LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints
UnhappyFranchisee.com asked: Are LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Owners Happy? If you’re familiar
with the Liberty Tax franchise, please share a comment below.
Entrepreneur magazine has ranked the Liberty Tax Service franchise #3 behind McDonald’s & Subway. However, some commenters who claimed to be former Liberty Tax franchisees left stern warnings on the Franchise-chat forum.
This post was originally published
BostonTax wrote:
I’m a former Liberty Tax Franchisee
I hope you are ready for a little enlightenment! I held a successful Liberty Tax Franchise for 5 years until I decided to let the franchise agreement lapse. I did this for a few reasons:
1. The royalty fees were outrageous! 14% went to normal royalty while and ADDITIONAL 5% went for so called advertising royalties. The ad royalties were supposed to be put back into your local market to build the brand name. This was never done! All advertising in addition to the ad royalty I had to pay for because it did not fit into Liberty’s concept of advertising. I don’t know exactly what the concept was because our AD could not give an answer and the approved methods changed by the week.
2. Corporate was totally unresponsive to the needs of the franchisees. The AD system is designed to recruit anyone who can write a check for 100K. No other skills or ability required.
3. The minute you are behind in a royalty payment, they send you a notice to cure. After that, if you don’tpay, they try to terminate your franchise agreement.
4. Upon termination, Liberty enforces through legal proceeding a 2 year, 25 mile radis non compete clause that is in the franchise agreement. This is enforceable in the Eastern Division of the Federal District court, where, at least 2 Liberty friendly judges preside.
5. Liberty does not recognize chargebacks for bad debts as an adjustment for your royalty fees. All royalties are based on your gross, not your net collectable. This was an ongoing issue with them and the accounting department did not have the ability or the inclination to resolve!
My best advice is do not go with these guys, they are bad news. If you like to have people collect royalties and provide no support, then this is the franchise for you! It is very expensive to get into, the initial fee is around $32K just to buy the territory plus those pesky royalties. You can’t make money on this concept.Most of the surviving franchisees I’ve talked to in the last 2 years have experienced great difficulty not only in making a profit, but in the corporate support or lack thereof.Remember, 19% of your gross is getting kicked back to Liberty, which is excessive by any standards. Please do yourself a favor and call former franchisees ,those that are currently getting sued (they are very likely to talk, as I found out), and current ones to try to get the straight poop.
Barbara Green wrote:
I too was a Liberty Tax Franchisee and I agree with everything you said.
The only reason for purchasing any franchise is because the business model is a proven marketing success as evidenced by the profitable franchisees. That is why you pay a license fee of $25,000. Being profitable is not in the cards for a Liberty Tax franchisee. Liberty Tax’s market/ business model is aimed at individuals who have very simple tax returns, i.e one W-2 and standard deduction which is why they were very successful in Norfolk, Va. That market is full of military people with one w-2.
Liberty will sell anyone a franchise at any location, in any georgraphic area, even if there is not a chance in hell of the franchisee being successful.
At one time, I too owned a Liberty Tax Franchise for one tax season. It was only one season because of the behavior of the Regional Manager who called me on January 15th demanding and screaming “Why had I not generated 200 tax returns and that maybe this business was not for me. I was stunned and confused since employers are given until January 31st. to give w-2’s to employees. Apparently, he thought that I was in Norfolk, Va. where that is possible.
It only goes downhill from there. The bottom line is I lost all of my investment in this businees (approx. $80,000) because I closed it rather than becoming a victim of this unethical company. NOthing would make me happier than to be a part of a class action lawsuit.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU OR HAVE YOU OWNED A LIBERTY TAX SERVICE FRANCHISE? ARE LIBERTY TAX SERVICE FRANCHISEES HAPPY? WHY OR WHY NOT?
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Dan,
It is entertaining to read all the comments on this board — most of them are emotions venting as you probably already assumed. I too am a multi-unit owner in my 2nd decade with Liberty. I have my own feelings about Liberty and JH but try to keep them to myself since I am here to make money — not make a friend. With that said — JH is a legend in his own mind and he does surround himself with those who drink the Kool-Aid.
