Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This product is a good example of environmental waste. What you are buying here is a great idea, but what you get is a product that is glitchy, with incomplete glitchy programming, fields that don't populate properly (State for instance can be changed but not removed), and then crashes after a few hours. After spending 8 hours to scan and label approximately 40 receipts (yes, SLOW!) out of about 1500 receipts I need to scan, the system then shut down, with the message: "An unexpected error occurred while using NeatReceipts Professional. We apologize for the inconvenience, please contact Technical Support if this problem persists." I bought this item really just for the recognition software, as I already have a faster laser scanner. Turned out that the software was proprietary to the scanner and couldn't be used with your own faster more reliable scanner. NeatReceipts turned out to be another product that went untested properly, and still got mass-produced and distributed without being ready for market. I read the reviews first, saw some bad reviews on the 2.5 version, but then saw a huge mound of these at CompUSA a few days ago with 3.0 version, so thought maybe its improved. Buried in a pile of receipts that must be organized and itemized by years end (I manage residential properties), I have been desperate for help. Some of the receipts need to be billed to various HOA accounts, and others need to be applied to cost basis or maintenance for tax return purposes. Our accountant has been after me to get this done. Unfortunately I have several toddler children crawling all over me during the day, so I needed something fast and easy to use. Thought this may be the solution. Here's what happened: 1) Receipts scanned with errors each and every time except for twice (that's 38 receipts that I had to go make corrections to out of 40 scanned). The software makes guesses too much, like UPS and USPS came up as the company on the receipt many times for receipts that read for instance, OfficeMax. 2) The recognition software does not recognize many company names (got Walgreens and The Home Depot), but not many others. Company names in plain font on top could never be read, which surprised me. 3) No field for shipping charges. 4) Scanner finicky and receipts often start going sideways in the feed (many rescans necessary). Resolution not that great. 5) No ability to scan cancelled checks (which are most common type of receipt for property tax payments and handyman expenses). 6) No customer service. I called and left message on general mail box, technical service mail box (that said busy with other callers), and then sent e-mail to tech support. Received following e-mail back, that provided no solution to problem, just more questions that were already answered in the initial on-line form I filled out for tech support: " Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you within 72 hours. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you. Subject --------------------------------------------------------------- An unexpected error occurred .... AFTER 8 HRS OF SCANNING RECEIPTS. Discussion Thread --------------------------------------------------------------- Response (Megan) - 11/28/2007 09:31 PM Hello Suzanne, When do you receive this message and what version do you have of the software. Check the version from Help> About NeatReceipts. Have you ever been able to use the program successfully or not at all? Have you ever been able to get the program to open? Thank you and let me know. Have a good night. Customer (Suzanne) - 11/28/2007 07:21 PM An unexpected error occurred while using NeatReceipts Professional. We apologize for the inconvenience, please contact Technical Support if this problem persists. " Ok, I indicated I had used the program for 8 hours, had keyed in the product key id and the serial number, but no answers from customer service and no call backs. Here's what I'm going to try next. Using my Brother laser scanner/fax/printer/copier, I'm going to try scanning all the receipts using my Adobe Acrobat. Then I'm going to just set up a master "LEDGER" spreadsheet in Excel, splitting screens to imput the data from the PDF images. I think this is a far better solution. Sorry guys, great needed idea, but test the product before distributing so many to the market. This produces a great deal of waste for our environment as well as waste of our $$$. Also, improve the software to work on any scanner so can just buy the software. Most people don't need to travel with a scanner and can wait for when back home or to office. Returned the item back to COMPUSA today and reported it as defective product.