What a joke of a business . H&R block is definitely something to avoid at all cost . and this Ballard office is a prime example of that. The person on the phone was unable to find my paperwork , I had to repeat and spell my name three times over an 12 minutes phone call, she ended up telling me that I should go to another office as the situation was too complex to handle. I already sent them all of my paperwork and they told me a week and a half ago that they would call me back, I sent them a message online, and asked me to call the office ( it will be easier they said) , I called the office and ended up losing 10 minutes of my life .. with a final point of. you should go to another office at this point. what a joke . read more

Our return was messed up and they say it was fixed but can't tell us anything else. They have no idea what's going on and we pail alot of money for this service. There is absolutely no response from them. They say we have to wait 6 to 8 months for IRS but what about in the meantime? They take no responsibility and won't do anything to help. Garbage service read more

I scheduled an appointment on their website for 6pm. I received a confirmation email for the scheduled appointment (hours are until 6pm, but you can schedule an appointment before 7pm). Upon arrival, there was nobody in the office. They did not even try to contact in advance to cancel. Customer support was called and offered to schedule an alternative appointment. Would reccomend going elsewhere. read more

I am very anxious about filing my return and ran into lots of snags as I prepared it - I'm recently divorced, I own a home that I rent out, etc and just wanted some quick help to make sure I was filing correctly. When I called the office , the professional answered a very stern "NO. We don't have ANY time for that" And promptly hung up on me. I called back to give her that feedback and said that it's not right to hang up on customers , and that's poor customer service especially with how anxious people are at this time of year. Her answer "those anxious people waited until the last minute." And she hung up on me AGAIN. Lady. You have no idea what's going on in people's lives. I wasn't doing nothing , I wasn't slacking ....there was a lot of back and forth between me and my property rental company etc. Never using H&R Block. Ever. Bye Felicia. Girl Bye. read more

I went to H&R in Ballard for 8 weeks asking for help to file my taxes. Newly divorced and needed guidance and advice. The woman that had my file with all the information, told me it's pretty straightforward and will have it done by Friday, then Monday, called weekly and stopped by weekly. I was told it'll be done by the end of the day. Called again, was told she'd call me by the end of the day....never got a call. And now, they're too busy. Most unprofessional and couldn't even call. Save your time and go elsewhere. read more

Here's just a few paragraphs from a long letter outlining our horrific Ballard HR Block experience. You'll get the drift. TLDR: Tax preparer Arion Chung miscalculated our taxes by at minimum $30K, possibly even more than $100k. The whole experience was a bizarre exercise is bad communication, bad tax work, and a bad work ethic. There is likely malpractice here, and we will seek action against Chung and the person responsible for the Ballard HR Block office. Chung asked us if we'd reviewed the documents, and we did our first few minutes of "who's on first" confusion before figuring out Chung had uploaded the summative tax form he promised that morning at 6:34pm, 4 minutes after our meeting to discuss them started. We were alarmed by this disorganization, but had no choice but to press on. Chung couldn't screen share, and he's an unclear communicator, so we fumbled to have the same documents up on our screens at the same time, and then struggled as he couldn't lead us through the numbered items in a sequential manner. He'd halfway start something, then jump around to something else. He'd alternately refer to line numbers and then the titles of what the numbers represented in a flustered way. I ended up leading him through his documents step by step. Every bit of meaningful communication with Chung happened in this pattern - him all over the place unable to explain; me carefully leading him in an orderly way in a struggle to extract any useful or clear information out of him. The incredibly bad communication was a huge problem, but the grievous, amateurish, lazy, disorganized errors on our taxes were a catastrophe. Our tax bill seemed high at his $175k estimate. We asked questions to clarify and didn't get answers. Then Chung started telling us that there would be an additional $30k or $40k on top of that in extra Medicare tax, over and over failing to explain which numbers meant what in relation to that amount. The high income Medicare tax rate rate is .9%. We should have owed 1/10 of what Chung was telling us we'd need to pay. At one point I asked him if we got any tax breaks because of our child? Chung apologized for "forgetting" about our dependent, and requested that a read out to him her name and social security number. Never mind that I'd entered info about this dependent on the HR Block intake forms, AND had provided Chung with our 2020 tax return for reference (where, of course, our daughter was listed as a dependent). [more massive, obvious screwing up followed, cut for space, and then the higher ups failed to step in, blowing off a set appointment.] Unbelievable. Blown off by Schwab (who appears to be the boss?) 15 minutes before an appointment. Ploeger, with whom we were originally scheduled by HR Block Ballard, WAS NEVER AVAILABLE AND WOULDN'T BE FOR MONTHS. SHE WAS NOT EVEN WORKING! Why did her office take appointments for her then? To rope in business with a tax pro carrot and then switch to beating the client with an incompetent stick? This whole situation left us agitated, almost with a PTSD feeling, and searching up new tax accounting online. Which we were lucky to access at the last minute. We were guided through sets of specific interview questions Chung never even came close to inquiring about. Our tax bill came out more than $30k less than Chung's early total, before the miscalculated Medicare Tax, phantom underpayment penalty, and threatened capital gains double-tax on ordinary income. I still can't believe what a total, absolute s-show this HR Block Ballard experience was, screwing up for massive amounts of money in a confusing morass of weird incompetence and snakey appointment booking practices. I'm assuming there's some sort of professional regulatory body that licenses accountant and accounting offices - if so you can be sure I'm going to them with a fully detailed complaint. read more

