I usually prepare my own tax returns but decided to try H&R Block to see whether I was making any errors or missing out on possible deductions or credits. A friendly agent went over my documents and quickly prepared a tax return statement. He didn't find any new credits or deductions that I would qualify for, but I was satisfied to be reassured by a professional that I had been doing my taxes the right way. I went back to doing my own tax returns.
Fast forward a couple years later. Reviewing my past years' statements to complete my current year's IRS return, I discovered that the H&R Block agent who had prepared my earlier return had made an error.
I took the documents back to the office, where I saw a different agent, who, after taking a while to review my return, agreed that there had been an error. He also found that I had made an error myself in trying to correct the error the other agent had made. He prepared a corrected statement without charging me.
Now, I can't recommend this office after that experience for several reasons.
(1) H&R Block should have reimbursed me part of the fee that was originally charged to prepare my return since they made an error. We all make errors, so their having made the error in itself is entirely understandable. But when a business makes an error that costs a customer money, the business has a responsibility to make good on that error. In my case, I ended up paying the IRS more than I actually owed due to the error, and had I not discovered the error, I would never have gotten that extra money back. It also cost me time, since I had to make several trips back to the office after the original service was provided to have the error addressed.
H&R Block advertises on their national website that "at H&R Block your satisfaction is guaranteed." The company also advertises that, at participating offices, "If, due to H&R Block's error on your return, you are entitled to a larger refund (or smaller tax liability) than what we calculated, we will refund your tax preparation fee for that return." Except there's a catch: the error has to be brought to their attention within the same calendar year. How likely is it that such an error would be discovered the same year as when you file? Who looks at their returns again in the same calendar year once they've filed?
I actually didn't expect that I would get even a partial reimbursement of the fee they had charged me because I figured they would point to that catch and say that I wasn't covered since I hadn't brought the error to their attention in time. But what really annoyed me was when I asked the agent to see whether they would reimburse me the fee, the agent said he would call me to let me know the manager's decision. I never got a call from him either way.
(2) The above would have been enough to put me off this office, but what really concerned me was that the agents, or at least some of them on the days I was in the office, took privacy concerns rather cavalierly. They didn't close the doors when discussing tax matters with customers, so it was possible for people in the waiting area to hear what was being said in the offices. And in the case of one of the agents I saw, tax documents of other customers were out on the agent's desk while I was discussing my case with the agent, including when the agent stepped out of the office to go to the printer. I would hate to think what a dishonest customer might do with such easy access to someone else's name and social security number left on documents out on the desk.
(3) H&R Block, like many large corporations that provide services to the public, requires that customers give up their right to trial in court and to class-action lawsuits and that customers accept binding arbitration as the way to resolve any disputes, in order to receive H&R Block services. So, at least when I visited the office, you had to sign a statement acknowledging this agreement in order to receive their services.
Except the catch here is that you could reject the binding arbitration agreement *IF* within 30 days you subsequently notified the company by email or letter that you reject the arbitration provision. That's just sneaky -- they bury that information in the fine print and give you an option to opt out AFTER THE FACT while refusing to provide you service unless you sign the agreement in the first place. Plus, they put this information in fine print in a form with a title "Peace of Mind Extended Service Plan Terms, Conditions and Limitations" that makes it sound like the form's purpose is to describe a service that will be helpful to customers. The final sentence on the form, before the signature line, says in all capital letters that you agree that any dispute will be settled through binding arbitration. But buried in the fine print on one of the other pages of the agreement, it explains that you can opt out of binding arbitration as described in another form. So, again, SNEAKY! read more
