I went to H & R Block because I was told that their employees had been trained in regards to the adoption tax credit. Imagine my shock when the employee helping me was photocopying the information I had printed from the NACAC website regarding the adoption tax credit.
Then imagine my shock when I had problems and had to search for a H & R Block that was open year round and during hours a reasonably working person could actually make. No one mentioned the majority of their shops closing up during the year. Found a woman, she informed me what the IRS wanted me to send and I did what she said.
One letter, two letters from the IRS, but I knew from my wonderful yahoo groups that sadly this was the norm. It was as if the IRS didn’t know how many families had adopted in the US. Didn’t realize how much they would have to pay to these families. But bygones, so imagine my yes- - shock - - when I received a letter from the IRS saying I owed them more than $6600.
I started searching for a H & R Block office that was open on a Saturday. I finally found in Gardena. I made an appointment for 9AM and spent several hours there. The tax preparer said she had to research some things and she would call. A few days later she called and told me what additional paperwork she needed. It took me a week to find what she needed and when I found it I called the office and that’s when it went downhill.
The receptionist was unsure of whom I was talking about at first, and then she thought the tax preparer that had been helping me was on an eight week vacation (it seems year-round tax preparers take eight weeks off during the off season). Upon hearing that, I was freaking out. This woman had my sensitive tax info and she was gone for eight weeks and didn’t even have the decency to tell me.
The receptionist double checked and her bad, the tax preparer wasn’t off. I took a deep breath and asked what was the best way to send the tax preparer the information she asked for. The woman said I should make an appointment. I tried to explain that I didn’t need to come in the preparer needed the information to finish the work then I would come in. The receptionist had no idea how I could get the information to the preparer without coming in. I couldn’t leave her a voicemail or send her an email or fax her. Is H & R Block in the same century as the rest of the world? How could a nationwide company not have a way for me to contact my tax preparer? Fine, I said, and took the appointment.
So on Saturday at 8:45AM, I took off to drive to the other side of town and not even my town, but several towns over, just so I could give the tax preparer some paperwork. The tax preparer upon hearing my name was wondering why I was in the office. I explained what happened and she nodded her head in agreement. She said the day shift of H & R Block doesn’t know the night shift, which she was part of because she had a day job. And that during the off seasons, year-round employees were moved around to different offices. She confirmed there was no real way to leave her a voicemail message; and while she did have a H & R Block email account, she could only access it when she was at H & R Block which currently was twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. And to top it off, H & R Block wouldn’t allow her to give out a personal email address because the company fears she might steal a client away. ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?!?!
I am so over this place. I will never use H & R Block ever again. I sat down with the nice tax preparer and she explained that she didn’t need the information she asked for because she found the tax return she needed. She further explained that because I had my original taxes done at another H & R Block, which was in a different district, she wasn’t able to access it. Are you kidding me?!?! So her boss had to call that district and have the records put in the vault, then she could access them.
Suffice to say, I got there a little after 9AM, around 10:30 I was barely keeping my eyes open, so I went out to get some hot chocolate from Starbucks but couldn’t find it so instead I ended up with a two piece meal from Church’s. Did you know they have new biscuits? They are quite tasty too. If only they had had jelly. So I ate my breakfast and my gigantic soda and when she kept working and seemingly wanted me there, I decided to put my time to good use as she explained that the first tax preparer did my taxes wrong and the reason the IRS wanted me to pay them was also for the wrong year. Happy, happy, joy, joy!
I went out to the car and got Jory’s math book and notebooks. I read his first lesson, still was surprised they were teaching place value to a first grader, but bygones. I organized the math notebooks, separated them by lesson sections. She was still working away, so I thought might as well keep working. I traded math for Sonlight curriculum and reorganized that notebook. I read the beginning pages of the phonics/spelling book and then finally she was finished. Then came the fun part where I discovered I owed H & R Block more money on top of the money I had paid the first time around. But God is good! I gotta keep that mantra going. I had all my amended taxes in my hands and at 3:30PM I was walking out of the door. Did I mention H & R closed at 2? So I spent all day there.
The nice woman said, you better come back for me to do your taxes next year after all this work. This woman was super nice and helpful, but really hell would have to freeze over before I came back to H & R Block.
After I ran a few errands…wait, explain to me how a week after Labor Day Burlington Coat Factory has the audacity to sell boy shorts size 6 for $20…finally found Jory some shorts and Layla a bathing suit for $2.83, I arrived home at 5PM. 5PM, what a crazy day. Please God, let the IRS accept these new changes and sends me all of my money and that I won’t be audited like the tax preparer thinks.
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