found in any unFortunate 500 company.

[#14]

Dear Upset, I too have clients that have upgraded to Peachtree's v2009 (Quantum and Premium); none of which have had any issues. These clients run Microsoft Small Business Server on the back-end with XP and Vista desktops. In-spite of your pedigree, your wounds appear to be self-inflicted.

That you have only one post on this site indicates to me that you consulted no one here for help. That you posted annoymously makes me suspect your motives. Anyone with such a vested interest in the success of the Peachtree product would be hestiant to post such a reckless comment recommending a recall of the 2009 release. Until you identify yourself, anyone that reads your post should consider the entire content disinformation.

[#15]

We experience a problem with accessing tax forms after we installed the Oct 08 Tax update. There was no subsequent communication from Peachtree about this problem. I had to call technical support and wait hours to resolve the problem. Luckily, we have the support plan at present but what if we did not had the support plan.

Peachtree must take responsibility for this mess up and inform all tax update customers regardless of the support plans about this.

Murtuza Babrawala

[#16]

not supporting old products is a common practice in software, not just peachtree. i use a lot of software that is lot more expensive than peachtree and always upgrade at least every other release. i find that there are enough benefits in new releases to make it worthwhile. sure, the old version worked fine, but the new version is even better. from the software company's perspective, i can see where it would be difficult to support old versions because of confusion and turnover among the support staff to keep up with the differences between each release. i have to agree with connie's reply to jackidance

Message Edited by drey on 10-08-2008 10:18 AM

[#17]

Hi, Jackie.

First of all, sorry for the delay in responding. I thought I had posted a response to this topic a few weeks ago but I now don't see it in the blog - so I'll repost.

Thank you for expressing your concerns regarding our obsolescence policy. This policy was put in place about 7 years ago to streamline our cost structure related to supporting product releases. I'll try to explain the rationale. There are hard costs associated to supporting any given release of Peachtree. These costs include the R&D effort required to deliver updated payroll tax tables and support cost associated with ensuring enough support reps remain knowledgeable on a given release. As a release ages over time, it becomes difficult to justify these costs given the small # of customers on a release. On average, a Peachtree customer upgrades every 2.5 years. That's the reason we decided to obsolete releases that are more than 3 years old. If we didn't do this we would have to increase our prices (for software and other services) in order to pay for the cost of supporting these releases. Although this policy does force an upgrade once every 3 years (in order to continue receiving support for the release) it does ultimately lead to providing lower prices and a higher quality of support on current releases. I'm happy to discuss this further with you if you want. Please feel free to call me at 770 492-7128 if you want more details. Given you have been a Peachtree customer for over 35 years, I sincerely want to ensure that you understand our rationale for this policy. I can also tell you that this policy isn't unusual. Most vendors have some obsolescence policy related to their software which helps them control costs associated with supporting older releases.

Thanks again for your comments and for being such a long-time Peachtree customer.

Connie

[#18]

Hello, Drey

Thanks for your comments on this topic. I'm glad you do see the benefit in upgrading regularly. You've definitely hit on one of our issues with supporting older releases. Once a release becomes 3+ years old, it's very difficult to maintain enough knowledgeable support reps who understand all the specific idiosyncrasies of that release. Net result is that we end up offering poor support for the release which isn't the customer experience that we want to deliver. Thanks again for your comments.

[#19]

UpsetAccountant,

First of all, I'm sorry that you had all of those issues with the 2009 release. I'm not even going to attempt to respond to them via this blog but would like to request that you give me a call at 770 492-7128 to discuss. If you will do this, I will coordinate a phone call with our VP of R&D and VP of Technical Support to investigate what happened. I can tell you that your experience was not the norm. On the contrary, our satisfaction scores among those who have upgraded to 2009 are significantly higher than what we saw with 2008. Quantitatively speaking, the satisfaction scores for all upgraders is up 12% and 40% for those upgrading to Quantum and Premium. I can tell you that it is hard for us to always catch issues with firewalls and antivirus software given the number of brands and versions within a given brand. However, I would welcome the opportunity to coordinate a phone call with you and our VP of R&D so you can explain your environment to him so we can potentially mitigate your installation issues in the future.

Thanks again for your comment. Please give me a call and give us a chance to improve this in the future assuming your environment can be added to our testing scenarions.

