First, I feel badly giving a small business a poor review, however, I have real concerns about how…read moreMAS operates their business.
I have used MAS for 6-7 years for my annual taxes. Every year, I have turned my paperwork in and I receive a call when it's complete with no questions asked! Easy...I thought. However, I switched this year to another company after being dissatisfied with MAS for the reasons in this review. Not only did I pay 75% less than what MAS was charging me, but I also received a couple of calls asking for clarification and met with someone in-person at the end to review my return and be sure that all was in order. I never experienced anything like this with MAS.
Over the years, I occasionally called during the year to ask a quick question (I called maybe 8 times (once or maybe twice per year.) Twice, my calls were never returned. Once, my call was returned 3 months later when the issue was a moot point.
This next situation, however, is what really has me concerned. I asked a question this past year and was able to talk to my accountant on the phone. We spent less than 5 minutes talking and then she asked me if I wanted her to give me an estimate on something I was asking a question about. While the info was not crucial to know, she offered so I said, "sure!" She got back to me with a number. 4-5 months later, I received a bill for hundreds of dollars for this question being answered. First, I was never charged for asking a question in the past, so I never would have expected this. Second, when I was offered this option, I was never told that I would be billed for it (and why would I when I had never been charged before.) I will add that I do respect her time and I have no idea what kind of time it might take to pull a number (could be pulling up a computer screen and looking, or maybe more math was involved.) At any rate, I was not informed ahead of time that there would be a cost and if I knew, I would never have asked for the number to be computed as it was not dire information for me to have. Last, when I called her to discuss this and express my concern, she said, "it's fine, I can just write it off." I have to say that I was shocked. An accountant running an accounting business? Sending a bill to me 4-5 months later after not informing me I'd be charged and now is telling me it's a write-off for her business? This certainly does not fit with my idea of business ethics.