Known bug: HRblock.com’s Tango cannot actually e-file my taxes!
UPDATE 4/11/2007: Rita and Sarah of the Tango team responded to this post down in the comments. Looks like they’re working on the problems and hopefully will have everything good to go by next year. Thanks for following up 
I’ve posted a follow up as well.
Now this is unbelievable. H&R Block, one of the largest retail tax filers in the country I’m sure, released a product called Tango this year. It’s supposed to be an online e-file web application except for one thing: there’s a known issue where the program can’t actually e-file. The workaround? Print out the tax return and mail it in.
WTF?
While using the app, I could definitely tell it had quite a few bugs, but I figured it’s a new product, whatever, I’m not here to evaluate the UI, I’m here to file my taxes. Except it can’t actually file my taxes either. That’s a pretty major bug in my opinion - when the only feature that matters is broken.
For anyone else who’s tried Tango or is thinking about trying it, let me fill you in on what you’re going to run into:
Above is a screenshot of what will happen after you spend about an hour wrestling with the insanely slow and bad UI they built in Flex. That’s right, the IRS will reject your tax return because you need to fill in some info about dependents - which I don’t have.
While we’re on the topic of bugs, the second biggest one is performance. I know what you’re thinking: it’s just a tax program. However, when it takes minutes to fill in text input boxes and save the data (equivalent to a simple HTML form), something is seriously broken. If you’re using Tango, you better get used to seeing this screen:
Since you’ll probably be staring at it more than 50% of the time you’re using the program. What is the program saving exactly? I’m just clicking the navigation!
Hey HRBlock.com QA team, here are a few more for you to file:
- If you specify ‘S’ or ‘L’ for short term or long term cap gains in the “Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Funds” section in the Income tab, Tango will flag it as an error - even though that’s what you need to do.
- A bunch of the “Learn More” buttons actually just show a yellow box that says to click on the general purpose “Help” icon on the right - both of which give no info.
- Quite a few of the “Help” content sections are actually blank. You’ve even got the accordion style control, but when you expand it, there’s nothing there.
Wow. Quite poor if you ask me.
They even have a blog; except that they seem to have a duplicate entry in there called “Ba dum, Ching: Rhythm and Meter in Language” (duplicate here). Maybe I’ll get some blog love? Help Rita! My Tango experience is terrible! 
Last thing: I call up the customer support where the guy tells me all these are known issues. And I say, “ok, can I have a refund at least?” and he says, “Yeah, I’ll put your refund request into a queue. We’ll get back to you.”
@#$%*&@#*&$&@#&$%@*&#!!!!
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I love their workaround for not being able to e-file taxes… hahah
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
mark - why aren’t you using turbo tax?!?! c’mon now….
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I know, I know. Silly me, trying out new products
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
this is poorly worded or I’m just missing something. You can’t efile because the irs requires information you don’t have. isn’t that your problem not hrblocks?
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Hi Lisa - I don’t have any dependents. There’s a bug in the program that makes it think I have dependents and then submits the wrong data to the IRS. The IRS then rejects my tax return and I can’t fix it.
I contacted their support and we wasted about an hour going over everything. Then the customer service rep helping me found out that this is a bug in the software and there’s no fix for it.
April 6th, 2007 at 8:36 am
[…] tipped me off yesterday that I Google had indexed my blog post about H&R Block’s Tango e-file tax web app (or rather, lack of e-file web app I should say ). Check out the Google search for “Tango […]
April 10th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Hello? Mark? Is someone calling me? Seriously?
Me? I feel like Batman.
I am so sorry you had a bad experience with Tango. Also, I’m embarrassed that my blog post was up twice. But I’m more sorry you had a bad experience with Tango. Be it known, though, that you have been heard. I talked to someone this morning who remembers working on your case, and I know as of now several people are looking further into your complaints.
It’s our extreme wish that we never cause anyone to bang their head against the monitor in frustration, and it sounds like that’s exactly what you did. While it’s hard to be on the receiving end of a post like this, if that was your experience, then we’re glad to at least know about it so that we can improve our products. Thanks for sharing. And don’t give up on H&R Block. We’re quite nice once you get to know us.
April 10th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Hey Rita! You found me eventually
Thanks for responding; looks like you guys are on the right path with the Tango blog and all. Do let me know if you guys get to the bottom of the issue I ran into; hopefully you’ll be all ready for Tax season 2007
April 11th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Hi Mark…thanks for checking out Tango! This is – I’m the Tango product manager, and I wanted to follow up with you about your account. Your account, along with 6 others, experienced a hic-up in the e-file messaging that we communicated- basically the reject message you saw wasn’t the right message. I assure you that the file submitted to the IRS was exactly what you entered in the product, and the reject message was related to something else on your return. (So everyone knows…Tango is setup to e-file and just like most tax products almost all returns filed are accepted when e-filed…)
We recognized this issue and contacted all users who experienced this…unfortunately you beat us to the punch and called us first. My apologies that we weren’t better equipped to handle the case when you called in. This issue has been resolved. Since I’m sure you don’t want the details of your situation outlined here, I’ll contact you separately to walk through the specifics of your return.
I did want you to know that we saw your post and we really do take these issues to heart—everything you mentioned has either already been addressed or is in the pipeline for the next release. At H&R Block we’re passionate about our customers, what you have to say, and the experience you have! This is just the beginning for Tango—we’re already well underway on version 2. I promise that next year we’ll knock your socks off!
April 11th, 2007 at 11:16 am
… just finished my taxes, can’t file . I may be a beta-junkie, but who would have thought that a major corporation would release a product that, when used correctly, could result in you being sued by the government?
April 11th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Calling all beta-junkies - we could use all the feedback you can give us. It’s more helpful if you can be specific about your issue, though - Mark was uber-specific with all those screenshots, and that *is* helpful. Getting feedback through usability and customer contacts is how we continue to identify areas for improvement.
Andy, if you have Tango problems, please contact us. My e-mail is on this, even though I recognize the foolishness of that move. Hopefully you aren’t interested in selling me an island off the coast of Florida.
You can also contact our service center from within the product by clicking on the Contact Us icon on the right side of the screen. You can call, e-mail or chat from there. It’s free!
April 11th, 2007 at 11:58 am
And Mark, please tell me you’ll be back for TS08. C’mon, now.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[…] got some great comments back from Rita and Sarah over at H&R Block on my previous post now. So, it […]
April 11th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for responding Sarah and Rita. I’ve posted a follow up on this post and hopefully everything will be all ironed out by next year! Good luck
April 13th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
i too got pwn3d by Tango Tax….
work around for e-file magic….. snail-file it…..
alas…. off to the post office….
-khappucino
March 25th, 2008 at 3:34 am
tango is still a piece of crap. I could not re-import my last years return. I have sent feedbacks/emails…no one is even bothered to respond. Seriously, some people just like to waste other’s time.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
At the last minute choosing tax software - is it the thrill of the last minute, the masochism of the pressure, or just plain stupidity?
Anyway, Tango looked good - but the comments here have given me pause for thought.
Has anyone who tried it this year (2008 for 2007 tax year) LIKED it?
Is TurboTax best?
- The Great Procrastinator