Connie

[#20]

SWheeler,

Thanks for your vote of confidence with the 2009 release. As you can see from my prior blog entry, the satisfaction scores are high for the release. However, sometimes there are some environmental conditions that we can't plan for. That's why I've asked UpsetAccountant to call me and we can figure out if his specific environment is outside of the norm or if it is something that merits addition to our QA process. Thanks again for your support.

Connie

[#21]

Dear Connie,

I have had some good and very bad experiences with Peactree. I work for a small company and our accounting needs are simple. When I started work for this compnay we used a program called One Write Plus. It was very economical and easy to use. I believe it cost about $40. I stayed with this program until it was taken over by Peactree. It went downhill from there. When you got the new upgrade the payroll tax was no longer included, but had to be purchased separately. The priced was also increased. Eventually Peachtree quit making upgrades for One Write Plus and was no longer issuing Payroll Upgrades for it. Peachtree made it easy to upgrade to their accounting system. Peachtree cost more, but promised to do more. As our company was growing I made the decision to upgrade to Peachtree. Peachtree did more, but at the same time I couldn't look up information and get the reports the way I used to with One Write Plus. Particularly, I used to go to Inventory, Items and be able to look up who I sold that Item to and how much. I really miss this. It was a valuable tool for me. In 2004, I purchased PPM. It was a considerable ivestment. I have been content with this program, but still had some issues with how I could look things up and the reports. A few years later, I was informed that my program would soon not be supported by your company and that I could no longer purchase Payroll Tax Upgrades. This upset me because, I was familar with my prgram and content with it. Also the Upgrade didn't come with a Payroll Tax upgrade and had to be purchased separately. I felt trapped by your company. I decided not to purchase an upgrade and I have manually updated my payroll tax records and designed my own forms. This has been working fine for me until I purchased a new computer. I couldn't transfer my work to the new computer because I counldn't intall my version Peachtree on my new computer. I kept getting errors and had no tech support. I made the decision to purchase the PPM 2009 at a considerable cost. I feel more duped by your company than ever. First, they sent me the wrong upgrade PPA. I didn't think it was a big deal until I couldn't transfer my company. I dont believer I got reimbursed for the shippping. Second, instead of being able to do more, I can do less. I can no longer print payroll tax forms unless I purchase you Payroll Tax Service. I can't print the same reports as I did before. I can't design my own forms. I'm not happy at all! I'm seriously considering going back to my old version.

JAT

[#22]

Dear MurtuzaB,

I wanted to take a moment and respond to your entry on the recent tax issue and your concern that we did not adequately notify the base of the situation. When we learned of the issue we did attempt to get the word out using a number of avenues. For example, we posted an entry on the community, which can be accessed at the following address: http://community.peachtree.com/peachtree/board/message?board.id=ptaccounting&thread.id=1605. We also sent an e-mail out to all tax subscribers and updated our free online knowledgebase to notify customers and let them know when a fix would be available. It's also my understanding that we updated our phone message to direct customers to the specific area of the knowledgebase or the community if they didn't want to wait to speak to a rep. I understand your frustration if you were not aware of this information. Do you know if you received the e-mail from us? If not, we should probably check our records to ensure we have the right e-mail on file for you. I can also tell you that we plan to dedicate a section in the upcoming November newsletter to proactive information that you might find helpful when closing the year. Please make sure you review this correspondence since it represents another way that we attempt to communicate important information to our customers. I'm also very open to your ideas related to other media we could use to proactively communicate this type of information to our base. It is our goal to keep you as informed as possible, particularly if the issue is related to payroll and tax regulatory compliance. Feel free to call me 770 492 7128 or e-mail me a connie.certusi@sage.com if you would like to discuss further.

Connie

[#23]

Hi Connie,

We have been using Peachtree since 1998 with great success.  Each revision of Peachtree was fairly seamless, with the exception of the most recent one, 2009.  We have had many problems with it since the upgrade from 2006.  The wait times for "customer support" are excessive.  With 5 users I have to be concerned that 2009 is fraught with too many problems that should have prevented the software from being released in the first place. 

After 2009 shut down last night it is close to the last straw.  We were able to recover this morning but are holding our breath for the next problem.

Is a significant patch or upgrade to 2009 imminent?  I'm already looking for a replacment just-in-case.

