One more client story (OK, for now, anyway)

[RitaB]

Guy asks me the date. 

 

4th.

 

He dates the Form 8879  “1/04/15”. 

 

[Possi]

Glad it wasn't the 5th. He might have pulled out a bottle of JD!

[RitaB]

27 minutes ago, Possi said:

Glad it wasn't the 5th. He might have pulled out a bottle of JD!

Bahahaha do you know how hard it was for me to keep quiet??  He's in his 20s.  I wonder if he thinks that date on his phone is the temperature.

[mcb39]

I always type the date in before I give it to them to sign.  Just sayin'!  Is there one among us who hasn't slipped at least once in January or February?

[Jack from Ohio]

2 hours ago, mcb39 said:

I always type the date in before I give it to them to sign.  Just sayin'!  Is there one among us who hasn't slipped at least once in January or February?

I do the same thing.

[RitaB]

Who are these clients who show up when they say they're going to?  What?  I'm jealous.  I swear if somebody tells me they're coming Monday, all I know for sure is they are NOT coming Monday.

[JohnH]

Monday appointments are a real pain.  Legitimate problems come up over the weekend but clients can't figure out how to call & leave a voice mail message, send an email, or dash off a text to let you know they can't make it Monday as planned.  They don't show up, then later will tell you "I didn't know how to contact you over the weekend. I meant to call on Monday morning but I forgot."  

Yet, if they have a tax question they want answered immediately, they're blowing up your voice mail with multiple calls at midnight Saturday or Sunday.  

Funny how that works. 

[Catherine]

2 hours ago, JohnH said:

Monday appointments are a real pain.  Legitimate problems come up over the weekend but clients can't figure out how to call & leave a voice mail message, send an email, or dash off a text to let you know they can't make it Monday as planned.  They don't show up, then later will tell you "I didn't know how to contact you over the weekend. I meant to call on Monday morning but I forgot."  

Yet, if they have a tax question they want answered immediately, they're blowing up your voice mail with multiple calls at midnight Saturday or Sunday.  

Funny how that works. 

Hike the bill for those calls and missed appointments.  I am getting SO tired and ticked off with those types of shenanigans, and I am hiking bills (easy for me; I lower the discount given!) for things I used to shrug off.

[JohnH]

I understand the frustration, but I don't charge for missed appointments.  Most of my clients mail or email their info to me, and appointments are only for those who simply MUST bring their info in and hand it over (hopefully not one piece at a time).  There's always something on my desk to be done so I just turn to something else and don't consider the time for a missed appointment wasted.  But I'd probably have a different attitude if I kept a full appointment calendar and a missed appointment throws it off schedule.  

[RitaB]

I don't even make appointments.  I tell people to drop off when they have all their crap.  Most do just that.  Obviously, we talk as necessary about their information and when something is extraordinarily different, etc.  (And yak, yak, yak, too.  Oh, and the inevitable, "I took out some of my retirement, but they already paid the taxes, there it is.  Thank you, I would never have know what that was.  A 1099-R, hmmm, so that's how they do that.)

When someone does call ahead (I'd just as soon they didn't) and tells me when they're coming, about 1/2 the time they miss it.  I generally let it go in one ear and out the other.  Can't imagine having an appointment calendar.  I'd have to kill somebody I know.

[Jack from Ohio]

2 minutes ago, RitaB said:

I don't even make appointments.  I tell people to drop off when they have all their crap.  Most do just that.  Obviously, we talk as necessary about their information and when something is extraordinarily different, etc.  (And yak, yak, yak, too.  Oh, and the inevitable, "I took out some of my retirement, but they already paid the taxes, there it is.  Thank you, I would never have know what that was.  A 1099-R, hmmm, so that's how they do that.)

When someone does call ahead (I'd just as soon they didn't) and tells me when they're coming, about 1/2 the time they miss it.  I generally let it go in one ear and out the other.  Can't imagine having an appointment calendar.  I'd have to kill somebody I know.

I am always good for your bail!!  We all know EXACTLY how you feel!!

[RitaB]

4 minutes ago, Jack from Ohio said:

I am always good for your bail!!  We all know EXACTLY how you feel!!

Thanks, we all need a "ride or die" homie!

[joanmcq]

Many of mine drop off or send e-docs, but yesterday a couple who had always come in even though they live a good 40 miles away, brought in their 8 week old puppy. So I interviewed them with a puppy on my lap, and we talked dogs while also talking taxes. It made my day.  They even wanted to meet my new pup, a 45 lb wriggling jumpy ball of excitement pittie.   Tiggy gets SO excited to meet people!  I have to cage her because she likes people too much, not because she's a danger, lol.

