H&R Block / HRB Digital
Reviews and Complaints

When it comes to appointments, this year has been no win for the Tax Pros. Appointments were
made last year at the behest of management who increasingly have zero experience preparing taxes. Don't get me started on that topic. Then clients like you Hector, make a "real" appointment and the Tax Pros can't tell if you made your appointment this year or last year, so instead of waiting around to see if you will show up they take the next walk-in client. Yes, it sucks for you but I work on straight commission and can not afford to just come in and hope and pray everyone with an appointment will show up as scheduled. Your time is important to me, but not as important as my time. At this point in the season, I am aware of only one person that kept the appointment I scheduled for them last year. That is one out of more than 200. In my opinion scheduling appointments one year in advance has been a colossal failure. Will H&R Block lose clients over this issue, yes they will. Will management recognize this and correct the situation, well let's just say I will not be holding my breath.

With that said, everyone in my office is doing their level best to NOT schedule appointments for next year. I have been 97.5% successful in this endeavor. If I see your name on the schedule next year I will have a much higher degree of confidence that you will in fact be coming in and maybe this year's favorite question, "Is that a real appointment?" will be a thing of the past.

One more thing. The Office Leader/Manager should have apologized to you for your wait. Your Tax Pro probably never knew you were there.

Have you never been do a doctor's office and been made to wait? A dentist's office? The DMV? I see, only H & R Block is worthy of your scorn. We are just as suceptible to having late clients throw our schedules off as any other service is, in case you were not aware of that. If we had told that other client to hit the door because of another appointment, then I imagine they'd be here complaining that we were rude to them and disrespected their time.

Sometimes you cannot win.

Why did you sign off on a return with a balance due, when you knew you should be getting a refund?

H&R Block hires new people every year, so do CPA firms.
I can't do every return that walks into my office, I have to let junior people do some of them.
That is after all how they will become senior.

If I go to the meat market and order prime rib and the clerk hands me hamburger, you better believe I will not just smile and pay for it.

Yet when you came into the tax office and from the very beginning knew there was a problem, you just rushed ahead and apparently signed off on a return with a balance due knowing that you should have received a refund!

I'll tell you what I tell everyone. If you are unsatisfied with the results, gather your documents and walk out. Period! Do not allow a junior accountant, CPA, lawyer, or Tax Pro at H&R Block to complete a return that you know is incorrect. If you can't find it within yourself to get up and walk out, then my next best advice is always demand an Enrolled Agent. Some are better than others but most are fairly competent.

You shouldn't go to those places. Go to a local cpa!

chrapow:

1st If H&R Block charged you over $200 for a simple return as you say, then the question I have for you is why didn't you do your own taxes to begin with? Hmm, perhaps you didn't know how to prepare the return yourself.

2nd: When you couldn't afford to pay for preparation, you decided to get HSBC involved by asking for a loan to cover the tax prep fees. When the loan was denied, did you go in and pay your tax preparer? No! You were told the RAL loan would covert to the RAC and you still were not required to pay. Instead you simply had to wait till the IRS forwarded the refund. Bottom line: It was your tax return that was filed and YOU didn't have to give up a dime in advance. That sounds like a pretty good deal. If you want a better deal, I suggest you learn how to prepare your own return.

Hope this helps.

I agree that it sounds as if you had a bad experience. For that I am very sorry. However, I work at Block. I am the lady behind the counter when you come in that asks if you had an appointment, checks you in, offers you coffee and a newspaper while you wait. I see this happen so many times and it makes me sad because there is nothing I can do about it. See, I have not been to tax school and I cannot file your return. I just answer the phones. But if you were scheduled for 8pm and did not get seen until 9 the people who were doing your return were staying just for you because we close at 9pm. If the preparer was an hour late seeing you, it is probably because other appointments ahead of you ran long, the guy who had a simple W2 last year came in this year and had to do a schedule c but didn't tell me when I scheduled his appointment. I wish this did not happen to clients, but the fact is that no system is perfect. We do have a drop off option, and I would have offered you that at about 8:45. It sounds like you yourself drew the low card in preparers, some rush through returns without explaining why this or that would not help you out. But at that time of night, she may have had a kids with a science project waiting up on her to come home but could not bear to see you sit and wait until midnight to file your taxes. I really hope you call your regular preparer, or call a year round office and ask for a senior tax advisor to help you understand your questions.

