ARTHUR DEBENEDICTIS CPA

On referral from a financial planner, I made an appointment my to have my taxes prepared after getting divorced, selling a home, and moving.  When I arrived for the appointment, there was very little conversation.  He flipped through the paperwork and asked about two missing documents.  He closed my file and I got the sense that he was finished.  I asked about the timeline once I could provide the documents and he indicated that things could be finished later that day.  I easily obtained one of the documents he had inquired about, but after two hours on the phone, I was unable to get my hands on the second one.  I emailed the document and described my difficulties with the other in the mid-afternoon.  I did not get a response that day.  I called mid-morning (Friday) and his secretary immediately put him on the phone.  I asked if he had received my emailed document and about alternatives for the other document (as I had in my email).  He said that he could work around it and confirmed that he received my emailed document.  I told him from the beginning that I was in a time crunch for personal reasons. He assured my that my case was easy and wouldn't take much time.  Mid-morning on Monday, I called again.  This time his secretary pushed me off and said that he was working on it right now and in the same sentence that he was busy with another client  I told her that we had discussed my time constraints and that I needed to have things completed today or find another tax preparer.  She put me on hold and came back with a loud aggressive tone in her voice saying that he had only had the information for three days, that I had been missing documents, and they would send my paperwork back to me.   At this point, I'm thinking that three days seems like a long time, it never took my ex that long, H & R block doesn't take that long, and he said it would be easy and not take much time.  I didn't verbalize any of this.  I calmly said that there was nothing to argue about but that I wouldn't be able to wait for them to be mailed and would pick them up at his office.  So, I did.  I went to H & R Block in Melrose where everyone was very nice and they gave my $25 off because the appointment started five minutes late.  I was done in an hour. Art Debenedictis surely doesn't appreciate your time or your business.