We were dealing with my sister's back taxes and thought it would be more convenient and cheaper to go to Jackson Hewitt than to my independent accountant. The forms involved were described and they gave us a ballpark quote of between $80-$100, with no guarantee, nor was one expected. However... $315!!! YIKES! My accountant had done virtually the same basic taxes, with attendant forms, last year for $142. I called and spoke to the person we dealt with, who was polite, but said she wasn't responsible for setting the prices and that she could have the manager contact us, within a couple of hours. This was in the evening around 5:30. 8:10 I called and the person answering the phone didn't know who I had spoken with previously from me telling her the person's last name. She did say she answers the phones for all the Denver offices, but guess what? She's in the very office the person works in! Maybe you should make sure your people know the names of their fellow employees if they're going to be directing calls? The manager, turns out, was in a meeting and would be unavailable. The person answering the phone was friendly, and asked pertinent questions, and apologized that I was given wrong information, but couldn't get a call back to me until morning. I did get a call the next morning and it was explained to me that because of the different forms and that it was itemized, with a K1 and 1099s, that they had a charge for each form, and that was the price. I asked how they could justify charging more than twice as much as a private-practice accountant, and she told me that they had to pay franchise fees and that their overhead was higher. And that private accountants weren't their competition, that other franchises were, and that they were cheaper than the other franchises. I expressed that most people come to franchises because they think they'll be cheaper, and that her reasoning on why it was more expensive was flawed. That because they do a huge volume, that their prices should be cheaper. We picked the taxes up and will be taking them to my private accountant, who has been wonderful and has saved me plenty in the several years I've been using him. Smith Philips, in Arvada, if you're interested. This is one area where a franchise/big box does NOT save you money. Go private. Better service, cheaper, and probably saves you more on that actual taxes as well. read more
