Dear SirielJeaB

Thanks for paying attention and responding.

If the engineers have found the same issue in the UK, what have they done about it? It seems that was a few days back.

It is not hard to replicate our issue. Surely they know by now whether it's a software update? or not!

Someone in this thread alleged that they were already told it was a change.I personally can't verify that a change was made. However, inside the thread, you will find the words "the backend team had changed that in the latest update" . As you can appreciate, I have been trying to confirm this statement to no avail. Was this a truth being made to the customer, or worse, a dismissal by the employee?

How can those other people be advised of an alleged purposeful change when the engineers working on the issue don't know themselves at this point? 

If they were properly advised, why weren't we? How can one person be told it was a change and the other person be told to try a million things then be ignored?

So many questions and I look forward to your answers when you are able to definitively provide correct answers.

How come a simple test as I have pointed out hasn't been performed by the guy I have working on my case?

Will you be surprised to find out, if it happens, that this was actually a deliberate software change made without your chat expert/employees knowing anything about it from an internal document?

If so, then you will be really able to understand the failings of the several employees that have already provided meaningless suggestions, and why we are frustrated trying to obtain a simple answer. BTW, most of the employees answering the customers in this thread seem to have left the thread after a single attempt where they provided useless information, in my opinion.

Just trying to get to the bottom of the issue at hand and increasingly, address the lack of support for customers to assist your company in your education for your employees on the front line.

You, however, have been the only respondent from the company to me on this thread so far. I truly look forward to your follow-up

Thanks again for doing your job.

Thanks for the report, NH.

Chat and callback support appear to be our only hope. The supposed QuickBooks employees who chime in here have to be robots. Their comments all follow the same formula, and many sentences amount to gibberish. Then they disappear into the night, never to be heard from again.

I haven't attached a file since this problem began, except to test and then cancel when it still doesn't display. They are piling up in a folder. My hope is that this will magically start working again on December 6. Then I'll pour a margarita and see which happens first: getting my checking register caught up or losing consciousness. I'm afraid if I attach them now, I might have to do it over if and when the problem is fixed (that fear based on my observation that files attached on or before 11/6 are OK, but later ones aren't). With six companies, I cringe at the number of files you must have by now.

My planned workaround if this is not fixed is to make a folder for each vendor inside that existing folder, and make sure the date of each transaction is incorporated into the filename and corresponds with that of the matching line in the check register. I don't see any point in uploading them at all if I will never be able to view them in QBO anyway.

Then I announce my retirement...

Hi Roland12 

Okay, after my last post, it occurred to me to try a fresh search for the word "attachment" in the broader community. I wondered why we haven't seen more people chime in.

I can report other threads have started with the same issue. I only viewed the first page and saw two threads started.

Guess what the responses from the employees are to those questions.?

Yup.The same responses from employees as solutions have been issued to them as we received. It's a real shame that our posts really mean nothing if these other people need to start a new thread. There are far too many employees unaware of this issue.

Two examples of these recent attempts by searching the words in the search bar.

Invoice Attachments open as "download file" not as "view image"

How do I add attachments so that I can view them only instead of downloading them?

So so sad.

Hope the last employee sees this post as well.

Hi there, @OldToad.

I know that this hasn't been easy experience.

Allow me to share some information on how you can avoid downloading the  file after providing an attachment to your invoice. 

Instead of using a PDF file, I suggest that you attach JPG which is an image file type .

I also recommend visiting this link to learn how to keep books and transactions more organized: Attachments in QuickBooks Online. If you need some reference is using our other features or answers to frequently asked questions, you can visit our Help Articles page.

Please comeback here if you need further assistance with the attachments feature. I'll be right here to help share more insights and information about it.

That was a great idea, OldToad. The employee comments in those two threads have reinforced my opinion that these are at worst literally robots, or at best people with just enough training to type a little gibberish and then disappear. It's obvious that they don't even read the thread first.

I think we should start ignoring them.

Another thing I checked this morning is bank statements attached to reconciliations. I reconciled two checking accounts on 11/2, and those attachments still open for viewing as they did before. Attachment viewing has always been a little different on the reconciliation screen. For me, instead of opening in a new browser tab, they open in a separate new window. I am using a Mac.

Has anybody attached a file to a reconciliation after 11/6? Can you view it in QBO?

