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How H&R Block Frittered Away Big Bucks & Irritated Potential Customers...

 
Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - How H&R Block Frittered Away Big Bucks & Irritated Potential Customers...

by
March 23rd, 2007

Episode #75

It's been a while since I offered a genuine rant in this space, but I couldn't resist sharing this incredible tale of what is perhaps the most inept promotion I've ever seen in my life (and I've seen a lot).

It all began last month when the February issue of Macworld Magazine landed on my desk. In it I found a full-page, 4-color ad from H&R Block offering a free download of its TaxCut Basic software.


Figure 1: The ad.

So, though I have paid my trusted friend and accountant John Henderson to prepare my tax return for as long as I can recall, I can never resist a freebie and thought I'd give this TaxCut software a shot before sending the shoeboxes over to John.

At this point I was quite impressed with H&R Block's marketing savvy. I'd never considered TaxCut before, but they offered it to me for free and I got very interested very quickly. That's smart. And, because it was a "download-only" deal, the cost of goods to H&R Block had to be extremely low. That's even smarter. Finally, I noticed in the fine print that, "fees apply for your tax consultation and e-filing," which meant that H&R Block stood to make a few bucks off the software they were giving away for free. That's brilliant.

But while the marketing concept and strategy were brilliant, the execution was anything but.

The Story

First, I went to the designated Web page and filled out the short form.


Figure 2: The form.

Alas, when I clicked the Continue Checkout button, a blank page with no buttons or links appeared.


Figure 3: The result.

Puzzled, I tried the whole procedure again from the beginning, but the outcome was the same. I thought it might be a browser thing so I switched from Safari to FireFox and tried it again. No luck. I tried another browser, OmniWeb, but that didn't work either. I even tried it on the old family iMac. It didn't work there either.

I used the on-site form to send an e-mail message to a support specialist. I composed a rather polite one explaining the situation in excruciating detail and making it clear that I was using a Mac.

Here's the reply I received the next morning:

Thank you for contacting H&R Block TaxCut Software Support.

I do apologize that you cannot download TaxCut. Are you getting an error message? What exactly is happening? You may want to try to turn off your popup blocker, your anti-virus and any firewall, and then attempt the download again.

If you have further questions or concerns, please reply to this e-mail. H&R Block values you as a TaxCut customer and we look forward to serving as your tax and financial partner in the future.

Sincerely,

H&R Block TaxCut Software Support Team

I replied:

Dear TaxCut,

No popup blocker, anti-virus, or firewall. Tried again and the same thing happened. When I fill out the form at:

https://store.taxcut.com/ dr/sat3/ec_MAIN.Entry10?xid=1478&sp=10035&PN=1&V1=1

...and click the Continue Checkout button, I am taken to a blank page and no download occurs. I'm enclosing a screen shot of the page I see after clicking the Continue Checkout button.

Regards,

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus

Raconteur, wordsmith, consultant, and author of nearly 50 books

Note: The screen shot was Figure 3, above.

Eight days later I hadn't heard a peep so I e-mailed them again:

Dear TaxCut,

It's been a week and I've heard nothing from you. The free download advertised in Macworld magazine still doesn't work. Our original e-mail exchange appears below.

Regards,

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus

Raconteur, wordsmith, consultant, and author of nearly 50 books

They responded:

Thank you for contacting H&R Block TaxCut Software Support.

I apologize for the wait. Please try to turn off your proxy settings and reboot your computer. Are you receiving an error message?

If you have further questions or concerns, please reply to this e-mail. H&R Block values you as a TaxCut customer and we look forward to serving as your tax and financial partner in the future.

Sincerely,

H&R Block TaxCut Software Support Team

I wrote back:

Dear H&R Block,

There are no proxy settings to turn off. There are no error messages, no firewall, no anti-virus, and no popup blockers, either. It's a Macintosh, for gosh sakes!

In fact, I've now tried it with two other Macs and two browsers and it still fails every time on all three computers. As soon as I complete the form at:

https://store.taxcut.com/dr/sat3/ec_MAIN.Entry10?xid=1478&sp=10035&PN=1&V1=1

...and click the Continue Checkout button, I see a blank page and no download occurs. I'm again enclosing a screen shot of the page I see after clicking the Continue Checkout button.

