Complain about a product or service

Jackson Hewitt

Stephanie of North Little Rock, AR January 30, 2010

I shopped at Walmart this day and Vivian stop me and said had I filed my taxes yet. I replied no and she said she was highly qualified to get me the highest tax return by the next day. I returned 2 hours later she said all I needed was all dependants ss# and my ID. She said that after shes done with my taxes I will have my check by the next day no later than 10 or 11 a.m. no questions asked. I ask her if I could have direct deposit into my checking account for my federal she replied no only my state and that will only take 3-5 business days.

I told her Ive never had any problems with my taxes and I always got my refund by direct deposit or the next day. She said we will not have any issues. She first quoted me a low return and she realized she forgot to add my dependants. after placing all the correct information into her system, she said she lost my whole file. She had to call a supervisor from another store to help locate my file. after he located my file a the problem she still was unable to print my file. she asked me if I wanted the Gold garuantee package and at that time I declined.

After waiting an additional hour to clear her mistakes, I ask her is ther anything else I needed or anything else she needed from me, She replied no and she apollogized for the errors and she'll see me tomorrow and then she'll give me all printed copies and my refund. I reminded her of my 25.00 coupon she said she has applied it already.

The next day I called Vivian, she said I was declined. I said what? she said because of the recession most everyone no matter who does thier tax returns is being decline.I replied you never disclosed to me that there was a chance I couldnt get my return or I wouldnt have taked a chance with you. She said I think the bank we go through does a credit check. I ask why did'nt you disclosed this information. She said I should have my return by the following friday.

Oh I was so upset. I tpld her that I have so many things due from my car note, a place to live ( I applied for an apartment that is waiting for there deposit and first month rent), bills, my duaghter has a busted ear drum that she need more medication,etc. I drove to Walmart to get all my paper work (Tax perperations) and ask if I can take my taxes to someone else and she said no or I will be auditied.

I ask for her to adjusted my taxes for the bank fees for the loan and too add the Gold package because there has been too many things had gone wrong she replied ok? She said I didnt have to go over my paper work and I didnt have too sign because the day before I signed there electronic key pad.

The final straw, I receive a letter from IRS stating that there is an error in my return of 233.00. She finally printed my documents that are faied and not readable said hr printer ink not working right. I Live in a motel with a friend cause I could'nt pay my share of the rent. I couldnt move in to the apartment I qualified for because of this now hardship. I had my auto loan compnay to a post date payment for 01/28/10 for my 2 months past due payment. I had to go to a local shelter for food for myself and my family. It has been a domino affect. One thing after another

Elena of las vegas, NV January 30, 2010

I filed my taxes with Jackson last Saturday. I have a simple tax filing just my W2 information and I claims two children/child tax credit. I am in Las Vegas Nevada and I have used Jackson for 4 yrs with no issues and always got my loan the NEXT DAY. I was told that Jackson is NO LONGER USING THE IPOWER CARD THIS YEAR (as I see a couple people who posted were not told this obviously)And they were not doing the 1 hour loans.

I was told that they are still doing the RAL which is the next day loans. I was charged 417 for the preparation fees which did not include bank fees. Sunday comes and goes and after a call and a walk in my check is not there. I ask what is going on? I am told by the tax preparer that it shows APPROVED in the system but he does not know if that means APPROVED by the bank for the loan? Or approved by the IRS?? OK, so I call Monday, no check.

By now, I am angry, telling him that I could have gone anywhere or done this myself for maybe like 30 if I was going to wait this long. I complained that I wanted some of my refunded because the service was not DELIVERED TO ME. He says to me, Jackson charges 417 whether you get a paper check in two weeks or you do a RAL. I argued this is NOT true. If that were true EVERYONE would get the next day service. He continued to say yes this is true. I called the corporate office to make a complaint twice and got disconnected twice!

Then I called another office to verify the fees. I was told NO the preparer is incorrect. We should not be charged if we do not receive the RAL. So, she said my fees were not down to 386 and that I would get a separate check for the difference to correct the problem.

In the morning I had called the bank that Jackson uses which is a bank in Kentucky called River City Bank. This is a new bank they started using this year. They told me that my return came over ELECTRONIC AND AS A PAPER CHECK TO BE DELIVERED IN TWO WEEKS!! I called the IRS and they also confirmed. When I called the preparer later in the afternoon after he spoke with the bank he flat LIED to me and told me that my RAL was DECLINED when in fact it NEVER came over as an RAL but a paper check.

Supposedly because of all my phone calls and complaints all over the place I will be refunded some of the prep fees (about 140). Which I am still trying to either get that money or get something in writing. After all this I will NEVER USE JACKSON AGAIN. Next year I will file my own taxes on the IRS website and just do direct deposit.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO COMPLAIN TO EVERY SOURCE YOU HAVE AND MAKE SURE YOU GET A REFUND FOR SOME OF YOUR FEES FOR NOT RECEIVING YOUR RAL. I too, was anticipating the loan the next day because of the economic situation and the desperate need. This has had a high impact on my situation and not to mention the stress of ALL the phone calls I have had to make.

janet of romney, WV January 30, 2010

I put my taxes on my ipower card last year with no problem. This year I did the same and was told the next day that it would be 8 to 15 days before the money would be on my card. When I got my taxes out from last year, I realized I was getting charged the sam e amount from last year to get them overnight but now I have to wait almost two weeks. People are getting ripped off.

