How do I get Fidelity issues resolved.

Seanun

I have a consistent issue I deal with on very regular basis. When in my regular Quicken file I frequently get an error trying to connect to my Fidelity Investments account. If I try a test Quicken file that only contains that account, it always downloads - conclusion, Fidlelity is happy to connect but there is an issue in my regular Quicken file. A Quicken customer representative referred to my file being 'corrupted' - whatever that means. My workaround is to restore a backup which generally seems to reset the issue and I can download from Fidelity a few more times before the issue recurs. Sometimes this takes multiple attempts and obviously I lose any updates I have made manually since the backup I restore. I do this a minimum of once a week, sometimes more often. It seems clear to me that this is a Quicken SW bug. How do I get someone to work with me to resolve this issue?

Rocket J Squirrel

Seanun said:

This response seems to be of the nature - try this, if that doesn't work, try this other thing

This is what we're reduced to, given the current sad state of Quicken. We generally don't have the confidence to say "Do this and your problem will be solved." We say "try" because we cannot guarantee solutions given Quicken's level of bugginess.

Seanun said:

And what does corrupt actually mean? Monday, my file is fine, Tuesday it is 'corrupt'. I fix it on Tuesday and it works fine, then Weds it is corrupt again. Then I fix it and it is fine ....
I'm not trying to be snarky. This is a Quicken SW bug, I'd like to get through to someone beyond first level customer service who can actually root cause this issue.

"Corrupt" means the data in your file has been damaged in some way. No one knows the cause, location, or extent of the damage. Sometimes Validate & Repair can fix such damage. Sometimes it can't. You aren't actually fixing it, you're just hiding it until its next manifestation.

So as to a "Quicken SW bug," maybe there was one at some point which has since been fixed, but damaged your data at the time. Maybe Quicken crashed while writing your data file. Maybe you had a power failure or a lightning strike.  We just don't know.

I have corruption in my data which I cannot fix. I have learned to live with it and work around it when it manifests. The alternative is to start a new data file from scratch, a daunting task. I believe those are your choices also.

I advise against constantly restoring backups. We have recently learned that this creates a new "dataset," which is a limited resource that you will eventually run out of, necessitating a call to Support. If you must restore a backup, rename it first from foo.QDF-backup to foo2.QDF or whatever and just open it. That won't create a dataset.

Sherlock

What is the error you get when you fail to connect?

Have you tried the Copy and Validate instructions as described at: https://www.quicken.com/support/advanced-data-file-troubleshooting-correct-problems-quicken-windows ?

If the issue is limited to one account, I suggest you try creating a new account.  If the problem doesn't reproduce in the new account, you may move the transactions from the original account to the new one, before deleting the original account.

Seanun

This response seems to be of the nature - try this, if that doesn't work, try this other thing, ..... I have been through this loop already with Quicken customer service. They resolved it once and then it recurred a few days later. Since then I have been restoring backups regularly to fix the issue. I do not believe that the solution is for me to execute a bunch of workarounds hoping that some unknown glitch in the SW resolves itself. My question was intended to ask how do I get someone at Quicken to actually diagnose this issue accurately and figure out a permanent solution. I'm paying an annual subscription - surely Quicken can own solving this and not put the burden on me?

Sherlock

Seanun said:

This response seems to be of the nature - try this, if that doesn't work, try this other thing, ..... I have been through this loop already with Quicken customer service. They resolved it once and then it recurred a few days later. Since then I have been restoring backups regularly to fix the issue. I do not believe that the solution is for me to execute a bunch of workarounds hoping that some unknown glitch in the SW resolves itself. My question was intended to ask how do I get someone at Quicken to actually diagnose this issue accurately and figure out a permanent solution. I'm paying an annual subscription - surely Quicken can own solving this and not put the burden on me?

To submit a problem to Quicken, select Help > Report a problem...

Seanun

I did that. That channel explicits says they will not respond to you.

Sherlock

Seanun said:

I did that. That channel explicits says they will not respond to you.

Correct.  They will not put the burden on you.  Hopefully you will have provided them enough information so that they can actually diagnose the issue accurately and figure out a permanent solution.

In my opinion, if you want to resolve the issue, you should consider responding appropriately to the questions asked.  From your description thus far, I agree with Quicken Support.   It is likely the Quicken file is corrupt.  A corrupt file is one that is damaged and does not perform properly.  There are many possible causes.  The Copy and Validate instructions may permanently correct the issue.   If the corruption is limited to one account, recreating the account may permanently correct the issue.

Note: We have multiple Fidelity accounts and have no issues downloading and importing transactions into our Quicken file.

