Need a suggestion....

[Connie]

I had a very upsetting day today. I had a client really tell me off. She brought part of her tax paperwork in the first part of February. She brought the remainder a couple of weeks later. By then I was really overwhelmed and it took a couple of weeks for me to finish her returns. Part of that time I was trying to figure out the prior depreciation on a rental since this was the first year I did the taxes for them. I copied the returns for them to send in....one problem was that the letter I attached said I had efiled the Federal return. I had put the information on the return for the Direct Deposit and that was apparently what triggered the letter to say I had efiled when I hadn't. I never noticed the letter being incorrect and had told them to mail in the return and had included an envelope too. Well, they got another W-2, which she brought to me about two weeks ago, just before taxes were due. She showed up yesterday unannounced and before I was dressed or even had my hair combed and wanted to pick up the Amended returns. I had them printed, but not copied and asked her to return after I had a chance to copy them for her. I also asked if she wanted me to efile the Federal return that was never sent in and she said yes. She came back today to pick things up and was upset that I hadn't received the acknowledgement that the return was accepted.


She really lost it when I presented her with a bill for the Amended Federal and State returns....for $40. She said she shouldn't have to pay me for that since she still didn't have her $200 Federal refund at this point. I tried to explain the situation and told her I was only charging for the Amended return and that I hadn't realized the letter was wrong. She said she wasn't paying it so I took the billing statement back and tossed it in the trash. She got upset with me and insisted that I was mad.....actually I was more shocked than mad. She then told me the guy that did the taxes the year before did them in one day and my service was too slow for her. I told her she should probably go back to the other guy then....

My problem is.....she was referred by two of my good clients. Her sister and her niece. I am sure my name is mud by now with both of them. Would you offer an explaination to them or just loose them as clients perhaps too? I intend to send the Form 9325 when the return is accepted to the gal that was here today and will enclose a letter with it offering an apology and explaination. I will also with them luck with finding someone that will give them good service and on THEIR schedule. My husband was in the office at the time and told me he wouldn't want her to ever walk in the door again.

I would really appreciate your ideas on how to handle this mess at this point. I feel like I really let the situation get way out of control and didn't know how to get her to understand or at least give me some consideration for the circumstances this past tax season. My mother was in intensive care in bad shape in February. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in February, died in March. We took over part of the care of her daughter with MS. My husband had emergency surgery in March and then my favorite uncle died in March. I feel like the world is one big stressful place at this point in time ;~(

Thanks and sorry for the long message!

[DTS]

Connie

Please don't give this woman a second thought. I know it's upsetting, but she's the one with the problem, not you.

Occassionally, we all have to deal with this type of client and my hat's off to you. You handled it with much more calm and grace than I would have.

Lastly, I would not mention this incident to the other family members. First, you can't. Second, you can take the high road and ignore this. If this woman decides she wants to look better by mouthing off about you, which she won't, nothing you can do to stop this. Remember, you may not know how her family feels towards her. Maybe, she has run this same routine by (or over) them a time or two and they don't much like it either!

Take a deep breath, do not let this get you down. There are much worse things to worry about other than the rantings of this woman. You will deal with many nice people that more than make up for this one incident.

Dennis

[JohnH]

Connie:
The post by Dennis covered it all, and nothing needs to be added to his advice. Listen to him and your husband.

You should be glad this client blew up in the first year, so now you won't have to invest any more time or mental energy into her going forward. Based entirely on what you posted, I'd expect this client to be a royal PITA throughout the year and a constant source of irritiation. (BTW, a charge of $40 for the amended returns is a bargain).

And you can't bring this up with her relatives, but I'm also betting her family already knows all about her irrational behavior, so you probably have nothing to be concerned about that either.

As an aside, what is it about people who own rental property? Not all are like this, but in my experience, the vast majority of them seem to have some sort of entitlement attitude. Is it because they are accustomed to trying to get everything on the cheap (even if they have to badger people or try to take advantage) and they just fall into a habit of treating everyone they do business with in that fashion?

[Bees Knees]

She said she wasn't paying it so I took the billing statement back and tossed it in the trash. She got upset with me and insisted that I was mad.....

She doesn't want to pay the bill, so you take it back and throw it away. Then she gets mad because you apparently acted mad when you did what she wanted you to do.

She can be mad because you are mad, but you can't be mad because she is mad.

I don't mean to make light of this experience, but you have to understand that to an outsider reading about this incident, it seems very silly.

You did all that you could do. No need to write any further explanations to her or anyone else.

She then told me the guy that did the taxes the year before did them in one day and my service was too slow for her. I told her she should probably go back to the other guy then....

An answer I too would have given.