MBA's perspective is partially correct. Generally Married Filing Joint is best unless one spouse is
self-employed and wants to shield the other spouse from potential tax liability related to the
self-employment.

For the original poster: So your appointment was at 8pm and your husband was seen at 9:00pm? Hmm, did your husband have an appointment? Both of you should have made an
appointment or at least advised the person taking the appointment that you had multiple
returns to file. I usually spend an hour and change with each client. I would have scheduled
2.5 hours for both of you. My guess is you had 1 one hour appointment and what probably happened was a few of the appointments ahead of you were late or took up an excessive amount time during their preparation and this led to your preparer falling behind.

The Office Leader/Manager should have informed you of the delay and given you an option to
reschedule.

As for Ms Davila's "flying right though it", she may be very experienced with the system.

On the other hand, when I ask about unreimbursed job expenses, many people tell me what they spent on uniforms and I tell them that their uniforms alone will not make a difference.
Although, I usually go on to explain that those type of expenses will need to exceed 2% of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) before it will matter.

Regarding the theft from your vehicle: It does not have to be a self-employed vehicle. A theft
from you truck is deductible but the rules have changed this year. In prior years we reduced the loss by $100 per incident and 10% of AGI, this year it is $500 per incident and 10% of AGI. For most people that effectively eliminates the deduction.

Medical expenses are reduced by 7.5% of AGI. If you have chronic medical problems or a surgery you paid for (ie: no insurance) then you may be able to deduct medical. A few of my clients have insurance that is not through their employer on a cafeteria plan and they are able
to deduct due to their high premiums.

And finally, the easiest way to cancel your preparation is don't pay us and don't sign the
paperwork you were presented with at the end of the interview. You are entitled to have all of
your questions answered. If a preparer is unwilling to answer them, I would get my documents and walk right out.

Hope this helps.

The first mistake was to file seprately. If you are married, why are filing seprately? You are loosing money that way. Unless there is something hanky going ons, like both of you trying to file as head of household. If one of you has an oustanding debt with the federal government, you should still file jointly, but then file an injured spouse form 8379. If you are filing seprately you are loosing money and they should have counseled you on that.

And that's an MBA's perspective!

Ten Year Tax Pro: Agreed.

Also, when you get audited because you didn't understand what you were doing with Turbo Tax or some other tax software, I will still be at your neighborhood office ready and able to do the amendment. As they say you can pay me now or pay me later.

When your RAL application was denied by HSBC Bank, your refund process was flipped into the RAC, the 8-15 day product. Whatever finance charge that was shown to you for the RAL was taken away and you will not be charged that amount. Simply the $29.95 fee for the RAC product, plus the cost of tax prep.

Again, the best solution to the problem is, truly, to buy a software program next year and do your own taxes if we are too high for you. It puts competitive pressure on the company and gets customers prone to complain about anything/everything out of the office...a true win/win scenario...

tboggs80: I never much liked that whole "relationship" business either. They should just run a credit check and make a decision based on that. Taking up as much time as they did in your case and then denying you when they could have asked you up front if you had a "relationship" is not likely to produce a happy customer or a repeat customer.

The above person is correct with everything he/she said. Also, please keep in mind that H&R Block tax pros are paid on commission. Sure, we get hourly during the season, but that all gets subtracted from her commission check in May. So surely, she was paid for her services.