I make a good living. I have never had to borrow from Liberty and never would but I do understand why some folks do. You have to be in a LOW income territory to truly be successful. Middle class areas can succeed but it will take you much longer.
You need to test what works for you. Door hangers stink for me so I don’t do them. Roadside parties were horrible. Cash in a Flash — some areas work some areas — its an insult. Appreciation week — why would anyone do a free return for someone making $100k? An most importantly — its illegal where I am to give gifts to public servants. Just because something is in the ops manual doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for you. Don’t just accept — ask why and experiment.
This is not a 4 month job — it is much more. It will require your time and effort. The payoff comes in future years so have another income or source of income for the first couple and you will see that the investment was worth it.
Horatio and Dan
Stay far away from Liberty Tax.
You will be promised the moon, but the moment after you signed that contract you will quickly get to see the other side of Liberty Corporate. Read this contract carefully, and you will notice quite a few items that will get you in the end. You will also notice that this is a living contract and it is tied to Liberty’s operation manual which you cannot see until you sign. The operations manual is constantly in flux.
Let’s begin with the Area Developer – you can not hold this individual responsible for any advice or anything that you do that they instructed you do. The contract gives them an automatic get out of jail card. The AD’s interest is getting their share of royalty income, not your personal welfare. They are investors that have invested a huge fortune.
Taking legal action against Liberty Corporate you must take the case to the federal court systems in located Norfolk Virginia. This is a huge advantage for Liberty Corporate as their in house legal team is very well known, within the Norfolk federal court house, must of these judges are Liberty Corporate friendly. Liberty understands that you will not be able to truly afford a legal battle, especially if you live outside of Virginia. This stacks the odds highly in their favor hoping you will either quickly disapear or give in. You may have an attorney that tries to convince you otherwise, just Google JTH Tax and you will see lots of cases and JTH Tax is almost always the winner.
Freedom of Speech, you will notice that when you leave Liberty on good or bad terms that you cannot talk or discuss anything about Liberty for the rest of your life. If it has been discovered that you are talking about Liberty, they will quickly take you to court for damages. You have just given away a good part of your life during your time with Liberty. The contract makes sure that you forfeit your freedom of speech, which you agreed to when you signed the contract. You probably have noticed that all of the individuals posting on this site use alias names.
Support, you are going to be promised all kind of support, but you will quickly discover that it does not truly exist. Technical and marketing support is very limited and extremely poor. Do expect to go days without an answer. Tax support is average, most of this support is provided by fellow zees and other Liberty Corporate individuals. Area developer support is practically non existence. Usually the only time you hear from the AD is during tax season. They do not exist to help you build or grow or business.
Liberty’s growth, you will be truly misinformed. In 2014 it was not in the brick and mortar offices that had a growth, it was in the online market. To verify this check Liberty’s 2014 financial report, take the number of Liberty offices and divide it by the number of new returns that were completed, each office only grew by 14 tax returns. So if an office grew by more than 14 returns, it meant another return count went down. This does not sound very good for someone opening a new office.
600 returns for a 1st year store, don’t get caught up that you new office will do a minimum of 600 returns that is not even close to being true. Liberty will not disclose to you the actual average return count of a new office for the previous year, but it is right around 163 returns. They will only tell you about the exceptional office. There are less than 125 Liberty offices nationwide that do greater than 1000 returns.
Liberty brand name – You are going to be sold that Liberty Tax is a household name and that is far from the truth. Liberty has no national advertising plan on either TV or radio. You have do all of the marketing and advertising. Liberty’s advertising plan is geared towards low income markets, which turns off clients in middle to upper middle income areas. Too many Liberty offices have taken a national symbol and turned it into a clown. People will not flock to your office because of the name, this is not McDonalds. You also find out that there are not standard prices amongst Liberty offices, offices do no work together instead they compete against each other, and there is no standard advertising between offices.
Liberty Corporate owns your clients, and everything in your office. The contract gives them the right to make compliance inspections at anytime. They will come in and review your client files, computers, advertising, employee files and anything else.
Selling your territory, it is very difficult to sell your territory especially for what you paid for it. The resale value is pennies on a dollar not your investment.
