H&R Block

I normally do my own taxes but had a few less straight forward events this year that required expert help. I signed up for an H & R Block appointment online and then spent 7 painful hours over 3 appointments trying to get my taxes completed. In the end I was satisfied with the result but it was clear that they do not have the knowledge to handle anything but the most straight forward of taxes.

This probably would have garnered more stars had I actually, physically been able to enter the building. Unfortunately, despite booking my appointment online through H&R Block’s site, for this location, at this time (11-​28-​2014, 8:45 AM) — and later receiving its confirmation email — the building, at that time, on that date, was locked and empty. If the optics of standing outside in an empty Woodinville strip-​mall in an early-​winter downpour weren’t sad enough, this would have pushed it into Kafkaesque dreariness.
Undeterred, I pulled out my phone and dialed H&R Block proper, whereupon I was told, with all the immovable, unsympathetic crispness of an antagonizing robot from a Richard Matheson script, that of course this office was closed until January 5^th, but would I like to re-​schedule for the new year.
Two things to note here that belie the «closed until January 5^th» argument:
1.) A large door-​sign proudly advertising [I’ll attach it to this branch’s «photos» feature] the fact that this office is, in fact, open year-​round (check) by appointment (check).
2.) The fact that their website — I just checked — is still booking (and, presumably, confirming) appointments through the entirety of December 2014.
Thus, we find ourselves at an existential dilemma. In defiance of both physics and God’s effective will for the universe, the Woodinville H&R Block Office is, simultaneously, closed, open, open with confirmation, and nonexistent on every day of the calendar year. It is sound and fury, signifying nothing. Its unfeeling industrial door-​lock represents not merely the cold face of Man’s relation to himself, but, in a larger sense, a lock we have placed upon our own hopes. For what is the Woodinville H&R Block Office, if not our last-​ditch attempt to try and find meaning?
(If nothing else, you’ll have wasted an hour. Blessedly, there is a bagel place across the parking lot. Their wall-​mounted television was showing «The Muppet Movie.» I sat. For those few minutes, Peace, in all her God-​breathed warmth, smiled upon me. I would be crushed, as all do, someday. But it would not be today.)

Helpful folks that do their best to get you and your taxes all wrapped up. They do this for free on the EZ form :) And if you are missing some stuff and need to wait they just put your stuff on hold and you can come back later.
You should really make an appointment instead of just showing up. I made mine online, very convenient.