Wipfli - Sterling, Illinois

Tammy V.

Disappointed and heartbroken, that is how I feel after my experience with Michelle and this firm.

For nearly 40 years, my father has use this firm for his business taxes. Unfortunately, he passed away in September of last year. I decided to keep consistency, since they already knew the ins and outs of his returns, and utilize them one last time to file his 2020 taxes.

Thank goodness my father was very organized, and the firm already had a good grasp on how he detailed things from year to year, so filing his taxes this year were no different than any other year, minus maybe a piece of paperwork because of his passing.

I thought that his taxes were being taken care of and this would all be done without a snag. It was, until I receive the bill.

Since my father owned his own business, I knew that fees for filing his taxes would be a little higher that a normal tax return, but I was shocked when I received a bill from the firm for $750!

I went back through the last few years of my father‘s tax returns, and last year the fees to the firm were $375. In the five years before that they had gone up every year by maybe $10 or $20.

Taken a back, I reached out to Michelle to inquire about the fees. She became very defensive and hesitant to answer my questions, told me she would have to call me back, and hung the phone up on me.

She has yet to call me back, and will only communicate with me through email. When I asked her for an itemized invoice of her fees, she sent me a breakdown with over estimated unit rates for the couple minutes that she spent consulting with me in order to justify the cost.

I understand that she was probably looking at the fact that this client is never coming back, so I can charge whatever I want to, but this is totally taking advantage of the situation. It’s hard enough to lose a parent, but then to be taken advantage of in this way is despicable.

Never were her fees discussed with me prior to doing his tax returns. I assume they would be similar to what he has paid for the last few years, with a small increase, but the itemized invoice showing that hours were spent consulting me when I have only communicated with her for less than 10 minutes!

I consulted with retired member of this firm, and other CPAs in the industry, who all assured me that these fees were out of line.

Shame on her and this firm for allowing this type of manipulation. Not that I was going to, but this assures the fact that I would never utilize their services again, and I recommend that no one else does either.