Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

March 9,
2016
[redacted]
Dear Ms.
[redacted],
This letter is in
response to the complaint filed by the above referenced consumer with the RevDex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG).According to...

your complaint, you filed her tax return
through [redacted] on January 21, 2016; however, you entered an incorrect
account number and the funds were rejected back to TPG. You stated you have contacted
TPG multiple times, but have been unable to resolve this matter.Upon review of your record, an RT was chosen when your
taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On February 9, 2016 the IRS funded the federal return; fees were deducted to pay
the [redacted] user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT. The
balance was deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Refund
Processing Agreement. Your financial institution rejected the funds because they
were unable to locate the specified account. Please note, as a risk control, rejected
transactions are placed on hold until TPG can verify the taxpayer’s identity,
at which time a Cashier’s Check is issued.On February 12, 2016, you contacted TPG regarding the
status of your refund and alerted TPG that you had entered an incorrect account
number. TPG explained that the account was placed on hold and once your
identity was verified, the funds would be released via Cashier’s Check. You informed TPG multiple times that you
uploaded the appropriate documents to identify yourself as the account holder. Please
note, due to the volume during the same time frame, TPG retracted the standard two
business day SLA and extended the review period. On February 29, 2016, TPG was able to verify your
information and released the hold on the account.  The refund was reissued as a Cashier’s Check
on March 1, 2016. TPG confirmed that the check was negotiated on March 8, 2016.TPG is sorry for
any inconvenience that you may have experienced. If you have any questions or concerns, please
do not hesitate to contact me at [redacted],
Monday through Friday 7:00 am to 3:00 pm.
 
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

March 15,
2016
[redacted] [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
                This
is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group
(TPG)...

through the Revdex.com on March 7, 2016.
According to your complaint, you filed your tax
return; however, the account number was entered incorrectly and your refund was
sent back to TPG by your financial institution. You stated 7 days passed since
you uploaded your ID and have yet to resolve this matter.
Upon review of your record, an RT was chosen when you
taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 23, 2016 the IRS funded the federal return; fees were deducted to pay
the Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT. The
balance was deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Bank Refund
Processing Agreement. The financial institution rejected the funds. Please
note, as a risk control, rejected transactions are placed on hold until TPG can
verify the taxpayer’s identity, at which time a Cashier’s Check is issued.
On March 1, 2016, you contacted TPG to inform TPG
that you sent the appropriate documents to identify yourself as the account
holder.  You were advised it would take
up to seven business days to verify your information. Please note, due to the
volume during the same time frame, TPG extended the review period.  
On March 8, 2016, TPG was able to verify your
information and released the hold on the account.  The refund was reissued as a Cashier’s Check
on March 8, 2016. TPG confirmed that the check was verified on March 14, 2016.
Based on the USA Patriot Act, TPG is required to take
reasonable steps to ensure it is sending a check to the appropriate person to
ensure that the process is not part of a fraudulent scheme.  Asking for
identification is a reasonable and necessary step to limit identity theft.
It is unfortunate that it does take several days for
the process but most taxpayers appreciate knowing that reasonable safeguards
are in place to prevent someone from committing identity theft and stealing a
taxpayer’s refund in this manner.  
TPG is sorry for
any inconvenience that you may have experienced. If you have any questions or concerns, please
do not hesitate to contact me directly at
[redacted], Monday through Friday 7:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Senior Compliance Analyst, SBTPG

Dear Mr. [redacted],   This letter is in response to the complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 21, 2018.   To give you some background information and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain...

