Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

February 26, 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 filing through [redacted], the IRS sent back your refund to TPG to be
processed. You spoke with TPG’s customer service for a number of days unable to
learn when your refund would be returned to you.
If a taxpayer enters a bank
account that will not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by
the receiving bank. Oftentimes 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 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 has requested that you provide
your valid personal ID to verify that you are the correct account holder. TPG
was able to verify your information and released the hold from your account. On
February 20, TPG processed your tax refund as a check and mailed it to you on
the same date. Please allow up to 7 days for the check to reach your listed
address.
We apologize for the manner in
which your inquiry was handled by our customer service agents.  Customer courtesy is an extreme priority for
us and in this case, we apparently failed you. 
All the customer agents involved have been reminded of their obligation
to always process customer inquiries in a respectful manner.
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

April 21, 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 April
12, 2016.
In your complaint you stated that after filing...

your taxes
you learned your refund was returned to TPG and charged $20 for a reprocessing
fee. You were opposed to TPG requesting a copy of your identification in order
to verify you were the rightful owner of the account. After executing a
Settlement Agreement and Release between both parties, you asked that your
refund be sent as a Cashier’s Check to your address on record. You have not
received your check as of yet.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On March 22, 2016 the IRS funded your federal
return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] user fees. The balance was
deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Bank Refund Processing
Agreement. Your financial institution rejected the funds and declared the
account an R16 / “Account Frozen”. You may contact the ACH department for your
financial institution and provide them with trace number: [redacted] for further details regarding the
rejection of funds. The funds were returned to TPG on March 24, 2016.
On March 29, 2016 you contacted TPG to inquire on the status
of your refund. TPG requested that you submit a photo of your government issued
identification for verification, which you declined to complete. As explained in
earlier conversations, we admit the CIP rule does not apply to an entity that
limits its services to check cashing, funds transfer or the sale of a check or
money order. You seem to believe that your relationship with [redacted] Bank
and Santa Barbara Tax Products Group, as the bank’s processor, is a funds
transfer. An actual account is established with [redacted] Bank. This is
a deposit and transaction account established to receive an IRS refund. The
account is FDIC insured. An account was established for you and the IRS
did deposit your refund into this account. There was an attempt to then
transfer funds to a separate account as you requested, but as you admitted, you
inserted an incorrect account number into the tax preparation
software. The transfer was rejected and a check issuance process was
begun. As part of the process, TPG initiated an identity verification
process to ensure it was submitting the check to the appropriate person. 
Even without the CIP rule, TPG would be 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. 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. You were also directed to reference the Application and Agreement
you electronically signed through [redacted]. Additionally, you were given the
option to have your funds returned to the IRS if you were uncomfortable
providing your personal and confidential information to TPG. We apologize if
our attempts at obtaining your personal information were perceived as intrusive,
but please understand it is our obligation to investigate these matters
thoroughly to ensure the money is forwarded to the lawful owner.
On April 1, 2016, TPG received your Demand Notice which was
forwarded to our Legal Team.  After legal
review, both parties agreed to the terms of the Settlement Agreement and
Release. You choose the option to have your refund mailed to your address as a
Cashier’s Check via USPS Certified Ground delivery. Unfortunately, you have not
received your check since it was mailed on April 7, 2016. As evidenced on the
USPS website, the check arrived at the USPS facility but the post office is
unable to locate it. Thank you for notifying TPG that the labels which were
used for the package were outdated. This was confirmed on our last visit to the
USPS where they updated our supplies but they indicated that this should not
have initiated an issue with the shipment. The letter from USPS is enclosed for
reference on the mishandling of the shipment. 
On April 12, 2016, you called TPG and spoke with [redacted] who informed you to fill out the attached Indemnity Bond sent in an email
and forward back via fax or email. An Indemnity Bond will authorize a stop
payment on the first Cashier’s Check sent to you and allow TPG to reissue a new
check. You stated that you were not satisfied with the resolution as it would
require you to have the Indemnity Bond notarized. In lieu of the Indemnity
Bond, you submitted a Declaration Notice which required TPG Legal team to
review the form since this was outside our standard practices. On April 20,
2016 you complied with our request and provided the Indemnity Bond form.  A new check was reissued to the address you
submitted on the Indemnity Bond.  The
shipment went out USPS Priority Mail Express. 
You were provided the tracking and delivery date via email.   
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations. TPG is very sorry for any inconvenience
you have experienced.  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

[redacted]
S [redacted] E
[redacted] UT [redacted]
 
RE:
         Case [redacted]
 
July 17, 2015
 
Dear
[redacted],
 
This is in response to the complaint filed against
Santa Barbara Tax Products...

