We followed up with Derek about his experience with last night’s Turbo Tax system slowdown.

derek: After about 90 minutes I finally got it pushed over but it was listed as “Pending” in the TT software. That is usual – you reload the program after 24-48 hours and it gives you a confirmation code. This is the same behavior of the product from past years (when I’ve filed on time) 😉 Anyhow I was already looking up my zip to find a post office open here in Astoria. Funny that Blackberry is out today too. When it rains, it pours.
benpopken: good times
benpopken: did you get the pending message before midnight?
derek: Yes. It finally sent at about 10:30p (Eastern) I’m in Astoria, Queens. The error said something funny like
derek: “We are experiencing high call volume… why don’t you try again at 4:00am Pacific”
derek: hahaha
derek: between 4a-4p is when they said to try again. At first the message said retry in 10 minutes.
derek: Then after about 20 minutes of clicking to resubmit it said “try back in two hours…. TWO HOURS!!” Panic! at the keyboard.

(Photo: Tatiana Sapateiro)

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derek: Not disappointed with TurboTax. I’ve always used it and with sites like FW I was able to purchase it and a bunch of other programs like My Attorney and Anti Virus and end up getting $15 positive. It’s sort of great that this happened… maybe the IRS will lighten up on Free File and let everyone file for free direct with them.
derek: Between fefderal and state I owed about $2k which wasn’t very nice. I had done my taxes the first week of Feb and when I saw that I would owe I put it off till the last minute to pay the buggers. Sure, I could have finished them them and scheduled the payment for the 15th, but I wanted to go back and check for any other deductions I may have missed or find receipts etc. In the end I suppose I’m glad I waited since I had a couple of 1099s show up late I had forgotten about.
derek: I manage the network of an internet company here in midtown so it is nice when TurboTax has server issues and BlackBerry service goes down. It gives me some ammo to throw back at the boss when he whines that our miniscule operation has trouble due to insufficient budgets and I can fire back with examples of how even big companies can’t protect themselves from getting slammed.

— BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:
Overwhelmed Turbo Tax Servers Slow To Crawl For E-Filers
Turbo Tax’s Servers Down?

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