Thanks,

Eric

Message Edited by Eric on 10-28-2008 10:41 AM

[#24]

Eric: It would so much more informative if you could list or define some of your Peachtree 2009 related problems. Please be informed that Sage Software maintains a list of local Certified Peachtree Consultants that can assist your by phone, onsite, as well as by Internet remote access. You will find a list by state at http://www.peachtree.com/forms/html/psclist.cfm for your future use.

[#25]

I just upgraded from PPAM 2006 to 2009 and after I upgraded all of my workstations found out that only the first five users who accessed Peachtree can access it later. This occurs even though there are only two uses logged in at that time. A user that was not one of the original five, cannot access Peachtree because there are already five users licensed. I called support (After an hour wait time) and they said that I would have to uncheck a user that has a license and check the user I wanted to have access. That would mean that I would have to tell everyone who was in Peachtree to stop working so I can uncheck a box!!! This is not practical as I also travel and do not have access to Peachtree all the time. The license should be distributed as users login in and not be permanently assigned to a user. I asked support how to I go back to my 2006 version and was told that the data has been converted and I would have to use the back ups which are now five days old. I was also told by support that I can upgrade to Quantum for 10 users…..even though I really only need to have three to five users accessing Peachtree at a time. It seems to me that Sage is only interested in getting more money from us!!!
Thanks for making my life more difficult!!

[#26]

Hi, Eric.

I'm sorry you've had issues with 2009. I'll be perfectly honest and say that we haven't had significant problems with the release; however, we have had some recent tax update problems which have created call volume into the support center (resulting in long wait times). I would welcome a phone call from you in an attempt to understand what is going on. I can also put you in touch with the right person in support to assist you with the issues. My phone number is 770 492 7128. My e-mail address is connie.certusi@sage.com in case you would rather send me an e-mail. We definitely don't want to lose you as a customer.

Connie

[#27]

I usually start at 5 A.M. Eastern Time. Today I am experiencing a problem as my Peachtree won't open. Once I type in my password almost immediately the program stops. It would be nice if I could reach someone to help me resolve my problem. Your web site takes me in circles and no one is available until at least 8:30 A.M. That's three hours killed.

[#28]

I think you should get free online support since the program costs so much.

I have simple questions and it has to do with the new layout. Not everyone can know every question within 30 days. For example: I have custom fields that I was using under my customers and now the tab is gone. Can someone tell me what happened to it? It's enabled- so where is it?
Kim

[#29]

DavidL,

Just checking to see if you got your issue resolved. If you did not let me know and I will have someone give you a proactive call to address your issue.

[#30]

ptsince1993,

Providing free support is a common request among our users. Unfortunately, given the cost of providing support it's impossible for us to give all support away for free. We have done a number of things in the last year to enhance the amount of free support that we provide such as extending upgrade warranty support to 30 days, ungating our online knowledgebase, and creating this community so that the entire Peachtree ecosystem can help each other. Regarding your specific question, the custom fields are now on the general tab (1st one that you see when you open up the maintenance screen). Let us know if you are still having problems locating them.

[#31]

Dear jbird42518,

Sorry for the delay in responding. Some how I missed your post earlier. Let me try to address some of your concerns by explaining why we do the things we do. I may not be able to solve your issues but hope that you can understand our rationale. You're correct that we stopped support for OneWritePlus some time ago. It was necessary to do this given the ongoing cost of supporting that product. The solution was on aging architecture and updating it would have been cost prohibitive. Peachtree was selected as the product to move-forward with given the power in the brand, large customer base, retail presence, and sheer size of the business. As a result, we began adding functionality in the Peachtree product (like registers) to help OneWritePlus users adjust to the transition. Unfortunately, given Peachtree is inherently a different product than OWP, it was impossible for us to make the customer experience identical. So although Peachtree does have more functionality it doesn't behave exactly like OWP from a workflow or user interface perspective. I also understand your dissatisfaction with having to upgrade at some point to remain compatible with operating systems and other environmental components. This also is absolutely necessary for a software vendor to do given the ongoing cost of ensuring every single version remains compatible to changing operating system environments. If we didn't do this we would spend all of our R&D time keeping old versions compatible and could not continue taking the product forward from a feature/functionality perspective. It's fine for you to manually update your tax tables. In fact, that's a feature that gives Peachtree a competitive advantage when compared to QuickBooks. The QB product does not allow this and forces a subscription to their tax service if you want the product to automatically calculate tax withholdings. I apologize that we sent the wrong version of the product. If you do not feel that you got reimbursed for the shipping charges, please give me a call at 770 492 7128 and I will make sure someone takes care of it. Regarding the change to require the tax service to print payroll tax forms, the rationale behind that change is that given the legal implication of making sure the tax forms coming out of Peachtree are accurate, we felt it necessary to provide those forms ourselves as part of the tax service. Sorry for the really long response. My real goal was really to communicate the why regarding the policies we make. I hope that we can retain you as a Peachtree customer. Thanks so much for your support.

