Time to bail on tax prep service? (Fishback)

[bertdtx]

Hello all -

After reading http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2016/02/10/should-you-do-your-own-taxes/ earlier this year, I decided to give Fishback Tax (http://www.fishbacktax.com/) a try.

I finished uploading my files only on March 29th, so I was certainly not surprised to hear from them (Bradford Fishback) on April 19th, informing me "We have successfully and timely e-filed your extension. The formal preparation of your returns will occur in the next month, when we will reach out with questions or a draft for your review."

So far, so good.

I inquired one month later via email. No response.

Now, over two months later, I've requested status update two more times, with not a single word in response.

Two attempts to reach someone at the phone number listed on their site have gone unanswered.

For what it's worth, their facebook page hasn't been updated since March 30, and twitter account since Jan 2.

Kind of seems like they've gone AWOL, leaving their extension customers hung out to dry.

Has anyone else here had experience with Fishback, positive or negative? Should I cut my losses, and start over with another tax provider to make sure I meet the extension deadline?

p.s. - I certainly don't intend to start a smear campaign here, but they've given me ample reason to be concerned & frustrated at this point. I'll update this post whether they eventually respond or not, to serve as a warning, or perhaps just a reminder of the virtue of patience.

[katsiki]

I'm not sure what to think either.  They filed my return and everything seemed to go fine.  They indicated they would do the prior year review in April/May and get back with me.  Nothing.. I emailed on 5/31 asking for status and no reply.

They didn't send me a final return for this past year (only draft), so I am hoping they didn't go out of business or something.

[bertdtx]

Thanks for the response. Sounds like they're out to lunch for good.

I think it'll take me as much time to find another accountant I'm happy with as to file my own, so I'll get started on TT / TaxAct.

[arebelspy]

Why is it so hard to find a good online tax prep service or accountant?

=/

[thurston howell iv]

I'm glad you posted here because I've had the same issue. Q was staring to think I was the only one since there were no other fishback posts that I could find.

Anyway, I was told that they had filed an extension for me and we exchanged a few emails back and forth so I thought all was good while I was getting some old docs from the IRS.  When I got them, I sent an email- nothing. Since then I've left two voice mails and sent 6 emails and absolutely no response and I was emailing Bradford directly as well as cc'ing his assistant.

WTF?!?!?

I know I'm not a rich, high dollar client but I think if you're going to offer this service there should be some follow-up. If nothing else, they should have an email saying "we're closed find another CPA", or something to let customers know what's up.  This is totally NOT COOL and I'm very frustrated to say the least.

Does anyone know the situation with this service?

MMM, care to chime in? (maybe you have a back channel cel number or something???) - Not looking for anything more than what we bargained for. Just want to get this off my plate...

Can anyone help here?

[thurston howell iv]

Really???  349 views and ONLY 4 responses?

Are we the only ones?????

[katsiki]

Any suggestions on the best way to obtain a return for our records?  Fishback only provided a draft... Would that IRS transcript be the best option here?

[skylernow]

I had Fishback prepare my return,
I did not file with them, but Bradford was easy to get in touch by email at the time (March of this year).

[Midwest]

No direct experience w/Fishback, but for $100 per return wouldn't you anticipate the potential for a low level of customer interaction?

[thurston howell iv]

^ I didn't expect red carpet service or even personal service for that price. I did, however, expect that if MMM recommended a service it would be what it purported to be. For example, I've used MINT. It's exactly what it purports to be and what MMM said it was.

Anyway, I got in touch with these guys in March. My return is not THAT complicated, it's just something I've never encountered before. I figured it would not be a huge deal for a professional. I sent them all the documents that they requested and after a few emails, I was satisfied that everything was moving forward.

After a brief delay due to needing some old documents from the IRS, I contacted them again to get this mess wrapped up and there was no contact. I gave the benefit of the doubt, and sent several emails over several weeks.  I understand that people are busy, maybe on vacation, etc., but this has gone on long enough.

Even if the tax guy were incapacitated or in the hospital or something crazy like that, I would hope his people might post a notice on their site or have an out of office reply on their email.  Yet, there is nothing... Just dead air.

Now, I have to start this mess all over again with a new tax guy.  I was really hoping this guy was the real deal as MMM suggested he was...

I'm disappointed.

[arebelspy]

MMM, care to chime in? (maybe you have a back channel cel number or something???) - Not looking for anything more than what we bargained for. Just want to get this off my plate...

In all liklihood, Pete will never read this.

It's a bummer they've turned out terrible.  =/

I myself go through accountants every 2-3 years, cause they just can't answer a damn email within a week or two.  Got a recommendation from someone on these forums of someone they used to use for this year, and got quick replies to start, and, sure enough, a month or two later it became weeks between replies.

And I'm not paying $100, either, but more like $1000.

So I feel you.  Probably just time for you to move on.  :)

[Midwest]

^ I didn't expect red carpet service or even personal service for that price. I did, however, expect that if MMM recommended a service it would be what it purported to be. For example, I've used MINT. It's exactly what it purports to be and what MMM said it was.

