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H&R Block - Free Filing

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Brent of Slc, UT February 14, 2009

I followed the link to HR Block Taxcut from the IRS website for free filing. Taxcut's link on the IRS website states that it is free if you are under 50 and your income is less than 56,000. I clicked the link and completed the free file federal return and when I tried to file, I was asked to pay 14.95. The online help stated that the free return if for 1040EZ only and the charge was because I had deductions. This is not stated on the IRS website or the HR Block website. Very deceptive and dishonest.

A lot of time and wasted completing a return that I will not file due to their deceptive charges.

Lisa of Vancouver, WA February 14, 2009

I did my own taxes using the free TaxCut online service. I have used H&R Block for 12 years, without problem...of course that was in office paying their fees. Having gotten te Emerald Card last year, I chose to have my refund deposited onto the MASTERCARD this year. Here is everything I'v been through since the IRS confirmed my refund funds were released Thursday, February 5th at midnight. 8/6/2009

1. Customer service rep who said it would go on card between 7pm and midnight EST 2. Customer service rep, refused to let me speak with supervisor and transferred me to an automated line 3. Customer service rep transferred me to a supervisor AGT2914 Supervisor then said she could not help but would transfer me to the department above her who could Was on hold for 41 minutes and 37 second, then was hung up on when company closed for the night at 1am EST 4. Tried calling back two times, not knowing company was closed, and was charged 2.00 each time for the automated system to hang up on me. TAX CUT ONLINE SERVICES Ref# RES4978376 Customer Service Rep AGT# 510221 No help, was referred either back to Emerald Card or HSBC Bank

8/7/2009 1. Representative told me I was computer illiterate and needed someone else to look over information. Was then told that either myself or the IRS had done something wrong and would need to fix through them. H&R Block District Office, Vancouver WA 1. Spoke with R. McNaley, who was unable to help me at the time but was also so professional a assuring that it helped calm me down. Thought that the deposit would surely go through Monday or Tuesday and was anxious to hear back from me that a resolution was found.

8/9/2009 IRS SERVICES Verified all information with IRS, including routing number and account number of direct deposit. Verified that the funds had been released from IRS to H&R Block Bank on Thursday, February 5th evening to ensure deposit the following day. Was told if no deposit was seen and H&R Block continued to be unhelpful to call back on Friday, February 13th and a funds trace would be placed. If the trace came back that the funds were received by the bank a fraud claim regarding the bank and undelivered funds could be requested. EMERALD CARD SERVICES Called back and spoke directly with a manager. He could not assist me but would transfer me to the department who could. On hold for 1 hour 17 minutes Hold music abruptly ended and I was disconnected.

TAXCUT ONLINE Was told by representative that they can only verify my e-fie status had been accepted by the IRS and that they could see when checking their refund status site that it showed my funds deposited on February 6th. DROVE TO LOCAL TAX PREPERATION OFFICE TO SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH MANAGER. Asked to speak with manager, none was available Spoke with A. Steen and explained what was going on. She took me to her desk and within 5 minutes produced a photocopied piece of paper that explained to H&R Block employees that deposits anticipated to be made to the Emerald Card on February 6th would in fact be deposited on February 10th. Because it was there for me to see in black and white, and someone had actually listened, I left satisfied. I called and left a message for R. McNaley, expressing how happy I was that one person in the H&R Block company took five minutes to give me resolution.

8/10/2009 NO DEPOSIT MADE 8/11/2009 Attempted to call H&R Block bank directly, but was transferred to technical assistance. Went into local tax preparation office and spoke with A. Keener, Office Manager, Tax Advisor 3 I showed her this log and explained my problem and she immediately referred to something called a settlement sheet? According to the sheet, she said, my refund should be deposited to my Emerald Card by midnight on February 13th. She was very nice and as helpful as she could be, as there are no representatives available for the bank only tax advisors. She gave me her card and said she would like to hear from me, either way, on Saturday. OTHER NUMBERS I WAS GIVEN: CLIENT SERVICES, TECHNICAL SUPPORT.

If its not on my card by midnight tonight (02/13/09) I will not only call the IRS and file a federal fraud claim agaist H&R Block Bank, but I will write to K. BARNEY, CEO of H&R Block Bank and R. SMYTH, CEO of H&R Block letting them know what kind of legal action they should expect against their company. I WILL NEVER USE H&R BLOCK AGAIN, NOR WILL I REFER ANYONE. THEY ARE CROOKS, THEIVES AND FORIEGN CALL CENTER LIARS.

We are late on rent/electric/water sewer/phone/school payments for my 7 year old son/car payments and have had to cancel our wedding, as it is now only 2 months away and reservations have been lost due to non-payment on Feb. 7th). (Refund amounts were 3409 and 805)

Willy of Thonotosassa, FL April 8, 2008

Did you receive a mail from H&R Block that promise you a FREE filing but at the end are asked to pay 14.95? So did I.This is how I got around: call:1-888-482-9288 and explain the situation.You will be asked a few things like how much your gross income was for 2007.If you qualified before(2006),you will qualify again and will get a KEY CODE. Go to the filing page where is asked how to pay the 14.95 and choose KEY CODE(bottom one),then click NEXT. Fill in the KEY CODE and click NEXT.Now you'll see the 14.95 is deducted and the filing is FREE. GOOD LUCK.