Liberty Corporate conference calls – you will be sold about the important wisdom that John Hewitt shares for individuals listening to the corporate conference call, but you will quickly discover that is far from the truth. Actually John says very little.
Finally, you will be sold on the idea that you are the CEO of your business, and that is far from the truth. You are actually a puppet and slave to the Liberty system. You have no rights and no voice. If you challenge Liberty’s system or lack of, you will be cast aside, stomped on, compliance checks and anything else that Liberty Corporate can think of they will do. Spend the resources and have an attorney go over each line and each paragraph before signing your rights and your life away.
@Dan – Great info. Thanks. What the most successful LTS people have done is diversify off their money with LTS into totally different business streams. I have seen it done time and again.
They started in the LOW income areas to make the money, so they can spring board off. However, people that were piled onto each other in a small area, only the largest one won out and would give free returns to the $100,000 people, which cut out the little zees.
Having AD’s owning territories and directly competing against the people he sold territories too. That is always fun. He takes the extra royalties and markets his territories against the people paying him. Good times to be had by all!
The one size fits all does not work in 100% of the situations. That is the point of this board.
I am beginning to believe that Horatio, Dan I, and Dan II are bogus commenters. First, John Barilla we know is full of it. So, they have to create more myths and whom better to do it than people thinking about buying now? Second, Horatio and Dan I appear out of no where to give the impression that they are thinking about buying territories just before first peak starts? Next, Dan II is another successful franchisee who states that “the payoff comes in future years”. Nice try on mixing in truth about the drawbacks of owning a franchise territory with positives.
Anyway, if John B and Dan II are so successful, shouldn’t they be busy right now managing their little tax kingdoms?
Oh, lest I not forget that the rest of us are losers. So John B., please save you keystrokes with that description of us, we get it.
^^Sad but true:
You have a good point there! How many corporate dweebs can post as potential franchisees? After all, they have no skin in the game so they can post & say anything to make anyone feel better about emptying their pockets out and handing it all away to them anyway.
NCHillbilly:
You are brilliant. An EXCELLENT post. Needs to be said quite often because of course 4,000+ unhappy posts are NOT enough! :( It’s almost like they are arguing that it can’t be that bad! Yes, it is! Don’t believe us? Go ahead, hand them over your wallet. It’s not like anyone didn’t warn them! Boy how I wish this site was here when I signed. I definitely would have thought longer & harder & asked a ton more questions. And saved myself soooo many years of stress & grief. And money.
If you are familiar with Tax Laws, do it yourself!! As uphillbattle has stated as many others have: Better to do it yourself than be trapped in the misery of having to deal with all their rules and fee intercepts. Then the money goes into YOUR own pocket at the end of Tax season, not theirs. There is NO magic formula they have!!! They like you to think there is!! Everything’s a big secret–NOT :( That’s how they sell “territories” which is so bogus to begin with.
I really feel for the unsuspecting people that have signed and began this year. They don’t know what’s about to hit them and until JTH is stopped once & for all, it will continue. How sad.
I cannot speak for anyone else, but I (dan 1 i think) know that I am only posting using the name dam. im not impersonating or claiming to be anyone else. I dont know how to prove it, and if you dont believe me, that is ok. I was coming here hoping to get some good advice, and that i did. A lot of what was told seems in direct conflict with what LTS has said, so it has been a little bit hard to stomach,
Right now i feel as if my world was just turned upside down in the last few days and i dont know what to do, I am sure you all can relate.
For what its worth I think that i am going to take the suggestion of not rushing into anything and not going in anywhere this year.
unsure of where i am going to go from here…
Dan – Since you know taxes, order from a tax preparer system and open a small office and do some advertising and shoot for the later season people. If you have a place pretty inexpensive or can afford the one LTS had chosen for you, just do it on your own. With LTS that is all your doing anyway.
Starting my 2nd season as a independent and certified with IRS, I am slow, but starting to get my appointment’s in the door. I am so happy not to listen to the crapola phone calls, and listening to Heather (nothing against her personally) having a new theme every week or a tax season. I did like her music in the beginning. If I hear the word “AWESOME” from her one more time, I was going to send her a dictionary!! John stays on for about 2-3 minutes and says like – Stay the course, this season is not normal or a number of buzz sentences.