Anyway, I got in touch with these guys in March. My return is not THAT complicated, it's just something I've never encountered before. I figured it would not be a huge deal for a professional. I sent them all the documents that they requested and after a few emails, I was satisfied that everything was moving forward.

After a brief delay due to needing some old documents from the IRS, I contacted them again to get this mess wrapped up and there was no contact. I gave the benefit of the doubt, and sent several emails over several weeks.  I understand that people are busy, maybe on vacation, etc., but this has gone on long enough.

Even if the tax guy were incapacitated or in the hospital or something crazy like that, I would hope his people might post a notice on their site or have an out of office reply on their email.  Yet, there is nothing... Just dead air.

Now, I have to start this mess all over again with a new tax guy.  I was really hoping this guy was the real deal as MMM suggested he was...

I'm disappointed.

I get why you are disappointed, the service was offering any return for $100 and it sounds like it didn't work out for you..  I took a quick look at the website and was curious how this would work out as returns vary greatly in complexity.  My first thought, what if google or gm decides to take them up on their $100 offer (jokingly but you get the idea).

Couple questions - Did you upload documents or fill out an online organizer?  Were there any caveats as to what he would or wouldn't do for $100?

[Midwest]

MMM, care to chime in? (maybe you have a back channel cel number or something???) - Not looking for anything more than what we bargained for. Just want to get this off my plate...

In all liklihood, Pete will never read this.

It's a bummer they've turned out terrible.  =/

I myself go through accountants every 2-3 years, cause they just can't answer a damn email within a week or two.  Got a recommendation from someone on these forums of someone they used to use for this year, and got quick replies to start, and, sure enough, a month or two later it became weeks between replies.

And I'm not paying $100, either, but more like $1000.

So I feel you.  Probably just time for you to move on.  :)

Rebel - Suggestion from a CPA.  Next time you are in the states, interview some people familiar with the areas you operate in and/or who are familiar with mulit-state taxation.  Explain you wants/needs/expectations and find a good fit and a reasonable price.  Changing every few years is good for neither you nor them.

[katsiki]

There was an organizer (answered a lot of the basic questions).  Also, there is a file "vault" to upload documents.  The vault is still available.  Unfortunately, they never uploaded the final return (just a draft) in my case.

[arebelspy]

MMM, care to chime in? (maybe you have a back channel cel number or something???) - Not looking for anything more than what we bargained for. Just want to get this off my plate...

In all liklihood, Pete will never read this.

It's a bummer they've turned out terrible.  =/

I myself go through accountants every 2-3 years, cause they just can't answer a damn email within a week or two.  Got a recommendation from someone on these forums of someone they used to use for this year, and got quick replies to start, and, sure enough, a month or two later it became weeks between replies.

And I'm not paying $100, either, but more like $1000.

So I feel you.  Probably just time for you to move on.  :)

Rebel - Suggestion from a CPA.  Next time you are in the states, interview some people familiar with the areas you operate in and/or who are familiar with mulit-state taxation.  Explain you wants/needs/expectations and find a good fit and a reasonable price.  Changing every few years is good for neither you nor them.

Trust me, I've tried.

They all seem to eventually drop level of service (as in, weeks to respond to an email).  Then I interview some, search around, finally find one that seems on the ball.  And they are.  For a bit.

I'd love to have a CPA I could just upload my documents to (and trust me, I'm very organized), they send in the return, I send them a check.  /shrug

[With This Herring]

Really???  349 views and ONLY 4 responses?

Are we the only ones?????

It's an interesting topic, but I prepare my own return.  I wish you all luck on getting this sorted out.

Maybe write a joint letter to the editor to Fishback's local newspaper?  That would be a last-resort move, as could kill his business.

Also, probably a dumb question:
All of you are talking about Fishback Tax run by Bradford Fishback.  I don't see that anywhere in Mr. MMM's article.  I only see a link to http://taxprepusa.net/index.php headed by Keith Schroeder.  Was a Fishback link there and is now
removed?

In all liklihood, Pete will never read this.

It's a bummer they've turned out terrible.  =/

I myself go through accountants every 2-3 years, cause they just can't answer a damn email within a week or two.  Got a recommendation from someone on these forums of someone they used to use for this year, and got quick replies to start, and, sure enough, a month or two later it became weeks between replies.

And I'm not paying $100, either, but more like $1000.

So I feel you.  Probably just time for you to move on.  :)

Rebel - Suggestion from a CPA.  Next time you are in the states, interview some people familiar with the areas you operate in and/or who are familiar with mulit-state taxation.  Explain you wants/needs/expectations and find a good fit and a reasonable price.  Changing every few years is good for neither you nor them.

Trust me, I've tried.

They all seem to eventually drop level of service (as in, weeks to respond to an email).  Then I interview some, search around, finally find one that seems on the ball.  And they are.  For a bit.