Group “TPG” to the Revdex.com on July
10, 2015 regarding service issues. 
 
In the scenario described in your complaint, your bank
rejected the funds and declared the account an R16 “Account Frozen”. The funds
were returned to TPG on February 9, 2015 where the $20 reprocessing fee and the
$25 account research and legal processing fee was charged. According to your contract, TPG issued
a Cashier’s Check on February 9, 2015 and mailed it to the address on record. The
cashier’s check was returned to our office on February 20 as “undeliverable”
and TPG returned your funds to the IRS on April 15, 2015.  Per our conversation on July 17, 2015 the
funds have been located and you will be in contact with IRS to update your
mailing address and to discuss further action.
 
Please feel free
to contact me at 877-[redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm, if you have
any further questions or concerns regarding this complaint.
 
 
Respectfully,
 
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

March 7, 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
25, 2016.
You complaint stated that you were told...

that you alerted TPG
that the account you submitted was wrong. 
You asked that we retrieve your funds and reissue as a check.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 17, 2016 the IRS funded your federal
return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax 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 R23 / “Credit Entry
Refused by Receiver”. The funds were returned to TPG on March 4, 2016.
On February 15, 2016 you called TPG to advise that you
entered wrong account information and needed to place the account on hold.  Unfortunately, this request was not processed
immediately and the funds were disbursed as scheduled.  Our sincere apologies, as this shouldn’t have
happened.  On March 4, we spoke on the
phone and I advised that the funds were returned by the financial institution
and were currently on a hold until we could validate your identity.  Per your request, I forwarded instructions for
this process via email.  You then
confirmed receipt of my email and advised that you completed the verification
process.  On March 7, TPG verified your
information, released the hold from your account, and mailed a check to your
address on record. Tracking information was forwarded to you via email. 
Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our
service did not meet your expectations. 
We have every desire to address your needs and provide the best solution
available to resolve your issue as soon as possible.  We hope the points listed above offered a
fair explanation and solution.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel
free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 Sincerely,
[redacted]
Senior Compliance Analyst

Dear Mr. [redacted],Your complaint will remain open until it is resolved. Please utilize the contact information provided to ensure your call is routed to our team for resolution.   Thank you again for your communication,[redacted]Program Operations Manager

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.
Regards,
[redacted]
I didnt percieve the rep asking for information as rude I heard and was treated rudely I do know the difference I was given several stories. Your check was mailed to your address when you call back the next rep says it was never sent. I was told my check could not be redeposited and then told by another rep it could be. I now have contacted the irs twice and my check is still not there!!!!! Where is my money???? I dont trust your reps they cannot even solve a problem because no one says the same thing. One rep told me it would  be very long and dragged out to go back and forth with faxing information then said it would be mailed I feel due to mishandling and obviously non skilled workers I am suffering I want my check!!!

Dear Mr. [redacted],...