TPG’s relationship with [redacted] Bank (Bank). TPG is a third-party processor for the Bank. Through this relationship, [redacted] can offer tax products which are sold through TPG through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation services. The product you have used through TPG, called a “Refund Transfer”, allowed you to pay for your tax preparation fees and RT processing fee directly out of your tax refund. This service is optional. This saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider. You electronically agreed to these terms and conditions through your online service provider, [redacted] Tax.   To address your complaint, we have listed the timeline of events below: According to our records, on February 6, 2018, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted] Tax. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees.On February 21, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. On that same date, TPG deducted the fees related to your Refund Transfer and made payment via direct deposit to the account indicated on your RT Application and Agreement. Later that day, you called TPG inquiring about the status of your refund. It was confirmed a deposit was made to the account designated on the return and if the funds were rejected, TPG would issue a Cashier’s Check to the address on record.On February 22, 2018, you called TPG requesting an address change. Unfortunately, due to increased security measures to protect your personal information, TPG has controls in place to minimize potential fraudulent tax returns.  These controls do not allow us to change bank account or address information. On February 23, 2018, your financial institution rejected the funds and declared the account an R03 / “No Account/ Unable to Locate Account”, and the funds were returned to TPG. Please reference the detailed client letter mailed to your address for RTN, DAN, Trace Number and Banking information.When a taxpayer enters a bank account that does not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. Once the bank returns the rejected refund to TPG, TPG makes another attempt to disburse funds to the customer by mailing a Cashier’s  Check to the customer’s address of record. We feel that this is a better option for our customers rather than rejecting the funds back to the IRS. You may also reference the RT Application and Agreement for these terms. On February 23, 2018, TPG made a second attempt to disburse funds via a Cashier’s Check mailed to the address on record. It is advised to allow at least 10 business days for receipt. On February 28, 2018, you called TPG inquiring about the status of your refund check and informed TPG that a change of address was filed with the Post Office. It was advised for you to allow the full 10 business days from the sent date, February 23, 2018, to receive the check that was mailed.On March 9, 2018, you called TPG inquiring if a “Do Not Forward” mark was placed on your check. It was confirmed that was not the case. Since this was the 10th business day, you were advised to call back at the end of the day if the check was not received to proceed with the next steps. On March 12, 2018, you called TPG and confirmed the check had not been received. At that time, TPG offered to start the Indemnity Bond Process (IBOND). It was explained, the IBOND will place a stop payment on the lost/stolen cashier’s check and issue a replacement check. During that call, you informed TPG that you would not like to process an IBOND, instead you would prefer to wait a couple more days to receive the check in the mail. It was explained, if the check was returned to TPG, the funds would be returned to the IRS.On March 19, 2018, you called TPG and stated funds have not been received. At that time, you were provided documentation to complete and return an IBOND.On March 20, 2018, you requested for TPG to instead have your funds returned to the IRS.On March 21, 2018, TPG began the process to have your funds returned to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), specifically the RICS/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, CA. Please be advised this process can take several weeks for TPG to process back to the IRS. Once we have returned funds to the IRS it can take 10-12 weeks before they acknowledge receipt and post to your account. It is recommended at that time for you to contact the IRS at 800-829-0922 for further details.   We realize this letter is not the answer you were hoping for, but TPG provided the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable fees and attempting to disburse funds into the account as directed on the Agreement and a second attempt to the address on record.   TPG is very sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up processes to protect our clients and help limit identity theft and fraud. If you have any questions or concerns, please, do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.   Respectfully,     [redacted] Program Operations Analyst

February 26,
[redacted]
class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" "text-align:justify">[redacted]
Dear Ms[redacted],
This is in response to your
complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the
Revdex.com on February 18,
Your complaint stated that your
direct deposit was rejected because there was an error with the account number
You spoke with customer service but were unable to receive the information you
needed regarding your tax refund
If a taxpayer enters a bank
account that will not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by
the receiving bankOften times this occurs because the taxpayer has entered
the incorrect bank account information or the account is closedIn these
cases, the receiving bank "rejects" the transaction, and returns the funds to
the sender, in this case, TPGTPG has nothing to do with the incorrect account
information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank's decision to reject
the fundsOnce TPG receives the rejected refund, the company has the option of
making another attempt to disburse the funds to the customer or simply
returning the funds to the IRSAs you mentioned in your statement, you
requested TPG return the funds to the IRS initially, and then later decided to
validate your identity through our website so that we could disburse the funds
directly to you
The aforementioned controls are
in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraudOn February
23, I spoke with you on the phone regarding the hold on your accountOn the
same day, TPG was able to verify your information and release the holdTPG
processed your check and sent it February Please allow up to days for the
check to reach your address on file
If you have any questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through
Friday, 7am to 4pm
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I may have explained my dissatisfaction with your business and my experience incorrectly. I understand that my bank declined the bank transfer and the funds were sent back to your company. When I found your site and put in my information as for my drivers license after I submitted that your website informed me to allow 2 business days and that I would receive an email or phone call within that time for the status of my account. When I logged back on the site it stated that my account was still on hold and to submit this information again, this was on Thursday, Friday, Monday Feb. 15 and 16th. When I called on Monday, Feb. 15 the lady that  I spoke with said that she would sent my information to her supervisor and they would send it up to the people that review the identification and that my check would be printed the next day which was Tuesday, Feb. 16th. I was upset that it was clearly after the 2 business days that your site stated and I had not received any information prior regarding that your company needed to verify my identity. On Tuesday when I called I spoke to a lady who informed me that my check was not yet printed and should be printed within 48 hours. This is very upsetting because no one provided me any exact information and was only guessing at when my check would be sent to me. I called back on Wed. Feb. 17th and at this point I was very upset. I had been transferred several times one in which I had already left a voicemail to speak with a supervisor this was done on Thursday and no one called me back. I then spoke with [redacted] rep id [redacted] and asked that my check be sent overnight due to all the problems that I had with your company she told me that she could not and that I can speak with her supervisor but the person that I spoke to before her said that she was the supervisor she [redacted] transferred me to [redacted] rep id [redacted] who then started to say "we do not have to hold your money we can send them back to the IRS and then you would be waiting 15 business days or more for your money". [redacted] was very rude and disrespectful to me when I began to express to him the trouble and frustration that I  was going through just getting information from your company. When I asked [redacted] to please listen to me and hear me out he started talking over me and then hung the phone up on me while I was talking. I have worked in Customer Service for over 2 years and NEVER does a team lead or supervisor ever hang up on a customer! This really is ridiculous that your team leads conduct themselves like this and it should never be done. I was hold before that I would be able to check my status online but it never updates and says that my account is still on hold. The only person that listened and tried to help me was [redacted] (I may have spelled her name wrong) her rep id is [redacted] she heard me out and understood and at least provided me a tracking number and called me the following day to provide the tracking number to me. [redacted] provided me horrible customer service and  I hope that he is coached on this.
Regards,
[redacted]

