(If the customer has 1.) a very small tax refund in comparison to the preparation fees and 2.) a simple tax situation, we will prepare and file their tax return for free. We also run a promotion where we’ll give customers $50 cash if they have to pay for tax return preparation. This is a conversation between my manager and a very loud customer.)

Manager: “Since your refund is $137, I will file your return for free.”

Customer: “Thank you! What about my $50?”

Manager: “I cannot give you $50 because I am not charging you anything.”

Customer: “I NEED THAT $50!”

Manager: *remaining calm* “If I gave you $50, it would be like me paying you so that I can prepare your return, right? To give you the $50, I would have to be charging you something first, right? I am doing this return for you free.”

Customer: “Okay, do that! Charge me!”

Manager: “So you are saying that you would like me to charge you $100 for preparation so that I can then give you $50?”

Customer: “YES!”

This story is part of the Tax Day roundup!

Read the next Tax Day roundup story!

Read the Tax Day roundup!

(I work at a popular tax office. One day, a woman in her 30s, whose taxes I had done the year before, comes in to file. Once we finish entering her information, I tell her how much she would be getting in her refund, which is substantial.)

Me: “So, your state return is $1,570, and your federal is $4,900, for a total of $6,470.”

Customer: “That can’t be right.”

Me: “Do you have another W-2 or 1099 that you need to add?”

Customer: “No, I mean that’s too much money.”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Customer: “I only got $300 last year, so I think you did my taxes wrong.”

Me: “Mrs. [Name], I assure you I did them right. You also did get a better job last year, got married, and had a child. All of those things qualified you for credits and a higher refund.”

Customer: “No, No, NO! You did it WRONG and I am not going to JAIL because you are INCOMPETENT!” *grabs her purse and walks out, leaving all her tax documents behind*

(My manager later told me that the customer had come back for her tax documents. She said she had done her taxes online herself, and was getting less than $1000.)

This story is part of the Tax Day roundup! This is the last story in the roundup, but we have plenty of others you might enjoy!

25 Shocking Stories About Customers Who Are The Reason Why We Keep Going Into Recessions

Read the next Tax Day roundup story!

Read the Tax Day roundup!