Paychex Reviews

Paychex created W2's for us with non-compliant (illegal) numbers for two years. Customer support seemed good until my CPA discovered their error... When asked to fix, the nightmare began:

TERRIBLE!!! The Matt Pruitt Agency has sent patches numerous requests to resolve an IRS issue they created back in 2021. All we get is "We are working on it." They NEVER RESOLVED and have not even begun to work on this. This puts me in a terrible position. I would urge anyone NOT to do business with PAYCHEX UNLESS you want the IRS breathing down your neck.

It's April 5 and Paychex has still not provided 1099s for me and two others in our office. Repeated calls from the office manager has resulted in only excuses. One of the individuals affected was told a fee of $170 would be charged for delivery of their 1099 that was already 1 month late. Terrible service and a violator of IRS regs.

I just wanted my W-2. Gave the chat guy last 4 of my SSN. Said he couldn't find my account and ended the chat. So I called them,. After 3 or 4 bait 'n' switch maneuvers in the phone tree, the automated voice told me to contact my employer, who earlier, had told me to contact Paychex. Spoke to a live person at Paychex, got transferred twice only to have the last person transfer me to...the IRS. This company is useless garbage.

We switched over to Paychex about 2.5 years ago and it has been a complete nightmare since inception. Our dedicated rep, while nice, has no idea what she is doing. Payroll departments, don't talk to Time and attendance, 401k departments and... They all seem to work in silos and trying to unwind messes they create can take up to a year and a half to resolve. PLEASE do not participate in their 401k program, that is worst of all! for a year and a half they were taking company associate fee's our of asset/employee accounts. Every time I reported the issue, they claimed it was fixed only for it to happen again. Our company was only 75 employees and now we are down to 40 and they still can't get it right. We are in the process of moving our 401k out and will be doing payroll next. Please save yourself the hassle.

Updated on 03/30/2026: After a week of more emails, more phone calls, and more waste of time and I still have received no help. I have repeatedly asked for someone knowledgeable to call me, but all I get is the same canned responses.

Updated on 03/27/2026: Paychex responded to my review on March 14th, 2026 asking me to email them. I did that on March 14th (same day) and have yet to even receive an acknowledgment or confirmation of receipt. Their published response is just PR so people disregard your complaints. They have done nothing. Avoid at all cost

If I could give 0 stars I would. I asked if I decided to not have employees would I still be billed for payroll? I was told no. Weeks went by and then I was backbilled for payroll I did not run. I just let it go. I called and made sure to cancel my payroll account. 2 weeks later I'm billed AGAIN.

I wish I read these reviews and done more research before signing up with Paychex. The worst experience of my life in business dealing with them. What is the point of having someone assigned as a "specialist" to your account that you could never ever get ahold of. They charge fees after fees for things that don't even make sense. I would never recommend them to anyone to use ever.

In sum, a nightmare from the start, Paychex comes in last with the worst reviews of all providers, according to A.I. and this makes perfect sense. RUN the other direction unless you like being put through H.E. double toothpicks. Five payrolls in (semi-monthly, so 2-1/2 month’s worth of Paychex), every single payroll had many, many, way too many errors, they don't even know how to calculate time a half. It takes a back and forth of 4 or 5 times before all of the errors are fixed. All afternoon in other words, and if the clock turns to time to get off work, they stop working to fix their errors and stop responding to the email conversation leaving payroll unfinished ⏰️ forcing you to call their after-hours emergency number, and the next payroll will have the same errors and more!!

Poor service and we cancelled our service. Four months later we are trying to can not get refunds where they hit my bank account months after cancellation. Also, we can not access our employee HR documents.

Avoid this company at all costs. They will charge you endless fees for a multitude of “reasons”. Absolutely horrible experience. Hard to get a real representative. Always trying to upsell you. Fees are endless.

Do NOT use this company unless... you want to spend hours trying to get service and right their wrongs, get them to fix their mistakes, or even just do basic things they are supposed to. Nobody knows anything, they misfile taxes so you get penalties, don't do year end as contracted, don't answer emails, every time you call you get a different person who knows absolutely nothing so you have to be on phone for hours at a time trying to get anything done. I would NEVER suggest them as a payroll company and have no idea how they stay in business.

This company has messed up my taxes and my benefits and basically everything else. Would warn all potential users to stay as far away from this company as possible. Had to check a star to write this review!!! SHOULD BE 0.

Been with Paychex for 14 yrs. Was a great company in beginning with same dedicated specialist for 10 yrs. Smooth as silk handling payroll each month. Until they changed. Now a new specialist every several months/specialist have bad attitudes/never answer your calls/never return calls/ make major mistakes/computer programing not consistent with my files. Horrible company.

The customer service at Paychex is practically non-existent. I need three W2's corrected for 2025 and I was told it will take eight weeks to fix. This is totally unacceptable. My client representative is almost never available and then I end up with some random person who has no idea of what's going on. I will never recommend Paychex to anyone. Stay away. Worst payroll service ever.