Malissa of Hudson, CO February 15, 2008

I was sent a FREE copy of H&R Tax Cut in the mail. I decided to try it. I went through the whole process to find out it was going to cost me around 75.00 to file my taxes. I went ahead and did it because I was in dire need of the money and had already spent many hours working on it. Now come to find out that they are holding my tax refund for 2 business days with out any justification other than the fact they want to squeeze some more money out of me by getting interest on as much money as possible. If they are holding everyone's refunds, they are making money on what is rightfully mine. I will never again use H&R Block for anything!

Our mortgage is going to be late because I was checking the website to see when my refund was coming. It said it was available today, and we needed a washer. The whole family has had the flu, and we were without a washing machine; so I bought one because the IRS website said my funds were released. I finally got an email saying H&R Block has my money but won't be giving it to me for a couple of days. The cheating liars!

Susan of Portland, ME January 29, 2008

I filed my 2005 and 2006 federal returns through H&R Block's Web site after the IRS decided to no longer provide electronic filing services. The first two years the returns were filed free, since I meet certain income and age guidelines specified by the IRS. For the 2007 return everything went as usual (visited the site, signed in, provided the W-2 information) until just before filing when the site insisted I provide a credit card number or bank account information for a fee of 14.95. Information on the pages stated that if the IRS accepted the return, e-filing was free. At this point I just wanted to get the return filed, and because I knew I met the free filing guidelines didn't think the charge would process so I gave the information. Within about 24-36 hours, I received a message that the IRS had accepted the return. However, Block did process the payment. I backtracked and explored their help topics while trying to find some contact information (which is not provided in their online filing area) and found that they claim that users must visit the site through a specific link provided in an e-mail invitation for free filers.

Well, I didn't receive any such invitation this year, and when I clicked on the link provided on the help page to the free filing topic area, the Web site returned a 404 Not Found error. I tried calling their 888 number but was told by a recorded voice, "We are sorry, but your call cannot be completed at this time," and Block hung up on me. Thereafter I found an e-mail contact form which I filled out (including day and night phone numbers) to demand a refund. According to their site I'll be contacted within 48 hours. It has now been 24 hours and I haven't heard a peep via e-mail or telephone. If I don't receive a refund of this fee, which is at least twice as much as other tax preparers listed on the IRS' providers page, I'm going straight to the state Attorney General, the Better Business Bureau, and the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility.

Block unfairly charged me 14.95 for a tax return that should have been filed free of charge with the IRS. It is clear from information I provided in the return (date of birth and income level) that I meet the IRS guidelines for free e-filing. The way Block's Web site is set up you either provide payment information or you don't file. This is unprofessional and unethical, not to mention possibly unlawful. I wonder how many people who are not as tenacious as I am just hand over the money?

Ravi of Austin, TX January 31, 2007

I have used H&R Block's online free file service for the last 3 years. This year, I entered through the IRS.gov free file alliance website as usual, logged in with my existing username, and filled out my return. At the end, before filing, I was told that I had to pay 9.95 for e-filing (this is the price of H&R Block's usual Basic tax e-file product).

After making sure that I did qualify for free filing, I contacted one of H&R Block's online live agents. The agent told me that H&R Block knows that people who have existing accounts can't free file, but that "we don't know when we will fix this problem". His solution was to create a new username and re-enter all of the tax info for this year.

Martin of Chapel Hill, NC May 22, 2006

I got to the H&R Block online software through the IRS's website. H&R (and other companies) advertised offering free filing for those earing less than 50000. That was the only condition. After I had entered all of my information into the H&R Block software (which took a long time, because I had a lot of stock trades last year) it said I had to get a paid professional to finish filing. I tried to opt out but my form was locked and I was unable to access it. Since it was the weekend before the tax deadline, I went ahead, because I was worried I wouldn't otherwise have time to complete my taxes.

The financial damage was 179 (the initial estimate was 119), even though I had entered all information. Also, the incompetent H&R agent screwed up two forms, before my taxes could be filed. I ended up spending 2 days calling H&R and getting the problems rectified. Additionally, I had a 20 coupon, which also could not be applied, even though it was valid (and H&R admitted it was valid).

Chris of New London, CT February 2, 2006

I used their "free" file service this year linked to from the IRS website. This is the third year in a row I have used their free service and I have never had a problem with it before. At the beginning of the session, they asked if I wanted my refund to go to a special debit card. I read far enough into the terms & conditions to see that fees applied and went back and said no to the “offer”.

After going through the whole process of entering my taxes I kept waiting for the screen where they ask how I wanted to receive my refund- check, direct deposit or put some in an IRA. That screen had been there every previous year. After clicking on the ‘next’ button one time too many, apparently they filed my taxes without asking how I wanted my refund. When I looked at my printout there was a bank routing number and account number already filled in which I did not recognize. After calling and spending hours on the phone- and being told to call the IRS despite this being H&R Block’s problem- supposedly by filing for free the only way I can receive my refund is on their HSBC debit card. This despite the fact I specifically said I did not want it.

I did call the IRS and there is nothing they can do to stop my return from being processed or my refund from being hijacked by HSBC. The person I talked to did say that this year he has received more calls complaining about H&R block doing this to people than people calling about tax questions. So beware and do NOT use H&R block to free file.

Brian of Knoxville, TN February 1, 2006

I've tried multiple times to access their 'Free File' link from the IRS website, and with different browsers - Mozilla, Firefox, Internet Explorer - and I keep getting the same error message, 'Session Timed Out'. Funny thing about this is, I noticed that the signin page directs you to this page automatically, without trying to load anything else - and then kicks you out to their main web page, where they offer to file your 1040EZ for 5.95. Attempts to contact H&R Block via their complaint form proved to be useless - the server handling complaints apparently has had issues for 2 weeks now.

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