You're demonstrably upset. Semantics, perhaps. Not giving you a choice, is tantamount to forcing you.
You were given a choice. You just didn't follow the instructions well enough.
I'll grant you that possibly the instructions, or pathway the Easy-Step led you down, were not as clear as it could have been. I don't know, because I handled it both ways to understand the full impact of paying vs. deferring. Unlike you, I had no issue identifying how to run the scenario both ways.
This was a unique situation, a decision that was offered for the first time based on rules made as a reaction to Covid. That lack of past history I am sure hurt the non-professionals. No matter how many years someone has been a DIY preparer, it doesn't make them an expert and a non-professional could be blindsided when there is a unique change like this one.
Closer attention than ever needed to be paid. Clearly you want someone to blame, other than yourself.
