Tax Masters review: Horrible Negligent Service 84

I was taken for $4, 000 by Taxmasters and still was levied for everything I had. I resolved the problem with the IRS myself. Basically what I was told was that once you are duped into signing the contract they get your money despite the incompetence. I filed complaints with the BBB, TX and Harris Co Attorneys General, the IRS and wrote both of my senators. Companies like this are not regulated, licensed, or held accountable to any board or government standards and that is ridiculous. The Senate needs to drag them in front of a hearing committee and be held accountable for their fraud. J K Harris has even more complaints for misrepresentation. All these companies need to be held accountable. The more of us that complain to the consumer groups and credit cards, the better our chances of stopping others from going through our pain.

This is the most incompetent business that I have ever dealt with. They took my $1400.00 and I now have to look for other representation. Do not do business with theses people. They should be shut down by the state of Texas for misrepresenting themselves as a viable solution to anyone’s tax problems. Don’t be fooled by that tidy and very business looking web site. The organization and skill set of the people who work there as a whole is dysfunctional at best.

April 18, 2008

I fully agree with your comments and had a similar horrible experience with TaxMasters and Patrick Cox, its President, in Houston.

The Perfect Rip-off by TaxMasters of Houston -- A Complaint Against TAX MASTERS of Houston Experienced by a Deeply Disgruntled and Ripped Off Customer of TaxMasters

1. They sign you up to do tax advisory services then don to the work

2. You get so frustrated with them not doing the work, and getting hassled by the IRS you end up doing the work your self to resolve things with the IRS

3. You ask for a refund and they say since you already resolved the case and dismissed them, there is nothing more for them to do, but they charge you anyway and say it was not their fault you resolved the case yourself.

4. You complain to your Credit Card Company to have the charges to TaxMaster reversed, but they say they're not there to resolve disputes over services, and since there is a signed contract its hard for them to say that the charges are fraudulent.

5. In end, you are likely to get no help or refund or reversal of charges by your credit card company, and no refund from TaxMasters in Houston.

As you can see, a Perfect Rip-off, and TaxMasters is laughing all the way to the Bank.

MY CASE AGAINST TAXMASTERS of HOUSTON

To: Whom it May Concern:

From: A Deeply Disgruntled Customer of TaxMasters of Houston

Re: Complaint about TaxMasters Services and Suit for Refund of over $9, 000 in Payments made to TaxMasters but Services were NOT Provided by TaxMasters

A. MY COMPLAINT about TAXMASTERS and MY CHALLENGE TO HAVE CHARGES ON MY CREDIT CARD BY TAXMASTERS REFUNDED BACK TO MY CREDIT CARD

I contacted My Credit Card Company in February of 2008 to have charges on my Credit Card by Tax Masters in November and December of 2007 and January of 2008 reversed due to the failure of TaxMasters to provide the services I engaged them to do - in fact the little service they did provide on the 4 services I engaged them to do were completely shoddy despite my efforts to get them to do the work, they didn't do the work they were hired to do and I was forced to fire them for cause from doing any further work on my case.

Bottom line: except for 1 of the 4 Services they were engaged to provide they did not provide the services (note: for that 1 service costing $750 as pointed out in the engagement Agreement but I more than paid them for that with payments to them on my Credit Card totaling $2250 at the end of October, 2007 and I am not disputing that $750 payment with My Credit Card Company).

Due to their negligence or incompetency (I am not sure which it is) in doing the work required at the initial stage of the project, I was forced to fire TaxMasters before they ever got started on the 3 of the services they might have eventually done, but in fact never did do these 3 services. I more than paid them for the work they did do in the initial stage (the IRS Consultation), but since they did not ever do the other 3 services I should not be under any obligation to pay them for work they never did, and I will challenge them to the fullest extent of the law to have then REFUND the charges they put on my Credit Card or have my Credit Card Company reverse the charges.

B. DISAGREEMENT WITH THE CREDIT CARD COMPANY RESOLUTION:

I sent several letters in mid-February showing Tax Masters rationale for putting such charges on my account, an Agreement I signed with them whereby they agreed to provide consultation to me and to negotiate a resolution of a tax dispute I was having with the Internal Revenue Service.

I agree that I engaged TaxMasters to provide consultation and negotiation services, but except for one initial item they NEVER PROVIDED the SERVICES. They did do 3 of the services they were hired to do, and after endless frustration with them not doing the work, I FIRED them FOR CAUSE from the CASE before they ever got to work on the 3 additional services (again, see my email to the President of Tax Masters whereby I dismissed them from the Case).

The Agreement I signed with TaxMasters required them to provide 4 Services (copied from Agreement word for word below); however, they did not all the Services, and since they did not do the 3 of the 4 Services and abide by their contractual obligations in the Agreement, I should not be obligated pay the fees due to breach of contract.

