Intuit, the maker of the popular tax software product TurboTax, has enraged customers this year in a move that significantly threatens their tax filing software dominance.  Intuit changed their software this year such that it forced previous users of its Deluxe software (the mid tier product) to purchase the Premier software (the most expensive version).  TurboTax was already more expensive than HR Block’s software, and this may have pushed angry customers out the door.  Here are just a few of the comments from Amazon’s customer reviews:

So glad I read the reviews. After being a TT user since 1998 and now finding out I can no longer use the Deluxe edition because the interview process is no longer included for some of the forms I need will mandate a change to another software program. Too bad Intuit, you’ve lost a very loyal customer.

I have used Mac TurboTax (and its predecessor MacInTax) for over 20 years. Finally, I have been forced to abandon TurboTax completely on account of Intuit’s evolving design philosophy to wrest ultimate control of your tax return away from you and force it to look the way they want it to look.

This is just the tip of the iceberg; customers are furious.  Intuit has apologized to its customers, and is trying to salvage market share by offering a $25 rebate to purchasers of Premier who formerly bought Deluxe.  Says Intuit:

“We messed up,” reads an email going out starting Friday to millions of TurboTax users from Sasan Goodarzi, the general manager of Intuit’s TurboTax team. “We made a change this year to TurboTax desktop software and we didn’t do enough to communicate this change to you as proactively and broadly as we could or should have. I am very sorry for the anger and frustration we may have caused you.”

Why is this important?  It illustrates where the best protection from shoddy products and gouging businesses comes from:  other competitors who stand ready to more ably serve customers.  No class action lawsuit is needed, no state’s attorney general investigations, not even any regulation.  No, the consumer’s best friend is another potential supplier.

I will be one of those switching to HR Block.  I’m not particularly outraged at Intuit, but I am happy to help reallocate capital to a better servant of consumers.