Neal was a referral from a financial advisor. After a divorce and moving back to WA, I met with him over the phone to which he advised my tax situation was "not very complicated and something we do all the time" to which I asked on average what do you think pricing for these services typically look like, "not more than a few hundred dollars at most but your situation isn't that complex". After verbal agreement and contract Feb 7th, I took some time to gather documents together and told him it would take me time on the phone to gather all my documents together, I asked him how long he would need to complete the return to which he responded "no more than a couple weeks" I provided the requested documents March 23rd 2024. April 1st I reached out, due to no response, April 8th I reached out again due to no response. That same day he responded saying he did not see they got uploaded and to resend though I sent a screenshot showing the documents were uploaded. I assumed given the response, he'd file an extension and asked such he responded same day advising he would at no extra cost. At that point, I followed up April 30th, with no response, and again on May 14th after copying my financial advisor, which he responded same day. After a series of back and Forths, and meeting with Chad, I asked for a copy of the filed extension because he was poor in communicating anything about my files on May 31st. July 10th, he advised there were some missing items, I provided the remaining items on July 22nd. I followed up after no response on September 6th, 16th, 23rd and on Sep 24th I received a response about missing copies of forms. I provided a response on Sep 26th. I then received an Invoice in November in the amount of $1,085, no copy of my filed return, no explanation of the return, where and what deductions were made, any details at all, nothing. After I asked for an itemized receipt of time I received a response of "The fee is reasonable given the complexity of your return. We won't be discounting it or providing any additional information." Even in my last response on Nov 22nd to him, there was never a response, just continued requests for payment. This is extremely unprofessional. As a first time I've ever used a CPA to file taxes only because I was going through a divorce and needed extra guidance I was taken advantage of, lied to, manipulated, and flat out disrespected by someone claiming to be a tax professional. Considering the return was already filed, there was never an indication the fees were lucrative...and I was put in an impossible situation and there was 0 regard for person and poor conduct I filed formal complaints with the State and AICPA.
Fees for services rendered have not been paid. And we'll continue to be in this stand off for quite some time, I'm sure. If I can't get answers, money won't be paid. read more
