(Federal Trade Commission) – According to a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, H&R Block has been allegedly been wiping out customer tax information when customers attempted to opt for a less expensive filing option.
In the complaint, an accusation of marketing deception describes H&R Block advertises ‘free’ filing for simple returns. The company made it difficult to determine what constituted a ‘simple return’, often changing their definition of simple.
Throughout the filing process, once it was determined customers weren’t eligible for free filing, the company would upsell more expensive services with no clear pricing.
If consumers opted for a cheaper package, first they were instructed to contact customer service. Then the company would offer a more expensive option or express they would delete the information already entered into the H&R Block system, effectively putting the customer into either paying more for an unwanted service, or start from scratch with the preferred option.
The FTC deemed this an intentional unfair practice, as opposed to a problem with the company’s system, as no information was lost for customers who chose to upgrade.
