Is it just me, or should advertised software functionality actually exist in the software if you buy it?

What am I talking about? Quicken 2008 Premier. I purchased the newest version of Quicken last night because I was visiting their web page on a separately related matter and noticed that they were now compatible with PayPal. "Including PayPal!" said the advertisement.

Hooray! As a long time PayPal and Quicken user, I was always upset that I had to jump through an inordinate number of hoops just to get my PayPal information updated in Quicken. It was the modern equivalent of manually filling out a checkbook register. So, when the opportunity came to eliminate the problem, I pounced.

Big mistake.

After several attempts at getting PayPal to talk to Quicken and to download my transactions, I found a problem with the software. A big problem. It doesn't work with the PayPal Security Key.

Anyone intimately familiar with PayPal or eBay has probably seen it. It is a small, gray, oval shaped key ring dongle. It has a single button on it that, when pressed, displays six numbers. You are required to input these six numbers into the PayPal or eBay web page whenever you want to view or change your account information. The numbers change every 30 seconds and use encryption technology to verify your identity with the PayPal servers.

In order to successfully download your transactions into Quicken 2008 from PayPal, you will need to disable it in PayPal. This could potentially expose you to a whole range of security threats that the key was designed to protect you against like phishing, identity theft, etc when using PayPal or eBay

Like any good consumer, I decided to call them on the carpet about it. After convincing Quicken that there was no way on Earth I was going to pay them $25 to troubleshoot an issue I had the solution for and they had the problem with, I managed to convince a technical support representative to set up a conference call with Quicken, PayPal, and myself.

You can just imagine what happened. PayPal indicated that unless the security key information was properly input and passed through to PayPal in a timely fashion during the Quicken-PayPal handshake, PayPal would deny any transaction download requests. Quicken indicated that PayPal was the only firm where they have seen this issue (doubtful - these types of keys are used by banks all over the world) and that because I was "opting for a higher level of security and service with PayPal", I am therefore at fault.

Great, blame the customer.

For what it was worth, they offered to refund me the money and let me go back to using Quicken 2007. That's was just what I wanted to do - spend my day uninstalling a software application that I will eventually upgrade to anyway, convert my Quicken 2008 files back to Quicken 2007 and then play the credit card reimbursement waiting game.

So, instead, I told the representative that I didn't need a refund and that I would be happy if they just fixed the problem. He said that this is a definite problem that will need to be addressed but that it is probably to be expected since they just rolled out the integration capability. The problem has been "passed up to software development" and hopefully to their marketing department because they are still claiming that it works with PayPal when.... well, it clearly doesn't.

Sorry Quicken, I'm not going to expose my PayPal or eBay account to theft for your 'One Step Update" convenience. I should get both security and convenience. PayPal, you are just as much to blame in this matter too. You signed an agreement with Quicken to offer transaction downloads. You two need to come together fast and figure out a way for users of both applications to maintain their security and the functionality we want. If that means my transaction downloads are routed from PayPal though an encrypted connection to a Quicken server that has been authenticated by PayPal before it is delivered them to me, so be it.

Until then, you don't have the right to claim Quicken 2008 works with PayPal because you can't even talk to each other on the phone. At the very least, you need to make a very clear and big disclaimer that it doesn't work with advanced security features of PayPal including the PayPal Security Key.

Let this serve as a warning to others. If you too are enticed by the offer of integrating PayPal with Quicken, think twice. Chances are, you want to integrate the two because you use PayPal or eBay a lot and want to record those transactions. You are probably the same person who exchanges a good amount of money in the process and invested in the $5 key dongle for a reason.

Don't trade security for convenience. In today's day and age, you can have both and you should expect it.