would you get upset? ?? How would you handle this?

[scarleta]

Just need to get an opinion or opinions please and thank you.
Me and my family taxes are done by an accountant ( a very good and reputable one) Few years ago they mailed my forms after completion to a wrong address. I was very upset because its all confidential and someone else got it. I complained about it then.Now few years after they sent it in an email form to an address that no longer exists.( not my address in any case) ISP company was sold out over 4 years ago and everyone had to change their email address.
So I got a call asking to look at the email?.Of course no one knows where this email is but I did not get it.When I asked where it was emailed he said "the old, old address I had for you" No appology ? as yet..
Now as I said it happened to me only and noone else ( that I know of) and I don''t want to " shake the boat", but happy I am not.Everyone who uses this accounting firm is very impressed and happy ,so when I bring it up I get " the looks" Does this happen to others and they just accept it? I have no idea.Maybe I am expecting too much? Thanks so much.
Any ideas on how to handle this.

 

[oshinbreez]

I''d be upset. But, having worked for an accounting firm for many years, it is the responsibility of the client to give the accountant updated information. Be sure to give them your current address and email when they change. And always make sure that they have it updated in their records before leaving.
Sorry you had this happen.

 

[scarleta]

Thanks for your reply.Just to clarify I had no idea they are emailing anything to me this year.I used to get a call every year , but this time he decided to email ?

 

[Mara]

in my opinion the responsibility falls both on the client and the accounting firm. the first thing our accountant does is ask us to look over the contact information like email, phone #'s, addresses and confirm that nothing has changed or if it has, to fix it. on the other hand, i think the client does have some responsibility as well to say 'oh XYZ has changed since last year'...if the accounting firm is not proactive about it. i don't know that i'd be really that 'upset' about it, i would just have thought 'oh obviously i didn't give you my new email address, doh'...and would have just modified it. but you could tell them 'well in the future if you are going to email or mail something, can you please confirm my address is correct first'.

or change accountants. there are so many out there, many of them are really good. you are the client, so do whatever makes you feel best, and i wouldn't spend too much time being upset over it. what's done is done, how you deal with it moving fwd is the key. if you don't feel comfortable, then change accountants.

 

[cpster]

Do you and your accountant even share encrypted email capabilities? If not, they shouldn''t be emailing such highly sensitive information over the internet.

 

[scarleta]

good point here.Thanks... to everyone...Still not sure if I should bring it up to him again? or just change accountants or maybe do my own taxes ..also an option.

 

[oshinbreez]

They did ask you if everything was correct didn''t they? I consider that common practice.

 

[scarleta]

Not sure what you mean? Correct info or email? or what? As far as my email address they must have had it from over 5 yrs ago.At some point in time maybe they put in on file but never contacted me by email before.My email address was nowhere on the form...

 

[Skippy123]

They should have contacted you before they emailed you. Can you talk to a higher up and say that in the future you want to be called before they send out any confidential information. I think that is wrong they did not apologize and the way they handled things. Were you speaking to a partner or how did you find out? From the CPA? How big is the office you are dealing with? Just curious.

I am sure they don't want to lose your business; I think you do need to tell them you did not like the way things were handled so this does not happen to someone else. If they aren't open to your thoughts or feelings I would find another accountant. I don't know how complicated your taxes are but might want to use Turbo tax if your taxes are pretty straight forward.

 

[scarleta]

Thanks Skippy G: Yes it is the top person I am dealing with.THEy are quite large and handle lots of large accounts.They would not miss me that''s for sure.I could do it myself really .Just the convenience .He did not appologize and last time when it happened that they mailed to wrong address I did complain and he ( the big boss) took my account as a result.I will wait till they are done with their work (They are very busy now )and then talk to him again about it.

 

[Skippy123]

Wow, I am sorry. Accounting is a service industry so good customer service is important. I would take my business else where if he does not empathize with your concerns.

 

[scarleta]

Thanks Skippy : I probably won''t receive any appology??.As they are a big company so my small account is not much for them.They deal mostly corporations and big taxes etc.I do agree that customer service is very important ,but in this case I really don''t expect too much to happen.He is also a friend of the family so its a bit touchy.

 

[smitcompton]

dEAR sCARLOTTA,
iF i MAIL AN E-MAIL TO A CLOSED ACCOUNT THE A MESSAGE COMES BACK TO SAY IT WAS UNDELIVERABLE. tHE ACCOUNTANT SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED THAT MESSAGE AND THEN CALLED YOU TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON WHAT HE WANTED. tHIS HAPPENS A LOT TO ME. i JUST FIND OUT THEIR NEW E-MAIL. i DOUBT THIS E-MAIL WENT ANYWHERE BUT IN THE RETURNED FOLDER OF YOUR ACCOUNTANT. aSK HIM OR HER. i DONT THINK THERE IS ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT ON THIS LAST TRANSACTION.
tHANKS,
ANNETTE

 

[scarleta]

Thanks Annette: Yes I did ask him if he got it back ( he sent it and the next day he called to see if I got it) So when I called he said " it will eventually bounce back to him" It may take time to bounce back to him if undeliverable.I was actually thinking of calling and asking him again today.He usually is very busy just before Deadline so I don''t want to disturb him.On the other hand he takes off for a holidays right after taxation is finished and I want to catch him before.Thanks ..

 

[Sparkles22]

I would think every year they do your taxes they would ask if all your contact info is the same. I''d be a little weirded out if they didn''t. With that said though I also think since they messed it up last year you should have double checked to make sure he fixed it. The accountant is working for you so if you are uncomfortable with him or you can''t trust him pick someone else. He is probably busy and didn''t think anything of it though, and figured he was following up with the phone call to you to make sure you received it this time. Sounds like an honest mistake.

 

[scarleta]

Thanks for that.Yes I also think it was an error.It was over 5 years ago that they mailed it to a wrong address not last year.This was 1st time ever that I got it in email form so how would I even expect them to have my email address if they never used it? In any case I did leave a message as to whether they got the email back so far no reply.This is very busy for them now so I have to wait a bit.Thaks again

 

[Sparkles22]

No prob! Let us know how it turns out for you

 

[scarleta]

just an update: I received an email confirmation from the accountant that the original email ( which was sent to old address ) was returned to him.Did not expect appology and did not get it, but at least he got it returned...that makes me feel better..