This is in response to your complaint filed a[redacted]t Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on August 11, 2016.
Your complaint stated that you filed your taxes on January 20, 2016 and the IRS approved your refund on May 20, 2016. Your refund was sent to TPG on June 14, 2016. Your complaint stated that because of the amount of time it took for your identification to be verified, the IRS debited your account for processing fees. You claimed TPG deducted $100 in fees and is still holding onto your refund. On July 27, 2016, TPG informed you that your return was sent back to the IRS and explained it would take 12 weeks for your return to be deposited into your account. You claimed that TPG was collecting interest while holding your refund.
To address your complaint while still protecting your identity, we have written you a detailed letter with specific information related to your account. Our letter outlines the timeline of events and referenced specific dollar amounts. To respond to your Revdex.com complaint, we still summarize the events, but please reference the letter we sent you for additional details.
On January 20, 2016, TPG received your electronic filing record from Turbo Tax. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and you elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. TPG received the data file and no monies were transferred. On June 14, 2016, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG. TPG deposited your refund into the account number you provided, but the deposit was rejected by your bank because it was deemed as an “R02: Account Closed”. Due to certain fraud filters, your transaction was placed on hold in a non-interest bearing account.
On March 23, 2016, TPG auto debited your personal account to collect the outstanding Turbo Tax user fees as agreed upon during the preparation of your tax return.  The auto debit was also rejected by your bank.  
You requested that TPG update your account to reflect your new account number and address. TPG explained we were unable to process that request as it is a[redacted]t TPG policy and advised you to have your mail forwarded to your new address. TPG sent your refund as a Cashier’s Check to the address listed on your account. Unfortunately, your check was sent back to TPG as “undeliverable”.
On August 3, 2016, your refund was returned to the IRS because TPG could not proceed any further in our efforts due to two (2)  failed attempts to deposit your refund: 1) to the designated account and 2) to the address on record. Please allow 10-12 weeks for the IRS to process your refund. Please contact a tax advocate in your state for more information regarding your refund at 954-423-7677.
Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up procedures 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 questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at 877-908-7228, 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.
[The company advertises that there will be no delay in receiving a return.  This is simply untruthful.  The delay in receiving my return was due to the company's failure to complete the identification process before the IRS released the refund.  If that had been done, the refund would have arrived timely, I would have known where my money was and would have had no anxiety about the location of my 25k.  The company uses the delay to accrue interest on the money they receive.  They should be compelled to disclose interest on the refund, return it to those that had returns delayed and complete their ID process in advance. ]
Regards,
[redacted]

April 19, 2016
[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to...

your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Product Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on April 8,
2016.
In your complaint you stated that your tax refund is being
held after your refund was rejected by your financial institution. When you
submitted your driver’s license to TPG to release the hold, you were told your
license was invalid. You also claim TPG’s customer service are extremely rude
when speaking with them.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and
the manner in which 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
respectful manner.
On February 9, the IRS funded your
federal return. On March 16, your funds were placed on an automatic hold due to
risk control triggered by information transmitted in your return. During this
process, TPG requested you to submit documents such as your Driver’s License to
verify your identity. Please upload your ID again or another option is to fax
clear copies or your ID, social security card, W2 and proof of address to
858-430-3101.
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 858-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7 am to 4pm.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

August 30, 2016
[redacted]
Dear [redacted]
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on August 18, 2016.
Your complaint stated that you received your refund from the...

IRS stating TPG sent your refund on June 16, 2016. The TPG website states it was sent back on June 4, 2016. When you spoke with the IRS, you were told TPG had your refund since May 4, 2016. You stated that TPG charged you more than $100 in fees because your bank rejected your refund. Lastly, after you spoke with the Philadelphia Financial Engagement Center, you learned that Green Dot Bank still had your check. They explained that it should not have taken more than 2 weeks for you to receive your refund.
To address your complaint while still protecting your identity, we have written you a detailed letter with specific information related to your account. Our letter outlines the timeline of events and referenced specific dollar amounts. To respond to your Revdex.com complaint, we still summarize the events, but please reference the letter we sent you for additional details.
On April 18, 2016, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted]. This means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and you elected to utilize a Refund Transfer to pay your software fees. TPG received the data file and no monies were transferred.
On May 3, 2016, the IRS approved your refund and payment was made to TPG.  On May 4, 2016, your bank rejected your refund because it was deemed an “R03: No Account/Unable to Locate Account”. Your funds were sent back to TPG and held in a non-interest bearing account with TPG. TPG requested that you submit your identification to be verified in order to release the hold on your account. Unfortunately, your identification did not pass the verification process.
On June 4, 2016, TPG placed your refund into a queue to be processed back to the IRS. On June 17, 2016, your refund was released to the IRS because TPG could not proceed any further in our efforts due to two failed attempts to deposit your refund: 1) to the designated account which was invalid and 2) due to failed verification of your identity. Please review your application and agreement and/or TPG’s website for full disclosure of applicable fees associated with reprocessing your refund back to the IRS.
Please allow 10 to 12 weeks for the IRS to process your refund. It can be several weeks before the IRS acknowledges receipt and posts your refund to your account at the IRS. As recommended before, you can contact the IRS at 800-829-0922 for further details. You may also log onto IRS.gov to seek assistance from a Taxpayer Advocate in your State.
Please understand that with the heightened fraud in the tax industry, we are required to set up procedures 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 questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG 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 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]

