An often forgotten aspect to bookkeeping is the human factor. Judy and I have learned all sorts of ways to communicate with customer service representatives.  Even customer service representatives who, for lack of a better description, like to make life difficult. It has always bothered us to think about how many people take a bad customer service representative’s advice at face value.  Whether it’s because of apathy, a lack of time, or very often, an invisible disability.

Our Personal Story With Customer Service

Judy and I have a dear friend with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  We were heartbroken when we received this email from him (which is used with permission):

I went into my accountant’s office to do my taxes. I was told something over the phone, and my tax prep person seemed angry at me for bringing it up, before saying that I was wrong. She was very confrontational and loud with me, wasn’t listening to me, was verbally dominating me, and had me try to log in to my account. At this point I went into a meltdown, or sensory crisis, and I could not log in because I could not remember anything. She was making fun of the way I had frozen. I just had to get out of there, and I apologized and left. For 2 days I didn’t know what to do. I thought I was falling between the cracks. My black-and-white thinking was so bad that it never occurred to me to go to a different vendor. 

Experiences like these have a real effect on a person. According to our friend, it’s an unwelcome reminder of his limitations.

Judith Heft & Associates is experienced in smoothing out the edges of bookkeeping.  This includes the management of strong personalities. Let us deal with customer service for you.  We also have a network of CPAs who are great with people.  None of our clients need to go to a “tax prep mill” in the first place.

For more information, contact us.