Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Extremely Horrible the IRS approved and send my refund to stpg on 02/09/16 until this day 04/15/16 they haven't resolved or do anything the problem was that they mess up and send my refund to the wrong tax prepared or ifin number it was their mistake because the name of the office where I filed my taxes is totally different to the one they send the money I've been dealing with them since then all I ask was to RETURN MY MONEY BACK TO THE IRS SO THAT THEY CAN MAIL A PAPER CHECK TO ME and they haven't resolved nothing all they do is lie to me they told me, twice they told me that the money was already sent back to the IRS and one month later they e-mail me saying that my money is on hold.. All that corporation have is people trained to lie they all are innepts that don't know nothing every time I call. I'M SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THIS BULL CRAP IF THEY DON'T SOLVE THIS PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY I'M READY TO SUE THEM FOR NEGLIGENCE AND FRAUD. DON'T RECOMMEND TO ANYONE BE AWARE AND ASK YOUR PREPARED WHAT BANK OR PRODUCT THEY USE. IT'S MY FIRST AND LAST TIME USING STPG AND THEY BETTER RETURN MY MONEY.

[redacted]
2310 Colston Drive, Apt 301
Silver Spring, MD...

20910
Re: Case [redacted]
November 9, 2015
Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com of San Diego on
October 31, 2015 regarding service issues.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On April 2, 2015 the
IRS funded your federal return; fees were deduced to pay your Turbo Tax user
fees and an additional bank deposit product fee instructed on The Citizens
Banking Company Refund Processing Agreement. Please review the two highlighted
sections on the attached document regarding your fees inquiry.
Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity
theft and fraud. Our regulators require that we follow the Customer
Identification Program (CIP) and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. Your
funds were held for further review to ensure that the funds were being released
to the lawful owner. Unfortunately, you were unable to verify that you were the
lawful owner of these funds within the given allotted time which is why your
funds were sent back to the IRS. After careful consideration, TPG will remit your
$25 processing fee. In order to insure TPG is sending the money to the correct
account holder, please contact us at 877-[redacted] to verify you are the lawful
owner.
On behalf of TPG, we would also like to formally apologize
to you for any miscommunication or trouble caused by our customer service.
We hope this satisfies your inquiry. If you have any
questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 877-[redacted], Monday
through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
Respectfully,
[redacted]
[redacted]
Compliance
Analyst

August 24, 2016 [redacted]
[redacted]
  Dear Ms. [redacted], Due to certain fraud filters, your transaction was placed on hold in a non-interest bearing account for additional verification. After speaking with a TPG representative on August 10, 2016, TPG explained that once you and your husband submit your identification to be verified, TPG would begin the process to release the hold and deposit your refund into your account. On August 12, 2016, TPG was able to verify your identity and release the hold. TPG placed your refund into your account on the same day. On August 16, 2016, TPG notified you that your refund was successfully deposited into your account. Federal law requires TPG to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. You consented and authorized to be bound by the terms of the agreement which indicates that when we open a Deposit Account for you for the purpose of receiving your IRS federal tax refund or if you apply for one of our products, we may ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask for your driver’s license information or information from other identifying documents of yours in order to complete the transaction. During the period that TPG placed the hold on your account, no interest was earned on your deposit and your deposit was not used by any financial institution during the processing of your refund. 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

[redacted] [redacted]

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[redacted]
[redacted]
 
RE:       Case
[redacted]
 
 
02.24.2015
 
Dear [redacted],
 
This is in response to the complaint filed against
Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on February 18,
2015 regarding funds never received.
 
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer
(RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On February 5,
2015 the [redacted] funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo
Tax user fees. The balance was deposited to the account instructed on the
[redacted], N.A. Refund Processing Agreement. Your Bank rejected the funds
and declared the account an R03 “No account/Unable to locate account”. The
funds were returned to [redacted] on February 6, 2015. 
Our regulators require that we follow Customer Identification Program
(CIP) and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, which are part of the statute of
the USA Patriot Act. Once you were verified as the lawful owner of the funds,
your refund was released.  [redacted] issued a
Cashier’s Check on February 21, 2015 and mailed to the address on record.
Please allow 10 business days for receipt of your check.
 