H&R Block charges based on the complexity of your return. One rental property will involve some additional complexity to properly credit you with the expenses you incurred and the depreciation on the rental unit and other capital assets if they exist. In more extreme cases where Passive Activity and At-Risk Rules come into play the additional cost of preparation will be significantly higher. That "one additional piece of work" can become quite burdensome and expensive. Refer to IRS Publication 925 for more info on that topic.

Regarding your mother's return: I agree a $225 increase for the same return is absurd. You should have asked for an item by item comparison of the charges last year with the charges for this year.
Your tax pro can easily show you that. Then if there is a discrepancy in the pricing you will know exactly what caused it. As always, remember you are under no obligation to pay if you are not satisfied. Simply gather up your documents and walk out.

I am very sorry to hear of your father's difficulties.
Your best bet at this point would probably be to seek the advice of a competent attorney.

you should have noticed something "off" when you should have received an enormous refund as compared to prior years...true they may have been neglegent, but you should have asked a question and reviewed your return before you filed your return.

This felt like a scam. I signed up in February for the self-paced course and it was supposed to last Feb-May which made it sound like I could take the course at my own pace and still get certified within that time frame. Then it appeared to be an online course because none of the links worked. Then when I called to inquire about it, a tech working from home, told me to wait for the next online registration. She never gave me a confirmation code or anything. She made it sound like I signed up too early and that I needed to wait for the next online course. I waited a few months and then got an email from a PreSeason Tax Manager letting me know it was time to sign up. When I went to sign up they wanted me to pay for the course materials again. I emailed the Tax Manager letting her know the situation, that I already paid and needed a credit, and she told me there was nothing she could do and re-directed me back to the original 800 number that I called. I called and fortunately was able to yell at the next customer service rep after he told me that I couldn't get a refund and I told him that this felt like a scam after I told him the situation. He then told me that it wasn't a scam and then called a number for me. I told him it felt like I was getting the run around because I keep getting redirected. And then he assured me that he would help me take care of it. I told him that I already know how to prepare tax returns. That I don't need pamphlets that I can easily download from the State and/or the IRS's website. That I was interested in the course and the certification. I don't need "H&R Block's" course materials. Those are tax forms you can download for free. After I mentioned that he assured me that even though he also works from home that this is not a scam. Then miraculously they refunded me. But he made it sound like I was already refunded. And when I asked for verification of when he said that they were going to refund me, not because they refund for courses, but because I was within the time frame for a refund. So it made no sense and it did sound like a scam. This course was recommended to me by a friend that works in a CPA's office. She highly recommended it, even though I've already taken college courses for tax prep. It feels like if I didn't call them out over the course materials then I wouldn't have received a refund. Buyer Beware. It does seem like they certify you for the year. Each year has new tax updates. So if they're saying that this course last forever that is probably a lie. It sounds like they're giving you a quick training in being able to prepare taxes for people for the current year. Scary.

I took the course, and passed with a 95% on my first try. Unlike the people who "don't know where they messed up", I had a pretty good idea... because I actually studied.

If tax laws are always changing, then why the hell would you think it was "good forever"? Did you even speak to current employees before taking the test? People have to get re-certified if they don't level up. No matter what job you're going for, always speak to a group of employees with your questions, so people can correct each other.

I agree with Lucinda - grow a pair. They tell you that you get 3 tries. If you got rejected, it wasn't because you only passed on the 3rd try, it was probably your background check.

It's also not "a hoax", as DJH claims. If his claims were true, any reasonable person would've avoided that girl like the plague. Besides, if he really passed with an 89% and didn't get hired (unlikely), he could've just applied at a neighboring district under a different DGM.

I tried to retake the assessment and the software doesn't provide the tool to retake it. I have been trying to do so since last couple of days. The website is not working every time you click the same page. It doesn't launch the test button.
So frustrating. All these tax offices are a big hoax. I did the training from liberty tax and before starting the class they promised they will place us if we score percent. I scored 76 and they didn't hire me. I was so shattered. They don't tell you the truth.