I'd love to have a CPA I could just upload my documents to (and trust me, I'm very organized), they send in the return, I send them a check.  /shrug

My OldMainBoss at OldJob was notoriously terrible at replying timely to any small clients (anybody who wasn't the owner of a business with a $20K+ fee annual job, such as a large comp/review/audit + tax return).  Clients had the best luck getting things to happen if they copied me on emails to OldMainBoss.  I would then bug OMB, then set a reminder on my calendar to bug OMB every few days or week until OMB did his part.  I am a CPA, but only partners at OldJob had the right to approve things to go out the door.  I was high enough to deal with most clients directly on non-final work.  It was a pain to be OMB's babysitter, but it was better than when clients didn't copy me and I got the angry call about how OMB's issues cause client huge stress.

Of the partners, some were procrastinators and some would ALWAYS have a response to you within hours, including weekends, holidays, and the middle of the night...

If your tax providers are large enough that your accountant uses support staff, this might help.  Or, support staff might also be a lazy bum, in which case you are stuck.  You might be able to get a support staff name by asking the office manager.  The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

I do not have anyone specific to recommend, and I always hated multi-state, sorry!

[arebelspy]

Also, probably a dumb question:
All of you are talking about Fishback Tax run by Bradford Fishback.  I don't see that anywhere in Mr. MMM's article.  I only see a link to http://taxprepusa.net/index.php headed by Keith Schroeder.  Was a Fishback link there and is now
removed?

Yeah, the links' been gone at least a month, or longer, but I'm not sure exactly how long. Curious when/why it was removed.  Did they get too much work, and asked Pete to remove it?  Did he hear negative backlash?  Other?  Not worth bugging him about, but if I remember, I may ask him about it sometime (or if someone sees him at a meetup or something before that, may be an interesting--though just as likely boring--story).

[bertdtx]

I lost track of this thread, but - believe it or not, Brad Fishback emailed me back today!

He said he just returned from an extended, remote vacation and realized his out of office message was not functioning.

I asked him to continue preparing my taxes, since I haven't made much progress yet myself.

To all others affected - I suggest pinging him again at this point.

[Midwest]

MMM, care to chime in? (maybe you have a back channel cel number or something???) - Not looking for anything more than what we bargained for. Just want to get this off my plate...

In all liklihood, Pete will never read this.

It's a bummer they've turned out terrible.  =/

I myself go through accountants every 2-3 years, cause they just can't answer a damn email within a week or two.  Got a recommendation from someone on these forums of someone they used to use for this year, and got quick replies to start, and, sure enough, a month or two later it became weeks between replies.

And I'm not paying $100, either, but more like $1000.

So I feel you.  Probably just time for you to move on.  :)

Rebel - Suggestion from a CPA.  Next time you are in the states, interview some people familiar with the areas you operate in and/or who are familiar with mulit-state taxation.  Explain you wants/needs/expectations and find a good fit and a reasonable price.  Changing every few years is good for neither you nor them.

Trust me, I've tried.

They all seem to eventually drop level of service (as in, weeks to respond to an email).  Then I interview some, search around, finally find one that seems on the ball.  And they are.  For a bit.

I'd love to have a CPA I could just upload my documents to (and trust me, I'm very organized), they send in the return, I send them a check.  /shrug

Rebel:

That doesn't seem like that hard of a request if the professional is adequately compensated and the clients have reasonable expectations.  Having said that, CPA's generally don't into accounting because they are extroverts.

We prefer clients who upload their own legible documents, are organized and don't require ridiculous amounts of hand holding (unless they are willing to pay for the hand holding in which case we are happy to do it). 

This thread reminds me of an old saying, you can have it good, fast or cheap.  Sometimes you can get 2 of the 3, but almost never all 3.

[Random Hangers]

I lost track of this thread, but - believe it or not, Brad Fishback emailed me back today!

He said he just returned from an extended, remote vacation and realized his out of office message was not functioning.

I asked him to continue preparing my taxes, since I haven't made much progress yet myself.

To all others affected - I suggest pinging him again at this point.

Same here: I'd emailed him 3 or 4 times over the past 3 weeks (final one last with with the subject line PLEASE REPLY) and heard the same thing from him, and that he'd file for us within the month.

I had some reply issues with him at the beginning as well (I sent a message and didn't hear back for several weeks, then had to check in again to see if things were progressing along the originaly agreed upon deadline). I'm pleased with what I got overall; just wish he was a bit more responsive.

Didn't realize the original link from the article had been taken down though. That's a bit scary.

[thurston howell iv]

I also received an email about the extended vacation- last week.
I'm hoping he will be able to follow through...

[thurston howell iv]

It's July 30th. Still nothing back from fishback.

Anyone have any updates???

This is getting tiring.

[katsiki]

I emailed info@ and Bradford directly after everyone said they started hearing from him/them.  Nothing. 

If anyone is counting on this outfit to file their current year return, I would go elsewhere.

[bertdtx]

Yup, no further response here either. I give up on Fishback; filing on my own.

[thurston howell iv]

Me too.

[COlady]

Did you all find someone to prepare your tax return? I'm a CPA working for a firm in Colorado and would be happy to assist you if needed. Feel free to spend me a PM.