March 14, 2016
 
[redacted], [redacted]
[redacted]
 
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 4,
2016.
In your...

complaint, you stated that you filed your taxes
through [redacted]. Under unfortunate circumstances, your wife passed away and
TPG required you to send your identification and her death certificate. You
have not heard about your refund since you sent TPG your information.
Thank you for forwarding your information to TPG. On March 9,
2016, TPG was able to verify the information you provided and released the hold
on the account. The refund was reissued as a Cashier’s Check on March 10, 2016.
As a courtesy, TPG also remitted the processing fee via check. The refund is
currently processing and is in pending status. Please allow up to 7 days for
the check to reach your address on record. 
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations. We hope we were able to offer a fair
solution to your complaint. If you have any other questions or concerns, please
feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

Dear Mr. [redacted],   This letter is in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on May 3, 2018.   Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matter. TPG, on behalf of Green Dot Bank (Bank), offers tax related...

financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront fees. When you prepared your taxes through the software provider, Turbo Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) product. This service is optional. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and RT processing fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer.   In the complaint received, you state there were issues surrounding the receipt of your refund. You submitted TPG’s requested documentation multiple times and the hold on your account has not been released. Additionally, you’ve been unable to reach a live customer service agent at TPG. To resolve your issue, you would like your funds released, a call back and an apology from TPG.   First and foremost, we would like to apologize for your experience with TPG Customer Service. We take this complaint very seriously and are committed to providing you a positive experience with our company.    To address your complaint, we have listed the timeline of events below: According to our records, on March 7, 2018, TPG received your electronic filing record from Turbo Tax. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software and RT processing fee. On March 12, 2018, due to certain fraud filters, your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at TPG to protect your account from fraud. Please understand that as a financial services business we are required to perform reasonable monitoring procedures to ensure fraud, such as ID theft, has not occurred through our business processes. Please keep in mind, TPG notified you, via email on that same date, which was before funding, to process authentication and allow the refund to be deposited into the account once it is funded by the IRS without any further delays. Unfortunately, TPG did not receive your identification prior to the IRS funding your account.   o     Due to industry requirements and company policy, if an account is flagged for unusual activity we are required to perform additional account due diligence in order to authenticate the identity of the taxpayer. Many companies, including most banks, feel that tax refunds with suspicious account attributes are high risk and rather than trying to perform additional due diligence they simply return the funds to the IRS.  TPG feels a better option for their valued customers is to try to perform additional steps to validate accounts and release the holds.  o     Please note: Rather than rejecting the funds received by the IRS, which can delay your refund up to 12 weeks, we allow our customers to submit an unexpired government issued photo ID and go through ID authentication. TPG’s verification process can take up to 7 business days to review the ID. Once we can validate that you are the taxpayer associated with the tax return filed, we release all funds received by the Government agency. Funds are held in a non-interest bearing account while we are waiting for the customer to respond to our enhanced due diligence request. If the customer does not respond to our request within a timely manner, we return the funds to the IRS. On April 17, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. On that same date, TPG deducted fees related to the Refund Transfer and the balance remained on hold in a non-interest bearing account awaiting ID verification.  TPG received your submissions on April 25th and 30th, however, TPG was not able to validate and authenticate the documentation received and you were asked to resubmit. On May 1, 2018, TPG received your final submission and began the review process. On May 8, 2018, TPG was able to validate your identity and released the account hold. On May 9, 2018, TPG deposited the funds to the bank account designated on your tax return. Please reference the detailed client letter mailed to the address on record for RTN, DAN, ACH contact and tracking information. On May 9, 2018, TPG Risk Department attempted to contact you via phone, but was unable to reach you. However, a voicemail was left with a direct call back number for you to reach a live agent.   On behalf of TPG, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced. Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up processes to protect our clients and help limit identity theft. We realize your frustration with the verification process, but please understand TPG was able to issue your refund within the allotted 7 business days of receiving a legible source of ID. However, as a courtesy we have refunded the TPG fee. A direct deposit in the amount of $39.99 will be disbursed to the bank account on record within 2 business days. If you have any additional questions or concerns, you may contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.   Respectfully,     [redacted] Program Operations Analyst

