What's On Your Mind? Staples, Marriott, H&R Block

Gerald, of Stafford, Va., thought the business software he purchased for $39.95 at Staples should have been more substantial than it was.

“On July 3, I purchased a CD Called Adams Contractor Forms,” Gerald told ConsumerAffairs.com. “When I loaded it on my computer I found out it was only able to write on the forms. No way could you save your work. This is of no value to me this way. I would have never bought it if I had known. It's the same as having a pad of forms.”

Wi-fi rant

James, of Ft. Myers, Fla., is fed up with hotels that don't provide free wi-fi. When he stayed at the Marriott Halifax Habourfront, he said he was charged $15.95 for wi-fi in his room, but that the system did not work with Apple products.

“I was recently in Kenya at a tented safari camp in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro, many miles from Nairobi or anything else, where the locals live in dung huts. The wi-fi was free, high speed, always available and trouble free,” James said. “I am simply stunned that this otherwise lovely hotel can exist as a business or even tourist destination. It is rare, outside of government, to see such utterly backward leaning and incompetent management anywhere on the planet today. In this Internet age the lack of high speed wi-fi connection,normally free, is a deal breaker. I know of no one who would consider booking such a hotel. Call me "new fashioned" but there it is.”

Ironically, it seems to be the nicer, higher-end – and therefore more expensive – hotels that charge for wi-fi. Normally, if you book a room online the hotel's website will have information about its Internet facilities. It's always a good idea to check it out in advance.

Costly error

There's little worse than getting a letter from the IRS about a mistake on your taxes, long after the form was filed and the refund spent. Ronald, of Barnwell, S.C., said H&R Block made a mistake by failing to list the estimated taxes he had paid on an annuity he received. The mistake resulted in a bill for $3,700.

Ronald is upset because H&R Block won't refund the cost of his tax return.

“A lot of people are tax dumb, that is why we go to tax professionals to do our taxes,” Ronald told ConsumerAffairs.com “And they do them wrong and we have to pay; hard working middle class American veterans like me!”

Ronald seems to be missing something here. If he in fact did make the estimated payments and he can show that he did, he can file an amended return and not have to pay the $3,700 the IRS says he owes. He can pay H&R Block to do it, or he can go to some other tax professional. While, yes, H&R Block should make good on their mistake, the fee he paid them to do his taxes is not the most pressing issue at the moment.