Why am I loosing my customized Home screen when downgrading to the Starter Subscription?

twiede01

I've been using Quicken for over 30 years. The last standalone version I paid for was 2016 where I created a customized Home screen view. I then purchased the Premiere subscription and nothing appeared to change as far as my custom home screen. Since I don't use Quicken's Bill Pay service, I decided to downgrade to the Starter subscription and immediately discovered my custom home view was gone leaving me with the basic "My Money" view with no customize button. Since I paid for a version that had customization included, why am I loosing my customized Home screen when downgrading to the Starter Subscription? If you look at Quickens comparison chart, no where does it say that downgrading removes customized views or any customizations. I believe customization on the Quicken Home screen should be available for all versions of Quicken. Please Fix This!

Boatnmaniac

@twiede01 - Did you downgrade to Starter when it was time to renew your subscription or before it was time to renew it?  If you downgraded prior to subscription renewal time, you should have gotten a (prorated?) refund from Quicken for the difference in subscription costs.  If you didn't get that refund then you might want to contact Quicken Support about that.

Also, if you really want the Home view customization back, you can upgrade from Starter to Deluxe or Premier and all you would pay for is the difference in subscription costs.

In addition, if you are within the 30-days refund window, you might want to shop around at retailers like Amazon, Costco, Best Buy and others to see what prices are available for Deluxe and Premier.  It is not uncommon to find some retailers who offer much lower prices than what can be obtained from Quicken.com and you might actually find an offer for Deluxe or Premier for not much more than what Quicken.com charges for Starter.  If you find such an offer and you are within the 30-days purchase window you can get a refund from Quicken.com for your Starter version and then install and activate the retail purchase.  Just make sure if you go this route that the retailer is legitimate and reputable and that what you buy is a subscription version with activation code (the year doesn't matter with subscription because when you install and activate it you will be updated to the current revision).

Losing the Home view customization when we downgrade our subscription is really no different from what would have happened if we'd downgraded and installed a pre-subscription standalone Quicken product in the past.  In both cases the downgraded version will overwrite the previously installed version and all of its features.

I'm not surprised that Home view customization is not specifically listed in the comparison chart.  Most marketing product comparison charts only compare the main feature/option differences and at a high level.  They don't cover every detail of all the differences.  So, don't be surprised to at some point find other Premier features/options missing in Starter that you'd not anticipated.

splasher

What were you showing on your Home screen?  Investments and investment related things are not supported by Starter, could this explain it?

twiede01

Thanks for your quick response, I have a custom view with All Bills, Deposits, and other Scheduled transactions which I then pay through my own banks Bill Pay system.

splasher

I checked in a Starter test setup that I have.  Starter does not have the option to add a view.  You are only allowed the three following view:

1. See where your money goes
2. Stay on top of monthly bills
3. Budget your spending

You need Deluxe or higher to add customized views.

twiede01

I appreciate your research and confirming it's the Starter sub that's to blame. It's unfair to take what someone has already purchased, and make them pay more for it again. As I mentioned earlier, the comparison chart never mentions anything about customized views and which sub get what.

Boatnmaniac

@twiede01 - Did you downgrade to Starter when it was time to renew your subscription or before it was time to renew it?  If you downgraded prior to subscription renewal time, you should have gotten a (prorated?) refund from Quicken for the difference in subscription costs.  If you didn't get that refund then you might want to contact Quicken Support about that.

Also, if you really want the Home view customization back, you can upgrade from Starter to Deluxe or Premier and all you would pay for is the difference in subscription costs.

In addition, if you are within the 30-days refund window, you might want to shop around at retailers like Amazon, Costco, Best Buy and others to see what prices are available for Deluxe and Premier.  It is not uncommon to find some retailers who offer much lower prices than what can be obtained from Quicken.com and you might actually find an offer for Deluxe or Premier for not much more than what Quicken.com charges for Starter.  If you find such an offer and you are within the 30-days purchase window you can get a refund from Quicken.com for your Starter version and then install and activate the retail purchase.  Just make sure if you go this route that the retailer is legitimate and reputable and that what you buy is a subscription version with activation code (the year doesn't matter with subscription because when you install and activate it you will be updated to the current revision).

Losing the Home view customization when we downgrade our subscription is really no different from what would have happened if we'd downgraded and installed a pre-subscription standalone Quicken product in the past.  In both cases the downgraded version will overwrite the previously installed version and all of its features.

I'm not surprised that Home view customization is not specifically listed in the comparison chart.  Most marketing product comparison charts only compare the main feature/option differences and at a high level.  They don't cover every detail of all the differences.  So, don't be surprised to at some point find other Premier features/options missing in Starter that you'd not anticipated.

twiede01

Thanks for all the info Boatnmaniac! I have taken your advice and have purchased from another source. I appreciate all your advice! Thanks