March 21, 2016
 
[redacted]
 
Dear Ms. [redacted]
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 9,
2016.
Your complaint stated that since February 18, you have been
waiting for your refund to be deposited into your bank account. You realized
that the account you entered for your refund to be deposited to is closed. You
called to inform TPG about your account but learned there was a hold placed on
your refund. You requested your refund be sent back to the IRS but have been
given different timeframes when the refund would be returned.
We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced and the
manner in which you felt our customer service agents handled your inquiry. We
have spoken with the customer service representatives regarding your complaint
and reminded them of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in a
respectful manner.
Controls are in placed to protect our customers from
identity theft. As explained to you during our phone conversation on March 17,
since there was an error in your account information as well as the address you
entered while filing your tax return, TPG is obligated to send your refund back
to the IRS. TPG has begun the process of returning your funds to the IRS,
specifically the RISC/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, California. The funds
will be sent back via Cashier’s Check and you will be provided a tracking
number to enable you to track the delivery status. This process can take up to 15
days. Please be advised that once we have returned funds to the IRS it can be 10-15
weeks before they acknowledge receipt and post to your account.
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our service
did not meet your expectations. If you have any other questions or concerns,
please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7am to
4pm.
 Sincerely,
Melissa Gaines
Compliance Analyst

April 26, 2016 [redacted]   Dear Ms. [redacted], This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 18, 2016. In your complaint you stated that since February 18, TPG has been...

holding your refund. You stated that TPG mailed your check on March 17 but you never received your check. After calling multiple times, you were asked to fill out an Indemnity Bond. You were told it would be sent within 72 hours, but never received it. After a week, you called and requested it to be sent again. You receive the Indemnity Bond on April 12, sent it back, but was told TPG did not receive it. Upon review of your account, your refund was rejected by your bank because the account number you submitted to Taxslayer.com was an invalid account number. In the scenario described in your complaint you have chosen a do-it-yourself (DIY) tax preparation software package.  The taxpayer is entirely responsible for the information provided to the software including the disbursement account where the refund will be deposited. If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank.  Often times this occurs because the taxpayer has entered incorrect bank account information or the account is closed.  In these cases the receiving bank “rejects” the transaction, and returns the funds to the sender, in this case TPG.  TPG has nothing to with incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. Once you were verified,  TPG  mailed your refund as a Cashier’s Check on March 17, but you informed TPG you never received it. TPG requested that you fill out an Indemnity Bond to allow TPG to cancel your first check and reissue a new one. On April 21, TPG was able to process and approve your completed Indemnity Bond. Your refund was reissued as a Cashier’s Check and mailed to you on April 21. TPG confirmed that the check was negotiated on April 25, 2016.  Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our service did not meet your expectations. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.  Sincerely, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

February 23, 2017 [redacted] Dear Mr. [redacted], We are writing in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 17, 2017. Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in...

this matter. TPG, on behalf of [redacted] Bank (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront fees. When your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) product. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer. According to our records, on February 4, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from Turbo Tax. This means that you used tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. TPG received the data file and no monies were transferred. On February 10, 2017, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. On February 10, 2017, TPG deducted the Turbo Tax user fees and made payment to the bank account indicated on your tax return. Funds were sent out via ACH as directed by the RT application from Turbo Tax. Your financial institution rejected the funds and declared the account an R03 / “No Account/Unable to Locate Account”. You may contact your financial institution and provide them with the trace number enclosed in your personal detailed letter for further information regarding the rejection of funds. The funds were returned to TPG on February 14, 2016. Please keep in mind that it is critical to ensure your bank information is accurate as Turbo Tax does not verify your bank account information when you are proceeding through the filing process. Additionally, please understand TPG charges a Return Item Fee of $20.00 if the refund cannot be delivered as directed on your tax return. However, TPG has made an exception in your case, and a remittance of the $20.00 fee will be issued to you. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Respectfully, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