Thank you all for contributing to this thread. To those in the US, Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

Hi AbegailS

I can't believe that you suggested what you did for me to attach a jpg file. You clearly didn't take the time to read the entire thread before making that suggestion.  In fact, by doing so, you have reinforced my secondary issue that employee help, on this thread, and so many others, is futile. Attaching a jpg gives no different results than attaching a pdf. It still opens to a download window. I'd suggest you try testing your QBO as I have posted in previous posts in this thread.

By suggesting what you did, you apparently have no idea what the issue is that we've been trying to determine. I have no other conclusion to draw from that. 

Now, for the other vested post participants, I have actually made progress with my case number, which is still being addressed by the help people. I feel as I've had to teach and encourage them every step of the way how to discover the simple issue we've been addressing.

This following e-mail is/was the next response that I received, in my open case number,  that has made me feel I'm making progress. This was received by me around 5pm today. This is the relevant content of that e-mail, edited to protect certain data.

This is Intuit QuickBooks Online Canada Support.

I hope this email finds you well.

This is regarding the case number, "   " with an investigation number attached,"  ".

Anyway, I have found out here that it is an ongoing issue on QuickBooks Online. Here is the thing, let me escalate this issue on our end, by adding your account to the affected ones and also, I will put you in our priority list so that you will be receiving email updates from our engineering team regarding this issue. 

Foremost, we are sorry for the inconvenience it caused to you, but rest assure that this matter has been worked on by the engineering team. We appreciate you contacting regarding this issue and you being patient with us.

In case you still need further assistance with your account, please don’t hesitate to contact us back:
 • Sign in to your QuickBooks Online Company.
 • Select Help (question mark icon) at the top right.
 • Select Contact us to connect with a live support agent.

Thank you for choosing QuickBooks Online!

Sincerely,
QuickBooks Online Support Team

MY THOUGHTS ON THAT RESPONSE

It was stated it was an ongoing issue, so how long has it been ongoing? As an ongoing issue, why are the employees and help people not aware of the issue?

Why did it take this long with back and forth emails to find out it's ongoing?

They've identified the issue is real and yet I personally haven't seen a notice advising customers, now that they have finally acknowledged there is a problem.

 I suppose it could be possible, only certain accounts, have been affected, but I lean to the everyone side at this moment.

As I said, this is progress, but from my viewpoint, but it's still lacking some attentiveness/answers to others?

However, this is only my reporting, Unfortunately, it took a long time to get this far, and I hope other past posters have received suitable follow-up.

Fingers crossed for a re-instatement or fix!

Thank you, OldToad. It is encouraging that they are at least acknowledging it as an "issue."

As far as I know I do not have an "investigation number."

December 6 is not too far away, so I think I will simply wait and see if the problem goes away then. I wish someone from QBO would at least tell me how and when updates are made.

I've found this information regarding QBO monthly updates.  

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/news-community/product-updates/

When you click on any of the individual "Learn More" it brings you to the Monthly Newsletter describing the updates.  This newsletter seems to be targeted to "Accounting Professionals"  Interesting to note that the newsletter is dated November 7, 2022, which leads me to believe that @Roland12  is probably correct with update downloads on 11/6/22

Thank you, NHRiverGal. I sat through a webinar I found there a couple of weeks ago, thinking it might offer a chance to ask about the attachment anomaly. But they made it clear at the outset that they would not entertain any support questions not related directly to the subject of the webinar. I did write down another support phone number that appeared at the end. I called it, but one of the first things the robot voice asks for is your "pro advisor level." I don't have one so I hung up. As you mentioned, this thing seems to be intended for accountants, and more specifically accountants who have clients using QuickBooks. Perhaps someone who works in that capacity could inquire. The number is [removed].

Well, I guess you can't post QuickBooks support numbers here.

Roland12, (and the rest of us poor souls)

Thank you for confirming that it's not me. I'm a Windows user and have been experiencing the same darn thing, around the same darn time and it's frustrating as hell!  What the heck happened QBO???  This is not forward progress!!  Restore us back to the way things were before your last update PLEASE!! We pay a lot of money for this bookkeeping service and you people are making our jobs tougher than they need to be. 

