This company obtained my tax information through some kind of buyout or agreement with Gibbar. I…read moredecided to go ahead and use their services for 2021 taxes. This year I used them again for my 2022 taxes. Michael J. was in charge of my account.
1) INVOICE INCREASE, WITHOUT ANY NOTIIFICATION.
If you decide to use this company from one year to the next, I recommend asking them if their service charges remain the same or if they have increased. They will not notify you.
The invoice for my 2022 taxes was $50 more than last year, for my 2021 taxes. As indicated on the invoice, it was the same service as 2021, yet they charged me $50 more with no notification or warning of any kind that their costs have increased. Their phone receptionist could not explain this cost increase, and referred me back to Michael J.
After several attempts, I finally got Michael J. on the phone, and he simply says that they had to increase their fees because of rising filing costs (or something to that affect). It seemed to me quite the canned response. There was also no explanation as to why I was not notified of their service charge increases.
2) SIMPLE REQUEST TURNS INTO ORDEAL
Michael J emailed me on 8/26/23 with my taxes to review. He stated "Once you have had a chance to review please let me know if you would like to discuss."
I briefly spoke with him over the phone and asked him if he wouldn't mind just jotting down on my spreadsheet of categorized write offs, what amounts were written off. He raised no issues and said YES he could do that. I followed up with an email and the spreadsheet attached with this simple request on 8/28/23. Mind you, my taxes WERE NOT FILED YET WHEN MY REQUEST WAS MADE. And Michael J. had already agreed to do my request. Two days later, I went ahead and signed the taxes, BELIEVING that Michael J. would follow through on my simple request.
I politely follow up week after week. Until finally the 5th request ONE MONTH LATER, on 9/29/23, I get an email response from the owner, Michael G, which reads:
"Mike J had asked that i follow up you regarding your request.
I was bit surprised by your request as you had already approved my firm to file your taxes when you signed the IRS form 8879. Our engagement concludes upon filing and acceptance of your taxes. Because you did not use our tax organizer this makes it very time consuming to respond to your request and we would have increased fee to do this extra work had you asked for it prior to us filing your return.
We are completing other returns right now because of the upcoming final deadline and we are unable to comply with your request until after Oct 16th."
Let's keep in mind that "our engagement" was NOT concluded at the time of my simple request. And that Michael J said he WOULD do my request. This was BEFORE I signed on 8/30/23.
I follow up with Michael G. on November 17th, and he replies
"Hi michael,
You know they extended the deadline to nov 16 so we are still working on finishing up."
(Notice his unprofessional response, and not capitalizing my name). So my simple request from 8/28/23 is apparently going to take 2 and a half months for you to answer?
I replied to his email, asking him if he stands by his company reps (Michael J.) and what they tell your customers... I also asked if he was going to stick by his word, that would comply with my request after Oct 16th.
His response on 10/22:
"no i reassigned this to me. normally clients dont ask these types of questions after they have approved us to file your return. our engagement letter, which you signed states our engagement is complete after you approve us to file, i will call you next week to discuss your request. let me know what day and time would be good to go over your questions"
At this point, I've had enough of Michael G. as he shows no professionalism nor care for grammar in this response, which shows complete lack of respect for me as a client. He states AGAIN about this engagement letter yet FAILS to see that my request was made AND AGREED TO before I approved them to file. He then decides he'll talk with me after disrespecting me once again? I don't need a phone call, all I need is a response to my original emailed request to Michael J on 8/28/23. This request would have taken a max of 5 minutes for them to do, not MONTHS. This is not how you treat returning customers.
In my opinion, this company fails to see any value of returning customers. I will not be returning. As Michael G. states above, "our engagement is complete after you approve us to file."
Yes, it is definitely completed.