I don’t have to worry about someone stopping by and handing me a notice of cure or talking to my landlord and taking over my location for their pleasure.
I have an additional 20% and time of no stress. With 20% I can invest in advertising, better equipment or just have money in general.
Stepping away and taking a breather is the best. Good Luck!
Dan:
You are incredibly LUCKY that you have decided to step back & re-evaluate. Smart thinking!! There is nothing like the pressure you get from Liberty to sign on the dotted line. Read NC Hillbilly’s post very carefully. It is 100% the truth.
THEY have perfected the art of marketing and ripping people off. At this date you should not be signing on to be a brand new franchisee for this season. The fact that they are allowing it is disgraceful.
Push back & step back. Better to be sick to your stomach now BEFORE parting with your hard earned money. Really great decision on your part. A decision you will not regret. Unfortunately it will still be there next year if you decide to sign with them then. Hope you don’t. :(
Dan,
Try using Drake. I is a great tax software and you can do any tax return on it. The full version is $1,500.00 dollars and the support is great. The only problem is that you have to make your own back up of information. They will not keep client return information. You can get a bank product through them, and it costs less.
Another possible advantage is that Liberty uses Drake to do corporate returns. They do not want to sink resources in a sector that is only 1% of the income.
I presently use drake and love it.
Dan: Your making a good decision. Remember “Slow and Steady Wins The Race”. This is very true in the tax industry. If you build solid relationships with your clients they literally will be with you for a life time.
You received great advice from this site and saved yourself a lot of money remember to pay it forward.
Best of Luck!!!
I went to get my taxes prepare on 1/24/15 at liberty Tax service at 11151 Avalon los Angeles California 90059 the lady who help me name is Gregorian L, after she finished type everything in her computer I asked her how much will this cost and she told me to wait so AFTER I sign everything I asked again how much im getting back she told me $1850.00 and I asked why she said because she’s charging me $628.00 for preparing my taxes I didn’t agree to the price and she stated I submitted already and was very rude about it . I think this was ILLEGAL what she is doing!! What COST$628.00 for 30 minutes of her Time im going to the Better Business Bureau because this dont make since to be ROBBING SINGLE MOM’S
Annette, if you want, you can to go to irs.gov in the search box (upper right hand corner type in “abusive preparer” and then follow the instructions. Call Liberty Tax at 800-790-3863 and DEMAND to talk to John Hewitt, he is in charge of customer service. Tell him you want your money back. They will tell you he is not available etc. etc. but be persistent! They have a satisfaction guarantee…..were you satisfied??
Dan and Horatio,
If you read Ms. Johnson’s post above, that the problems you will have. The bill is not itemized, and the client will not see it until they pick up their copy of the forms. You are told to not discuss price, and to get the customer to sign all of the forms. At that point you make a big deal of the $50 or $100 dollars to get them excited and leave happy. Normally it is not until they pick up their check and the copy of the return that they discover they have been ripped off.
Good luck if you plan on continuing on with the process.
Ms. Johnson, California has laws for tax preparers.
Pay the State’s Attorney General’s office a visit and state your complaints.
Also, check to see if there are city regulations for tax preparers.
The above mentioned actions carry more weight than complaining to the Better Business Bureau.
Good luck to you.
John Barilla posted this on Jackson Hewitt’s website: “You guys have 2800 Walmart location with crazy rents that were increased and the reason HR block got out and Liberty is mostly out as it makes no sense.”
This time last year John B was saying how great an idea it was to open in Wal-Mart.
What really happened is the company lost all creditability with its franchisees. The franchisees know there is no way Liberty will operate a Wal-Mart location inside of an existing territory because of the cost of operating the Kiosk would have to be paid by Corp. and they can’t afford those losses.
It will be interesting to see if Wal-Mart goes after them for breach of contract.
To offset the decline in franchisees and Wal-Mart Locations, Liberty came up with Siempre Tax. Another way of coercing franchisees to open another location to help booster the number of offices open this year. This lame attempt is going no where as a search for these tax offices found only a couple of individual offices with the rest being part of a Liberty Tax office.
