Does anyone else get downloads of old (prior downloads) transactions that are flagged as "new"?

DennisMoritz

This started happening in the last couple/few months. Transaction downloads of bank or credit accounts include previously downloaded transactions that get identified as "new". This is a major pain as it adds a lot of time to sort out the real "new" stuff.

splasher

Which financial institution and download method?  (see Account List on Tools menu)

DennisMoritz

American Express, Chase, and Wells Fargo using "Direct Connect"

splasher

I was hoping that you would reply with Express Web Connect, since that could explain the issue.  I don't have AE or WF, but I have not experienced the issue with my Chase credit card. 
It is an unusual issue with Direct Connect.

Chris_QPW

Are you using Sync to Mobile/Web?

That has caused this kind of problem in the past.

Chris_QPW

Also, if you allow the "new" transaction to be put in the register (if you aren't already using automatic transaction entry mode) and turn on the "Downloaded ID" column you can compare the IDs of the old and new transactions that are duplicated.  That might give some indication of where the problem lies.

Quicken uses that ID to decide if it has seen this transaction before or not.

DennisMoritz

I do not sync to Mobile/Web. I intentionally stick to the PC (Windows) and keep my files local and maintain my own backups and security.

For downloading transactions I use the "Online Center" window and the "Update/Send..." button. I then follow Quicken's automated matching and hand-accept transactions.

When this problem first started, Quicken flagged the old transaction as a "match" even though it had previously been accepted in a prior download. That wasn't so bad since it didn't confuse it as new.

Since it no longer matches, I'm concerned that accepting it will create a duplicate entry. I can give that a try to see what happens. I've just been hand deleting them.

Chris_QPW

I suggest allowing one of the "new/duplicate" transaction into the register so that you can check the Downloaded ID.  That might give a clue at why Quicken thinks it is new.  The Downloaded Id is also in the OFX log, but I think you will find it easier to just do the compare for the two transactions in the register.

splasher

I have seen a dup downloaded as a "match: when the downloaded posting date was changed in a transaction, but that should not cause a "new".  As pointed out by Chris_QPW, the "Downloaded Id" will indicate whether Quicken is messing up or the financial institution is not following the rules and sending dups with a different ID.

DennisMoritz

Thanks for your help. I'll look into the Downloaded ID.

DennisMoritz

So, for the downloaded transactions that are old but flagged as "new", if I accept such a transaction, it ends up as a duplicate, but with a blank Downloaded ID. (I don't know how to inspect the downloaded ID before accepting it.)

All the existing transactions I have include a Downloaded ID. That seems to imply that downloaded transactions that are really "new" are okay. So, the problem is why it even downloads old transactions without Downloaded IDs. As mentioned at the beginning, this occurs across multiple accounts.

Chris_QPW

Hmm.  I have a feeling there is something corrupted with your data file, but with blank Downloaded IDs coming in it does seem like a good idea to see what the OFX file says so that we can tell if the problem is in the downloaded data or in Quicken's processing of it.

If you select Help -> Contact Support -> Log Files -> OFX Log, you can save that file to your disk and open it with Notepad. Search from the bottom up for the transaction payee it will be in the <NAME> field and the <FITID> is the Downloaded Id.

If is blank here that suggests that it is being sent by the financial institution that way.  If it isn't blank here there is a problem with Quicken or your Quicken data file.

Troubleshooting for the that data file would be to try in a new data file see if that is the cause.  If it is, then you would older backups or maybe Validate and Repair.

DennisMoritz

Thanks again. That narrows it down. There is a FITID for the last transaction I reviewed. So, per your assessment, it appears the problem is in Quicken. I'll try the validate and repair as I'd have to go too far back to get around this problem.

I appreciate your ability to zero straight in on the issue with a great how-to description!