Roland12 has been very descriptive about what the problem is.  Why can't anyone at QBO understand and FIX IT ASAP!!  We have jobs to do and EOY is just a few weeks away, we don't have time to waste. I suggest FIRST restoring us back to before this last update so we can continue to do our jobs and stop wasting our time precious time and money with your repeatedly, unhelpful protocols of so-called customer service that take us down a rabbit hole!  Then, SECONDLY, you (QBO) can take your sweet time (on your dime) and figure out where the heck you went wrong with the November update because NEWS FLASH, that's where this nightmare began!!

Just for grins I tried this on my iPad Mini. A pre-11/7 attachment opened for viewing in a new Chrome tab. When I clicked the link to an attachment uploaded after 11/7, a new browser tab did open, but the screen remained blank except for a download option at the bottom.

Hi Roland12

LOL.

Such a simple test too...and impossible for "them" to recreate themselves.

I'll update you on my progress. 

Further to my earlier updates, I have received other emails from the person who I had made some progress with, but when I tried to reply to him recently to not be closing the case, I got this "do not reply" auto response.

Thank you for your email. We would love to help you with your question but are unable to find an existing open case for your request.
Please send new questions through one of the support sites listed below.

To my knowledge, I still had an open case for which I was expecting follow-up emails, however my case was apparently closed. I'm guessing the agent thought all of my issues had been addressed when he said I would get followup emails from the investigation team. I was given an investigation number which they promised I would receive email updates on that investigation. To date, I have "not" received anything further, and to be honest, I feel abandoned, once again. I tried to hold them accountable, and they have failed miserably, so much so, that I don't care anymore.

I'm siding with a belief that, by now, someone surely would know the truthful answer. I'm actually beginning to believe that "they" possibly don't want the truth out there.  It's as if "they" are looking at a business model that "they" know will affect some, but not all,customers when they change things. They then know that when the affected customers start asking questions, "they" perhaps, knowingly, have a team of un-informed employees and chat people, too unsympathetic, dare I say, even competent enough, to help customers, which is good for "their" side. It makes me wonder whether the "powers" that be, deliberately hide behind and applaud  those same company employees as "Their" useful idiots, that will send useless responses, that "they" know will appear, to the rest of the community, as having been very useful and provided correct answers. The term "smoke and mirrors" comes into mind while I am musing this over. LOL

FWIW ....the following was in the email, I sent to QBO, that was bounced back to me, as I mentioned above. So the case agent didn't read it. Convenient? Deliberate? Helpful?

THAT'S THE END OF THE EMAIL.

"...and that's the end of the story"'

Old Toad...signing out.

Hi again, OldToad. You certainly have gone above and beyond. I appreciate your effort.

This morning I checked one of the other threads about this issue, and one of the users there wrote:

"The super-peculiar thing is that invoice attachments created on or before 11/09/2022 open as images - exactly what I want to see. Invoice attachments created on or after 11/11/2022 try to download as files."

That is the same as my experience, except I saw it three days earlier (11/6 and 11/8). This reinforces my suspicion that it was caused by a November software update, as I assume that all of the QBO servers are not updated at exactly the same time.

If this change is intentional, I can't imagine how anybody benefits from it. Will it save Intuit money? They still have to provide storage for our attached files. There is no advantage for users who do want to download their attachments, as they could easily do that before from the new browser tab. So why make life difficult for those of us who want to view our attachments conveniently (I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't, but whatever)? It makes no sense at all.

I wonder whether they simply close cases after a certain amount of time passes. I suppose I will contact them again if this doesn't clear up with the next update. They tout "new features and innovation" on another site that's tailored to accountants, so I should be able to tell when the next one is rolled out.

I reconciled two checking accounts today, and attached a statement PDF to each. When I click the link to the statement, it previews, not in a new browser tab but in a new window. This is the way statement attachments have always previewed for me.

So that is not broken. Still no joy with other attachments, however.

I have had the same problem and this is frankly unbelievable to me. Tracking receipts in the software is a MUST.  This is a giant step backward. The representative was friendly but told me that THE SOFTWARE IS WORKING AS DESIGNED AND NO PLANS TO FIX IT! REALLY????

Thanks for that report, 9130. I wonder when it was designed to work that way. Because it was working the way I want it to up until 11/8/2022.

Hi 9130

Welcome to the frustration zone.

As you can appreciate, many on this thread have tried to get to the "definitive" answer as to whether this was a deliberate change or a software issue(something broken). It's more than unfortunate that the help/chat/employees have yet to officially report back to me their findings. All I've been reported back on is that there is an issue. We all know what, exactly, is the issue! The issue is that it used to open attachments with a tab without needing to download it again, and now it doesn't.

