Client Reviews of Robin L. Metcalf, SRTP

I had what I thought was a great working relationship with Robin, a tax preparer at BLC. She helped me a lot with my taxes last year, and I was looking forward to working with her again. I've even referred several friends and clients of my own to her. Two weeks before April 15 (12 days after I'd sent her the bulk of my materials, and 3 days after a meeting where she assured me she would start work on my return), I received an email from Robin terminating our relationship. The explanation she gave was that I needed more than tax prep; I needed business and taxation education. I was confused, because I thought that was exactly what BLC offers, it was the reason I came to her in the first place, and in fact she had just been pitching their bookkeeping and ongoing support services at our recent meeting, bragging about all the deductions she was teaching me about. And it's true, I learned a lot working with her! When I went in to pick up my documents I asked her what it was she thought I needed that BLC couldn't provide, so that I could look for it elsewhere. We had a brief conversation in which she clumsily implied that it was actually more of a personality or communication style mismatch, a personal choice on her part. I still don't understand what happened, or if I did something wrong, but I do think it was unprofessional to drop me after sitting on my documents for almost two weeks, then assuring me she was about to start work on my return -- particularly with so little time left for me to find someone new before filing time! At first, I felt confused, scared, and hurt...but that quickly changed to annoyance, then motivation to find tax support I can trust. I think what bothers me most is that I had no idea anything was wrong when I left her office just a few days ago. I try to work with people who are authentic and transparent, so I'm not often caught by surprise like this. In retrospect, I feel like I missed the warning signs, because some of her compliments were a little too buttery, and once or twice she divulged details about other clients that probably should have been kept confidential. But hindsight is always 20/20. As a service provider myself, I understand that with some clients, it just isn't a fit, and I guess that was the case with me and Robin. I just think it could have been much better handled, and wanted to warn others by sharing my experience.