Elena Maria Roman
1/5
I have been with HLB for about 5 years. Two years ago I left a 2 star review on them on this site, given the errors they made and the sudden change in fees without any prior information. This, it seems, had prompted them to contact me with promises for improvement, so I thought I should persevere, which I did.
Unfortunately I now need to leave another negative review for a number of reasons:
1. The accountant which had been dealing with my finances has left (apparently suddenly, for health reasons). On my last meeting with him, I have been reassured that I would have no tax to pay for my personal account, which I was surprised about. I have asked again the question, just to make sure no errors are made again, and I have been reassured that his answer was correct. A few weeks after, when I chased up developments with my tax, I was contacted by another accountant, who already drafted my personal account tax, and informed me that I need to pay many tens of thousands of pounds. Obviously, that came like a big shock to me; however, on discussing it with her, it made sense and I have accepted the reality.
So, the point I would like to make here is, how could 2 accountants, both senior partners, working for the same firm, give you completely different views and outcomes to exactly the same financial situation. Would a potential third accountant have different views as well? Whom shall we trust?
2. Despite updating the HLB of the change of address when I moved house 2 years ago, they have sent my tax return with all my financial and personal details to the old address. No apologies, just been explained that their IT system did not work properly.
3. With a new accountant involved with my finances, new fees have been sent to me, 3 times higher, with no prior indication of it. No transparency at all. When I questioned it, I have been informed by the new accountant that she is not prepared to change her fees, and that was the end of the story.
4. As I have felt at this point I do not want to carry on with this firm, I have informed the current accountant of my intention and asked her to answer some questions related to the work they had done so far; she responded with an unpleasant email, but only to one question out of four.
5. One of the four questions was in relation to a statement she made in one of her emails, informing me of the penalties I need to pay as a consequence of late payments of my taxes. I explained to her that the late payment was caused by errors and lack of information on the previous accountant's side; but as explained, that point did not get an answer from her.
So, in summary:
- they are fundamentally unreliable
- failing to take responsibility for their own mistakes
- their IT system is faulty and unreliable
- they are unprofessional
- there's no transparency regarding fees, which are far too high
- they are unpredictable
Having said all of the above, which I hope will help other people make their decisions, I will definitely not recommend this firm.
Addendum
I would like to add, to my review submitted 2 weeks ago, that following all my difficulties with the services I received from HLB, I attempted to escalate my case to the person in charge of the firm, therefore I asked my accountant to provide me with the relevant details. I have been informed that she was that person, and that I should "pack it in" (in different words). Obviously, this would leave anyone in search of justice from this firm completely hopeless; if her standards and ethics represent those of HLB, that is really bad news for the customers and ultimately for HLB itself.
So, there's no other choice for us apart from escalating our cases to their regulatory bodies. Time consuming and frustrating, but difficult to walk away from such unpleasant and unjust experiences.
Thank you for reading my review.
05.03.2024
I have noticed their reply to my review. There's nothing malicious untrue or unfair about my review, it is just their way of dealing with unresolved complaints (blaming the customer).
