Astounding incompetence 2 years in a row followed by failure to honor their "100% accuracy guarantee."
I paid for a "tax pro" to do my taxes for me this year. I sent in all my documents, and after a few days I got notified that my return was ready. I was informed that I owed $6,700 in taxes, which did not seem right.
After examining everything, I saw that my tax pro had added up my income wrong to the order of ~$25k. I do not have a complicated tax situation: married filing jointly, W2s, some dividends, and some interest, and I took the standard deduction. I have no idea how they could have screwed this up. It was very simple.
I asked my tax pro to call me, but she didn't. I sent a second message saying I understand it is their busy season, but she could call me the next day anytime after 10am or we can make an appointment for another time. Instead she calls me that night at 8pm while I'm at work. She starts out by saying "you haven't even looked at the return, have you?" I stay calm and point out her error, and while on the phone and rushed, she re-does my taxes and low and behold I now apparently only owe a few dollars, which sounds about ight. However, it was not at all confidence-inspiring, and I was worried she made yet another sloppy mistake because of how quickly she did it while she was distracted on the phone....
There is clearly a 100% accuracy guarantee stated on their website: "If you discover an H&R Block error on your return that entitles you to a larger refund (or a smaller tax liability), we'll refund the tax prep fee for that return." I called corporate and requested that this guarantee be honored, and they assure me that it will be and that my case will be sent for review. I say that I want someone to double check the work of the woman who did my taxes in a rush while on the phone late at night, and the person at corporate makes an appointment with me for someone in the Kenwood office later that morning. I get a call 20 minutes before that scheduled appointment saying that the person I was supposed to meet with isn't in the office that day.... I say ok we can reschedule, but I'm in the middle of something so I'll have to call them back. I call them back awhile later, and now they can't get me in for another 4 days and the woman on the phone acts VERY put out by me.
Now comes the kicker: I get a call from some local manager (who can't figure out how to use her cell phone so calls me multiple times and then hangs up) who acts like this guarantee doesn't exist and is refusing to honor it. She says she'll give me a "small discount," and implies that I'm too stupid to understand their plain language accuracy guarantee. No, I do not misunderstand it: the website very clearly states that if there is an error the fee will be refunded. She was astoundingly rude.
So today I take my business elsewhere and carefully fill out the forms and add up the income myself, and get this: there was yet ANOTHER error in adding up my income that my "tax pro" made during the late night phone call-- this time a smaller error and in the opposite direction (under-counted my income by about $2k, I think she mis-understood the 1099-div form).
Last year I also used H&R Block and they also screwed up my taxes, but to a much smaller degree: I actually got back a smaller refund from my city taxes than what was estimated for me. It was a difference of ~$30, and I just let it go without making a fuss last year, although I was sure not to use the same tax pro this year.
In summary, I have now effectively had my taxes done 3 times in 2 years by 2 tax pros at H&R Block, and all 3 have been done incorrectly.
All in all, I am completely put off by the sweeping incompetence of this company, by their disorganized nature, and their failure to honor their guarantees.
Their tax pros are sloppy and unknowledgeable and they do not stand by their work.
GO ELSEWHERE. read more