April 18, 2016
[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 9,
2016.
In your complaint, you stated...

that you filed you taxes in
March with Turbo Tax. On March 23, the IRS approved your refund but due to
unusual activity, TPG placed a hold on your account. TPG requested you to send
in your identification to verify your account. After sending your information
to TPG via fax and through the website, you have been unable to receive an
update on the status of your account.
We experienced extremely large call volumes correlated to
extremely large funding from the IRS. This unexpected spike in business caused
extreme demands on our resources such as our customer call center. We apologize
for the inconvenience this has caused you and the difficulty to reach a
customer service agent.
Controls are in place to protect our customer from identity
theft. On May 12, TPG was able to verify your identity and released the hold on
your account. TPG processed your refund as a direct deposit on April 12, 2016.
On behalf of TPG, I would like to remit $34.99 for the
processing fees due to the delay in receiving your refund. Thank you for taking
the time to communicate to us why our service did not meet your expectations.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at
877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

Dear Mr. [redacted], We are writing in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 26, 2017. Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matter. TPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial...

products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront fees. When your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) product. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer. In the complaint filed with Revdex.com, it was stated that there were problems surrounding the receipt of your tax refund.  You stated your IRS refund was being held fraudulently and drawing daily interest at our institution.  To address your complaint, we have listed information below:·        According to our records, on January 29, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from Turbo Tax. This means that you utilized tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. The following occurred on January 29, 2017:·        Your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at TPG to protect your account from fraud.  Please understand that as a financial services business we are required to perform reasonable monitoring procedures to ensure fraud, such as ID theft, has not occurred through our business processes.  Certain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspicious. Please note: Rather than rejecting the funds received by the IRS, which can delay your refund up to 12 weeks, we allow our customers to submit an unexpired government issued photo ID go through ID authentication.  Once we can validate that you are the taxpayer associated with the tax return filed, we release all funds received by the government agency. Funds are held in a non-interest bearing account while we are waiting for the customer to respond to our enhanced due diligence request.  If the customer does not respond to our request within a timely manner, we return the funds to the IRS.·        You were sent an email to the address noted in your tax return to inform you of the account hold and instruct you on how to release the hold. ·        On February 22, 2017, TPG received payment related to your 2016 federal tax refund; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT.·        On February 25, 2017, TPG received an unexpired photo ID.  We notified you during the upload process to allow up to seven business days for your identification to be reviewed.·        On March 3, 2017 TPG authenticated your account and released your funds. It is industry standard to reject transactions which cannot be authenticated and return them to the originator, in this case the IRS, when account activity is flagged for possible fraud.  If the funds were returned directly to the IRS, the refund would be delayed for an extended period of time. Please understand that when TPG places a hold on the account it is for the benefit of the customer as it allows TPG to verify the customers identity, remove the hold from the account and release the funds to the lawful owner.  As we explained, if we did not allow for this authentication, your funds would be returned to the IRS and you would have to wait weeks in order to receive your refund.  TPG notifies the customer via email on how to release the hold.  We notify the customer before funds are received from the IRS to allow the customer enough time to upload an ID before the money is received from the IRS.  In most cases, customers are able to release their account hold before any funds are received from the IRS and they have no delay to receipt of their funds.  We do apologize if you did not receive this email. Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up processes to protect our clients from identity theft. We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at [redacted], Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST). Respectfully, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

February 10, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on February 8.
2016.
Upon review of your record, you had...

initially contacted TPG
to advise that your name was not on the bank account provided for the deposit
of your refund. Once your information was updated and verified, TPG was able to
send your check to the address on record. The package was delivered on February
10, 2016 and signed for by [redacted] as evidenced on the [redacted] website.
On behalf of TPG, I would like to formally apologize for any
trouble or inconvenience this may have caused you. If you have any questions,
please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to
4pm.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

March 2, 2016
 
[redacted]
 
Dear [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed
against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the RevDex.com on February 22, 2016.
Your complaint stated...