CARINA of TAMPA, FL January 30, 2010

my husband and i used them last year no problem we waltz in there with all our papers in order and the guy acts like we are trying to fraud them because we take care of a special needs family member and we have her information fron social security he sees this and says are we actually taking care of her even though we brought her with us as she is mentally disabled and has to be with us at all times after this indignity he does our taxes tells us we are gettin our ral of course we were denied then we go back the next day and confront them they claim that they have a stack of checks as if we are the only ones in tampa not approved we are scheduled to get our loan on feb 5 or 9th i could have file myself for free they charged us 400 out of a 2400 repayment !!!!!

we needed that money to catch up bills we were lied to and they knew full well republic bank is not approving loans after further investigation we learn LAST YEAR they knew this year there would be NO RAL's they say we will not be getting a refund for them charging us for a ral and now we have to wait on the irs i could have saved money and time by not using them WHY ADVERTISE A PRODUCT THAT DOES NOT EXIST.

Latoya of Madison, TN January 30, 2010

I went into this branch in Madison, TN my husband as well to file our tax return. We were greeted by an employee who seemed straight forward. We went through all the steps of filing the information neeeded. Once she told us what we would be getting I asked if we could do a "same day" loan. She stated that Jackson Hewitt no longers goves same day loans. I said okay what is the next step. She pointed on the chart to three different routes. I went with the RAL like I always have for six years. Now, need I say I was referred to Jackson Hewitt by a respectable friend.

I was told I will recieve the funds the next day. I called the 800 number I was given, but long before that i looked at the papers the lady stapled for our records. The face sheet states..." Thank you for choosing Jackson Hewitt Tax service. Your 2009 income tax return has been completed and filed electronically with the IRS in Philidelphia Processing Center, and "If approved you can expect your RAL in a little as one day."

Now this is after the taxes are filed. Such liars. I will be at this branch protesting and stopping people from filing their taxes with this company. Something needs to be done about this. Like many others I was told I have to wait 8-15 days with a 428 dollar tag on the end of it. I hope this matter gets resolved.

Jane of Cleveland, NC January 29, 2010

Purpose of going to a "professional" was due to buying home/renting old, Schedule C's, buying cars,etc., to make sure we were getting right refund, doing the taxes correctly. If it wasn't for the rental income, I would have done it online. We were quoted by the person answering the phone number online (which turned out NOT to be the local office like I asked) that it would be about 80. This was even after I told her of several forms we would be attaching. The gentleman was nice at first.

When it came to the rentals that he did fairly quickly, he correctly asked the other owner about this, but apparently did not get an answer right away as it wasn't until 1/2 hour later that she came in, unashamedly looking me dead in the eye and asking me if the IRS would believe that I had 3 legitimate Schedule C's--witch! They are legit and she tried to make me look like dog poo in front of several other customers and employees in the office! The proceeded to tell me we could not use the rentals a rentals (explained well, but still with a note of "you are so stupid" whereas this is the part where my Master's Degree mind knows I should let her self-pride smack her in the face with someone else, but I am PO'd).

This is where some comment was made about cost and I said "Wait a minute, what is this costing, because if it is over a certain amount, I want to stop now." I was told not to worry, it won't be that much by THE MANAGER. Well, wrong! The 89 charge turned out to be 410!!!! When my husband came in, we did take our things and leave, not paying them.

Christiana of O'Fallon, MO January 29, 2010

I have been using Jackson Hewitt for the last 7 years I have always got my refund the next day but of course this year I did not ... I called the bank that denied me they states that I would have to wait until the IRS depoist my return which they did do last night .. but of course I have not heard from Jackson Hewitt about my check that I am suppose to have but the irs has funded the account ... I will NEVER use Jackson Hewitt next year ...

nadine of mpls, MN January 29, 2010

Yes i have been go to them for five years i always thought that jackson hewitt was a good tax company this year they did get over on a lot of people just to put money in their pockets(they charge me 400.00 at first until i started complaining then she took off a whole 50.00 bucks I was told that it was a discount be still I was charge 350.00. People do any thing to make fast money WE do need to put a stop to this ..next year they would not get my MONEY....

Christopher of High Point, NC January 29, 2010

This concerns my experiences as a Jackson Hewitt customer on Tuesday, January 26th 2009. It was NOT a good experience.

First, some explanation is in order. Like so many people right now, the phrase “a rock & a hard place--barely begins to describe the dire straits my family & I find ourselves in. An eviction notice was served on us resulting in being locked out of our home. I won't bore you with the rest of the details. Since Jackson-Hewitt's heavily advertised next-day refund seemed to be our best way out of this predicament (a solution that I was highly reluctant to use for obvious reasons that we all know), we first went to the nearest location to our (used-to-be) home here in High Point NC.

