TurboTax users who got in just under the deadline for tax filing — or had hoped to — got a very unpleasant surprise Sunday night, as the service experienced a very, very poorly timed outage.
It’s likely the TurboTax Tax Day meltdown occurred precisely because so many people waited to file online before the deadline and crowded in at the last minute, but the Sunday outage was bad news for last-minute filers.
While the TurboTax electronic system went down at the most unfortunate possible moment, the service claimed all was well within a few minutes.
But going by the TurboTax Facebook page, not all users have been able to get on and finish their filing — and many are fuming at the continued glitching on the TurboTax site after the outage.
One Facebooker said on TurboTax’s wall:
“Really annoyed … stuck on one form, TT won’t let my e-file proceed, and I spent 49 minutes on the phone only to find out the woman was a software person and NOT the CPA help. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances as to why we wait to file. We expect you to be there …”
Another complained that the TurboTax outage appeared to be less worrisome to the company than to frustrated taxpayers:
“It is stratically a huge mistake for you guys to keep posting these cutesy photos and messages on your facebook page. Really, really bad PR is coming your way and you need to fire your marketing department-today! At this rate I would expect many to start calling their better busines bureaus, their state attorney general offices, etc. for fraud.”
Some TurboTax users indicated that while the site was reportedly functional, some lacked the ability to log on for a period of time exceeding the deadline:
“You have my log in disabled now for 24 hours. When are you thinking about fixing it?”
Even more users reported a far longer outage on TurboTax — stretching back as far as two days — and one said the site was still broken this morning:
“Cannot even sign-in to finish my taxes … it just spins and spins. After almost a decade of TurboTax, it’s time to find a new service.”
Late last night, TurboTax had tweeted of the outage:
We’re having problems with TurboTax online. We’re in process bringing back the experience u expect. Updates 2 follow.
— TurboTax (@turbotax) April 15, 2013
Within the hour, the service updated:
Good news – TurboTax.com is back online and functional.
— TurboTax (@turbotax) April 15, 2013
For those still having issues, please try closing your browser and go back to turbotax dot com in a fresh window.
— TurboTax (@turbotax) April 15, 2013
Since last night, TurboTax has not acknowledged ongoing issues reported by users of social media.
