H&R Block

I am very conflicted about this review, because we have had excellent experiences with this branch in previous years. Our tax advisor, Tamara, worked very hard with my husband and I to make sure that we maximized our education credits, asked us thorough questions to ensure we were claiming every deduction that was applicable to us, and made us feel like a priority in the middle of a very busy season.
This year, however, Tamara was no longer available and we were given a new advisor, Kimberly. We sat in silence for the first couple of minutes as she typed things into the computer. Rather than asking anything about us at all (not even a, «How are you doing today?»), she simply asked for our W-​2s and then for whatever else we brought with us. If it wasn’t for my husband prompting a conversation, I believe we would have sat in silence the entire time. She did not ask us any leading questions or offer any advice or suggestions to us.
For the first time in our married life, we are not receiving a return this year. I do not believe this is Kimberly’s fault, but I also do not believe she did everything she could to ensure we maximized our savings, deductions, etc. Paying H&R Block over $ 200 to do our taxes each year is justifiable when we feel our agent is doing everything they can to either (a) maximize our return, or (b) minimize what we owe. I felt that was the case for the past four years, but I do not feel so today.
As a side note, Kimberly said something shortly before we left her office that troubled me. After my husband commented on our owing money in taxes for the first time, she said, «About 90% of the people I’ve seen owe taxes this year.» I’m not sure if this is primarily a reflection upon her performance or upon H&R Block as a whole, but either way… it’s probably not something you should be saying when you work for a company who claims to be «getting America’s billions back.»