March 28 2016
[redacted]
class="MsoNormal">Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March
17, 2016.
In your complaint, you stated that after filing your taxes,
you were asked to send identification to verify your account. After numerous
attempts of sending TPG your forms, you still were unable to receive your
money.
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 do with incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or the
receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds.
Once you were able to speak with a TPG representative, it
was explained that TPG cannot try depositing into the same account twice. The
representative explained that TPG could issue a Cashier’s Check but your tax
preparer was unable to print it for you. TPG emailed you the required forms and
directed you to submit them through the TPG website.
On March 23, 2016, you were contacted by TPG’s Compliance
Analyst who sent you the instructions via email. On the same day, you confirmed
that you submitted the forms. TPG was able to process and reverse both refunds,
State and Federal, via direct deposit. Notification was provided via email and
phone call. 
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and
the manner in which your inquiry was handled by our Customer Service. Customer
courtesy is an extreme priority for us and in this case, we didn’t meet your
expectations. All the agents involved have been reminded of their obligation to
always process customer inquiries in a respectful manner.
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

There is nothing additional that we can supply this taxpayer as his account has been flagged possible fraud. 
 
In order to close this rejection and complaint I wanted to provide some insight to the Revdex.com.  Mr. [redacted]’s record shows his filing status as single, using an online provider such as Turbo Tax with a $95,000 refund which derived from an income gained in a few months time.  In cooperation with the IRS, his funds were placed on hold and the Criminal Investigations Division at the IRS was contacted.  TPG offered to release the funds once he provided supporting documentation which would have been reviewed through our IRS direct contact, he rejected that offer and used a few chosen phrases to express his frustration.  Our agent was unable to deescalate the situation and our agent proceeded with the only other option which is to return the funds back to the IRS.  Our IRS contact served an indemnification and requested the funds back for further investigation and review.  These funds are queued to go back to the IRS.  He may contact the IRS at 800-829-1040.
 
Thank you,
[redacted]

I contacted them after not being able to review my account online and was connected with a very rude woman who acted as though she was being bothered and I was being unreasonable to ask for an itemized list of fees as I found a $33 discrepancy. When I asked to please have explained to me why I needed them to receive my tax refund from the IRS and then have them send the refund to my own bank when I could just have the IRS send the refund directly to my own bank I was told "you can just do your taxes yourself, too!" I really thought there must be SOME reason to have them involved and that they provided some necessary service to earn the fees they were charging me. Turns out there is no reason and they just charge money for a service the IRS provides for free. I guess [redacted] must get some kind of kick back from their useless company. This nasty woman told me to contact [redacted] to find out why there was a discrepancy even though the discrepancy was between bad attitude woman's records from her company computer and said company's own website for customers use and not from [redacted]. SBTPG will never get another penny from me and neither will [redacted] just for associating themselves with this sham of a business.

March 15, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 8,
2016.
In your complaint, you stated that TPG required you to send
your identification and because we would not accept it, you requested to have
funds sent back to the IRS. You are requesting a refund of the refund transfer
fee.
On February 24, 2016, TPG processing on behalf of [redacted]
disbursed your tax related Refund Transfer (RT) proceeds to the account
directed by you in your electronic application. Funds were deposited to the
account instructed on the [redacted] Refund Processing Agreement. Your financial
institution rejected the funds and declared the account invalid.  You may contact your financial institution
and provide them with trace number: [redacted] for further details
regarding the rejection of funds.  The
funds were returned to TPG on February 26, 2016.
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 4, 2016, TPG was unable
to successfully verify the personal information you provided in order to release
the hold on the account. Per your request, the refund is being processed to be
returned to the IRS. Please be advised that once we have returned funds to the
IRS it can be several weeks before they acknowledge receipt and post to your
account. You may contact the IRS directly at [redacted] to determine the
status of your refund.
TPG provided the service which we were contracted to provide
in deducting the applicable fees and depositing the funds into the account
which you directed on the online agreement; therefore we deny the request for
reimbursement of the bank refund processing fee.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel
free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Senior Compliance Analyst