This agreement will also provide the minimum retainer for the services to be provided by Firm. Client agrees that Firm may alter the total reflected on the agreement below in the event of addition errors observed later. Such adjustment will be reflected pro-rata in any installments. Installment Arrangements, if any, are outlined in the attached schedule. The services to be rendered are described in the attached pages that are incorporated herein by reference.
RETAINER
Negotiated Settlement (OIC/PPIA/IA/UNC): $ 4500.00
Wage Garnishment Release or Reduction $ 1500.00
Lien Subordination $
ACS Collections Case $
Revenue Officer or Revenue Agent $2500.00(RO / RA / TC)
Income Tax Returns (Form: ) $ Years:
All returns must be filed before work can proceed. Assumes W-2 only, and no compilation of records.
Income Tax Audit or Audit Appeal $
Corporate Formation $
IRS Consultation Fee $ 750.00 (Trans - SP)
Installment Agreement or Uncollectable $
Total $ 9250.00

C. AGREEMENT FOR SERVICES VS. ACTUAL SERVICES PROVIDED:

3 of the 4 Services to be Provided by TaxMaster vs Actual Work Done - BOTTOM LINE, these Services were NEVER DONE by TaxMaster.

" Revenue Officer or Revenue Agent $2500.00(RO / RA / TC) - establish communication with Officer or Agent to establish a process and timeline to work through my case by way of discussions and negotiations with the Agent or Officer.
Actual Work Done - SERVICE NEVER got STARTED and was NEVER COMPLETED
Over a 3 month period the Firm failed to ever make contact with the Revenue Officer or Agent, except to leave voicemail messages with the Agent to call them. The Agent tried many times to reach TaxMasters and left countless messages but the Agents calls were not returned.

" Wage Garnishment Release or Reduction $ 1500.00 -negotiate a Wage Garnishment Release or Reduction if any existed.
Actual Work Done - SERVICE was NEVER Started or COMPLETED
As the Firm Failed over a 3 month period to even reach or speak to the Agent, they never got to a point that they could assist in the negotiation of a release or reduction of any Wage Garnishment.

" Negotiated Settlement (OIC/PPIA/IA/UNC): $ 4500.00 -
Actual Work Done - SERVICE was NEVER STARTED or COMPLETED
As the Firm Failed over a 3 month period to even reach or speak to the Agent, they never got to a point that they could assist in the negotiation of a Settlement.

D. SO HERE IS THE PROBLEM:

The Agreement refers to a retainer for the "services to be provided by the firm." There were FOUR SERVICES to be provided by the Firm, but the problem is that they only did one of them - the initial IRS Consultation (for a fee of $750). I point out however, that while they did do this one initial part of the job, they didn't even do it right. They got the wrong information on my tax filings and failed to get the information on the status of my dispute which as the head of their research group told me in January (nearly two months after the IRS Consultation) that they had failed to pull up key information on the status of my case and that if they had they should have expedited discussions with the IRS to get immediate resolution; since they failed to capture all the key information about my case they and did not expedite the case as they should have.

E. SUMMARY & CONCLUSION:

BOTTOM LINE, over the course of nearly 3 months, TaxMasters did NOT PROVIDE THREE of the FOUR SERVICES, despite constant pleas on my part for them to immediately expedite working on my case. I have dozens of emails I can provide urging them to get going on my case, but to no avail. I even contacted the President of Tax Masters to complain about the service and to encourage them to do the work they were hired to do - again to no avail, they just didn't do the work they were hired to do and provided no Refund. Then when you challenge the Credit Card company to get the charges reversed they say you signed the contract and it is no concern of theirs if they did the services or not, and because it is a service not a product there is now insurance protection from your credit card company for the negligent service by TaxMaster - insurance protection is only for products that are stolen or broken, not for services you paid for but the service was not provided.

Note, as the opportunity to negotiate and settle my dispute with the IRS in an orderly and systematic manner was lost over the time period from late October, 2007 to mid-January 2008, I simply agreed to pay and did pay the amount in dispute, and as such the amount in dispute with the IRS has been fully paid and resolved, but no thanks to TaxMasters, and in fact their delays made an orderly resolution no longer possible.

Tax Masters took our money, set up a hearing with the IRS and then NEVER represented us ! we'd leave TONS of messages and no call returns. passed around from case worker to case worker.

We told them because they failed us at the IRS hearing after the IRS said they had NO record of Tax Masters representing us, no power of attorney, they were going to levey our property.. Tax Masters said they'd take care of it and they did'nt. Thank God we had someone do it for us just in time before we lost our home, money and business. Unprofessional and unethical people there.

We have filed a formal complaint w/BBB of Houston and the Harris County DA, who has a open investigation for consumer fraud.