The young gentleman there (apparently a recent immigrant from somewhere, with an accent so heavy it was hard to understand) could hardly function without calling a supervisor first, wasting time over a question he should have already known the answer. Having no time to waste (locked out of our house, desperate...remember?) we went to the next nearest Jackson-Hewitt location.

The office supervisor did a warm & competent job in preparing our taxes. We explained our emergency situation to her, & how important a next-day refund was to us due to our situation, as well as admitting that otherwise, I would've done the taxes myself. This is an important fact to bear in mind, & is at the core of my complaint with Jackson-Hewitt's services. She was kind, patient, & knowledgeable in helping us navigate through what we needed to do. This makes what happened at the end of our transaction with Jackson-Hewitt's services even more suspect.

Remember, we had explained up front when we first sat down at the supervisor's desk how important & crucial a next-day refund was to my entire now-homeless family. Moreover, this was explained to a woman with 30 years experience in tax preparation (by her own words) and undoubtedly several years experience within the Jackson-Hewitt organization to have risen to the position of Office Supervisor. After the two hours of work to slog through our brief foray into retail business, then we find out that self-employment income dis-qualifies us for the one reason we were there in the first place. We were left feeling obligated since she had spent all this time with us.

Meanwhile, she did or said nothing that would indicate our right to walk away since our chief goal (which we disclosed as soon as we sat down at her desk) was not met. This was inexcusable, & strikes me as a deceptive sales practice since our preparer knew what our situation was & through her vast tax-preparing experience with Jackson-Hewitt, no doubt knew the next-day refund policy concerning self-employment income, but did not disclose it up front.

This deception cost us 385.95 for a refund that we would've not gotten any sooner than if I had e-filed (via Turbo-Tax). That included charging us 49.95 to issue the check. In addition, I am forced to conclude that this is apparently company policy not to disclose such important information first, since she was otherwise so extremely pleasant & helpful. In addition, blaming it on the bank that Jackson-Hewitt runs these transactions through is not a valid excuse either, which was explained via previous paragraphs concerning the preparer's experience.

Due to these factors, I can only conclude that we were victims of deceptive sales policies set at Jackson-Hewitt's corporate level, that have much more in common with a shady used-car dealership than a nationwide tax-preparation firm. So, much like our experiences with Jackson-Hewitt, here's what my policy will be concerning this matter:

First & foremost, they have seen the first and last dime Jackson-Hewitt will ever get from me or any member of my family. We were willing to put up with the exorbitant fees & interest of a next-day "refund" at rates that would make a loan shark salivate, as the price we had to pay to have a roof over our heads. We are not willing to do so under these fraudulent circumstances.

Next, I will avail myself of every local media outlet with a consumer affairs division & send them a copy of this letter. I don't think I have to tell anyone that the fact that Jackson-Hewitt advertises with these same media outlets will not shield them. Car dealerships tried that concerning disparaging articles about their sales practices that have appeared in newspapers & TV stations across the country only to have that kind of finagling & advertiser "boycotting" struck down in several court cases concerning the rights of a free press.

Next, we have the internet. I will be visiting as many consumer-protection sites as I possibly can to spread the word about how this all went down. Geometric progression will take care of the rest. I have written the company so they know that I'm dead serious about taking these steps, & they will not simply evaporate due to the struggles we're having.

The anxiety of not knowing for sure if our refund will arrive in time to get us back in our home while charging us nearly 400 dollars that we could desperately use in a time of need by witholding knowledge they already had concerning qualifying for a next-day refund.

Althea of Philadelphia, PA January 29, 2010

I did my taxes on Jan. 22nd which was on a Fri., and I got a ipower card, which I thought and was told, check it tomorrow. Will I did and of course the money was not on the card. I didn't check on it or even go back on Sat., I waited until Sunday afternoon. I went to the office and asked if my name was on the list. The two ladies there said I don't know, and they checked and said that it was. When I had looked at the list, it was only one person on the list that was approved. The answer I got was, I don't know, maybe check on Wed. that's when they drop checks. Of course it was not there.

My thing is that I been with them for 10 years and have never not been approved. My credit is no different then before. It's not great, but usually this time of the year is when I try to gets some things in order. They know people are going though difficult times, and alot of people who are laid off, and are just barely making it. I have aways trusted them even if I think that the charge is high, but you sometime have to do what you have to do, to get by.

I really believe if they had of had a sign saying we are not given out fast refunds, people would of filed some place else, or at least given the people the oppostion to go some where else, but instead I guess a big Company like that needed the money more then us. They should be a shame. I did Turbo tax for my son last year, and it was very easy, so I guess I'll try that for myself next year, and just wait. They are not getting my business again.

I needed it for my bills, like everyone else, and I have a son who is in College who needs money, for his books, and other things. Also I have two more children here, and another one who going to attend College this year, and who should be sending out his application now, which also i would of used the money for. You know at Christmas your steal from Peter to pay Paul, but this year I won't be able to pay Peter as I have in the past he will have to wait a little more time. I just hope my stuff don't start getting cut off.

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