The King has no clothes and this tax season people will start to notice.
Buyer Beware!!!
No dummy. Walmart changed the agreements for 2015 by quadrupling rents, with charging up to $20k rent in some locations. At $5k the rent the kiosks locations made a lot of sense last year. At $20k Walmart can keep them or give them to Jackson Hewitt. Liberty Tax has more Brick and Mortar spots than Jackson Hewitt and has for a few seasons now. HR Block keeps reducing its number of offices and tax returns. I would rather be with a growing company than either of those other two. Why do you keep making up lies? Give it up my friend. You failed because of YOU, not the Liberty Tax system!
John I was going to point out to you that if there was an agreement i.e. contract there would be contractual obligations on both sides. If either side violated the terms of the contract then the injured party would have the right to damages and would initiate legal proceedings. Most likely it would be Wal-Mart pursuing litigation against Liberty.
However, I decided it would be pointless because of your financial stake with this company will not let you answer honestly.
Looks like Bill Cobb of H&R was featured on Foxnews to discuss the tax season. Does Liberty even exist anymore ? The one that I drive past on my way to work is still as dark as night. So much for 6 AM to 10 PM during peak season!!
For those curious I have decided not to go with LTS for next year. I have rented out a small office room inside a financial place for this season. I have been open a week and already done 20 returns.
I am well on my way to breaking my last years sales and could not be happier. Time will tell but I think I am making the correct decision.
I may revisit a tax franchise at some point, but it won’t be next season. I want to see how far I can go with this on my own.
Thanks again for all your help and advice. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Horation: Your making the right decision. After tax season you should take the time to look at franchising overall. What you will discover is a model that was once constructed to benefit the interest of both parties has changed. Now a concept is marketed as a viable business, paying the franchisee fee funds them and thanks to how the contracts are structured, the new franchisee becomes a crash dummy.
If you review this site and the internet there are many franchises that target a start up cost of $50,000.00. Most if not all of these franchises are legal scams and are targeted at the middle class. The middle class is a perfect market, enough equity in their home or values in their retirement funds to buy a franchise but most don’t have enough money to legally pursue the franchisor. More importantly there are no federal laws to protect their interest. The FCC is a joke and the required franchise agreement does not require data based on the overall performance of all franchisees. It allows the franchisor to selectively pick what performance information is disclosed.
do you think with John’s new book and all of its awesome sales he will finally be able to afford braces to help his bucked teeth?
Horatio,
Rest assured you made the right move.
You are doing as many, if not more, business than if you had bought a LT franchise.
There is no way you would have done 600 returns with a new office – lucky if you do 200. You would be spending money on wavers, donuts, marketers, etc. and when the customers still don’t walk in the Area Developer (what a joke!) would tell you to spend MORE! That its all your fault, you are doing something wrong.
I, as well as the 4 franchisees in my area, have all gotten out. That is 5 for 5.
The corporate goonies on this site want you to believe that we are “loosers.” Really? All 5 of us had/have successful other businesses, the backbone and the means to buy and run a franchise. We are not loosers – the good territories are gone, the system doesn’t work for all territories and, IMHO, the model is loosing favor with the public in general. These people are croo ks.
I am one of the lucky ones – while I lost money – I didn’t have to borrow any either. I am too busy with a successful business (and my life) to frequent this site often but believe me, there are PLENTY of people who have been taken and feel the same contempt for this franchise.
Good Luck in the future.
ZeeOut: Unless it would compromise who you are would you mind giving us
the State your store was located in.
South Jersey is a dying area for franchise sales. There are a couple of main stays, Glassbore, Clementon, Mt Holly and Camden. Every other territory is less then 5 years old and most likely will be closed by the end of their 5th year.
There was a store in Atlantic City up till tax season started but that’s been removed from the board. I do see there are now two in Vineland, one at 703 E. Landis Avenue and one at 705 E. Landis Avenue. One office most have the Liberty Tax Sign and the other the Siempre Tax sign. Just out of curiosity I called and one office answered the other went to someone’s voice mail. I wonder how many
bogus stores are listed on their website.