that after filing your
taxes, you learned that TPG placed a hold on your account. After contacting
customer service, you learned that you needed to upload your driver’s license
and then wait 2 weeks for the check to be mailed to you.
Historically, we have no record of you in our
system in 2015.  It is recommended that
you follow up with the IRS at [redacted] relating to your complaint that no
direct deposit was made from your 2015 tax return.
Upon review of your 2016 record, a Refund Transfer
(RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On February 9, 2016 the IRS funded your federal
return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] user fees and an additional
Bank processing fee for the RT. The balance was deposited to the account
instructed on the [redacted] Refund Processing Agreement. Your financial
institution rejected the funds and declared the account an R04 / “Invalid
Account Number”. You may contact the ACH Department for [redacted] Federal Savings
Bank at [redacted] and provide them with trace number: [redacted]8,
amount: $2,500.13 and disbursement date of 2-9-2016 for further details regarding the rejection of funds. The funds
were returned to TPG on February 10, 2016.
If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not
accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank.
Often times this occurs because the taxpayer has entered the incorrect bank
account information or the account is closed. In these cases, the receiving
bank “rejects” the transaction and returns the funds to the sender, in the
case, TPG. TPG has nothing to do with the incorrect account information entered
by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. Once TPG
receives the rejected refund, the company has the option of making another
attempt to disburse the funds to the customer or simply returning the funds to
the IRS.
Controls are in place to protect our customers
from identity theft and fraud. After speaking with you on February 23, TPG verified
your information and released the hold from your account. On February 23, TPG issued
your tax refund as a check and mailed it to you on the same date. Your account
establishes that the check cleared today, March 1, 2016.
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us
why our service did not meet your expectations. We hope that the points listed above
offer a fair explanation and addressed your needs. If you have any other
questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday
through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 
Sincerely, 
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

February 29, 2016
[redacted]
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February
19, 2016.
In your complaint, you stated that after...

submitting you tax
return, you entered the wrong account which caused your refund to be rejected
by your bank and sent back to TPG. After speaking with TPG’s customer service,
you were give a number of different answers as to when your refund would be
released.
Our sincere apologies, I agree that this should not have
happened.  The information you were given
should have been consistent and reliable. Your case has been reviewed with the
Manager and the team in order to clarify procedures and provide further
training.  We appreciate you bringing
this to our attention and thank you for your input and feedback.
If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not accept the
refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. Often times
this occurs because the taxpayer has entered the incorrect bank account
information or the account is closed. In these cases, the receiving bank
“rejects” the transaction, and returns the funds to the sender, in this case,
TPG. TPG has nothing to do with the incorrect account information entered by
the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. Once TPG
receives the rejected refund, the company has the option of making another
attempt to disburse the funds to the customer or simply returning the funds to
the IRS.
Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity
theft and fraud. TPG was able to verify your information and released the hold
from your account. On February 20, TPG issued and mailed your tax refund as a
check. Your account establishes that on February 27 the check was received and
cashed.   
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel
free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

March 10, 2017 [redacted] Dear Miss [redacted], We are writing in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 4, 2017. Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matter....

TPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront fees. When your taxes were prepared through [redacted], you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) product. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fee. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer. According to our records, on February 13, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted]. This means that you utilized tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. TPG received the data file and no monies were transferred. Due to certain fraud filters, your account was placed on hold in a non­interest bearing account for additional verification. On February 22, 2017 the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RT. To remove an account hold, we ask customers to simply provide us a copy of their unexpired government issued identification, such as a driver’s license or passport. This allows us to verify your identity and remove the hold from your account. On March 10, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification and released the account hold. Your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at TPG to protect your account from fraud.  Please understand that as a financial services business we are required to perform reasonable monitoring procedures to ensure fraud, such as ID theft, has not occurred through our business processes.  Certain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspicious. We are very sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced, but please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, TPG is required to set up processes to protect our clients and help limit identity theft. As a courtesy to you, TPG has decided to refund the RT fee as a direct deposit to the account on file. Please also note that, due to the PATH Act, we are experiencing an influx in call volumes which correlates to extremely large funding from the IRS. This unexpected spike in business has caused extreme demand on our resources and call center. We are already seeing the volume subside and trend back to normal, however this may have caused the difficulty in reaching a live customer service agent. Additionally, you stated an issue with our Customer Service agents. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and the manner in which you felt your inquiry was handled by our Customer Service agents. All the customer agents involved have been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in a clear and respectful manner. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at [redacted], Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST), or you may utilize our live customer support chat by logging onto https://help.sbtpg.com/hc/en-us/[redacted], Monday through Friday between 6:00am to 6:00pm (PST).   Respectfully,Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

