TAX OFFICES OF JOEL PEREZ, EA, Santa Barbara CA

Joel has done our family taxes since about 2016. Each year he raises his prices with no explanation. Then one year he raised it all the way to $500, hundreds of dollars more, AFTER he already did our taxes. The next year we asked, will it be the same price and he said yes. Pre-covid we were able to make an appointment for a specific day and time to do our taxes and he usually followed up to complete them within 1-2 weeks or sooner. After Covid, he started doing things remotely, which was completely fine, but did not offer zoom meetings, just a phone call. That was fine with us. But he would not give us a date or time that he would get back to us. He refused to schedule an appointment. This year, he ghosted us until I finally got ahold of him on the phone and he said he was busy, but would would get back to us soon. That was February 23rd. I followed up with him on March 17th to ask for a time estimate and asked if the price would stay $500. He wrote back: "I don't think I'll be able to do a tax return for you this year, best of luck. " I responded asking why, asking if he had a different price for our consideration, and if he was too busy why he couldn't at least provide an estimated timeline, and for a referral. He responded, "I don't have a referral or time to discuss prices. Best of luck. " After almost a decade of supporting his business, to be treated in this way is not only unprofessional, it is appalling. I found another accountant who is going to charge $150 and complete our taxes in less than a week. There's no need to be treated with such disrespect and pay exorbitant fees.