Could someone recommend what software I can buy to work as an independent tax preparer? I currently work at a Liberty Tax and I was thinking of openingmy own office (in a different state) but I don’t want to get a franchise. (or what software you would recommend)
Thank you
You should try Drake. It is a good system, with good support. If you have done a corporate return for Liberty, you have used Drake. The one thing Drake does not do is store returns in a corporate area. You will need to set up an external back-up, with a good automatic back-up schedule.
During the season, my back-up is daily.
I like the program and I use it for my clients. It does have some quirks, but all programs have them.
I hope this helps.
I use Drake and I believe it is the best and especially has the best support. Phil Drake and his family are very centered on our happiness and being available and helpful as possible. They offer bank products and make sure everything you need to start a business is available along with CE.
Out and Glad, which external system do you recommend for back up daily?
I use a Western Digital 1 TeraByte external drive. You can use any type you like. I have seen 4 TB drives for under $125.00
I do agree about Drake. I will not use any other software.
Thanks for the information!
What’s the cost for using Drake? is it a one time fee or is there a monthly subscription?
Thanks!
Ok, I found the pricing, I see two options, what do you guys use or recommend?
Options: http://i.imgur.com/I9dbmWP.png
It depends on the number of returns you plan to do. If you are going to do less than 100 returns, the pay per return option is good. Look into it, if you purchase 100 returns they change it into the full option.
Look on http://www.drakesoftware.com. That is the official website. The pay per return price is $300 dollars for 15 returns. You would then have to purchase extra returns at $20.00 per return. Once you reach 85 returns it is converted to an Unlimited license. You can do an Unlimited license for $1495 dollars.
Horatio, Dan and now Richard:
You are ALL doing a wonderful thing by backing away from this franchise. There are not enough negative words to describe what they do each & every day to unsuspecting average people that get suckered into their sales pitch. It is such a blessing when I hear & read that people have backed away before signing. It’s music to my ears. My life would be SOOOO much different today if I had this website to warn me about the pitfalls of this franchise. But life is about learning and growing. And life is also about extremely stressful situations that happen to unsuspecting innocent people. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Losing thousands. Literally thousands. For what? To line HIS pockets so he can buy more prostitutes. I grew up REAL fast after this stressful experience. Did I mention STRESSFUL?? It is SOOOO not worth it, especially if you already have Tax experience! Do it on your own. Build it up each year. Give good service with a smile. Reasonable prices. They will refer friends & family to you. You won’t have to hand out $50 bills either. And you won’t have to have this franchise breathing down your neck. YUCCH.
Take all this advice on this website from lots of us who have been miserable. The only place to go is far away from this company and never sign. I cannot stress how much of a bullet you’re dodging. Congratulations on decisions well made!! :) Go forward with your plans independent of this franchise and don’t look back. You will be saving yourself money & so much peace of mind.
Thanks San Fran Dan
I just hope I do not end up regretting it. Given more time to think, I dont I will.
The realty Dan is your a tax professional and not a salesman. If you listen to us and don’t go with Liberty you will be ultimately responsible for the results. However, if you do go with Liberty you will still be responsible for the results but you will have paid a franchise fee and committed your self to a minimum franchise fee of 5.000.00 the first year.8.000 the second and 11.000 per year after. Understand your own strengths and weaknesses and than offset your own skillts by paying someone.
Thanks for all the information, Drake software looks pretty good.
Unlimited license for $1495 dollars will cover unlimited (online?) returns? no extra money for 1 year? Next year is the same fee?
Thanks
I have Drake and if you buy the unlimited package early, I think by June, the price is deeply discounted, I paid $1095 for the early purchase.
Unlimited covers all types of returns, 1040, 1065, 1120, etc and also gives you access to the Document Management System. Drake returns are NOT online, the software sits on your hard drive and like many have said, make sure it is backed up!
I can’t turn on the TV without getting barraged by H&R Block ads with the guy dumping billions of dollars in refunds out of the cargo plane. It’s annoying, but I bet it’s effective. Has a great line about them making “tax season” into “refund season.”
When I think of Liberty Tax I think of the crackhead-looking dude they arrested in our town a year or two ago. The cops had him handcuffed on a busy sidewalk in his ratty Lady Liberty costume. They had him mistaken for another guy they were seeking, but it turned out he had outstanding warrants so they jailed him.