[redacted] E [redacted]
"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[redacted] CA [redacted]
RE:
Case [redacted]
Dear
[redacted],
This is in response to the complaint filed
against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group "TPG" to the Revdex.com on
June 2, regarding fees.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer
(RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo TaxWhen the
taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a
temporary account at the Bank and the State return to be filed directly to the
StateWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund (usually less than days from the
filing date), the Bank makes deductions from the refund per your Sunrise Banks
N.ARefund Processing AgreementTurbo Tax software requires that the taxpayer
identify a bank account number where the customer wants the refund
deposited. The taxpayer is entirely
responsible for the information provided to the software including the
disbursement account where the refund will be deposited
TPG also notifies the customer, through
e-mail, at the time of funding, that the refund has been received and will be
deposited into the bank account. The
customer is given the TPG website and phone number if they have any questions
or problemsTPG allows taxpayers the opportunity to correct their initial
mistake and avoid reprocessing until the item is reprocessed, which may be
several days or several weeks. Customers,
who choose to do so, utilize the TPG website to change their account
information. However, no attempt was ever made relating to your
account
On
February 6, the IRS funded your federal return; $deposited into the
bank account per Sunrise Banks N.ARefund Processing Agreement and $1,
to AmazonYour bank rejected your funds and declared the account an R03/"No
Account/Unable to Locate Account"You may contact your bank and provide them
with trace number: for further details regarding the rejection
of fundsThe funds were returned to TPG on February 10, where the $reprocessing
fee and the $account research and legal processing fee was chargedThe
remaining $was returned to the IRS on March 26, Please allow
approximately 10-weeks from the date for the IRS to acknowledge receipt of
fundsIt is recommended that you contact the IRS at 800-829-for further
details
As
a courtesy, the reprocessing fee of $and the account research and legal
processing fee of $will be remitted back to the IRS for processingThis may
take several days to several weeks and is dependent on IRS processing timesPlease feel free to contact me at
877-[redacted], Monday through Friday am to pm, forfurther details relating
to the refund and return transaction
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Compliance
Analyst

