Deceptive third-party "Quicken" support

Blackjack33

My computer recently crashed and, although my local tech was able to save my Quicken files, my 2013 Quicken program was lost. Searching the web for Quicken support to see how I could get my Quicken back in operation, I found a website with a phone number that said it was Quicken support. I called and the rep assured me that he was with Quicken. He sold me a one-time download of Quicken Classic for $99.99 and guaranteed me that he could "convert" my files to my new Quicken program for $172. I bought his story and thought I was back in business. Everything was working fine, Quicken was running as always and I was satisfied. Then I discovered that I was dealing with "QuickenServices.com", a third-party operation that isn't even an authorized Quicken reseller. I discovered I had only bought a five-month subscription and the Quiccken account didn't even recognize my email address as the owner of the program. When I finally reached an actual Quicken tech support employee, he walked me through setting up a legitimate version of Quicken Classic and showed me that there was no charge for Quicken to "convert" my files……..they automatically appeared with the new program. I may be out the $272 I paid this bunch but I have disputed the charge with my credit card company. Since they ran the charge through my PayPal account I may be out of luck. Just a warning to make sure you know who you are dealing with.

jacobs

@Blackjack33 Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm sorry you had to go through that. Unfortunately, there are, and have long been, deceptive companies out there who prey on people looking for Quicken support, especially after a hard drive or computer failure. It helps that you shared your story to alert fellow users; some people get similarly duped and, because they are embarrassed, they never mention it so other users don't learn.

I hope you have success getting some of your money back. One thing to be aware of is that you can file a dispute with PayPal. since you already started with your credit card company, you may want to see how that plays out, but PayPal has fraud resolution services as well.

Let me recap some things every Quicken user should know:

• Only deal with official Quicken Support. The address of any website you connect to should be "quicken.com" and not any variation of that. How do you find "official" support? If you search, Quicken works to maintain being first in Google rankings, but the sleazy scam companies also do things to try to boost their rank in Google searches. When I Google "Quicken Support" right now, the correct, official site does come up first in the search results:
  
  
• The phone number for Quicken Support is the one shown in the screenshot above, but…
• The surefire safest way to get to Quicken Support is to simply go to "quicken.com". From the menu on the quicken.com website, click Support > Quicken Classic > Support:
  
  
• The Quicken Support page gives you the multiple ways to get help, including chat support and telephone support. Clicking on phone support will direct you how to start a call, including the correct phone number.
• Quicken Support is ALWAYS FREE if you have a current Quicken subscription.
• If you don't have a subscription, they can sell you one, or you can purchase one yourself.
• A basic Quicken Classic Deluxe subscription for one year costs $5.99/month x 12 months = $71.88 — and there are often discounts available, especially if you haven't been a subscriber before. If anyone tries to sell you something for more than that amount, you're likely being scammed.
• Conversion of Quicken data files from older versions of Quicken going back at least a decade are available, and they are FREE with the software. (Conversions from "ancient" versions going back more than a decade are not a sure thing, but there is sometimes a way to get there involving intermediate steps — and there is never a fee.)

@Blackjack33 One thing you should be aware of is that now that you have upgraded to the current Quicken Classic, you're locked into the subscription pricing system you previously avoided with your old pre-subscription Quicken 2013. In a year, you will need to pay again for another year of software (download functionality, software fixes and upgrades, and free technical support). Or you can let your subscription lapse, and you'll be able to continue using it for manual-only data entry, and without support — but the big wrinkle is that Quicken tries to make this inconvenient by taking about 1/3 of your screen for two banners encouraging you to renew your subscription. Some people find it annoying but workable; some people find it too annoying and give in to paying for a new subscription (which is, of course, what they are trying to annoy you into doing).

Best wishes going forward, and I hope that you get some or all the money you paid to the scam company back.

BK

Just FYI all, it is not just Quicken's support that googling it may give you a deceptive number, but also happens to many "support heavy" businesses such as airlines, where customers get scammed daily when they call to rebook a cancelled flight for example. Hope you can recover your money.

Quicken Anja

Hello @BlackJack,

I’m sorry to hear about this experience! Unfortunately, there are a lot of scam companies that try to impersonate Quicken Support. Please refer to this support article for all legitimate ways to contact Quicken Support.

Additionally, we ask that you please forward your experience as well as any other additional information (website, phone number, etc) you may have about the company you spoke with to spoof@quicken.com so our fraud team can investigate this further.

Thank you!