Do Liberty franchisees actually pay an advertising fee for that mascot strategy and no advertising like Block has? I think those wavers do more damage to the brand than good.
I am surprised that the IRS is not looking at H and R Block returns. Also anyone who is an actual tax payer would darken their doorway after this refund season. It is very disturbing and we will see if it doesn’t hurt them in the long run.
Bill,
My store was not in the Atlantic City area. But no surprise to hear that whole areas are failing. I am in NJ but several counties north. However, this failure isn’t just a NJ phenomenom.
ZeeOut: thanks for disclosing your location. The more relevant information we can provide the more valid our point. I would hope others will share approximately the area that their from. To say the lights are out in the stores near me is just to general. Liberty doesn’t provide facts. The more facts we provide the stronger case we build against this company.
And more developing news in the South NJ area, a few other stores (at least 4 that I know of) did not open up this year and were given back to Liberty! In the last few years, I think they have closed at least 10 stores!
^^^Good to hear offices are closing. However LTS still makes lots of money on the initial contract and then when they get some poor sucker to buy one of those offices they took back. For usually a lot more $$.
We need to continue to hurt them in their pocketbook as they have done to so many of us. I hate to see honest franchisees closing their offices but I do want SO much for LTS to close permanently.
Potential franchisees need to open their eyes and not be so taken in by their dog & pony show and the attention of the AD’s. That changes the minute you sign on the dotted line and have handed over the initial $$.
Horatio, Dan & Richard: The three of you are very smart to come on this website & read the REAL stuff about LTS. Not what they want you to hear. All of you will fare much better on your own, believe us. Good for you. I feel like a proud parent!
Anyone wanting to become a franchisee with LTS needs to just look at all their court cases against existing & ex franchisees. They are money hungry & law suit hungry. Many of this nonsense could have been avoided if they treated you like a person to begin with! A partner in growing their LTS franchises. They suck royally.
I used to be able to search the Liberty website and find a list of the States and
the number of offices in each state. Does anyone know where to find that list?
Andrea Jerome Of Hempstead Turnpike Franklin Square NY
An employee for Liberty Tax who has an exceedingly nasty attitude.
On Tuesday evening I came to this place as a walk in, in order to adjust my taxes that were already filed a week and a half before. I had the request to change my status from single to head of household. When I arrived at this location I had an interaction with Andrea Jerome, who was cordial at first but then quickly changed. She and her receptionist told me to fill out a form asking for my basic information such as name, address,etc and she told me where to sign.
After doing this, she then told me that she had to get something to eat to go on her break so she is prepared for us when she comes back so she is not sluggish and making mistakes. Okay no problem, she says this will just take from 15 to 30 minutes and she will be back. After about an hour she was not back and I went back home. When I returned home I called the assistant and requested an appointment for 12 noon, when I arrived Wednesday at that time, only myself and two other people were waiting. She was speaking to to numerous people on the phone and I was not called until 12:20(again I was only one of three people). She called me and went through my files from yesterday and pretended like what happened yesterday with her being very late never happened and didn’t acknowledge it or apologize.
What she did talk about was how I came on a crazy day and how busy Wednesdays are and she is moving about constantly. Stated she is glad how this is once a year only she has to deal with this. She told me days like Tuesday and Thursday are great days and when I reminded her I came on a Tuesday the day before and how I waited a while for her, no word of apology came out her mouth, she simply just said I was a walk in and appointments are best. She then worked on my the figures for my readjustment and wrote a peice of paper what my figures would be for federal and state and then gave me her business card. I had told her previously my return arrives Thursday morning(the next day) to my bank and she told me after the refund arrives she can only just take my word for it and to call her the next day and then come in with proof that the person i am claiming is my dependent and then I should pay then. When I called the assistant’s number I am told by her that “Andrea is not in the office” and asks me if I want to make an appointment for Monday. I say no thanks and realizing I dont’ want to deal with this experience anymore.