[David W Ristau CPA]

Moving to Maui changed the approach to appointments. "Maui time" means anytime within 4 or so hours of the agreed upon time. Unless of course the whales are jumping or surf's real good, then it's within 6 hours. I'm with Rita: drop your stuff off and  keep on going. I'll call with questions.... Mahalo!

[RitaB]

5 hours ago, David Ristau CPA said:

I'm with Rita: drop your stuff off and  keep on going. I'll call with questions.... Mahalo!

Or just fling it at the door.  Anything to avoid the catching up.  Please, let's catch up in June when you bring me an ice cream cone.  I swear, guys, I had a lady talk non-stop for 45 minutes yesterday about her husband dying in the bathroom, and the son couldn't make it in from Corpus Crispy, and the autopsy, and the brother with cancer, and the depressed mother. 

And, no, I am not shushing her, or charging her double.  But, wow, some clients wear you out.  When she picks up, all of you have to blow up my office phone.  Thanks in advance.

[Roberts]

Have a client who just can't comprehend how his tax went up.

Got a $3k raise (adjusted his W4 so he withheld less) and lost a $9k loss on his tax return and he's  been emailing me for over a week needing further explanation. His biggest problems are that he has 400 miles of driving to deduct and his ex-wife claimed their new child  and his ex-wife has a new house with a mortgage deduction so why would his tax go up with those new deductions - on his ex-wife's return? 

It takes everything I've got to not ask if he's had a head trauma lately. Already put a note in my calendar to send him a letter next December explaining why I won't be available next year. Usually I would just charge him more but he's not worth any amount.

[kcjenkins]

7 hours ago, David Ristau CPA said:

Moving to Maui changed the approach to appointments. "Maui time" means anytime within 4 or so hours of the agreed upon time. Unless of course the whales are jumping or surf's real good, then it's within 6 hours. I'm with Rita: drop your stuff off and  keep on going. I'll call with questions.... Mahalo!

Hey, David, where the heck have you been hiding?  It's like a blast from the past to see your name again!  Welcome back, old friend. 

[RitaB]

My Malox moment yesterday was when the guy wondered why he didn't get EIC this year.  You did but your self-employment tax exceeded it.  Oh, and his income went up 20,000 because HE GAVE ME HIS INVOICE BOOK TO ADD UP HIS SALES.  Yes indeed HIS fee went up.  $25 for the ten minutes of bookkeeping, $25 for the stupid @$$ question, and $50 for the verification that he's a cheater.   I hate EIC so much.

[Catherine]

2 hours ago, RitaB said:

<snip>

And, no, I am not shushing her, or charging her double.  But, wow, some clients wear you out.  When she picks up, all of you have to blow up my office phone.  Thanks in advance.

Send out an SOS at the time and include your number.  We'll all take turns calling.

[Roberts]

Same client as above - sent me an email with 12 questions.

9 of them were "why isn't this on my Schedule E" or "why isn't this on my Schedule A"?

Almost every one of them it was the opposite of where he expected it.

 

Now he wants to deduct some utilities that he never told me about - $200. He also says he has a personal loan and wants to deduct the interest but not report the SSN of who he paid the interest.

[JohnH]

At the rate he is going, this client may not last until December. 

You might need to fire him before the return is filed.

[Catherine]

He might not last until March, let alone December!

[jklcpa]

I had one woman aggravate me with 8 emails all in one afternoon, each containing multiple questions and wanting to have extensive messaging with in-depth answers. She was a fraction of an inch from being told to find someone else. She wants these detailed explanations so to learn about the law, and that's fine for her to want to understand her return, but she doesn't need the depth of knowledge that she wants (like she could be a preparer herself).  

[jklcpa]

Yesterday's aggravation was my retired hairdresser client. Her husband called last week to drop off records and was told to make an appt or use the drop box outside. Didn't want to use the box, told him appts available on Tues, and he wouldn't set up a time. Over the weekend he said it was too cold to come out. They live about 1/4 mile away, and these are people that want to show up during snowstorms before the driveway and sidewalk is cleared, and he's had double hip replacements!  Yesterday the wife calls my office phone while I was rushing to get something finished before going to mom's for a meeting with a health care professional, and she doesn't leave a message but instead instantly hung up and called my cell phone that was sitting on my desk next to the office phone she just called. She also knows I use call forwarding to the cell phone. Ridiculous!  Then they refuse the box again and husband had already headed out of their house on the way over here.  I was ready to explode when he got here, was late getting to mom's , but thank goodness the health care person was running a little behind schedule.  These are people that my family and I have known forever, and they know better, and know mom's and my situations. I really feel like they are taking advantage. They may get a letter after the season is over. They also complained one year because I raised their fee by $5.00.  Seriously, $5.00!!!!!!

[kcjenkins]

    It's time to tell them you are trimming back, and next year they need to find someone else. They are clearly too selfish to consider anyone else but their own wishes.  probably also, if he did fall, he'd sue you.