LIBERTY TAX: Should Franchisees Call Customers Crackheads?
On the post LIBERTY TAX Service Complaint, all you need is cash! complained that when she went to her Liberty Tax Service after receiving a call her refund would be ready, she and others arrived to find the doors locked. The delay, she claimed, made her default on payment commitments.
When she complained to the franchisee and demanded a refund of her fees, she claims she was told “YOU MUST BE A CRACK HEAD B$%&@ FOR WANTING YOUR FEES BACK.”
While calling customers “crackheads” probably isn’t recommended in the Liberty Tax Service customer service manual, commenter Ed was unsympathetic. Ed wrote:
Ok, a couple things stood out in this post that I have to reply to. It appears everthing was done great all the way up to the point of picking up your check on Saturday.
First of all the office manager is not the cause of your collection from what I see. We have all been there before, at least most of us, and we are down to the last second to pay and if everything lines up correctly and everything in the universe is alligned we will be able to pay a bill. If the post man failed to deliver your check that day would he be responisble and would you want to sue the post office? Yes you should of got your check that Saturday from the way it sounds but if you would of filed 2 weeks earlier you also would have gotten the bill paid. If it was such a crisis and you were getting a refund why didnt you file earlier? Then the bill would of been paid in plenty of time and there would of been no collection. So I do not see where the tax office is to blame for your collection. You have to be willing to take responsiblity for your actions and realize that if you would of acted in a timely manner you would not be in collection.
Now if the office said they were going to be open and wasn’t then there is a problem. It sounds as if there is a customer service issue and I see every reason for you to be displeased about that. Now, when there is a customer service issue I think the first thing we need to remember is calling a company that has wronged you and berating them usualy is not a good way to get what you want. I can only guess but it appears that some things were said by you before the manager told you to “call any lawyer you want”. I could be off base a little but that comment would make it appear you threatened legal action when you called. If so, that is a huge lesson to be learned. I am a business owner and as soon as someone threatens legal action I shut down and tell them that the conversation has ended and that our attourneys can now speak because we no longer have anything to talk about.
Never threaten a lawsuit unless your serious because it does no good. Business owners hear that so many times and it does not scare them and you are not doing yourself any favors as a consumer.Lastly this was the office manager who was rude to you and if I was in your shoes I would of politley ended this conversation with her and attempted to contact the owner. Once again if your plan is to call and berate people and expect them to give you what you desire then you will most always be dissappointed. If I am upset at a company and I want some action I go by this simple rule. If what I want is action then I give them every opportunity to give me what I want by being professional. If I want someones head and I am just mad and want to “go off”, I realize that I probably won’t get anything except the peace of mind of “going off” and letting them know how I felt.
Yes there is a huge customer service problem with what happened to you but its just that a customer service issue. I think there is just as big of a problem of a customer trying to blame items that were not the companies fault on them in an attempt to make the story look better and more in the customers favor. Also at the end you talk about ongoing poor customer service at Liberty Tax which confuses me a little. You said the taxes and the preparer were great?
There is no doubt there was bad customer service that took place here. I also think the situation was handled incorrectly by both parties.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Liberty’s corporate policy, which is embodied in its franchise agreement with its franchisees, is that a 100% money back guarantee is offered for any unsatisfied customer. Any franchisee who refuses is in violation of their franchise agreement with the company and is, therefore, in the wrong. I can’t imagine a business telling a customer they must be a “crack head” but regardless, any dissatisfied customer should contact the corporate office if they are denied a refund of their fees. After all, Liberty is not H&R Block.
In April/2010 I took my tax information to the Liberty Tax office at 1 Wexford Road, Unit 11 in Brampton.
I met with Mr. Dave Poole.
He was going to prepare my 2009 tax return.
On May 4th, 2010 he called me saying he needed information regarding the original purchase prices of some stocks.
I brought to him a bound book containing all my purchase history for the stocks, account histories, account numbers, social insurance number and banking information.
He reviewed it and said that was what he needed.
I told him very clearly that I needed this back.
Not only did they lose this book, but they never completed my 2009 return and never called back.
I only realized this when I began to receive my 2010 tax information and in going through my records, found that my 2009 information was missing.
I visited Mr. Poole February 16 2011 only to find my uncompleted return filed away in a drawer but missing the book I had brought to him.
Mr. Poole’s response without doing a diligent search was that he did not know where it was or what had happened to it.
He suggested that I talk to the owner Mr. Chris Blackmere.
I’m afraid Mr. Blackmere’s attitude and opinion before he had even looked to try and find the missing private information were …”so we can’t find it, what do you want me to do? Make it magically appear from thin air?”
No apology or concern for losing it with all the private information inside it.
No apology for not completing my return or following up on it.
I will incur penalties and costs as a result of the return not being filed but there is the much larger issue of my private information ending up “who knows where” with obviously no controls to protect it on their end.
What is Liberty Tax’s policy for this kind of negligence and, obviously, very poor customer relations?
Certainly the loss of this book and the release of the private, personal information contained within it is a great concern to me. Following contact with the Liberty Tax area rep and essentially being called a liar, I have sought help from the Better Business Bureau and Consumer and Corporate Affairs.
Are there no standards applied to these tax preparation businesses?
Is there no “watchdog” or governing body that oversees this service?
Do these franchised offices not have Standards, Procedures or Policies that detail how information should be dealt with, stored or accounted for?
I have used Liberty Tax in a different city and had no problems but obviously the individual offices or franchises do not follow a similar common method for guarding and protecting private information of their clients. I would think that this should be a concern to all who on blind faith leave their personal, private tax and financial information with any of these offices.