H&R Block advertises "We stand behind our work. 100% Accuracy Guarantee. If we make an error on your return, we'll pay any penalties and interest due to our error." In my opinion, this is false advertising.
For our 2016 tax return, we decided to switch to H&R Block because there was an office less than a mile from our house. We don't have complicated returns (W2, Schedule A and an HSA) and thought it would be cheaper also (wrong... less than $25 savings just in prep fee). The "tax professional" was pretty nice and we ended up with a sizable refund, so we thought we had made a good decision.
Then, when ready to file our 2017 return, after waiting 30 minutes past our appointment time, the "professional" really didn't know a lot about the software or the required forms. She didn't know how to complete the 8889 for the HSA, so we had to make a second appointment.
In June of 2018, we received an IRS notification that the return for 2016 had not been completed correctly - the "professional" had forgotten to include a W2 for my new job. I had included this information on a worksheet that I had completed ahead of time, we had gone over it while we were sitting at her desk AND she had stapled this W2 to the jacket that went with our returns. We owed $2,582 in additional tax AND $679 in interest and penalties for a total of $3,261.
My husband made an appointment (across town because the local office is closed in the off-season). The person he spoke with said that we would need to pay the full amount, then file a claim to be reimbursed $679. We filed the claim (I won't bore you with the details of how unprofessional the employees we dealt with were during the process).
We received notification that "the claim has been reviewed by H&R Block's Claims Department and based on the H&R Block Guarantee terms and conditions, the claim has been denied" because "the tax issue involved in your claim is not covered by the H&R Block Guarantee".
On June 27, 2018, I called (877) 880-5222, Option #4 and spoke with Mary. In summary, our claim was denied because - even though their employee made the mistake - we were obligated to correct it during our review. In other words, yes they made a mistake, but we should have caught it. I asked to speak with a supervisor and Mary told me that one was not available. I asked to have one call me and she said it would be approximately 48 hours before they would call. It's July 4, and still no call. I will never, ever, ever do business with H&R Block again!
Update 7/21/18: According to Sonia on H&R's Twitter account, our only option is to call and leave message at (877) 880-5222, Option #4, Which I have done twice on 6/27 and 7/6. No return call. Unbelievable that a national company handles customer complaints in this manner. read more