Regards,

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus

Raconteur, wordsmith, consultant, and author of nearly 50 books

To which they replied:

Thank you for contacting H&R Block TaxCut Software Support.

We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding. However if the download isn't working at the website, what you can do is call the online store directly at 1-866-509-7629. They will be able to further assist you.

If you have further questions or concerns, please reply to this e-mail. H&R Block values you as a TaxCut customer and we look forward to serving as your tax and financial partner in the future.

Sincerely,

H&R Block TaxCut Software Support Team

That was when I gave up and sent the shoe boxes over to my buddy John the accountant. Yes, it's going to cost me more, but I'll sleep better at night knowing that my tax return is being prepared by a licensed professional who cares about his clients.

Summary & Conclusion

H&R Block spent around $40,000 for the ad in Macworld. I spent several frustrating hours attempting to download its software, writing polite and potentially helpful e-mails, and creating screen shots to illustrate the issue. After all that I was unable to download the free software.

Furthermore, although I explained the issue clearly several times, H&R Block didn't appear to make any attempt to fix it. (For what it's worth, I just tried it again, a month later, and it still doesn't work.)

I have no way of knowing whether other Mac users had issues such as mine, but I suspect many did. If so, H&R Block blew a lot more than just $40,000 on this debacle. It'll be a cold day in hell before I do business with such inept bozos. And I doubt I'm the only Mac user in the world who feels this way today.

And that's all he wrote...

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus has been a Macintosh user for a long, long time and has written 49 computer books including Mac OS X Tiger For Dummies and GarageBand for Dummies. He also offers expert technical help and training to Mac users, in real time and at reasonable prices, via telephone, e-mail, and/or unique Internet-enabled remote control software. For more information on Bob and his services, visit www.boblevitus.com.

Send polite comments to

Send impolite comments to DeleteWithoutReading@boblevitus.com, or post your comments below.

Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves Archives.

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Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:davebarnes Posts: 130 Joined: 12 Jan 2005
Subject: I was wrong.

Earlier, I wrote: "The offer was for TaxCut Basic which does not run under Mac OS X -- only Windows.
There is no free software available for Mac users.
So, the offer was even more retarded than you thought."

Well, it appears that I was incorrect.

The reason I made that statement is that when I surfed to http://www.taxcut.com/macworldmagazine and then clicked on the "Add to Cart" button, I got a JavaScript popup that said: "We are having difficulties processing your order. Please select from list."

So, for me, using Firefox 2.0.0.3, I could not order it.



Last edited by davebarnes on Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:54 am; edited 1 time in total
Reply | Quote
Close Name:iVoid Posts: 65 Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Subject:

They also gave out CDs with their software at MacWorld this year. Free software and free e-filing seemed worth a try.

When I began to install it I found that it was only Federal taxes. State would cost me extra.

Since I was already using Turbotax web version for the past 2 years, it was just easier to continue this year (since they can fill in info from the last year's returns).

I might have saved some by trying H&R's tax program on my Mac, but without the state taxes as part of the free trial it wasn't worth trying it.

Close Name:FlipFriddle Posts: 480 Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Subject: I bet...

if you tried it on Windows machine with IE 6 or 7 it would work. Completely inane given it was an ad for Mac software in a Mac mag, but that would be the icing on the cake. I don't have a windoze machine around... anyone care to test my theory?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Worked for me...

I am using 10.4.9 and Safari on my MacBook, and everything went fine...

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

I didn't download a program, but used a free, web-based H&R block Tax cut Service. (It is limited to individuals under 50 years of age & with a gross income of less than $52,00)

Close Name:macgenie Posts: 5 Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Subject: Those customer service zombie emails

I hate it when it's so obvious that no one read (or cared enough to read carefully) my email to customer support. Stock answers are inevitable, but it's so annoying when it should be obvious that the stock answer is not the answer to the problem.

Close Name:Terrin Posts: 414 Joined: 29 Jan 2006
Subject:

I tried using H & R Block online software about three years ago. I wanted to compare it to Intuit's online software, which I had used the previous two years. After about ten minutes of agony I decided Intuit's online experience was a billion times better. I have used Intuit's online software ever since, and I find it to be quite good. Much better then filling in forms, and much cheaper then paying an accountant. The software does the math for you, and guides you through the forms.

