Got screwed by my CPA!

[m3racer]

I'd say several phone conversations totaled more than 5 minutes. I'm not sure how long but definitely not 1 hour. I'm the first to agree that a professional should be compensated appropriately for their skill. Maybe I was ignorant thinking that these conversations were free. He prepared my '06 tax returns and I was not billed a fee for phone conversations. I just wish he would have divulged his billing rate ahead of time. I think anyone would get confused about a bill that's twice as high as the first if they were in my situation. It seems that this is fairly standard so I guess I'm not that pissed anymore. It sure would have been nice to know this ahead of time.

[pearlieq]

I am wondering, just to throw a bit of controversey into the mix, if you called DisneySteve with a question about a lab test result or me with a question about an MRI result and we socked you with a bill for $240 after a couple of 5 minute phone calls, how would you feel?

I got billed for an "office visit" to the tune of $79 by one of my doctors because he TALKED TO ME during an ultrasound he was doing. He billed again (another $79) for the office visit the next day to discuss the tests, results, and my treatment plan.

I called and complained, and their billing manager literally asked "Did he talk to you during the test?".

I had another doctor charge me for a full office visit ($80) for me telling her my symptoms, and her giving me 2 phone numbers for other doctors. I was out of her office in less than 5 minutes. There was no attempt at diagnosis or treatment (unless you could "Yes, that sounds like a problem. Here's a couple of other doctors to call" as acutal medical care).

I have no problem paying a professional for their time, but they were very clear on the purpose of my visit ahead of time, and instead of just referring me to another doctor over the phone, they wasted my time and money making me come in and pay $80 to hear it in person. I found another doctor.

So, it's not just limited to the financial field. Pretty much any professional can run afoul of this.

Bottom line, if I'm being billed for someone's time, I want to know ahead of time and have the option to accept or decline. I don't see what's so hard about presenting a client with a statement of charges during the initial consultation that clearly states rates and billing policies for phone contact.

[simpleyme]

if you knew they were billing by the minute or by the word you could also do away with any pleasantries and get right down to business

[lmclanahan@verizon.net]

Wow. I must be a greenhorn, because I would never have expected a bill for talking on the phone! I would have expected to be informed upfront, too. I've never had a dr bill me for calling them, or anyone else, either.
Now, if it is an industry standard, then he didn't really *rip you off* but this would still hurt the budget.
I agree with the others about the $300. We have a CPA friend that charges $50 to do our returns, and even that went up from last year. (It is worth every penny, as we trust him and he is fast!) Have you looked around or considered doing them yourself with software?


Lea

[jIM_Ohio]

I just got an additional bill of $240 for his services. This was a separate charge just for his consultation as a CPA. I already paid $300 for him to prepare my taxes, which aren't that complicated. We've had several phone conversations over the year and he considered that billable. He never indicated that I would be paying extra just for phone questions. If I was told about this prior, than I wouldn't be so pissed off. I will never use him again!

You expect to get FREE advice?

I think you have high expectations.

[jIM_Ohio]

I got billed for an "office visit" to the tune of $79 by one of my doctors because he TALKED TO ME during an ultrasound he was doing. He billed again (another $79) for the office visit the next day to discuss the tests, results, and my treatment plan.

I called and complained, and their billing manager literally asked "Did he talk to you during the test?".

I had another doctor charge me for a full office visit ($80) for me telling her my symptoms, and her giving me 2 phone numbers for other doctors. I was out of her office in less than 5 minutes. There was no attempt at diagnosis or treatment (unless you could "Yes, that sounds like a problem. Here's a couple of other doctors to call" as acutal medical care).

I have no problem paying a professional for their time, but they were very clear on the purpose of my visit ahead of time, and instead of just referring me to another doctor over the phone, they wasted my time and money making me come in and pay $80 to hear it in person. I found another doctor.

So, it's not just limited to the financial field. Pretty much any professional can run afoul of this.

Bottom line, if I'm being billed for someone's time, I want to know ahead of time and have the option to accept or decline. I don't see what's so hard about presenting a client with a statement of charges during the initial consultation that clearly states rates and billing policies for phone contact.

You expect to see doctors for FREE?

[jIM_Ohio]

The problem with health insurance is greatly indicative of the last two reponses. People expect to see a professional and NOT pay for their services.

