A L Harris, CPA

OMG!!! This guy is the BIGGEST asshole ever! Unbeknownst to me, he messed up my taxes and 2 years later I got a notice from Uncle Sam indicating so. After numerous phone calls (that went unreturned) and trips to his office (that was closed) I finally got thru and he told me not to worry about it that it wasn’t an error. Only to find out that it was HIS error and his comment back to me was that «sometimes I calculate your income twice, it happens and I should get my tax info together for the upcoming year.» Oh, and btw… you do owe Uncle Same $ 4k within the next 3 weeks or pay more for interest. Really? Who runs a business like this? I hope he’s not in the Chamber for being an outstanding business. I don’t give a shit what his problem is… it has become my problem. He’s a dick and should never be allowed to deal with the public.

I have been a client of AL Harris for years, doing my personal and small business taxes. He has always been responsive, and a nice guy to deal with… however, this year, things have gone off the rails. I got my paperwork to him in March, then April 15^th came and went, and no notice from AL. Numerous emails and phone calls, and I finally received an email reply in early May from AL saying that he had been ill, but was back, and that he had filed an extension for my 2013 taxes.
That was, unfortunately, the last I heard from him.
His outgoing VM message changed in early July to say he would be back in the office during the week of July 4^th to file taxes, but as far as I know, that never happened.
I have sent dozens of emails since May, left countless voice mails (the phone no longer works, BTW), and received nothing back from him. I’ve stopped by his office a few times, and as you can see from the posted photo’s, there are many, many notes pinned to the door, in the mailbox, slid under the door, etc., pleading with AL to at least return people’s earnings statements. I dropped in the barber shop next door a couple months ago, and they said they haven’t heard anything, but that a LOT of folks have been by seeking AL.
I phoned the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce, and they say they’ve received so many complaints that they have delisted his business.
Now, I feel bad if AL has fallen seriously ill or worse, I truly do, however a responsible business owner would have SOMEBODY step in to at least get back to his clients to notify them of what has occurred, and to return their earnings statements. I had to contact all my sources of income and have them re-​issue my statements (a pain, to put it mildly), and find a new accountant to file my 2013 taxes. I understand that bad things happen to people every day, but his wife, lawyer, family, et al, should enter the situation and contact his clients. Post something to your web site, change your voice mail, go out with an email blast… SOMETHING!
There are nine complaints on the Better Business Bureau regards to AL, and he is rated an «F» on their scale:

Steer clear! We have been customers for several years now. Each year, the service gets slower and and less responsive. This year took the cake. We delivered our tax return paperwork in early February. It’s April 16^th, and we hadn’t heard from him and have tried calling and stopping by, to no avail. That’s right, APRIL 16! Our returns were due yesterday, though we have no idea what (if anything) was done with our return. We finally heard a message on his machine that he has been ill and that he will complete our returns within a week or two, and he has filed an extension for us. I sure hope so! And I hope we don’t owe taxes or we will be paying fines. We understand people get sick, but we should’ve been personally notified of this so we could take our returns to be filed elsewhere in time. Once this fiasco is done, we will be taking our business elsewhere!