Agree, would rather my money went to a local firm with an actual person who I can consistently contact for questions. Did this a few years ago for an especially challenging tax year. Absolutely 0 regrets - if I had done it via self-serve software I would’ve missed out on quite a few unknown tax assists that the accountant found.
I share that sentiment- that poor person. To society’s credit, I have not yet seen any posts or articles with an image or their identity. Hopefully it stays that way.