AARRPP!!!, Rebate Checks

[geekgirldany]

I had a lady call me today 88 years old. She had went to AARP to have her taxes done. She has been going there the past few years. Just gets the GA low income credit of $20 refunded to her. Anyways she said she sat for 3 hours waiting to get them done. After waiting that long a person came out and said to put their names on a list. It would be three weeks before they could get to all the returns. The person at AARP said they did not know what was going on. They had never had that many come to have their taxes prepared.

I explained to the lady what I thought was going on. That I thought it was the rebate. I could file her return for her. She insisted that she only needed her GA return filed. I tried to explain some more. But instead she was arguing with me about why she really doesn't have to file but can to get the rebate. She got kind of nasty so I told her it would be $60 to do the return. She said that was too much and hung up. I really would have charged only $30 but she was yelling at me over the phone. I think she was probably upset about AARP.

So watch out for some of those old folks. They can be a little grumpy.

[BOB W]

I love the way they are ALWAYS right because the read it in the paper or a friend does it that way>>> and the list can go on and on. Nasty? Yep.....but I love them when they see the light.

[ChEAr$]

Since i work both sides of the river (Chattahoochee between Georgia and Alabama), I get amused sometimes when people refer to having had a letter from the "Georgia IRS" or even the
Alabama IRS!

[Chief]

Tax Rebate Returns

I had a lady call me today 88 years old. She had went to AARP to have her taxes done. She has been going there the past few years. Just gets the GA low income credit of $20 refunded to her. Anyways she said she sat for 3 hours waiting to get them done. After waiting that long a person came out and said to put their names on a list. It would be three weeks before they could get to all the returns. The person at AARP said they did not know what was going on. They had never had that many come to have their taxes prepared.

I explained to the lady what I thought was going on. That I thought it was the rebate. I could file her return for her. She insisted that she only needed her GA return filed. I tried to explain some more. But instead she was arguing with me about why she really doesn't have to file but can to get the rebate. She got kind of nasty so I told her it would be $60 to do the return. She said that was too much and hung up. I really would have charged only $30 but she was yelling at me over the phone. I think she was probably upset about AARP.

So watch out for some of those old folks. They can be a little grumpy.

Your first mistake was talking with this lady by phone. I insist on a personal interview first before anything is done.

[JohnH]

Wow, I'm just the opposite

If there isn't a good fit then I don't want them in my office taking up my time. This applies to any type of client. If I can eliminate them on the phone then we're done and I can move on to profitable activities.

[geekgirldany]

I can understand that Chief. Since she was older I was trying to help her out. But after she started "acting up" I quickly ended the phone call. I don't answer tax questions over the phone. But as John said I do like to get enough information about what is going before they come to the office. That way they don't waste a trip to see me and I don't waste time with them either.

[Acownt4it]

AARP story

Last year I volunteer 2 days a month (approx. 12 hrs) during the tax season to prepare taxes for AARP. Since I am a CPA and have my own firm, I decided this year that I was not going to volunteer because of 1-Time and 2-There were many things I could not advise people about because it did not fall under the VITA program rules.
Needless to say I did some pro-bono work at my office last year.
This year: I was not going to volunteer. They called in October 07 and asked if I could be the site coordinator. I asked what it entailed and I was told --- only a couple of hours per week to go to the site and pick up the returns that need to be efiled, efile them and that is it. I said yes!
Boy was I WRONG....I am literally the "manager" and have to schedule the volunteers, efile, mail 8879's, file reports, etc....you can see where this is going.
Here is why I will absolutely say NO next year.
The first return that was rejected because of an invalid/previously reported social security number on a dependent was a disaster. I called the women; started to explain the problem and proceeded to get YELLED at. I mean, I have never had anyone yell at me in this line of work before like this women did. (BTW-AARP will do anyone's tax return; there isn't any criteria as to who can go young, old, rich, poor, mentally disabled.)
I interrupted her rant and very firmly told her that this is a volunteer organization and sometimes mistakes happen, blah, blah, blah, and that if she didn't stop yelling at me I wasn't going to do anything to help her.
She did quite down for a minute or so to get her to confirm her son's ss# and low and behold, an input error. Told her I would efile this return out the following Friday. She called back an hour later and told me she wanted her W-2's back she was going to paper file. I said fine. She came and got them. I was happy to see her leave.
She called me (wait- I mean stalked) me two nights ago. I was with a client and she called my office 14 times in a row without leaving a message. She left a message on the 15th call. Again with her sweet voice (read that with a sarcastic tone) . Her IL return did not get accepted either and she wanted me to print her return so she could file it. I was almost afraid to go outside that night for fear that she would be waiting in my parking lot.
I called her in the morning I told her I did not have her return and she would have to fill it out herself and mail it in.
Man, I have been in business for myself for 6 years and never had even my angriest client scare me like this lady did.
Moral of the story, no good deed goes unpunished?!

[BOB W]

Moral of the story, no good deed goes unpunished?!

Almost every time...................................

[DonPriebe]

AARP Fun and Games

(BTW-AARP will do anyone's tax return; there isn't any criteria as to who can go young, old, rich, poor, mentally disabled.)

That's because the AARP Foundation receives a federal grant and cannot discriminate. Haven't you read the mandatory green poster?

We had 28 people lined up when we opened the site Monday morning. (I work at a walk-in site two mornings a week). All of our appointment-only sites are now fully booked for the rest of the season. Can you say "STIMULUS"?

[Acownt4it]

I do read the poster. However most people when the hear AARP think retired people.
I have found that although grumpy, the older people are much more understanding than the younger, low income people that walk through those doors.

[geekgirldany]

I did not know that they would do anyones returns. I thought it was for seniors only.

[erchess]

Nondiscrimination

I applaud not being able to discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, religion, sexual orientation, and maybe some other things that don't come to mind right now if you have a federal grant to provide services. But what's this about not being able to discriminate against returns for wealthy people? If you wanted to stretch things you could say that AARP has to do corporate, partnership and fiduciary returns and has to do returns for high wealth individuals with tax shelters, unusual investment sales, and complex or even multiple Schedules C. Does someone really mean to tell me that AARP had to agree to take on those returns in order to get a Federal Grant?

By the way, what would be involved in my getting a Federal Grant to do taxes for free and to whom would I apply?

[Matt Sova]

I wonder???

How much the Federal Grant is? If it is lucrative could I get a Fed Grant to prepare returns? Would I make more money? Hmmmmm.