Revealed: the perils of automated replies

The email typographical howler award for this Friday goes to US financial software outfit Intuit.
The company offers a range of exciting products too extensive to be listed in a family publication such as El Reg, but which includes TurboTax - "packed with powerful features to help you maximize tax-savings, and minimize the time you spend on tax preparation. No matter how simple or complex your tax needs..."

And so on and so forth. What happens, though, when you decide TurboTax has not maximised your yield and minimised your time input and that you're jolly well going to give Intuit a right royal ticking off? A good question, to which the delicious and possibly automated reply is this:

-----Original Message-----
From: service@intuit.com [mailto:service@intuit.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 7:20 PM
To:
Subject: Your request

Dear Intuit Customer,

Thank you for contacting Intuit.

Thank you for the kind words, I assure you that your feedback will be forwarded to the appropriate department. We at Intuit strive to give you the best customer experience and it is heartning to know that we have been unsuccessful. Thank you once again for your contuinued support to TurboTax.

If you need further assistance, or if there is any other way we may be of service, please contact us at https://orderupdate.intuit.com

Respectfully,

Neha

Intuit Customer Service
"Revolutionizing how people manage their financial lives"

Magnificent. It is indeed heartening to witness a company's sheer joy in abject failure. Yup, we call that revolutionary, and there's no doubt a whole chapter in Intuit's must-read In$ide Intuit - proclaimed as "the captivating story behind Intuit's hard-won success" - revealing how you too can turn unsuccess into blissful corporate euphoria. ®

Bootnote

Thanks to Steve VanSlyck for alerting us as to Intuit's radical approach to customer services.