I've been to H&R Block in the past and this location tops the worst experience of them all. My wife made an appointment but when we arrived, her CPA was not ready, her system was not working, no one made us feel welcome or that we were her top priority. Once we finally got seated, her and her associate were all over the place with their explanations and answers. We're filing jointly for the first time and we came here for H&R to be the experts! All we received was a horrible lack of knowledge and were told they can't help us tonight because "they don't have time" for the forms we require to fill out! Are you kidding me? We tried to get them to re-schedule us for another day when they do have time for us but we just ended up taking our documents and simply leaving. Because we both work full time and our apt was at the end of our work day, we were exhausted and didn't have time for a group of people who claim they know what they are doing but unfortunately do not and also lack customer service skills. I definitely wouldn't ever pay this company to help me complete my taxes. In no way did H&R deliver on their guarantee to be helpful and make you feel like you have no worries at all. This felt like a nightmare you'd only see on TV. NEVER AGAIN H&R BLOCK. NEVER. read more

I come in looking to do taxes for myself and my W-2. Tax advisor 1: "We can't do that here I'm sorry. You'll need to schedule an appointment at another location." I schedule a tax appointment the next day at the other location. Taking time off of work to do so. Tax advisor 2: "I'm not qualified to do those taxes. You'll need to schedule an appointment with another person." A waste of my gosh darn time! read more

I had a pretty agonizing experience today handi ling my taxes at this particular H & R Block with this particular representative. I came in with what I thought was going to take a half and hour, hour at max. I had a W2 form and two 1099 forms with a set list of deductions all ready to go. The appointment lasted 2 and a half hours! The representative helping me was so slow with entering information I couldn't believe it. He seemed to lack basic computer skills and typing. I almost wanted to reach over and take the keyboard from him! I have to give him some credit for being absolutely thorough but with the way he was handling things I was not perfectly sure that everything was put in correctly. He was a sweet man but I'm just not sure he should be responsible for other people's taxes. I was also pretty outraged by the price for something that I could have done at home through Turbo Tax taking half the time and money. read more

This is the second H&R block Ive been to. I was filing back taxes, and that proved to be a little bit difficult. My tax preparer was friendly and as far as I can tell did a good and thorough job for over less than half of what it would have cost me at a private CPA firm. What else can I ask for? I don't understand a lot of these ridiculous 1 star reviews. Are you idiots the same people who go to Great Clips and leave 1 star reviews because you're expecting Beverly Hills salon treatment? Get real. This place is perfectly adequate. Don't fear the drama queens. read more

I didn't even have to walk in the door in order to know this is a one-star place. I've been very busy this past year and had to reschedule my appt twice; I understand this is annoying, but under NO circumstance should a representative verbally chastise a customer and then hang up on them TWICE: looking at you Adrian. Came here to write a crappy customer service review and lo and behold, a whole host of other terrible reviews. I can't speak for the quality of their preparation services, but I can speak for the terrible customer service. Rescheduled with another company. read more

came here to get my taxes done guess what i got them done. Not a anything special just taxes i get a few bucks back so that was nice.

