Jackson Hewitt's Scorn and $1K Mistake Inspire a Crusade, Blog

Since this is the incident that started it all (my vendetta and this blog site), and since tax season has officially begun (note all the recently re-opened store-front tax prep shops), I thought it would be appropriate to rekindle my rage (albeit years after the fact) and renew a warning by re-posting this entry from June 23, 2006.

The Beef
The following in bold is excerpted from one of the faxes I sent Mr. Bhanbri (I think that's how it's spelled), owner of the Jackson Hewitt tax preparation franchise location in Beltsville, MD, at 11611 Beltsville Dr. (and the one in Hyattsville, MD, so beware of that one, as well). It sums up my on-going tragic dispute with this bumbling, disreputable establishment:

Since Jackson Hewitt has chosen not to respond to my repeated and numerous requests for restitution to the I.R.S., or to correct the problems it caused by making errors on my 2003 Federal Tax Return, I have no choice but to take drastic measures. If I have to pay the additional $900.00+ dollars due to your error, then I will do everything in my power to cause JH to lose several times over that amount in revenue. This final message is to notify you that I will be writing to the BBB, Washington Post and Times, WJLA TV “7 On Your Side,” and passing out flyers in my "free time" in the area around the JH Hewitt location (Beltsville, MD) that made the TWO costly errors. You have caused a major delay in my ability to get our 2004 taxes prepared by your failure to make things right with our 2003 return.

And even though Mr. Bhanbri assured me over the phone that he would "take care of" the error that his employee Veronica made, and even though I repeatedly notified JH's corporate offices of the problem, approximately three years later there has been no restitution. And I didn't even mention the small error that the same locale, same lady, made on our 2002 return! We received a refund that year, and at least the net result of the IRS catching that error was simply a reduction (I forget by how many hundreds) in the amount we got back.

Yes, I realize, of course, that the obvious question is, "Why would you go back to that place for 2003 tax prep after they made the mistake with your 2002 return?" But ain't that beside the point here? Plus, everybody makes a mistake here and there, but now JH falls into the chronic offender file, as far as I'm concerned.

When JH made the whopper of an error that caused us to have to fork over $900+ extra dollars to Uncle (Scrooge) Sam, Mr. Bhanbri had the temerity to point out at first that I had not shelled out the extra cash to purchase JH's guarantee (I think they called it "gold" or something)--even after Veronica admitted making the blunder in the return prep!!! I told him I didn't want to hear that nonsense, and pointed out that I shouldn't have to pay extra in order for them to make good on the gaffe they made and admitted to.

Now that we've moved on and have a CPA prepare our taxes we really see our folly. Our CPA pointed out that Jackson Hewitt and places like it are often staffed by very inexperienced tax preparers, with only hours of training on how to use the software, but very little experience with tax law or real return preparation.

Well, true to my word I contacted all those media outlets I mentioned, but none of them did anything. BUT, during the height of tax season this year I must have turned away at least 10 customers virtually at JH's threshold! I made up flyers that told my story in short order ("JH charged me $600.00 for tax prep, made costly errors on my returns two years in a row, and have refused to make it right!") and passed them out in the parking lot at JH to whomever appeared to be headed in that direction carrying a folder full of financial documents. One dude even exclaimed, "Man, you're an angel!!"

Epilogue
So, let's see: If JH charged me $600.00, and, guessing conservatively, would have charged those 10 potential customers that I turned away $400.00, it's clear that JH would have gotten off a lot easier (to the tune of about $3,000 in net lost revenue) by paying me to go away, no? And I ain't done yet, either! I'll be back out there every tax season, me and my flyers, until I get tired of going (or until Bhanbri or JH corporate come up with some creative way to make amends...and not by offering me [poor] free tax preparation for life.)

So, who's preparing your taxes?!