[#32]

Eric,

Just checking up on your post from earlier. Did you get the issues resolved with 2009? If not, please let me know and we will get someone in touch with you.

Connie

[#33]

Hello, Thomas.

We did make an change with the introduction of Quantum a few years back to move to a per user license model. There are work-arounds to this (such as unchecking active users). Other customers have added generic user accounts that can be used by multiple people in the office (preventing you from having to check and uncheck on a regular basis). I can assure you that we were not trying to make your life more difficult. In fact, I believe that our EULA always indicated a per user license model and our decision was more about enforcing this policy.

[#34]

Had a potential employer ask me "Why the name "Peachtree" can you answer why the gentlemen who created this software chose this name?

[#35]

Hi sinsativ,

Wow - you stumped me. Even though I've been with the Peachtree business for 12 years I've really never thought about asking anyone this question. Given we're headquarterd in Atlanta and just about every other street in ATL is named 'Peachtree' I could come up with something clever and say that one of our founders was gazing out a window in downtown ATL trying to come up with a name and saw a 'Peachtree St' roadsign but the truth is - I don't really know. I've already sent an e-mail out to a few of the Peachtree 'old timers' to get your answer. I'll let you know as soon as I find out since you've got me curious as well. Thanks for the question. I'll definitely let you know.

Connie

[#36]

Hi, Sinsativ.

Got your answer and guess what - I was right. I asked Doug Meyer (who has been with Sage for over 16 years and used to be President of the Peachtree division). Here is his response:

"In 1978, the original company, I believe it was called RTC was splitting its hardware and software divisions. The software division needed a name. The business (RTC) was located near the Lenox mall (in Atlanta). They hired a naming consultant who looked out the window and for $25K recommended they use the street sign name – Peachtree – just outside the office. The rest is history."

Thanks for your question....

Connie

[#37]

Moved Peachtree product question to Peachtree Accounting forum for better exposure.

Message Edited by MikeS on 12-10-2008 11:21 AM

[#38]

We registered on the 30-day trial offering on ePeachtree. We received an eMail from representative John Brown (that's the actual name)pledging his support during the trial period. Our Accountant registered one of our clients and started setting up but soon had a query for John Brown. Many eMails were forwarded after the original request by our Accountant (Henry Serfontein) but without any reply from John Brown. After 15 or 20 days, your Billing division contacted me and questioned whether I was happy and could they Bill me for the quarterly fee! I answered 'certainly not' and informed that we had hardly started our evaluation of the product due to a total further lack of replies. Still no response but at least I was not Billed ! Not good for morale , business or referrals ! ? ! I'm a very forgiving fellow ! .... I'm still interested in Peachtree and would like to communicate with you Connie ... and look forward to your reply. Best of luck,Rgds, JohnO

[#39]

John,

I'm more than happy to discuss this with you. Feel free to call my office at 770 492 7128. I would like to get your thoughts on ePeachtree and do whatever I can to rectify the situation.

Connie

[#40]

Connie,
THank you for efforts in trying to maintain a high level of honesty type of company.
I am very disappointed in the lack of response to my previous e-mails with regard to a breakdown in your process of customer service.
PLease contact me if you would like to talk about this further
Jim Vaive
614-794-8169

[#41]

Hi, Jim.

Melissa Lanctot will be reaching out to you to set up some time for us to talk. In fact, you probably already have a voice mail from her. Thanks for the post. I look forward to our conversation.

Connie

[#42]

yesterday i filled out a peachtree survey. i thought by this morning someone would contact me w/support. however, this seems to be the norm - very little support. i can wait on hold again for over two hours to get someone you still can't help me but, is more than willing to transfer me to someone who might know more and put me on hold again. this is very frustrating.

[#43]

it angers me to have to wait hours for FREE support. can you imagine how bad it would be to have to pay for such sorry support.