[simpleyme]

LOL I think the problem is people expect treatment of some sort not just to recieve bills

most other professions cannot bill you for these things so we are not used to it, if you phone a guy to come look at your leaky roof and he comes out and says man I cannot help you call this guy then hands you a bill for a referral you would scream ;-)


I alway say I have heatlth insurance what I would like is health care ,they are not the same

[MonkeyMama]

Our of curiosity I did pull up our engagement letter and it said pretty clearly we charge hourly for our time. No, we don't say specifically phone calls. But obviously implied. It takes our time, so we bill it. Maybe I should have my boss add phone calls to the letter. It's already like 12 pages long with all the legalize. I mean seriously though. I was just curious and did look it up.

[jIM_Ohio]

LOL I think the problem is people expect treatment of some sort not just to recieve bills

most other professions cannot bill you for these things so we are not used to it, if you phone a guy to come look at your leaky roof and he comes out and says man I cannot help you call this guy then hands you a bill for a referral you would scream ;-)


I alway say I have heatlth insurance what I would like is health care ,they are not the same

NO- you are paying for the doctor's time, not just the treatment.

If you "pay by the treatment", then how is a well doctor's visit (the good kind) compensated?
In addition I have gone to a doctor with a skin rash which he could not identify- are you suggesting he should not be paid for my inquiry? If a patient has a problem and doctor could not treat it (maybe it was incurable cancer, maybe needs a specialist, maybe something else) are you suggesting the doctor not get paid for his time?

Most occupations bill by unit time (week-day-hour or minute). Getting the treatment is a function of the time spent. Simple treatments are usually the ones with least amount of care time.

[simpleyme]

I never said I did not agree ;-) I would never suggest professionals not be paid for their time,



our insurance does not pay for well visits so if we are not sick we do not go

[saversaba08]

OK, I have to post my horror story now. Some years back, my then five year old complained of neck pain over a weekend. She had been running a temperature for a couple of days and her pediatrician would not be available until Monday so I decided to take her to the ER of the local hospital. The nurse did the usual examination, gave her a dose of Motrin and we were asked to wait in a room for the doctor. When he made an appearance, the first words out of his mouth were "it is not meningitis". He proceeded to do a bit of small talk and was out of the room in 4-5 minutes. I was then given loads of paperwork that the nurse termed "discharge papers" causing me to wonder if my DD had been "admitted" to the hospital for all of 30 minutes (that was how long it took us to be in and out of the place)

DD was feeling so much better that I stopped by the Billing Dept to ask if I could settle the bill but was told that it would be mailed to us. They also refused to tell me the amt. About a month later we recd a $ 385.00 bill from the hospital for something they termed "Level III Care" I called for details and one of the line items was "Motrin" for $75.00!!! Anyway, we paid the bill putting it down as a lesson learnt.

However, this was not all, some two months later we recd another bill, this time from the doctor's office in the amt of $455.00 I called yet again and was told that the doctor has independent charges and he was right to bill us separately .......$455.00 for 5 minutes

And the real stinker was that our health insurance was to kick in just three days later.

So much for reasonable charges for professional services.

[simpleyme]

thats a terrible story saversba08

I once was told by the lady at the front desk I had to pay up front in full,she was nasty about it

had planned on paying then anyway not sure why she was so mean like I did not have enough to deal with with a crying sick child to deal with

so when I recieved a bill in the mail I was livid! I told her I was told I had to pay the bill in full at time of treatment as she and their little sign had clearly stated ,at no time had billing me been an option

they were kind enough to dismiss the bill since I had misunderstood the billing policy, so kind of them huh

[aida2003]

You expect to get FREE advice?

I think you have high expectations.

He meant NOT free advice, but not being informed in advance that he'll be charged for talking.

In general, I think it's great to be an enterpreneur in the US. Rates are set subjectively, then small businesses do not report all their income. I mean, it's quite good to work for yourself vs. working for a company. ...but it's not easy either.

MM says we bill what's fair. Huh?? What's fair?
E.g. I know a painter (works for himself). He told me a short story. A rich client asked him to perform some work on his house. The painter didn't like the detail of the involved work, so he said to him he'll do for $xx rate (= double his usual rate). The rich guy agreed.
Now when I think about MM's statement, everything sounds fair in business: you don't like a client, charge more; you don't like work involved charge more (nobody watches you every minute to determine how long takes to research an issue or fix a car). I guess, that's what 'free market' means . Oh, well......

[m3racer]

You expect to get FREE advice?

I think you have high expectations.

No I don't expect anything for free. However, I do expect to be informed of billing rates when applicable. Again, this is not an argument of compensating someone for their time and skills. This is about informing the client of the appropriate financial obligations. BTW, read my OP. I never mentioned free advice.