It seems either one of two things have happened by reading the answer you received from the "help" team for me to reflect upon. 1. You at least received a response that "it's working exactly as designed", although it seems there is a missing followup to their answer....SINCE WHEN?. I have received no formal correspondence of that myself, but I sure tried to keep them from wiggling off the hook for an answer. I opened a case, am supposed to be on an investigation email ticket, yet I have nothing...NOTHING... to corroborate what you've been told.  I did everything I was told to do. They left me abandoned. My QBO employee closed my case file without my answers, or even the response that you received. 2. The second thing that comes to my mind is that the answer you received was either ....true...or a false brush off. If it were true, it sure wasn't designed that way until the first week of November. It could have been a false response. I don't know because the monitors, employees etc of this thread very apparently give totally useless advice to try multitudes of suggestions, none of which have worked. They then disappear into the never-world for which I wonder if they actually thought they answered our questions or are actually afraid to find the simple answer, and point us to the official site.The thought comes to mind that it's a brush -off, because the responses to date alone deserve point that direction. Oh, let me stop right there, because they think they've solved our questions by suggesting to get a QBO Care team and end with... CHEERS, Bing, bang, boom...Bob's your Uncle! Glad to have helped solutions.

  I DID do, as many of those, look-alike-bot helpers suggested, and am back to ground zero.

The following is my opinion only.

I've thought about this and can say I'm beginning to think that this was a deliberate change. It could likely have been made to be more beneficial for them to have the storage of attachments into another server, fixed a bloated software operating system, ...or any other reason. Possibly even to make things better for the entire user experience or to reduce their costs....whatever? It's like saying we had to amputate your arm, sorry you can't use it like you used to, but you're still able to work, right? That's just where I lean right now.  But the point that really bugs me, is that with the effort that we've all invested, no one has definitively answered me. I feel that if this were a deliberate change that there is ABSOLUTELY no reason, why "all" employees/help/chat aren't fully aware of this TODAY and be in a position to provide a simple 1. yes we know we changed it. 2. we are not putting it back. 3. we did it for these reasons.

 I think the supervisors of any employees answering in this forum, or QBO Care team are clearly not doing a very good job either occasionally auditing their teams responses for satisfaction, or keeping their employees up to date with fact sheets of items that they need to read regarding software changes. No matter how you look at it, it's a big FAIL.

Now, I'm curious to see if an actual monitor/supervisor reads this or ...heaven forbid....bots. Maybe they might want to see why my case was closed without an answer to this whole simple issue, seeing as there were, and are, employees giving out many useless responses.

Good news! This appears to be fixed. This morning I attached PDFs to two transactions in my checking register, and they open in a new browser tab when I click the links.

So I guess my suspicion was correct all along: This was a bug introduced with the November 6 update, and now it has been corrected in the December 6 update.

Edit: Now to get caught up on the mountain of attachments I have sitting here. Intuit, I will be sending you an invoice.

If anyone has continued to attach files over the past month, I'm afraid I have some not-so-good news. The first time that I used QBO following the introduction of this bug, I attached files to two transactions. After I found that those would not open in a separate browser tab but would instead bring up a Save dialog, I left those files attached but did not upload any more except to test (after which I would Cancel without saving the transaction).

This morning, with new attachments behaving normally, I went back and checked those earlier attachments. They still do not open in a new tab. So it looks like my intuition was correct on this: any attachments done during the bug period will have to be deleted and re-uploaded.

This is an awesome update, despite having to re-attach previous documents experienced during the bug period.

Thank you for your diligence and time throughout this frustrating ordeal - you are appreciated.

That's great news!  Not so great about redoing attachments from 11/7 on.  Hard to believe we had to badger the support team so much to get this resolved.  Wonder what new "fixes" are in store for us this month!  lol 

Hi Roland12

That is actually great news! 

However, I believe there's still an "elephant in the room", that we've been trying to communicate with, that needs addressing. LOL

Thanks

@Roland     

I just attached a pdf to a payment transaction and tried to view it as I always do to double check it.

Unfortunately, the same problem that occurred in November is happening again.  I checked with our other running different QBO companies and they are experiencing the same issue.  I will be contacting Support (ugh!) shortly.