Should I have to wait five days for a response?

I wrote earlier today about a great customer experience with H&R Block, but unfortunately am now balancing that with a negative experience.

I had tried to send a question via email to H&R Block customer service. Instead of giving me an email address, I had to submit the request via a Web form. They had me fill out my complete contact information before I was allowed to submit the question on their Web site.

But I apparently won’t get my question answered anytime soon. I received an automated response via email, that started with the following:

Thank you for submitting your request to H&R Block Financial Advisors. Your inquiry is very important to us and has been assigned the following case number: XXXXXXXX. You should expect a response to your request within 3 business days.

It’s Saturday morning, I’m preparing my taxes today, but H&R Block just told me that I should expect a response by next Wednesday. That’s five days away.

We’re 45 days away from the federal tax deadline, folks. I would have expected a bit better and faster response from a leader in the tax preparation space.

The above excerpt told me that my inquiry was “very important” to H&R Block, but their actions and accessibility imply otherwise.

If your company’s marketing tells or implies to your customers that they are important, your products and operations had better back that up.