If money and time are on your hands, this is the place to blow them both. I was scheduled with MJ, the subject matter expert on complex taxes, and she no showed for my appt. I left them there asking for her to call me when she finally did make an appearance. A week later, they were still collecting dust. I was told their manager would call me, looks like their phones might not work either...as in a week the phone never rang. Between 3 people in the office working on my file, there were no results. Maybe that is why they are all employed here...as they wouldn't last long in the "real world." I decided to collect my file after a week and go elsewhere as I felt they weren't competant enough to do my taxes. read more

I've never had a less painful tax experience. Ask for Moran Tompkins. She's super nice, knowledgable, and FAST. I was in and out in 30 minutes, and my taxes aren't the easiest since I have rental property and multiple investments. I walked away with a 2K refund and paid $175 for the tax service. Worth it. read more

I agree with Kelli D. If you have money and time then this is the place for you. I had my appointment with MJ. Most of the time was spent clicking yes/no to questions that popped up on the screen and the other half of the time was spent reading a brochure to confirm if she is doing it right. I am not saying she is not knowledgeable in her craft. She could very well be an SME (Subject Matter Expert) but not for $300. This year I am going to my old ways and using Turbo Tax where I can at least endure a painful process in the privacy of my own home and not in a forum as public as their office. read more

Hello. My name is Brian Lauver. I am the NEW manager of the Ballard H&R Block office at 2232 NW Market Street. I have worked for H&R Block for ten years in Alaska and recently relocated to the Seattle area. I would like to start out by apologizing to the unhappy folks who've posted on here. I understand that taxes are a personal and worrisome experience for our clients and I'm sorry to see that you weren't treated with respect or professionalism. I am determined to give our clients a better experience than what you see is reported here. We have some great tax preparers working here now, our office was remodeled for a more professional experience, and our prices are comparable with our brick-and-mortar competition. We currently offer free basic EZ's, free Second Looks on current and three prior year returns, discounts for some national employers, discounts for your friends and family, and H&R Block will donate $20 to a local participating non-profit in your name. I am happy to have you schedule with me personally if you have past concerns with service or price. Please contact our office at 206-783-1040 or email brian.lauver@tax.hrblock.com. Thank you for reading this. We hope to see you soon. Brian read more

The staff were passive aggressive, disrespectful, and attempted to strong-arm me into paying hidden fees. The accountant explicitly stated a price for a total service and when I went to pay, a hidden (non-discussed) fee was tacked onto my bill, nearly doubling our agreed-to price. I mentioned the price discrepancy to which the accountant responded that I either pay the total nonnegotiable fee or they will shred the return they filled out and that "the decision does not matter to me." I took my paperwork and went elsewhere. If they were open and honest about the fee structure, there would not have been an issue. However, taxes are stressful enough - no need to threaten customers and try to strong arm them into paying hidden fees Recognizing that the staff is busy does not justify the experience I had doing my taxes with H&R Block. read more

Simply put, I paid $111 to have my taxes done incorrectly. Not only will I never see that $111 ever again but I'm now stuck with a $1500 bill from the IRS due to H&R Block's mistake. The icing on the cake, H&R Block assumes no responsibility for their filing mistake. Cut and pasted from H&R Block's website: "We include the H&R Block Guarantee with every return we prepare. If we make an error, we'll pay any resulting penalties and interest. And if you're audited, we'll explain your IRS tax audit notice and what documentation you should provide to the auditor. Nothing is more important to us than your satisfaction. We guarantee 100% Satisfaction on our tax prep services at Block - you only pay us if you accept your return." Apparently NOT!!! Save yourself the time, money and blood pressure, get an accountant or a CPA, or even use Turbo Tax. As for you H&R Block, this isn't over yet! read more