If you are poor, the Federal government and many State's subsidize the cost, although you must not have any fancy tax issues, like selling stock. To take advantage of that, do a Google freedom tax search, as you must log on from that specific Intuit website.

My mom has used an accountant for years, paying close to a thousand dollars a year for the service. I got her to try Intuit's service about three years ago, and she has never looked back as it saves her big bucks not only in accountant fees, but in taxes.

Many financial website's like Vanguard offer members a discount (if you log on through their sites). If you want a good fairly priced service I wholeheartedly recommend giving Intuit's online software a try (as opposed to the CD, which may be good, but I have never seen a need to try it when I can just do it online). It even works with Safari.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: It worked for me

I d/ed it and it worked fine for me, no problems,

Thanks H&R Block

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Too late for me...

I got the free CD in the mail; installed with no problems. Applied the updates, no problems. Did my daughter's return, no problems.
Then I did my return, printed it, e-filed, saved on exit; program crashed. No sign of my return; used various search utilities, it's not there!
THEN I got the e-file acceptance letter, instructing me to open the file and click "Check Status" then follow the instructions... what file???
I used their support entry form to send a detailed message(btw, don't include an ampersand in the message) and they responded a day later with instructions on how to find TaxCut on your computer (Starting with the Start menu...)
Still waiting...

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

I actually recieved one of their cd's in the mail. It works=ed, in the sense that I could fill out the information and it came up with an answer. But upon checking over the figures before filing, they grossly miscalculated several things. I went with another tax package, entered the same information and got about $400 more than HR Block said I would. They will never get my business.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Taxcut

Worked fine for me and my non-computer user GF on her first Mac. It does require the ability to read the instructions.

Have used Taxcut for years (on PC's) vs. TurboTax as the costs were always less than TurboTax (various options and e-filing).

Close Name:Guest
Subject: No problem here

Worked just fine! pretty cool, even local office helped for free with a tax question I had. Does TT have an office?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: I wouldn't use H&R Block if they paid me!

IN 91 I took my taxes in to H&R because I was filing a 1099 for the first time and had over $8,000 in business expenses. When I went back to get my 'completed' tax return they told me that I owed the government over $1,000. I asked them if they had looked at any of my business expenses - I was a truck driver contracted to a moving company, I paid for fuel, laborers where ever I went, tolls, etc. The "professional" preparer said that none of them qualified.
I told him he was wrong and to just give me my paperwork. I did them myself and got back just over $2,000.
Even though it was offered by a company I had absolutely no confidence or trust in I tried to get this download too. Of course when I couldn't even download it I wasn't surprised, just another H&R SNAFU.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: It worked - message to Intuit

Well, I used to use Macintax, then turbo-tax, then when I had to change to windows I used turbo-tax then while still a windows user I switched to taxcut because it was $15 cheaper. When I came back to the Mac, used Tax-Cut one year then they didn't support Mac for a year and I had to go back to Turbo-tax!!!

It was not an easy switch back to turbo-tax, but I was stuck!!! Then taxcut came back to Mac this year and was again $20 cheaper (I purchased the upgraded program along with state) so I had a tough choice to make.

All in All i choose taxcut again, to send a message to Intuit to clean up its act. Quicken on the Mac is a poor imitation of Qucken on windows without all of the features of the windows version, and the Mac version is still not a universal binary and they charge Mac users twice the cost of the windows version.

I want to tell Intuit to shove it, I'm tired of being raped and pillaged.

Please Please someone come out with a better program than Quicken for the Mac and I'll be the first one in line!!!!

CHAZZZ

Close Name:Guest
Subject: H&R Block

I used the free Tax cut, for myself, and 2 of my kids. And it worked great.
Used Safari and 10.4.8.
Bill

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Perhaps H&R Block outsourced their tech support to India.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Worked Just Fine for Me

I was able to download using Safari on a MacBook running 10.4.9 with no problems.