Please feel free to contact me at
[redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 4 pm if you have any further
concerns or questions regarding this complaint.
 
Respectfully,
 
 
[redacted]
[redacted]

March 3, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
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Dear Mr. [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February
23, 2016.
Your complaint stated that after filing your tax return, you
were notified there was an issue with the routing number.
In the scenario described in your complaint you have chosen
a do-it-yourself (DIY) tax preparation software package such as [redacted]’s popular
[redacted] product.  The taxpayer is
entirely responsible for the information provided to the software including the
disbursement account where the refund will be deposited.  DIY tax software requires that the taxpayer
identify a bank account number where they want the refund deposited.
If a taxpayer enters a routing number or 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. In your case, the routing number associated with this
electronic funds transfer belongs to a bank that doesn’t accept ACH
transactions or there was a typo when entering the routing number. 
TPG has nothing to do with incorrect account information
entered by the taxpayer. We do not have access to change information that was
transmitted to us by any software provider. Once TPG receives the rejected
refund the company has the option of making another attempt to disburse funds
to the customer.
On February 25, TPG was able to verify your information and
release the hold on your account. TPG delivered the refund through an
alternative delivery method, which is a paper check mailed to your address of
record. Your account confirms the check was received and verified on February
28, 2016.
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 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]
Compliance Analyst

[redacted]

size="3">
[redacted]
 
RE:      Case
[redacted]
 
03.27.2015
 
Dear [redacted],
 
This is in response to the complaint filed
against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on
March 23, 2015 regarding service issues.
 
My sincere apologies, I agree that this
should not have happened, the information you were given should have been
consistent and process defined. I reviewed your case with the Manager and the
team in order to clarify procedures and provide further training. I appreciate
you bringing this to my attention and thank you for your input and feedback.
 
We have spoken on the phone, and are working
together as agreed in order to find resolution to your complaint.
 
Please
feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm if
you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint.
 
  
Respectfully,
 
 
[redacted]
Compliance
Analyst

[redacted]...

[redacted]
 
Re: Case[redacted]
 
March 12, 2015
 
Dear [redacted],
 
This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com of San Diego on March
2, 2015 regarding your refund direct deposit.
 
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through Taxslayer.com.  On February 23, 2015 the IRS funded your
federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Taxslayer.com user fee. The
balance was deposited to the account instructed on The [redacted] Company
Refund Processing Agreement. Your Bank rejected the funds and declared the
account an R17 “File Record Edit Criteria” and the funds were returned to TPG
on February 25, 2015.
Per our
conversation, we have reached an agreement that you were satisfied with.
 
Please feel free to contact me at [redacted], Monday
through Friday 7 am to  3 pm, if you have
any further questions or concerns regarding this complaint.
 
Respectfully,
 
 [redacted]
Compliance Analyst

I did not choose to do business with this horrible company but sadly, I was forced to because I filed my taxes electronically through Turbo Tax (who uses SBBT for payouts). Their customer service line is NEVER available. EVER! Firstly, you can never get into the queue and IF you're lucky enough to get in, they simply hang up on you after 60+ minutes of waiting.
They have yet to respond to an email, they changed their turnaround dates twice during my time dealing with them. Just very inconvenient, very poor treatment of their customers and I'm wondering how or why they're even still in business.

April 18, 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 April 4,
2016.
In your complaint, you stated that after filing your 2014
tax return through [redacted] last year, you incurred fees totaling $469.95. You
are unable to reach [redacted] or TPG regarding an explanation of your fees.
Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matter.
TPG, on behalf of the 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 out-of-pocket costs. 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
(usually less than 21 days from the filing date), the Bank makes deductions
from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fees.  The balance of the refund is then disbursed
to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer
(either a personal bank account or a prepaid card).  
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On April 20, 2015 the IRS funded your federal
return; fees totaling $244.96 were deducted to pay your [redacted] user fees 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. You
can find the fee disclosure within your 2015 Refund Transfer (RT) Agreement
(see attached). 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.
Thank you for your inquiry, we hope this clarifies any
concerns you had regarding the bank fee. It is recommended that you contact the
[redacted] directly at 888-777-3066 for further assistance related to the tax
preparation fees charged in 2015.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact me at 877-908-[redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