I normally take up to 3 weeks to finish a tax return after a client has given me all of his/her information. New clients get a little concerned at first, but after a couple of years of dependable accurate service, they usually don't mind that I am slow.

Whenever someone asks why I do not prepare the return in front of the client, I always say because the chance of error increases when you try to do something with someone else watching. A reasonable person can understand that.

[Safire]

Most likely her family already knows how she is so I wouldn't worry about that.

I had a similar situation this year, but the good sister who referred the bad sister called me to apologize for sending her to me after she complained the her that I was too slow and too high.

It's hard not to let these things upset you, but keep your chin up and don't let the negativity ruin your season.

[taxxcpa]

Don't let it make you worry

Year ago I used to let it bother me if a client quit coming to me.. However, there are always people who will change to other people, including some who may leave others for no good reason and switch to you.


The only thing that really bothers me now is if I make a mistake on a return. I think it annoys me more than it annoys most clients.

[fliszt]

Connie,

I think you might be surprised if everyone on this board posted their experiences with clients. We all have been down your road. Some better and some worse. You may be entering your career of tax prep and have not yet seen all the types of clients you will encounter. It's too bad you got one of the bad ones now instead of later, but at least you're learning what types of persons are out there. You won't always get the "good" ones, but you're certainly fortunate that this one won't be back. In the beginning of our career I would guess all of us take the good with the bad. We need to eat. But as you approach some stage in your life, you will be able to politely remove the ones in which you clash with. Then you are able to look forward to meeting with ALL of your clients each tax season. I can't tell you to "let it roll off your back" because it appears you're a sensitive person and it will bother you for some time. But as you become more seasoned, it will be easier to turn your back on those types of clients and it won't bother you "as much". Venting on TTB will help you, as you will see there are many, many of us to help you through the rough spots. Try to focus on the clients that tell you how good you are. And let TTB members help you through the other moments.
Larry

[geekgirldany]

I can't add a whole lot to what the others have said but I do understand how you feel. I had a pretty bad situation come up last year. I talked about it on the board which helped me so much. I was able to get it off my chest. I still worried about it though. Because of this I think it played a part in me failing part 1 of the EA exam. It happened just before I was going to take the test.

Only advice I can recommend is to try not to worry about it. I use to do that alot. If some situation came up with a customer I would worry myself to death about it. What I should have done, is there anything I can do now, should I apologize, etc. I just will not do it anymore. (try not to) I will occasionally post on the board here about a situation that may come up and ask if I was in the wrong. It helps to have another persons view. This usually takes it off my mind and I have a plan as to how to go forward.

So don't give her a second thought and move forward

[WhiteOleander]

Funny thing is that she just might be back next year. The former preparer might have been singing "Zippity Do Da" when she left. If she calls him next year he might tell her he is booked and has no room for her.

Then she will darken your door again.

[Connie]

Thank you so much....

Most of you seem to have really understood how upset this woman made me. Perhaps because you have been there, huh? I sure do appreciate your words of encouragement and it has really helped me today. I guess I was venting and rattling on in my message, but thanks for taking the time to read the long message and respond.

Glad most of you don't think it was silly to post here.....

Thanks again!

[JohnH]

Whenever any sort of problem rears its ugly head, just remember that if it can't kill you and eat you for dinner, you can probably deal with it.

[fliszt]

Well

said John.

[Lion]

Ignore Her

Don't give her any more attention than you would any other client. Hope she's gone for good. If she returns, you can decide if you want to tell her you're booked or keep her and raise her rate a lot.

[JG EA]

Letter mix up

I've had a couple of times when I've made a mistake and the clients were ready to be as angry as they could. Most people realize mistakes happen, but some are just waiting for a chance to be rude. I've also found that to try and appease them is one thing, but don't go to extremes. They won't appreciate it and it'll just get worse.

One time I accidently put the wrong city on the client's return. I talked to them about being right down the street from me, they looked at the return on the screen, picked up the return with the wrong address and when their return was delayed as a result (they wanted their check mailed) they treated me as if I had committed an unspeakable sin.

I bent over backwards to try to fix the problem, spent a alot of time with them on the phone, gave them my fee back. I drew the line at giving them their tax refund though as they wanted. Well, I also was doing a few of their relative's returns and not one of them returned to me.

I still feel quilty about it, but when I look back well, it wasn't that bad. It did teach me to read everyone's address outloud to them when I ask them if they are still at the same address - including the city. So, I learned a valuable lesson.

[AZ-Tax]

JG well put, Connie, this lady is not worthy of you

I think we probably all had our share and will continue to have our share of these types of clients. Let the HR Block, Jackson Heiwetts etc. have these taxpayers.. That is why I supplement my income with marketing financial products so I can be more selective in obtaining tax clients. You will know when a client appreciates you or abuses you.