I have started this Tax Course at 10061 McLaughlin Road in Brampton this month October 2018.
The teacher is hopeless, doesn't know what he is teaching & mumbling always.
The teacher never wants to help us. Whenever we raise any course related question, he doesn't any answer.
We always ask him to repeat, and again he never speaks loud.
We all having financial difficulties & paid this course to get a better job, but the Teacher doesn't know what he is teaching & DOESN'T CARE.
We all had families & commitments still coming to study, but now we are worrying about this teacher.
We all appreciate that if you can change this teacher & replace with a better speaking & understandable teacher.
Please change the teacher ASAP.

I've been preparing taxes since 1998. Before starting my own tax practice, I took the class from H&R Block and worked for the company for 3 years. I do not work for H&R Block now and haven't worked for the company since 2001. The assessment is a screening process for people who have prior tax knowledge. As you can see from the comments above, not everyone who has been "preparing taxes for years" can pass the assessment. THIS is precisely why there is an assessment process in place. There are MANY people who've been doing taxes years that simply aren't good at it. In fact, many of them suck. The class is not a "scam". You pay $140 for a hours and hours of instruction, plus a ton of printed material. Then, if you are hired, they handle the entire process of registering you with CTEC (I'm in CA) and cover your E&O insurance. They price the classes very inexpensively for a specific reason - to recruit tax preparers. H&R Block has many people taking their classes and many people attempting the assessment exam. Why do you think you deserve to be hired if you cannot pass a BASIC assessment exam? YOU are specifically the type of preparer they (and the rest of us good ones) would like to weed OUT of the business. And by the way, if you're a good tax preparer, you can make good money at H&R Block or anywhere else. Get better at your craft and stop whining!

I worked for H and R block for three years. in the bigger cities they are begging for help. In the smaller towns they have no vacancies They paid me really good. I started off the first year as a receptionist. Then that summer and fall block paid for my tax classes. Then the next two years I was a preparer. I like the way they teach the course, because it is easy to understand. Every year they trained me in tax courses with a little more knowledge. It is only a seasonal part time job. I received $10 per hour and at the end of tax season I go a bonus of 5k. I only worked about 2 days a week in January the first two weeks of February everyday. then two days a week until april 15. I was very happy. If you work in a corporate store you will be paid well.

I have done a tax class with Liberty and currently certified. I've already worked a tax season and it was a success, I loved it. However I'm currently looking for work so I applied at H&R block for receptionist work. Had the interview and with me doing taxes they wanted to also offer me employment filling taxes. So they had me take this online tax exam! I didn't find it fair, you get 3 tries. The first time the test shut down, and the second to my surprise I didn't pass. The test doesn't say what your percent was or what you missed. With liberty online test for my continued education they tell you your percent and what you got wrong so that you can go study what you missed. The questions with the HR test were the hardest I've ever seen on a tax test. I agree that this is only a way for individuals to pay for a tax class even if they've already have gone and recieved the education somewhere else.

H&R Block tax class is a hoax and simply a way for them to recruit (hand selected) individuals; not always based on ability of high test scores. I have no problem with this except that we were told one class before the final that if we didn't get chosen to work for H&R Block we would need to "TAKE AND PAY FOR THE CLASS AGAIN THE FOLLOWING SEASON"! So here's what H&R gets: $299 from each enrollee; hand picked students who aren't always ethical and honest (that was my situation with a girl who sat next to me. She stole my homework assignment and brought it back the next class meeting feigning ignorance; she accused me of stealing her password when there was never anything formal given for passwords which could easily be mixed up and no reason for me to steal her password, and last class during the final she had her book bag which was quite large sitting on top of my notes where I couldn't find it until I noticed it sticking out from underneath her bag. Additionally I had repeated computer problems which the teacher never addressed so my computer crashed midway through my final and I had to come back a couple days later to take the test. The teacher never questioned this student for the several incidents but simply criticized me in front of the entire class for stirring up problems!). Ok, so back to what H&R Block gets, hand picked students, everyone's money but for those who don't get hired they really get nothing more than if they had taken a tax class at community college, admin and other types of employees who don't do taxes in their offices, revenue to hold the business up during non tax season. I got an 89% on the final and was told anyone who passed would get an interview and an opportunity to get hired. I contacted the instructor 4 different times and was told by him I would get a call but never did. l