I recently used [redacted] to file my 2015 taxes in which I chose to have the fees taken out of my refund as I do every year without a problem this year has however been very different. The IRS sent SBTPG my refund on 2/17 which they took the fees and then said they sent them to my Bank to be deposisted but my bank rejected the funds. I checked my Bank account on 2/18 which was my direct deposit date and still had nothing snowing. I then called my Bank to ser if any thing had been sent and they had nothing from SBTPG and did not reject any thing. I then found out that SBTPG has but a hold on my account and refused to send my money until I verified my id. I sent that id in on the 18th like I was told. They Lady I spoke to that day told me to take a front and back photo of my id( the primary name on The account) and upload it and they would verify and I should call back on tuesday and they should know something. I called on tuesday and was told it was still processing. I asked to talk to a supervisor who was completely rude and kept telling me this was my fault and she was doing me a favor by placing a hold on my account and funds.She then told me that I needed to send both ids( mine and my husbands) vía email and that she would have her supervisor look it up when he came in and to give it 24 hrs before I would see progress in my account. Today makes 48 hrs since that phone call and I still have the hold and no progress with getting my refund. I would not recommend any one use this company as they are rude and useless seems to me as they are id verify everyone to charge them another fee to send a check. I just want my money and for them to be a little more understanding that people are upset that they have already waited 21 days for this money and another 2-3 weeks is just crazy.

August 2, 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 June 21, 2016. TPG would like to apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing you. On June 17, 2016, TPG sent your refund to the IRS. Unfortunately, it takes the IRS a few weeks before they can process your refund. The IRS deals with numerous transactions daily which takes time for them to process each refund. Once they process your refund, it will show up in their system. Please allow 10 to 12 weeks for the IRS to post your refund into your IRS record and reflect the funds. Please contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 if you have additional questions regarding your refund. Sincerely, [redacted]

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]

[redacted]
[redacted]...

[redacted]
RE: Case [redacted]
03.06.2015
Dear [redacted],
This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group
to the Revdex.com on March 1, 2015 regarding delay in funds.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes
were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 19, 2015 the IRS funded your
federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an
additional deposit product fee. The balance was deposited to the account
instructed on The Citizens Banking Company Refund Processing Agreement. Your
Bank rejected the funds and declared the account an R17 “File record edit
criteria”. The funds were returned to TPG on February 20, 2015. 
 
TPG has nothing to do with the receiving bank’s decision
to reject the funds. Once TPG receives the rejected refund, our company has the
option of making another attempt to disburse funds to the customer. Per your
instructions, TPG redirected the deposit on February 28, 2015.
 
TPG charges a commercially reasonable
processing fee to cover the expenses associated with reprocessing these items.
Most banks typically charge between $25 and $35 for return item fees. In this
case, you were charged a $20.00 reprocessing fee for the rejection of funds.
Please review the application and agreement for full disclosure.
Please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday 7 am to 3
pm if you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint.
Respectfully,
[redacted]
Compliance Analyst

These people [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.
Complaint detailed several times the arbitrary willingness of SB TPG contacting me via phone and email, but unwilling to follow up, or as the case was when I finally got in touch with them, 
that they did not document contact with me, yet processed the request for a replacement check.   Furthermore Given the nature of the validation system, it seems that it would not be difficult (I work in IT for a major communications company, so I'm very familiar with CPI and other standards) that you could allow someone to "reset" the validation once proving you've talked with the customer and the check has not been cashed.
I found that the SB TPG failed to document their customer interactions, as per the admission of an operator who "could not find any notes" on previous calls and then proceeded to hold a check AFTER notification via email that it was processed and in route.     Furthermore once I finally started the process again, I had to keep calling in and navigating this chain (including much time on hold) to get a tracking number when the check was sent via [redacted].   Given you had my email address already from the processing of my taxes, it would have been no small measure to include me on the tracking rather than require I call back in.   Again, I work in IT and I have to ship equipment constantly, I know how [redacted] online accounts work.In short, I found that SB TPG operated inconsistently, with no actual regard for the customer experience.Their processes need to be reviewed as this behavior would not be tolerated at a major Cable Company, but less a bank.
Regards,
[redacted]

February 25, 2016
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]...