I finished my Taxes with Turbo Tax, but didn't care for the result (said I owed a bit) so I figured I'd run it through with H&R to see if the results match. Though i have a sad feeling Turbo Tax is probably right.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Beware: H&R Block Taxcut Gotcha (Free Tax Prep + eFile)

H&R offers the free online tax prep AND EFILE for those with adjusted gross incomes under $52k, which I used last year with no problem.

HOWEVER-

I went back to do it again this year, and discovered an undocumented Gotcha... when you sign into the free service, they will ask you up front if you want to import last year's data for convenience- and if you say yes, they will switch you out of the free section, into Tax Cut Basic, without notice. You will find at the end of your return that they will then demand payment for efile, when it's supposed to be free. There is absolutely NO WAY to back out and start from the beginning- it's not stated anywhere that importing last year's data plunks you into the for-fee section, but even if their were, you can't go back and say "no", and start your return over from scratch. There is no way to get back into the free prep/eFile module.

The only "solution" I could find was to start over with a new username AND email address, and start from scratch- and when they asked if there was last year's data to import, click "hell no".

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Support is terrible at many, many places these days

The reason why you got those useless e-mails is because Indian reps copying/ pasting that crap do NOT understand what's going on. How could they possibly help anyone?

Close Name:rjackb Posts: 37 Joined: 08 Dec 2005
Subject: No problems here.

I don't recall how I found out about it (probably through an e-mail but definitely not the MacWorld ad), but I had no problem downloading, installing, or using TaxCut. And, after printing out the forms (I owed money so no need to e-file), that is how I filed my return.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: just downloaded it

it worked for me, however when i forgot to select the op system preference i got a error that it could not proceed at this time and not a message that i should go back and select an op system.

Close Name:Lavode Posts: 147 Joined: 03 Dec 2001
Subject:

I tried TaxCut back when it first came out, because it was cheaper than MacinTax. I was using OS 8.6, which at the time was still officially supported by TaxCut. I was never able to file my return electronically, I had to go through a month with customer service just to learn that AOL's new servers were not compatible with TaxCut. So I filed via snail mail.

The experience really soured me on H&R Block, and I have happily shelled out the extra money for TurboTax each year for the peace of mind it brings. And after all, isn't that the Mac way of doing things?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: H&R Block Cust. Service is horrible!

Any business school will teach you, and any good business man knows that while technology can attract customers, strong customer service keeps them. I tried to book an office appt. with two different online chat reps yesterday...the first was rude, the second was inept. I wrote in a letter of complaint to customer service...read below what I wrote and the ridiculous automated response:
---------------
In your message submitted 04/05/07 you wrote:

I just received horrible service from your online appointment chat representative "DEIDRE T." After she confirmed my ideal appointment time, I asked if I could request a full time H&R Block employee rather than a seasonal worker. Her response was that she was sure that "she was sure" their Tax Professionals would be just fine. Great that she was sure, but I am not so sure and she did not answer my question. So I asked again, "does that mean you cannot guarantee I am placed with a full time employee." Her reply was that she had scheduled me for an appointment with the date and location and she promptly ended the session as I was typing that I was not finished asking my questions. I have never had such rude service, and after using H&R block both online and in-office for several years, I was appalled. The fact that you cannot go on your website and see the individuals in each office and their background to ensure you are working with someone suited to your specific tax needs is bad enough, but then to not be able to get that question even addressed properly by support is ridiculous. I'm back on a chat now with someone who first tried to tell me that requesting an appointment with a specific person was asking for tax advice and she couldn't help. After 15 minutes, she has been utterly helpless as well and has had a very difficult time understanding anything I was asking. I won't be using H&R Block again.

-----------------------------------------------

Our Response:
Thank you for contacting H&R Block.

To schedule an appointment please contact our Client Relations Department at 800-HRBLOCK (472-5625) where a trained representative would be happy to schedule an appointment for you at the local H&R Block office of your choice.

Or, if you prefer you may also find an office online by using our office locator at:

http://www.hrblock.com/universal/office_locator.html

Thank you for choosing H&R Block.

The Client Relations Team
H&R Block

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Interesting

Interesting how the positive "works for me" comments are mostly by unregistered users. Sounds like damage control by H&R Block to me.

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