When I called to make an appointment I was happy that I was able to get in so soon. My taxes was easy to do. However, I didn't want to do it myself since I would have needed to do a payment plan with the IRS if I owed. I've been going to Hnr block for a long time. So I assume they would do the same thing as other companies. So basically last year I spent 125.00 and the person I worked with filed my taxes, helped me with an extension, and set up my payment plan. This year I decided to go to Ballard instead of where I went last year because it was closer to me. BIG MISTAKE! The guy and girl helping me I'm not going to say names since I don't want them to get in trouble. But they seemed like they did not know what they are doing. The guy was helping me first and he was asking me what I did for a living. Basically asking how to get into my profession since I was so successful... I'm like okay don't you make enough doing peoples taxes? Someone else needed to check his work. Basically they kept saying doesn't matter if you add this because you don't qualify since you make too much.. They just kept saying you make too much... They also told me for them that they never had to help anyone with payment plans for IRS.They had to ask someone if they were able to do. First of all you guys should know your protocols and procedures for your office. I could have done my taxes by myself since I had fillout the forms I didn't want to fill out in the first place that is why I went to hnr to begin with. DO NOT GO HERE because they seem to only know how to do things you can do on your own through turbo tax. Also they charge a heck lot. 159 dollars for my taxes that I could have done alone. This is not including the insurance they had available. Horrible horrible place. If you have something complex you should go to bellevue hnr block in crossroads. They actually do a fantastic job and my 125 was well spent last year. The guy that helped me there was john. But for this location it's not worth it. They over charge and they only know basic things you can do through turbo tax. Super super disappointed read more

Zero stars for customer service. Zero stars for tax help. Find someone else. I could not be more disappointed with my experience at this H&R Block. I was torn between complaining about the entire company or just this branch. I think I will start with the branch. They were slow, rude, and made me feel completely unwelcome. Let me backup. I usually do my own taxes with an online service, but this year things were complicated. Nanny taxes, buying a house, early distributions from IRA accounts, rental income from a property in another state...we needed help. So, I ran through the entire thing using an online program and printed out my entire return (40+pages including schedules). I made an appointment online. I called to make sure that they would be able to give me advice about the specific issues I had and not "do" my taxes for me. Despite what appears on their advertisements, they apparently do not run into people who want to do their own taxes, but need a little help with some complex issues. They assured me that the woman I chose (who had the most experience) would be able to help me. I got out of work early for my appointment and got there on time. The person I was to meet with was running late. People milled around, and finally, a younger person came by and said she could help me until the other woman was free. So, I went to her desk and summarized my issues. She was thoroughly confused, said she was "new at this" and started using the internet to look up how to document IRA distributions and tax issues ("I was just reading about this the other day," she says). It was clear I knew more about it than she did. One of the other clerks heard her stumbling through the explanation and pulled her away. they stood directly behind me and the older man discussed how I should not be here asking these questions because they "are not in the business of giving out free tax advice." Now, I was fully expecting to pay the $100 an hour quoted to me on the phone to have someone give me advice...so I don't know what he thought was happening. He grabbed the other woman that I was scheduled with and they went into the only enclosed office to have some other discussion. The "expert" I was supposed to meet with then came out and said she was running late. Since I had overheard the other person's comment, I asked if they were actually going to be able to help me or if I was in the wrong place? She said, "well, I don't know" and leaned over me and started flipping through my 40 pages of federal tax return. She looked at it quickly and said it looked like I filled it out right, all the sheets had the normal places filled in, and it just looked like I made too much money to take any of the normal deductions. She just stood there, so I asked if I should wait and go over my questions with her. She said there was no reason to, they couldn't help me. It looked complete. So, I got up and left. No one said sorry or asked if I needed anything else. I actually went back out to my car and cried it was so frustrating. Don't put yourself through this. Go find a real professional who will help you. This particular branch has no one there to help and will apparently treat normal people who had some questions like they were there to rob the place. I have never felt less welcome in any establishment. Zero stars for customer service. Zero stars for tax help. Find someone else. read more

The H&R rep we got could not have made me less comfortable about their accuracy on our return. Came hoping to get some piece of mind on the most complex tax return I ever had to do because of a house sale/investment property conversion plus the first time filing jointly with my wife. First there was an argument regarding what capital gain tax exclusion we qualified for on the house sale. We said 250k, she thought 500k. So she (the rep) brought in someone else to help, who subsequently started to explain to us we would get just the 250k (I had to aim him toward the rep with the explanation, as we already knew). Then a much bigger dispute about figuring the cost basis of the house. The numbers she came up with just weren't matching my own, and it literally took 20 minutes of re-hashing to 1) get her to understand there WAS a mistake and 2) find where she double-entered numbers in H&R's myriad of worksheets. And in the end there was no apology, reassurances, or even a double-check of the entire return. Needless to say I purchased their audit insurance, though it will be small comfort if we get audited. read more