[redacted]
 
Dear [redacted],
This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa
Barbara Tax Products Group through the Revdex.com on February 16,
2016.
Your complaint stated that you were unable to receive your
refund because there was an error with your account. Since you have moved to a
new address, this has caused an additional delay in the release of your refund.
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 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 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 10, 2016.
We were unable to successfully verify the personal
information you provided as part of your tax filing and therefore cannot process
your refund.  For your protection the refund is being returned to the
IRS.  You may contact them directly at [redacted] to determine the
status of your refund. 
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

March 3, 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
23, 2016.
In your complaint you stated that, you tried calling TPG to
inquire the status of your refund. When you did try to speak to a
representative at TPG, you were unable to because you stated that you were
disconnected each time.
We are experiencing extremely large call volumes which
correlates to extremely large funding from the IRS. This unexpected spike
in business has caused extreme demand on our resources and unfortunate delays
in processing.  We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was
chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On February 17, 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. [redacted] rejected the funds and declared the account an R03 / “No Account – Unable
to Locate Account”. You may contact the ACH Department for your financial
institution at [redacted] and provide them with trace number: [redacted],
disbursement amount: $7,884.02 and date of disbursement: 2-17-2016 for further details regarding the
rejection of funds. The funds were returned to TPG on February 19, 2016.
Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity
theft and fraud. On February 29, TPG was able to verify your information,
released the hold on your account and mailed the check to your address on
record. Please allow up to 7 days for receipt of the check in the mail.
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 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]
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.They are lying through their teeth. I was locked out of the account long before they even received my refund and tried for weeks to have it unlocked by submitting my wife and I's documentation.The first time I faxed my documentation and waited 48 hours, I called and was told that it was lost. The 2nd time I was told to again wait 48hrs and still my account remained locked for verification.  They passed me around from representative to representative for weeks until I finally told them that If they did not believe that I am who I say I am, I would prefer for the money to be returned to the IRS.  I rather deal with the USA government than continue to play this game with SBTG. At that point I was told that the money would be returned upon receipt(February 19th), then I was told it would go out in the next "batch", then I was given various different dates of when the money was supposedly returned to the IRS.  I was extremely patient with these people despite facing hardship and needing my funds.  I absolutely do not accept this response because it is 100% false. 
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted]

size="3">
[redacted]
[redacted]
 
RE:      Case [redacted]
 
03.27.2015
 
Dear
[redacted],
 
This
letter is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products
Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on March 17, 2015 regarding service
issues.
 
Please
allow me to discuss who we are and our role in your tax return processing since
there is some confusion to how we acquired your tax refund. When your taxes
were prepared through Sam Financial Service, you chose to deduct your fees from
your refund. 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 (usually less than 21 days from the filing date), the
Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank
fees.  The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way
of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer (either a personal bank
account or a prepaid card).  
 
Let
me reassure you that only the last four numbers of your social security number
was placed on the check and not a full social, this is standard even for the
IRS. 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. You
may contact your bank and provide them with trace number 096017415543805 to
discuss the rejection of funds. The funds were returned to TPG on March 5, 2015. According to your
contract, TPG issued a Cashier’s Check on March 9, 2015 and mailed it to the
address on record which you state was in your possession.
 
You were put in contact with Sam Financial
Service in order to resolve this issue. It is recommended that you contact Sam
Financial Service again for further discussion and roles TPG and Sam Financial
Service play in your tax return.
 
We
thank you for the inquiry. If you have any further concerns or questions
regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 800-901-6663,
Monday through Friday 8 am to 3 pm PST.
 
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]