H&R Block Makes a Bad Situation Worse

This is a story of how H&R Block took a normally stessful tax time in 2002 and turned it into a symphony of horror and anger. After this experience I came to realize that H&R Block employs technically incompetent people with questionable math skills. In a nutshell: H&R Block sucks.

March 25th, 2002 - Tax Day was looming near and my wife was very nervous. "We have to make an appointment with H&R Block," she reminded me for the hundredth time.

In a desperate attempt to avoid putting on pants, I told her how H&R Block would do our taxes online. "See here, " I said, pointing at the H&R Block web page, "all you have to do is fill out this ten minute questionnaire and they will even take ten dollars off their fee!"

Pamela was a sucker for coupons, regardless of their value or national origin, so she agreed.

Woe unto me.

We went online with papers in hand and filled out the form which plumed the depths of our paltry financial empire. Amongst the questions we answered, was one for "Anything else the preparer should know about that might have a bearing upon our taxes." We indicated:

My wife paid student loan interest.
I had a previous tax burden and my wife would need to fill out the paperwork to be considered an 'injured spouse'.
We wanted to know about re-filing our 2001 taxes.

At the end of the electronic interview the site said we were eligible to have our taxes done online. We said 'sure' and clicked on the button. I breathed a sigh of relief for another day had drawn to a close and I did not have to put on pants.

March 28th, 2002 - A few days later we got an email telling us that Joyce Jurek was our assigned tax preparer and that there was a private message board set up where we could exchange messages with her. We logged into the message board and read that Ms. Jurek had all the information she needed and was preparing our tax return. Bless my poor little anal-retentive, worrisome wife's heart, she posted a follow-up message that reiterated:

She had paid student loan interest.
Her husband had a previous tax burden and she would need to fill out the paperwork to be considered an 'injured spouse'.
We wanted to know about re-filing our 2001 taxes.

A week passed with no word from Ms. Jurek.

April 4th, 2002 - I posted another message on the board saying, "Do you read this board? Please contact us ASAP. We have questions." No word. PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE USED ALL CAPS.

April 5th, 2002 - After much digging around using Google, I was able to figure out that Ms. Jurek worked at an H&R Block office in Knoxville, TN. After directory assistance gave me the number to her office, I called and she was not there. The secretary told me she would either be back that day or the following Monday. I left a detailed message which emphasized that she needed to get in touch with me as soon as humanly possible. The rest of the day passed without her returning my call.

April 6th, 2002 - No word. My wife was fuming.

April 7th, 2002 - No word. My wife was barely speaking to me.

April 8th, 2002 - No call, however, in the afternoon I received an email announcing that our tax return was completed and ready for review. We logged into the H&R Block site. According to the 'expert' tax professional, we would get a refund of under $100. My wife went ballistic. I was not happy either.

I called Ms. Jurek's office and spoke to her supervisor, Wanda. I used restrained language and a civil tone while I explained to Wanda what my wife and I had been through - especially I detailed the content and number of messages that we had left on the H&R Block 'special' message board. Wanda said that Ms. Jurek had not seen any messages from us - and from the way she phrased it, I had the definite feeling that Ms. Jurek wasn't very internet savvy.

That was the last straw. I told Wanda that we just wanted to cancel the service. She complied without argument or apology.

About an hour later I realized that it would probably be a good idea to log onto the H&R Block website and make copies of the messages we had posted. I was not allowed to log in, apparently the 'special' message board had already been dumped.

April 9th, 2002 - Filled with anger and despair, Pamela did our taxes herself. Although she was not speaking to me, she did open her mouth long enough to inform me that we were due a refund over an order of magnitude greater than what H&R Block had calculated.

April 10th, 2002 - While Pamela when to the post office to mail the tax return, I composed a detailed email to the H&R Block complaint department. Even though I felt an overwhelming desire to spread the pain around, I once again used restrained language and a civil tone.

April 16th, 2002 - I received an email back from H&R Block. It said, in part:

We are very sorry H&R Block's online tax preparation service did not meet your expectations. If you desire we can assign you a new tax professional to handle your case.

The trouble with email is that you can't have the physical satisfaction of tearing it up.

it pays the bills dept

here is something I hope is doing no evil.

could be worse dept

there could be more of them