Hi

I have just also received a message ‘ desktop has reached the expiration date and will no longer open company files”.

I have followed the suggested process and deleted the program data file, re-entered my details, and again received the same message, based on my existing authorization code which the system defaults to.

I had planned this weekend to update my accounts and had been working to that end until late last night. Thus it is extremely inconvenient to without any notice be locked out of my files.

I upgraded to QuickBooks 2021, because I received a received an email offering me 2021 as part of the support package. There was no suggestion that this was for a limited period. No weekend support is available.

I respectfully suggest that it is unethical to summarily terminate access to accounts with no notice, and amounts to misuse of market share, and is thus in effect anti-trust behaviour.

Further I note there is no support at weekends for QuickBooks users in the United Kingdom. So I am unable to ring anybody to find out why my access to my data records has been blocked. Unlike QuickBooks I’m sure that many of their clients are obliged to work weekends, for a host of reasons.

For the record I would note I was also forced to upgrade from QuickBooks desktop 2018, because they summarily and unilaterally removed the capacity to import bank data. It was not made clear at the point of purchase that part of the programme would be disabled. Surely none continuance of support is not the same as deliberate and proactive disablement of the programme to force users to migrate.

The same thing also happened with an earlier version of QuickBooks, where I found myself in a position where I was forced to migrate, and had little choice.

I have been a loyal user of QuickBooks since it started. I would suggest that the company is starting to abuse its market position through what is arguably contractually illegal behaviour, and thus is putting itself at risk of anti-trust proceedings.

I do not know whether lockout from my account is due to access having run out or a technical problem I am unable to fix because I have no access to support.

However, such behaviour is described as above surely will long-term force customers to look at other accounting alternatives. I have for the first time spent an hour on the web looking for alternatives to QuickBooks.

I further note that other customers are making similar observations that QuickBooks is no longer meeting their needs, for a variety of reasons including failure to meet its arguable obligations to behave in fair and ethical ways.