[ Back to Me 'n H&R Block home ]
13Apr00
I called H&R Block 816.504.1500 using an AT&T calling card I got. After all, they are forcing me to make a toll call, so why not use free long distance? So I'm on hold almost 12 minutes and I get disconnected. I want credit, but I don't have the actual card with me, so I can't look up the service number. So I called AT&T at the only number I have handy: 800.225.5288. I talked with Lee xxxxxx. First of all, she asked very nosy questions -- my home address and the last four digits of my SSN. I wonder if she was running a credit check on me. Anyway, she did tell me the right service number and connected me with Kathy, who credited me.
I tried calling H&R Block again. The same thing happened -- disconnected after about 12 minutes.! I talked with someone else at AT&T who told me I would get 4 minutes credit. I complained because I had used up 12 minutes before being cut off. She said that happens sometimes when the access number gets busy. I pressed for the full 12 minute credit. Then she told me that I only got a 1 minute credit for the first call. Thanks for nothing, Kathy! Well, I complained, and she talked with her supervisor. She told me she would give me a 24 minute credit, but that the "card wasn't designed for that," and I shouldn't use it if I'm going to be on hold. So now H&R Block and AT&T are now both held in low esteem by me. Is it companies with an ampersand in their names?
Then I called H&R Block using a regular line. The recording said there was an average 15 minute wait. I got thru after 23 minutes. I Spent 5 minutes with someone, and I asked for refund. He told me to call 800.457.9525 to get the refund. I talked with Donetta [sp?] at that number. She told me to call 800.472.5625 (800-HRBLOCK) for my refund. I called, and that computer talked about refund rewards. Was Donetta confused? I called 800.457.9525 again and talked with Julie. She said Digital River at 800.656.5426 handles Internet orders and I should call them for my refund.
I called Troy at DigitalRiver. They run H&R Block's online store and phone orders. He can find no record of my order. He tried my phone number, my e-mail address, my home address. He can't find it. He asks me for my credit card number to try to trace by that. I won't give it out. He said that "sometimes" the vendor handles order themselves. So I decide to try H&R Block again.
I talked with Cruz at 800.457.9525. She told me to call 816.504.1500. That's the place where they have information for orders from hrblock.com. Oh, brother. Now I'm feeling the full effects of the runaround.
I talked with Tiana at 816.504.1500. She's willing to process my refund, but she wants my H&R Block account name and password. I said no to the password and said I would have to know more about why they needed it before I would even consider giving it to them. After 10 minutes on hold, all she came back with is that her supervisor wants to log into my account to see if I did what I said. I asked to speak with a supervisor. She said they were all in a meeting. I asked for a name or a number other than 816.504.1500. She would give neither. I still refused to give her my password, and she could give me no guarantee about the next step. "It might be a phone call, it might be e-mail." So at this point I'm planning to dispute the charge the moment it shows up on my credit card bill. I"ve wasted half the day on this.