[#44]

Kamdillon,

I do understand that wait times are extremely long right now. The period of time between 12/15 through mid-January is extremely busy for us given many of our customers are closing out their year, ordering their tax service, etc. I can assure you that what you are experiencing is not the norm.
Can you provide me with a little detail on what your problem/question is and I'll see if I can get it answered for you.

Connie

[#45]

You need a better phone support option i spent an hour and a half yesterday waiting for technical support on hold when i had some more issuses with same case number i tried to call back with support id 11588711 i am told the hold time can be over an hour this time i need help now this customer is being billed by the hour for my support time an hour on the phone is riduculous please call me at 904-731-7212

[#46]

YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE STINKS- I HAVE TRIED FOR 3 DAYS TO GET THRU ON THE PHONE- FINALLY, I GOT THRU TODAY-ONLY AFTER PUSHING #3 FOR SALES- YOU ANSWER QUICKLY FOR NEW SALES- BUT FORGET IT IF YOU ALREADY PURCHASED- I HAVE BEEN ON HOLD SINCE 3:06 pm- IT IS NOW 4:50 PM- I HAVE PAYROLL DUE TOMORROW THAT I CAN NOT DO- IF I DON'T SPEAK TO SOMEONE THAT CAN HELP ME SOON, I WILL CALL MY BANK AND LET THEM KNOW I WILL NOT PAY THE CHARGE THAT WAS PUT ON THE CREDIT CARD AND NOT TO PAY THE BALANCE PF THE PAYMENTS- YOU PROPLE ARE A DISGRACE- I STARTED TO CHANGE PROGRAMS- WISH I HAD

[#47]

Cocowalk,

I apologize for the delay in support. You called during our peak season (end of year) and although we heavily staff up it's virtually impossible to handle all calls within the service levels we provide throughout the year. Feel free to call me at 770 491 7128 if you want to discuss. I may not be able to help you with your problem but can get someone from support to call you back.

Connie

[#48]

Ronmacn,

I'm having someone reach out to you (at number above) today. As mentioned in previous responses, this is our peak season. The hold times you are experiencing are not normal. ANother option (in addition to tech support) is to explain your issue on the community since we have partners monitoring the threads and offering assistance whenever they can. Regardless, someone should be in touch with you today.

Connie

[#49]

As I sit waiting for someone to answer at tech support I have had plenty of time to sign up to this blog , write a novel, do a few loads of wash!!! seriously the waite time is crazy!!! we have used peachtree for over 10 yrs and it is always the same...if you can get thru to tech support without them saying all lines are busy and they can not answer, you are put on hold forever. I actualy called as if i were going to buy the software...no problem getting an answer there!! By the way I am still on hold ...Have been trying for over 3 hours even had four other sales people here call ( at the same time on diffrent telephone lines) diffrent numbers and none of us could get thru except thru the sales dept...but then again I am still on hold.. THIS IS NOT A END OF YEAR THING... IT IS ALWAYS THIS WAY!! gUESS WHAT...AFTER BEING ON HOLD FOR OVER 10 MIN. GOT A MESSAGE THAT NO ONE WAS THER TO ANSWER MY CALL TO LEAVE MY PHONE# NAME ETC AND THEY WOULD GET BACK WITH ME....I had other appts tommorow but guess I will have to cancle since I have to waite for support that I have paid for year after year. Quick Books is looking better and better all the time !!!

[#50]

BEE,

Can you provide me with your phone number so I can make sure someone get's in touch with you as soon as possible?

Connie

[#51]

I've been trying to get through to Customer Service for 3 days to no avail. I am going to try once more at 7:30AM and see what happens. I too had no problem getting through to sales, where I purchased a support plan and was promised that I could reach someone on the 800 number, which turned out to be the number I was already calling. My problem is a Peachtree problem; after I installed Jan 08 tax update, I cannot access tax forms (get a message then peachtree shuts down). I desperately need to run W2s. I've tried following the directions posted in knowledgebase, but had difficulty. I have a computer guy coming in the morning to the tune of $100/hr, hoping he can help me. After paying over $300 for the Jan tax update, paying again for customer support, hoping to solve a Peachtree problem (not on my end)and still stuck in limbo. Once I get through this "first time in over 13 yrs" W2 horror, I plan to speak to my CPA regarding other software programs for small business. I will also dispute the charges on my credit card, since I'm unable to use the services I paid for. We know it's your busy time, please stop telling us that. It's our busy time too. Any ideas, anyone?