Client Reviews of Lena Cotton, EA, RTRP

Great service. Recommended due to knowledge and communication. Prices are low and friendly staff.

Services provided:

Highly recommend Ms Cotton; she is outstanding and always reviewing Tax laws. I was surprised to hear about the negatives of Ms Cotton. I am sure this must be a misunderstanding. Ms Cotton is very efficient and knowledgeable. No is no and yes is yes. She is straight forward, more reasonable in price and when you visit her office; it’s like a warm spirit. She will lift your spirits up. Ms Cotton helped me prepare for an audit due to another preparers recklessness and lies. They overstated my business expenses for items I never told them I had. IRS said I owed over $14k for 2 Tax years. Ms Cotton told me what I needed to get for the audit and help me organize my papers. She also prepared an amended return in which I gave to the auditor with my back up documentation. After all is said I done; I owe the IRS $6,983. Still a lot but better than the $14k. Be careful whom you choose to prepare your return. And if you are getting a larger refund than you usually get, let me tell you....SOMETHING IS WRONG if nothing changed from prior years. Take your stuff and RUN!

Services provided:

I have been going to professional accounting for the past four years and I would have to say it's the only tax office I will ever go to. Very professional and I know my taxes are getting done by the book. If I could I would refer everyone.

Highly recommended. Very honest and knowledgeable. Helped me resolve IRS issues from my prior accountant.

We scheduled an appointment with Lena and had to wait three hours in the lobby (6:30-9:30pm). This was a huge inconvenience, but we remained patient and refrained from bringing it to the attention of the staff. By the time our wait was over, Lena tried to avoid speaking to us by having her staff collect our documents and proceeded with filing our taxes without any interaction. This, of course, led to some errors and confusion with our filing because there was zero communication. I'm highly tech-savvy, so if I didn't need the one-on-one interaction with an account (to ask questions), I could have effortlessly filed my taxes through TurboTax. I wasn't going to leave this negative review until I realized she charged an additional $20 for our service because she had to spend 15 minutes of her time speaking to her clients. This charge does not exist with any other accountant that I've done business with. I brought this charge up to Lena's sister, and her sister explained that she has been working with Lena for years and still doesn't understand how Lena does her pricing. If you decide to file your taxes here, make sure you only get charged $89 if you're an independent with no dependents and $139 if you're an independent with one dependent. They WILL try to charge you more even if you're patient and nice to them. Lena does come off as a sweet person on the surface, but this is extremely unprofessional behavior and a very shady business practice. I will not be filing my taxes here ever again, and I do not recommend her to anyone. I'm sorry, Lena, but I have to be completely honest here.

I was referred here by my boyfriend & his family. From beginning to end my experience left me disappointed. To start with, while sitting down with the owner to start the filing process my boyfriend & I both advised her that we were interested in the refund advance, as we were experiencing an emergency situation. She gave us the details of how the loan works, but never actually processed either of ours. In their defense, they said that we didn't check off the box for the advance on the paperwork they gave us when walking in. To which I say, if I am new to your office & am unaware of your business practices, why would I check a box when I'm not clear on how the service works? I spoke to the owner again concerning this matter a couple of days later. I told her that I thought her business was shady because, as a paying customer, her office did not do well in ensuring that my boyfriend & I completely understood their procedures. She became defensive & somewhat emotional, rather than assist in coming up with a solution, which is what any reputable, customer-oriented business would do. That same day she stated that she would put my boyfriend's loan through...needless to say, he never received it. I've never filed my taxes with a company & left wishing that I hadn't. You can surely bet that I will NOT be bringing them my business EVER again. & I'll be sure to spread the word concerning my negative experience. This company apparently doesn't have an effective communication system in place & the owner (after 19 years) seemingly still has not learned to differentiate between business & personal. If you're looking to file your taxes & don't mind being left in the dark & lied to...this is the perfect office to visit! Hope this helps....