February 17, 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 12, 2016.
You stated that you have not received your refund yet after it was rejected by your bank. Once you learned it was rejected, you contacted TPG’s customer service again to inquire about your refund.
Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate you telling us of your experience. We are experiencing extremely large call volumes which correlates to an extremely large, and unexpected, funding from IRS. This unexpected spike in business has caused extreme demand on our resources. 
We understand your frustration with the delay in processing your refund.  Initially, your bank rejected the transaction and returned the funds back to TPG.  Additionally, controls are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraud and therefore you had to go through a process to verify your identity. 
We apologize if our attempts at obtaining your personal information were perceived as rude, but please understand it is our obligation to investigate these matters thoroughly to ensure the money is forwarded to the lawful owner. All the customer agents involved have been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in a respectful manner.   
Once your personal information was verified with TPG, your refund was converted into a Cashier’s Check and mailed to you on February 12, 2016 to the address on record. Please allow up to 7 days for the check to be received.
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

February 16, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
class="MsoNormal">
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February
11, 2016.
In your complaint, you stated that your account was locked
and you tried speaking to our customer service about this matter. You wanted to
change the routing number and direct account number because there was an error
with the first account numbers you provided.
We are experiencing extremely large call volumes which
correlates to an extremely large, and unexpected, funding from IRS. This
unexpected spike in business has caused extreme demand on our resources. 
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and the manner in which
your inquiry was handled by our Customer Service agents.  All customer service agents involved have
been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in a
respectful manner.
TPG spoke to your tax preparer and we were advised that they
were able to assist in resolving the issue. 
Our records show they issued a Cashier’s Check on February 11, 2016 and
they verbally confirmed it was disbursed to you.
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

This Company should be SHUT DOWN. They are either completely incompetent or just plain dishonest. We consumers need to start a class action lawsuit against them.
They are a TurboTax partner, and illegally holding on to taxpayers' IRS refunds. I received an email from TurboTax stating that my substantial refund would be deposited immediately by SBPPG--that was over a week ago. When I try to contact them by phone, I'm put into a phone loop where I'm told my info isn't available, a recording then asks me to call the very same number I just called, and then they hang up. I then called TurboTax and they brushed me off by telling me to keep calling SBPPG.
After reading other reviews about this company I realize they are putting other tax payers through this very same scam. SBPPG has held some consumers' money for up to a month. How is it that they can get away with this! How are they still in business?
In the future I'll use ** [redacted] online tax program.

[redacted]

size="3">
[redacted]
S [redacted] Rd #**
[redacted]
AZ [redacted]
 
RE:
     Case [redacted]
 
 
July 13, 2015
 
Dear
[redacted],
 
This letter is in response to the complaint
filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com of San Diego on
June 29, 2015 regarding your tax refund deposit. 
 
Controls
are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraud. In this
scenario the identifying documents requested to confirm identity where never received.
Because we were unable to obtain the personal information from you in order to
verify your identity, we couldn’t proceed any further in our efforts.
 
TPG
returned your funds to the IRS on October 23, 2014. It is recommended that you
contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 for further details.
 
Please feel free to contact me at
877-[redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm, if you have any further
questions or concerns regarding this complaint.
 
Respectfully,
 
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

March 9, 2016
[redacted]
class="MsoNormal">
Dear Ms. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint against Santa Barbara
Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 1, 2016.
In the scenario you have described in your complaint, you
have chosen a do-it-yourself (DIY) tax preparation software package such as
Intuit’s popular TurboTax product. 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.
Upon review of your 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 of $71.98 and an
additional $34.99 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 number as
“Invalid”. The deposit to the above account was confirmed by the outgoing
trace# [redacted]. You may contact the ACH Department for your financial
institution and provide them with trace number: [redacted], date of
disbursement and amount for further details regarding the rejection of funds.
The funds were returned to TPG on February 11, 2016.
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 26,
TPG was able to verify your information, released the hold from your account
and mailed a cashier’s check to your address on record. TPG confirmed that the
check was negotiated on March 3, 2016.
It is recommended that you contact the online software
provider for further assistance related to the reimbursement of your tax
preparation fees. TPG provided the service which we were contracted to provide
in deducting the applicable fees and depositing the funds into the account
which you directed on the online agreement; therefore we deny the request for
reimbursement of the bank refund processing fee. When your records were researched
further, it was discovered that the 2016 account number that was transmitted to
TPG, had a 9 instead of a 0 as in prior years. 
It is established that in prior years there were no issues to the
deposit of your funds with the account number submitted. 
We experienced extremely large call volumes which correlated
to an extremely large, and unexpected, funding from the IRS. This unexpected
spike in business caused extreme demand on our resources. We apologize for the
inconvenience you experienced.  
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