Not precise on gps locations. Will put you close but not correct always. Log in problems if in an area of lots of buildings and structures. Will sometimes clock you in when you’re only reviewing the app. Hard to rely on.

My experience with Paychex has been extremely frustrating and unprofessional. They promised to abate a $200 charge, then later dismissed it. Their customer service has been unresponsive, dismissive, and unhelpful, leaving a small, mother-daughter-owned business like mine stranded. They mishandled payroll, failed to assist with unemployment wage reporting, and overcharged for a basic tax ID service. As a new business owner, I expected guidance and reliable support, but instead, I faced delays, poor communication, and unfulfilled promises. I am filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and I will be submitting all documentation to support my claims. This experience has been unacceptable, and I want others to be aware before trusting Paychex with their payroll.

I would not recommend using this company. Please read in full, as I’ve had more than one issue. I was using Paychex in 2025, and after 6 months I learned that I was being charged a $75 late fee monthly. I chose once monthly payroll services to keep costs down, and my pay date was selected solely based on my start up date. I was never informed that there would be a late fee for choosing the end of the month. I was also charged a late fee for missing a payroll that was their fault, not mine. I was refunded for this, but it was only because I recognized it and reached out. The refund didn’t come without aggravation, and wasting my personal and valuable time on issues that shouldn’t exist. When emailing to question the charges, my representative never answered me. Not once! I had to personally ask for escalation and get management involved to resolve the issue.

I wish I'd looked at the reviews. They have 508 Reviews and 426 are 1 Star Reviews. We've been with Paychex since August. We ran 5 Payrolls with 1 or 2 employees and was charged over $1,000.00. We disputed the cost, got some refunded but they keep drafting our Account. Today, they took $240 that was allocated to a storage bill and that payment may get returned. If so, we're heading to their state to sue them in small claims court for the max. I advise you to do the same.

These people are terrible! Run, don’t use them. They took the 135.00 weekly for their troubles. Never did any 1/4 filings w2 or anything that they was contracted to do. When confronted after the 5th phone call of 1is hour hold times. They could not figure out what happened. I’ve emailed the rep to my contact. At least 7 times throughout with no response and left voicemail messages. I’m beyond angry and frustrated this this company. Please please choose a different company who will help and communicate with you.

Terrible experience that is still not resolved. Paychex is the company contracted with my deceased dad's employer and after his death I have been trying to get his retirement account disbursed into a new account in my mom's name but Paychex has been incredibly slow and unresponsive. It's already a very difficult time with the loss of my father and having to move my mom into memory care. The cost of memory care is so high and the bulk of her assets is in this retirement account that I cannot get my hands on.

I was told when signing up that I would have a dedicated contact person. That has not been my experience at all. When I try to reach her, I only receive an automated message saying she is on the line with another client, and there is no option to leave a voicemail or request a callback. Instead, I’m routed to other representatives who try to help, but they often only have partial information and can’t fully address my questions. This leads to repeated calls, inconsistent answers, and a lot of wasted time. Reliable communication and access to knowledgeable support are critical for payroll services, and this has been a major disappointment.

Paychex customer support is the best I have had of any of the several payroll companies I have used of the last 30 years. They are responsive to any issues and resolve them quickly and fairly. Their prices are very good as well. I would highly recommend them.

Awful company. They cheat people anyway they possibly can. They don’t pay overtime on time. They don’t pay overtime fair and they don’t pay overtime when overtime is due. Worst company dealing with a payroll company I have ever worked for.

Worst mistake I've ever made as a owner. I can't believe a company as rotten as this can exist. They not only have the #1 worst customer service, they never return a call never solve any issues. Please see all the terrible reviews and stay as far away from this company as possible.

This company is undoubtedly the worst payroll service in the industry. We chose them because they were the cheapest option, but we deeply regret that decision. We should have opted for a reputable company and paid a bit more for better service. We signed up for Paychex after a sales presentation on December 30, 2025. Over the next few weeks, we worked with them to set up our account, but they completely messed up our company’s information. We were never able to reach our dedicated support specialist, and we kept getting told that we needed help from her, who never answered her phone.

I need to close my retirement account because my employer is switching vendors. Paychex is going to charge me $100 just to close the account. I have $104 in my account so I will receive $3.89. What a racket! They should be ashamed of themselves! I would give negative stars if I could!

I got this payroll company back in 10/2025. I notice in the first week that this company wasn't right for me 'cause I keep getting call about from marketing people about services I didn't need, I finally got tired of the call and I cancel the service, I was suppose to get service free for 3 month and I charge to my account for 240, and then I started get emails in december stating I owe a balance. I didn't have any employee yet. I was just starting out in my small business but I am being charge at first 240 then 80 dollars monthly.

All I can say do not use this company, they are not professional they have no one to respond to your concern. We can not even get a touch with anyone all they do selling you things it doesn't make and senses!