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Database Question

jystickman

How often does Quicken recommend starting over from a brand new database and recreating all accounts? I was told by a support agent that this needs to be done every 10 years and that this is in the Terms and Conditions of use because the database is likely to corrupt after 10 years.

I'm highly skeptical that there is an actual requirement to create a new database from scratch every 10 years, especially as Quicken Mac updated to newer database technology in the not too distant past.

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Accepted answers

[Deleted User]

@jystickman sometimes it's the luck of the draw. Some reps are really bad, others better, but I have never spoken to one yet that really understand what they are talking about. I had one that was literally reading a script and and wasn't really talking to me because she would pause at times, but then didn't let me respond. They will also say anything to get you off the phone. I had one rep tell me after an hour on the phone that I needed to contact the bank, but the error documentation clearly stated not to call the Bank. I have complained many times. I've been censored when I tried to post my experiences. Year after year, you see users here in this forum complain, but as far as I can tell there is no improvement. I think most users just give up trying to give feedback and just avoid going to Quicken Support as must as possible.

All comments

NotACPA

Never heard such … and my QWin file goes back to 1983.

Jon

I don't see anything in the Terms of Use that would require a new file after any period of time. My current Quicken Mac file has data going back to 1999.

jystickman

I posted this because that was the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard. My file goes back to the mid-90's as well.

I'd like to see a Quicken Community moderator chime in here and indicate how I can get someone's technical knowledge fixed.

[Deleted User]

jystickman

@QuickUserPSP - For a while it seemed like support was ok. I rarely use it. I fix my own issues. This transaction was epic.

I've been having an issue for two months where transaction matching is just doing bizarre things and that used to be one of the things Quicken does best. Unfortunately now I am going to have to start triple checking balances for phantom entries and not trust the automation anymore.

Unfortunately, with close to 3 decades of data in this thing, it's hard to switch to something else and I think they know they've got us.

[Deleted User]

@jystickman there have been other strange things happening to data files lately. The latest is closed account balances wildly changing and transactions being deleted. You can fix the balance issue by doing a file validate, but the transactions need to be reentered manually if you don't have a good backup. It happened to me at the end of May. After I did an OSU, I noticed my closed account balances had huge negative balances. These were accounts that were closed for at least 20 years. Luckily, I only had a few missing transactions I was able to identify and manually reenter into Quicken. This just didn't happen to me. It looks like several other users are reporting the same issues.

You would think that if several users report the same issue, Quicken would take notice. But they don't seem to take anyone reporting an issue seriously. They say to use "Report a Problem" but they also say that there is no guarantee that someone would respond and that it mainly used for statistical purposes. They also say to contact Customer Support and we know what happens there. They also say you can have your issue escalated, but that doesn't work either. Just because you ask Quicken Support to escalate your issue doesn't mean it will happen. I have experienced that firsthand.

There is no clear documented protocol for issue submission and resolution. So when Quicken user has an issue they need resolved, they come to the Quicken Community, thinking its Quicken Support. A lot of times, they post their issues only to be told they can't be helped and they need to contact Qucken Support. By this time the Quicken user with the issue is not only frustrated but confused as to how to get help for their issue. If there are any negative comments or put Quicken in a negative light, the moderators censor or delete the posts. They don't seem to understand that by the time the Quicken user gets to this point they are frustrated and angry with the runaround process that doesn't have a clear, concise, step by step protocol on what they need to do to get their issue resolved.

So again, the user is sent to Quicken Support which should be the "be all and end all" but really ends up being a lot of times a dumping ground.

It is a lose-lose situation because the Quicken user doesn't get their issue resolved, and Quicken, Inc. never gets the appropriate and sorely needed feedback that there is an issue that needs to be acknowledged and addressed.

jystickman

@QuickUserPSP - My findings over the last few months:

Especially if the account is a brokerage/401(k) type account, things get totally wacky because for whatever reason, Quicken occasionally gets two different ideas for the name of the same security, and you have to find each downloaded transaction that had the wrong stock name. Like PIM REAL RETURN INST and PIMCO Real Return Fund Institutional won't match even though they have the same stock symbol. Bizarre. And as a result, you get phantom "placeholder" transactions at the bottom of the account, that you have to snoop around and figure out where things got named wrong and which can, as you've noted, start varying wildly
I believe I've finally figured out at least one thing that has been causing the strange behavior in my Quicken accounts with transaction matching of transfers between accounts. Auto reconcile got switched on in one account and it appears Quicken's idea to auto-reconcile is to start creating phantom transactions based on previous entries. It also appears that there is no way for Quicken to easily tell if Quicken created the entry, or if you made the entry. Another case where AI (Artificial Intelligence) appears to be acting more like AS (Artificial Stupidity). Yes, trying to be helpful, but getting it completely wrong.