I took my tax papers to this lady with the intention of having her file my taxes, but while I was there, there was a complication. I read and signed a paper, but I read fast and didn't totally understand like I thought I did. I thought it was going to cost $165.00 and she needed a minimum of a $25.00 deposit. She took my credit card and told her secretary to run it for $250.00. Wait a minute.
Luckily for me, Chase had already reduced my credit card limits to practically what I owed on them so the charge was declined:-) I asked her why she was trying to run it for so much and she said, I charge a $250.00 retainer'. I thought a retainer was what I put in my mouth every night? Apparently, as she explained, it is when she charges me the $250.00, and refunds into my account what it doesn't cost, which is usually around $165.00.
I told her I don't have that much money and I need to know how much it is going to be first before I can pay anything. She said she had no way of knowing until she looked everything over and that she would do that at let me know. She also reiterated what the paper said, that she will not file them until payment is received. To me, this meant, until I paid her, nothing was committed.
After being in her office for all of three minutes, she was done with me and I left with an uneasy feeling about the whole thing. She got back to me a week later and told me to do my taxes it would be $215.00. I have no dependents (yet), I don't own my own business, my taxes should be very simple. I have never paid that much, and I felt like the $165 number was extremely misleading. I emailed back saying very politely that I am sorry but that is more than I can afford.
I am going to have to try to do them myself or hold of for awhile because it is simply too much for me to pay for that. She then emailed me back throwing the signed paper in my face saying that we could work something out with payments. These emails went back and forth, always polite, always me asking for my papers back and them asking for my money. The only way to solve this was to go down there myself and get them back
So today was the day I was going to get my tax papers back. I was anxious about it and I knew I needed to stay calm. I brought my friend Tracy for moral support. I recently discovered I am 5 weeks pregnant.in all the baby books I have been reading it says my heart-rate needs to stay under 140 and obviously stress is bad for the baby. So don't stress or you can hurt your baby! Ahhh!
So I got there, a little stressed about getting stressed. I explained to the lady at the front desk my situation and she said she would be right back, then the first woman who I met with the last time (the president of the company) comes out and just starts yelling at me when I ask for my papers back. She slams the paper I signed in front of me and goes on and on about how she had to do all this work to figure out how much it is going to cost and I owe her $215.00. (keep in mind, she hasn't filed them and my taxes are very simple) Those W-2's are my personal property and she wont give them to me.
She did not let me say a word, just talked over me and yelled, then she slammed the door to her office and disappeared. A lady who works in her office was still in the front area, obviously embarrassed by what just happened. I started to panic and talk very fast. I was calling the police, she can't do this, those are MY tax papers etc. Luckily this lady was very nice and she saw the whole thing.
She heard me out and said not to do anything yet, to give her a day and she'd try get me my stuff back after things are settled down. My heart was pounding. My hands were shaking. All I could think about is my poor baby all stressed out, which just snowballed my anxiety. I was finally able to calm down and decided to give the lady a day to get my stuff back before calling the police.
I am appalled by the unprofessional fit this woman threw representing her own business. I have never been treated this horribly by any business to the point where it caused me physical symptoms and I caution anyone who considers getting any services performed here.
I will follow up and amend this report based upon what happens in the next couple of days. Hopefully this will be resolved quickly and easily without anymore unnecessary stress for anyone.
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