I am currently taking the 2014 H&R Block tax course in California. We are on our 3rd week and to be fair I already had some previous knowledge of taxes but have never taken a course until now. I paid $199, however, it costs more at class locations in larger cities ($299 to $399). The course is fast paced and you must be dedicated! If you fall behind and be lazy there is no point in signing up for this course. Note that you are doing double the work if you are taking the course in a state which has state income taxes (like California). The course is not very difficult but it isn't easy either! It's just a lot of information to cram in. The California course is generally 3 nights a week but drops down to 2 nights a week after the first week and the total duration is 10 weeks here.DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE IF YOU PLAN TO WORK FOR A COMPETITOR AFTER OR PLAN TO DO OTHERS PEOPLE'S TAX RETURNS ON YOUR OWN. The purpose of the class is to learn not only taxes but also the H&R Block "Block Works" software and the course is also a POSSIBLE "pre employment" offer. That said you must sign a few legal documents on your first day of class that prohibit you from such actions. You are also not allowed to do taxes outside of H&R Block, if hired.If you pass everything you get certified. So far I am enjoying the course but find that the reading + homework assignments take on average 6 hours to complete.

WOW! I think you may have popped a blood vessel in that forehead of yours! To be honest, primary cardholder is the only one that can authorize to be put into that account. Seems crazy, but the major difference between primary cardholder and a authorized user is the legal obligation to pay the credit card balance.

As far as broken english, think how hard that must be to learn a second language, become fluent in that language and then be able to remove the accent so that you would not be able to be detected as a foreignor, then have someone from another country tell you that you should speak better english. Oh, by the way, I am an expate and have lived all over the world and trust me the world is getting smaller and we are all human beings and want to be respected. Just a thought to ponder.

Read again!

Dec. 12, 2010 @ 3:18 pm
My husband and I went to the Lenoir City, TN, H&R Block office this past week and received our Emerald Advance that we have gotten for the past couple of years. We have filed with H&R Block for many years now and have always been very pleased with our Agent Lanette. Lanette has worked for H&R for 24 years, she is a level 5 Senior Tax Advisor and the LC Office Development Leader. Lanette has always been very helpful, she is excellent at her job and will go to every length possible to assist her clients in preparing their taxes correctly, accurately and quickly. Yes, it does cost a little more to have this service, but, we are self employed and the paperwork that Lanette must go through would give a Saint a migraine and she never complains when she see's us walk through the door. I know that there wouldn't be another Tax Prep Agent that would do this type of work for us and have a smile on her/his face while they were doing it. Plus, we have asked other companies about their prices and when they find out what they have to deal with it's usually a whole lot more expensive.
I read another comment about the cost of H&R Block and can understand the high cost if it is just a simple W-2 for the same job, for many years. However, I can't understand why some people DON'T DO their own taxes online if it's just a simple return. Each to their own though and I don't judge anyone for doing what they wish (as long as it's legal and/or doesn't hurt someone! :-)

My complaint isn't with the local office it's with Customer Service. Lanette told us to call the 866 # and request the additional $30+ that needed to be added to our Emerald Advance Card. I will not go into detail as to why just WHAT HAPPENED when I called today at the above listed time.

A girl answered the phone (in broken English and heavy accent) and informed me (after a few repeats at my request) that her name is Jennifer. The number that I called on the back of the card is [protected]. I gave her the required information that she asked me for: Card Number - Pin Number - Primary Card Holders Full Name (my husband) - Date of Birth - Social Security Number. Ok, all that given, she then asked me my name: Full Name given (joint account) - my social - date of birth - relationship to primary card holder (wife of 21 years to be specific).

