Complaint Review: Jeffrey Fouts

Several months ago I decided to retain an attorney to help with my unfiled tax returns. I did a lot of research online, and the only two firms that did not have negative consumer reports were Jeffrey Fouts (until now, anyway), and one of the large tax law firms. I called Jeffrey Fouts' office and spoke with a gentleman at length about their services.

The conversation was comforting and I felt reassured that I was dealing with a legitimate firm that would provide personalized service. My biggest concern was making sure that they could complete my overdue business tax returns - something I didn't feel qualified to do - and in fact the biggest part of the sales pitch was that they would complete the returns, by their own in-house CPA, under attorney-client privilege. In fact the gentleman (salesman?) did a good job of convincing me that it is foolish to file delinquent returns any other way than with an attorney, under attorney-client privilege.

I sent in my $1,200 retainer fee and signed service contract. Then the endless phone calls and emails began, asking when I would have my completed tax returns ready for them. When I told my representative that I was promised that their CPA would do the returns, she informed me that they no longer had a CPA available and that I'd need to either do the delinquent returns myself or have them done by a local CPA.

As if this weren't bad enough, they continued to bill my credit card in $500 increments until I'd spent well over $2,200 on NOTHING. When I finally demanded to know what I had been paying for all along, since they'd provided ZERO services up to this point, I learned that they were charging me $20 for every single "where are your tax returns" phone call, and every email as well! And I was receiving these calls and emails CONSTANTLY, just so they had an excuse to bill me!

At that point I'd had enough and cancelled my services. Then they had the nerve to bill me another $20 for the cancellation letter! I didn't pay that $20.

I signed on with the other tax relief law firm I mentioned at the beginning - the only other one that had no negative consumer complaints (and they still don't). Only a few weeks into my relationship with them, I'm happy to report that they have begun completing my tax returns based on the QuickBooks printouts I sent them. They are also very, very professional and the person doing my returns is not only a CPA but also both a licensed Attorney and Enrolled Agent, so I have complete confidence in their abilities. Needless to say, the experience far surpasses that of Jeffrey Fouts & Associates.

(I am not going to mention who I'm working with now, because if I did, it would discredit this report and come off as an advertisement for the other firm.)

If you have a tax problem, be sure to scour websites like this one, and Google, and make sure the tax attorney or law firm you choose to work with is clean and has no negative consumer reports against them.

Jthorley
Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.