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.This business has done nothing but lie from very beginning. I contacted them on March 24, 2016 whereby they instructed me to contact my bank of deposit to obtain date refund would be returned so business could then explain precisely when my refund would be sent to me as per agreement. I was then advised to contact business on March 28 & 29th only to get definitive answer confirming refund is sent out and to my address of record. Business then began to DEMAND that I provide to them copy of my driver's license in order to receive my refund. I was advised that if I did not comply to these demands then business would purposely hold on to my refund for lengthy period of time then send refund back to IRS whereby another severe lengthy delay would ensue. I told business this was illegal and breach of agreement and that I was very uncomfortable providing them with essentially remaining personal identifying information that completes my make-up. I also advised business that they are only allowed to verify information that IRS and Intuit possess and that neither of those parties possess or requested copy of driver's license and that business is holding my money and authorized by me to become a party to transaction and thus they agreed to accept my money from one party with instructions by me to deposit my money into deposit account and agreement is clear that they were only opening a TEMPORARY ACCOUNT (without acct number or normal deposit account capabilities) and that upon possible return of my money from designated account to business they are instructed to immediately place my money into form of cashiers check and mail check to my address of record. Business is not authorized to make demands to me, dictate new terms, illegally and unnecessarily hold my money delaying my receipt of funds, and only if certain prongs exist may they return money to IRS. Those prongs are as follows:1. Designated deposit account returns refund;2. Upon mailing of check it is returned to business as unable to complete delivery;3. and I do not claim money and am unable to locate and/or contact thus leaving business with only one avenue at that point to return money to IRS.Business never attempted to execute obligated delivery by mail as business refused to do so unless I complied with term and condition never contained in agreement and in violation of my rights and laws. Business was not a party to agreement, and only involved as alleged acting agent for [redacted] Bank. However, business makes representations in day-to-day activities suggesting that these parties are actually one in the same and business is conducting bank business and transactions from location they conduct primary business at and whereby are not licensed or authorized to transact as a bank or financial institution. Business then blackmailed me into executing another agreement releasing them of liability for their conduct. Upon execution business would immediately send out my refund to address of record by priority mail. Business then sent me alleged tracking number which to this day shows no movement, portrayed to be via certified mail (not new agreed provision of priority mail), allegedly on a form severely outdated and not in use by USPS any longer and lacking data that would normally accompany form 3800 outdated or not, and which I ultimately never received and waited many days suffering damages and hardships. Business then fabricates additional documents and correspondence attempting to cover-up their deceit before offering me issuance of another check immediately upon execution of very short form indemnity bond agreement. I then draft a declaration containing substantially more details and declaring under penalty of perjury to its contents. However, business then proceeds to rescind offer to immediately send another check due to my providing declaration in lieu of their insignificant bond agreement. I am told that a review by their legal team is required to make sure business is covered and they are within their STANDARD POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. I explain that under the law I have no responsibility for indemnity bond since they allegedly sent check via certified mail and I then did not receive check, they never legally relinquished possession of check (certified mail), business received alleged confirmation that mailing never reached me, and I pointed out the strange notarized provision bond agreement contained whereby I would be forced to provide my driver's license to execute bond. Business then (in many ways) reveal their entire plan which was creating this elaborate ruse to first portray attempted mailing of refund (whereby they believe would legally cover them should they carry out their illegal threats to return refund to IRS should I fail to comply with additional illegal demands), causing me further delay in receiving my money (due to refusing to meet their illegal demands and opposing them), then ultimately forcing me into providing my drivers license the very thing that caused this matter to escalate. Business then delays another two days portraying legal review over my declaration. I was irate and advised them that nobody would require this amount of time to review simple document as a substitute for their less than one page bond agreement. I also advised them that they have no set policies and regardless their policies and procedures are frivolous here as they are not a party nor are their policies incorporated into any agreement that governs this matter. Business then admits their tactics whereby they speak freely as to the rare opposition they see with other customers they conduct exact same transactions with as is evident in the many complaints submitted against this business. At this point business has caused me substantial damages and hardships committing many acts and substantial evidence has been gathered and is still being accumulated supporting the details listed herein and much more. This business attempted to justify their acts as safeguard protocols but they are the party that has committed fraud and displays fraud like tendencies. Business also has no right to implement any safeguards or policies they may normally conduct since they did not participate in drafting agreement for this transaction, were merely acting agents for participating bank (allegedly), and with all their banter and raving about policies and procedures they revised these many times but always with business creating the terms and conditions a fact that is comical as upon receipt of my money they are under my directive not other way around. Business at no time possesses legal or ownership rights to money and since I was in constant contact with them the true owner was being illegally denied right to his money (theft by business) and caused to accrue substantial costs to receive money, expenses that were never contained in agreement or mentioned as possibilities. Business may execute their safeguards only before temporary account is opened (which is substantial period of time before they received money) and even with these patriot act safeguards business may only (at most) request information from drivers license not copy of it. But this would not apply as terms clearly provide business right to "other information sources" which refers to same data IRS and Intuit possessed throughout and completed their own safeguards as actual participants to transaction entire time. Business and myself actually have no business relationship and business acting as agent should have received directives and referred to [redacted] Bank not delegate matters and revise, change, and create terms and conditions they are not legally empowered to complete. I am in receipt of check and it has been deposited but business has caused me severe hardships and damages and the pain and suffering forced upon me to simply receive money that is mine and surely not that of business is beyond comprehension or justification. Their acts are criminal, unprofessional, malicious, and outside the parameters outlined in documents I reviewed and agreed to before entering into this mess. Business is apparently committing similar acts and believe that because consumers ultimately comply with their illegal demands and blackmail submitting drivers licenses and other private information it must be legally sufficient and appropriate. They even used this explanation as a means of slandering me whereby I was told that since many consumers ultimately comply then why would I have problem with doing so UNLESS? I advised that by no means should they rest upon this inference as a means of supporting any illegal acts carried out as I have a right to protect my privacy and considering I do not conduct business with this party nor will I how can they expect me to provide them with every personal identifying and meaningful profile detail leaving myself exposed and naked to someone I am unfamiliar with, unprofessional, and doing the types of things they have done? I want business to pay for their treatment of me and acts committed and make sure they do not terrorize other consumers as apparently is occurring on regular basis. Revdex.com is here o protect consumers and we definitely require protection against the likes of this company. There is a lot of evidence here against these companies and it needs to be forwarded to proper departments and agencies. I have contacted several but would love assistance of Revdex.com.   
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 12005909, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[The business, TPG, has responded with a "preplanned" template response. The still didn't answer as to why they suspected suspicious activity that supposedly caused them to request my ID be copied and sent out over the internet. What if someone else intercepted my information? Seems to me they have more encouraged identity theft rather than preventing it as they so like to point out. Look, we know what the game is. Do what it takes to keep a unsuspecting "customer's" money for as long as they legally can to collect the maximum amount of interest from it. I would bet that the customers who have their refunds sent from the IRS to TPG in the beginning of the month are the ones who are being inconvenienced the most. They probably keep as much of the customer's money as they can in their accounts until their bank pays them the interest for the month. Then they release all the money they were holding and start all over again for the next month. I'm done with them. Nice scam. ]
Regards,
[redacted]