Jennifer told me that she didn't have any problem adding the additional funds to the card for use, however SHE SAID, "I need to speak with the primary card holder and receive his permission to verify this information and continue with your request". I laughed and said in reply "I'm sorry but, he's at work and can't give permission for something that I have all legal access towards".

Jennifer then said "I'm sorry, but, I need to speak with the primary card holder to receive permission from him to verify his information and to proceed with this request"!

WHAT THE HELL?

I'm not laughing now. I am trying to desperately NOT lose my temper. I firmly remind Jennifer that "I just gave you all of the information and I don't need his permission to USE MY CARD! I AM THE JOINT CARD HOLDER AND GAVE YOU ENOUGH INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE TO OPEN UP ENOUGH CREDIT CARDS IN OUR NAMES TO BUY HALF OF WAL-MART! Jennifer had the nerve to repeat in her broken English the same exact phrase.

Since I am just about ready to lose it, I told Jennifer that I wanted to speak with her supervisor, at which time she said that "she was sorry and understood my frustration, but, she couldn't give out any private information and unless I gave her the card number again and the primary card holders social she couldn't transfer me to her supervisor".

Ok, I did lose it! I did ask her to give me her service number, an extension number, some type of number where I could contact her again. I asked for the NAME of her supervisor, the name of the county and state that I called and where she was located in. I asked her numerous questions so that I might be able to identify her again (I will remember her voice for a long time). But, I knew all along that she wouldn't give me any of that type of info. After all "she wasn't doing anything wrong" - just being difficult.

H&R Block Clients BeWare! Ask for the full name of the customer service reps when you speak with them. Ask for the state and county or COUNTRY they are working out of before you give them ANY INFO! If they won't give you the information don't give them any of your information.

Good Luck! And JENNIFER, I hope and pray to God that you had your recorder going. If I had a way to record the conversation I would have. You are not someone that needs to work in customer service. However, it seems that you are specially suited for your job. Another tip, clean up your accent and practice your English, you would make a good recruit for some company on their voice mail recordings. You have absolutely NO problem with repeating the same thing over and over and over and over. Plus, you have no idea how FRUSTRATED that you made me, I don't even think you know what the word means. FRUSTRATED didn't begin to explain what I was feeling, you have given customer service reps a whole new meaning in my book. It's a new cut down that I can call anyone that really irritates and angers me.

I can see it now, telling my friends when they really make me mad! "Grow up and Get A Brain, You Are Acting Like the H&R Block Customer Service Agent - Jennifer"! No, I couln't do that to a friend, that's really a low blow and hitting below the belt. My friends couldn't ever be on the same level as you, I really should call back and ask for Richard Cranium, the whole office would put me through to your extension!

they cut my card off with money still in my account and when they had to send me a new card they charge me for it plus put other charges on me then they send me another card and try to charge me for it .I got the other card and they said I owe them 15 dollars and I dont understand that. they cut off the first card and I didnt even know they had cut it off I went to buy something and my card wasnt working this went on for 2 months and then they try to charge me for there mistake you cant just take peoples money and not expect them to respond

I also had a problem with the Emerald Card. I made 2 purchases with my card at 2 different restaurants on 2 different days. When I looked at my statement, it showed the 1st purchase that was pending still deducted (bill without tip) and then a second purcahse (bill with tip) also deducted. I called customer service immediately, and I was told that I personally had to contact each restaurant and get in writing that the funds for the first 2 charges could get released back to my card. I have NEVER heard of this before. I got all of the information sent to H&R Block, and it took them 3 weeks to put the money on my card.

I, too, asked to speak with a supervisor, and all they did was take my number and hang up on me to have a supervisor call me back, which of course never happened.

I've been an H&R Block customer for almost 10 years. Due to this horrible experience, not only do I NOT recommend the Emerald Card, but I will not be a customer of H&R Block anymore.