Seanun

As I said earlier 'Report a problem' explicitly says they will not respond to me - so they will not resolve my problem. They may use the information to improve the product but apparently it is not a channel for resolving customer issues directly.
As I also said, I have worked with Quicken customer support, responded appropriately to all of the questions they asked, copied & validated, etc. etc. and after the best part of an hour they successfully fixed the problem.... for a few days until it recurred.
And what does corrupt actually mean? Monday, my file is fine, Tuesday it is 'corrupt'. I fix it on Tuesday and it works fine, then Weds it is corrupt again. Then I fix it and it is fine ....
I'm not trying to be snarky. This is a Quicken SW bug, I'd like to get through to someone beyond first level customer service who can actually root cause this issue.

Rocket J Squirrel

Seanun said:

This response seems to be of the nature - try this, if that doesn't work, try this other thing

This is what we're reduced to, given the current sad state of Quicken. We generally don't have the confidence to say "Do this and your problem will be solved." We say "try" because we cannot guarantee solutions given Quicken's level of bugginess.

Seanun said:

And what does corrupt actually mean? Monday, my file is fine, Tuesday it is 'corrupt'. I fix it on Tuesday and it works fine, then Weds it is corrupt again. Then I fix it and it is fine ....
I'm not trying to be snarky. This is a Quicken SW bug, I'd like to get through to someone beyond first level customer service who can actually root cause this issue.

"Corrupt" means the data in your file has been damaged in some way. No one knows the cause, location, or extent of the damage. Sometimes Validate & Repair can fix such damage. Sometimes it can't. You aren't actually fixing it, you're just hiding it until its next manifestation.

So as to a "Quicken SW bug," maybe there was one at some point which has since been fixed, but damaged your data at the time. Maybe Quicken crashed while writing your data file. Maybe you had a power failure or a lightning strike.  We just don't know.

I have corruption in my data which I cannot fix. I have learned to live with it and work around it when it manifests. The alternative is to start a new data file from scratch, a daunting task. I believe those are your choices also.

I advise against constantly restoring backups. We have recently learned that this creates a new "dataset," which is a limited resource that you will eventually run out of, necessitating a call to Support. If you must restore a backup, rename it first from foo.QDF-backup to foo2.QDF or whatever and just open it. That won't create a dataset.

Sherlock

Seanun said:

As I said earlier 'Report a problem' explicitly says they will not respond to me - so they will not resolve my problem. They may use the information to improve the product but apparently it is not a channel for resolving customer issues directly.
As I also said, I have worked with Quicken customer support, responded appropriately to all of the questions they asked, copied & validated, etc. etc. and after the best part of an hour they successfully fixed the problem.... for a few days until it recurred.
And what does corrupt actually mean? Monday, my file is fine, Tuesday it is 'corrupt'. I fix it on Tuesday and it works fine, then Weds it is corrupt again. Then I fix it and it is fine ....
I'm not trying to be snarky. This is a Quicken SW bug, I'd like to get through to someone beyond first level customer service who can actually root cause this issue.

Just because they will not respond to you doesn't mean they will not resolve the problem if they're able to figure out what it is.

Thank you for finally indicating you have performed the Copy and Validate.  You still have not indicated what the error you are receiving is when you fail to connect.

As I said earlier, a corrupt file is one that is damaged and does not perform properly.  The file may be corrupted in a manner that allowed it to work on Monday but not on Tuesday.   It could be that when you restore the Quicken file something in your environment enables the file to work for a time.

As I suggested earlier, if the corruption is limited to a single account, you may be able to permanently correct the issue by recreating the account.  Note:  The Copy and Validate procedure does not detect and correct all corruptions.

If you submit the problem using Help > Report a problem..., you've gotten through to someone beyond first level customer support.  If this is a software bug, you won't be the only user experiencing the issue, and it will be more likely to be assigned the resources to get it resolved.  

I tend to follow the Quicken Windows posts in the community and haven't seen any other users posting a similar issue yet.

Seanun

As I pointed in out in my 2nd email I have been through the loop you suggested already with customer service. Copy & Validate says there is no issue with my data file.

Thanks for engaging but it is clear the issue I am experiencing will not be resolved here.

Sherlock

Seanun said:

As I pointed in out in my 2nd email I have been through the loop you suggested already with customer service. Copy & Validate says there is no issue with my data file.

Thanks for engaging but it is clear the issue I am experiencing will not be resolved here.

I agree.  Unless you're willing to follow guidance offered here, it is likely you will not resolve the issue you're experiencing.

NotACPA

Seanun said:

I did that. That channel explicits says they will not respond to you.

You're misinterpreting what you read.  Quicken Support won't respond to you, unless they need more info.

BUT, we're not Quicken Support.  We're other users.

And in spite of repeated requests, you've never described the problem so that we'd even have a chance of figuring it out.

Seanun

I disagree. I believe I did describe the problem. I also did not ask for help from this community to resolve the issue. I asked how I could get someone from Quicken, beyond first level customer service, to engage with me.

Sherlock

Seanun said:

I disagree. I believe I did describe the problem. I also did not ask for help from this community to resolve the issue. I asked how I could get someone from Quicken, beyond first level customer service, to engage with me.

I suggest you read what you wrote - not what you think you wrote.

Seanun

Thanks for the advice. Got to go.