So I decide to go in and ask for my Form 1040 Individual Income Tax Return. When I walk in without even greeting me she is halfway standing up on the phone and screams out ” Do you have an appointment”? “I am on a conference call come back tomorrow” . I tell the receptionist who is looking caught off guard by how she is acting and tell her all I came for is my form 1040 document and nothing else. While Andrea is on the phone the receptionist goes under the desk and is taking out of the folder and Andrea snatches it from her and says in order to get my form back I have to be taken out of the system first and she isn’t gonna give me back my documents.
I tell her she is not allowed to do that and all I asked for is to get my stuff and that is it and she tells me she is gonna call the police now. I tell her how nasty she has been acting this entire time and she tells me “Your the one who took a couple weeks to realize you had a child you had to claim”. Bringing up something that is not her business. Andrea then told me that I came in when the place was closed. When I walked in it was 8:30 and she said well the lights were off we are closed and I told her the business is supposed to close at 9 pm not when she feels like it.
When I am not leaving yet she tells her assistant to walk over since she is on the phone and call the police and tell them to come. I tell her its okay you can tell them to come I”m still waiting for my documents and Andrea says the police wont get involved in an issue of “claim” and will only tell me to leave and believe her because “I am a tax professional”. When I say to her its all about you huh? She says yes right now it is. Yes Andrea was doing all of this while on the phone with someone in her “conference call”..Or more like she is talking to friends or her boyfriend while pretending its business. As I was leaving she screamed out to me I’m never getting my form back and pointed to the assistant telling her to close the door.
When I came up to the place I just rushed and did not bring my phone with me so I could not report this myself to the police automatically.
I have already reported her for employee misconduct and holding on to documents that do not belong to her without approval towards the IRS. If you ask around, I can promise you I am not the only person who has had a bad experience with Ms Jerome at this place.
Her cell phone number is [redacted]
Bill – I have noticed the same thing. If you google a certain office, like my old one it shows up half of the time, but when you go to LTS offices for my state, sometimes it shows up and other times it does not.
I completed all the unpaid training hours, passed all the tests and practiced on my own time. I was told I would get 20 hours a week. In January I only got 30. I am a first year preparer. I am not stupid but I took more time than the practiced preparers. I have a disability which I disclosed to Peter Hanson the owner that might make me a little slower. They are refusing to supply social security with my last pay stub. In addition I work in an office which Is predominately minority. I was having some trouble with 3 black customers in a row. The supervisor told me that some blacks don’t like whites. I have not received the hours promised. Don’t work for Liberty Tax they are liars and cheats.l
I was Franchisee for 7 years. I can tell you alot about how they treat there franchisees! They are the worst company to get involved with ,they treat you like shit. They will make you return fees to unhappy tax payer just because they didn’t get a loan on their taxes. Then you have to go through ZONES for your complutes which is about 3 times that you paid any where else.They change you 11,000.00 royalty year plus 5% advertising that you never see. The best joke of all is your area developer that you never see. I seen mine once in 7 years when I first open up. The last one couldn’t drive 50 miles ( from Kansas City MO to Saint Joseph MO) to see me after stating she would be there and I taking off work to be there at $20.00 hr job. I am planning to open a Mom and Pop in a few years . So Liberty Tax you know where you can go!!!!
Hi Sara – Did someone else acquire your territory? If so how are they doing?
I’m encouraging all former franchisees to post on here information in their area regarding how the remaining franchises are doing.,
The best way to have an impact on the fees charged by Block, JH, and Liberty are for more mom and pops to start-up tax prep businesses. The mom and pops are truly local business people and probably live in the community they serve. The tax prep consumer needs to realize it will always be better for them to deal with a mom and pop company that does good work.
So, if you have wandered on to this site looking for someone to do your taxes, give your local mom and pop a try.
If you are thinking about buying a tax franchise territory, think twice about it. The reputations for the big three are that they overcharge many of their customers. They almost have to charge a higher fee to stay in business. Your royalties keep the big boys fed, while you starve.
@Sad but true – Amen!! I am an independent, who owns and operates in my state along with owning the place I am operating my businesses out of. So I am also paying property taxes for my community, which the big three do not.
Of course the people who get EITC on most cases could careless, but the actual tax payers, like giving me the business not H&R who scare most of them for lack of knowledge in general.