Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

March 2, [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 22, You complaint stated that after TPG put a hold on your account, you tried contacting TPG’s customer service to learn why there was a holdSince then, you were unable to speak to a representative regarding your account We are experiencing extremely large call volumes which correlates to extremely large funding from the IRSThis 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 Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraudTPG was able to verify your information and release the hold from your accountOn February 22, TPG was able to verify your information and release the hold from your account 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

March 3, [redacted] Dear [redacted] , We are writing in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on February 28, Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matterTPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providersThese products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront feesWhen your taxes were prepared through [redacted] ***, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) productWhen the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the BankWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank feeThe balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayerAccording 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 feesTPG received the data file and no monies were transferredDue to certain fraud filters, your account was placed on hold in a non­interest bearing account for additional verificationOn February 22, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RTTo 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 passportThis allows us to verify your identity and remove the hold from your accountOn March 1, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification and released the account holdYour 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 processesCertain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspiciousWe 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 theftIf you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at 877­908­7228, 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/requests/new, Monday through Friday between 6:00am to 6:00pm (PST) Respectfully, Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

[redacted] RE: Case [redacted] August 12, Dear [redacted] , This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on August 9, in regards to service issues Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo TaxOn March 13, 2015, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an additional bank deposit product feeThe balance was deposited to the account instructed on Sunrise Banks N.ARefund Processing AgreementYour Bank rejected the funds and declared the account an R“No Account / Unable to Locate Account”Funds were returned to TPG on March 18, TPG has nothing to with incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the fundsOnce TPG receives the rejected refund our company has the option of making another attempt to disburse funds to the customer or simply returning the funds to the IRSThis second attempt to deliver the refund through an alternative delivery method is a paper check mailed to the taxpayer address of recordThe address provided to the Revdex.com is different than the address designated upon filingOur attempt to deliver the cashier’s check on March 18, was returned on April 13, to our office as “undeliverable” Since we could not proceed any further in our efforts, TPG returned your funds to the IRS on May 1, 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 detailsPlease 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 We thank you for the inquiryIf you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday am to pm Respectfully, [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.Dear Santa Barbara Tax Product Group I do not except your apology , you can keep it I don't want it! I will gladly accept a full refund for the RT fee as well as the state fees that were charged from my tax refundFrom Feb 7th- Feb 28th I received absolutely zero emails in my regular inbox as well as my spam/junk mail from [redacted] stating that my account had been placed on hold due to activity linked to fraudIf I had never did research into contacting [redacted] and the IRS that in which both pointed in the direction [redacted] , then I would have never been notified of this issue and my refund would have been sent back to the IRS further delaying my refund being sent to meYour company has all of my information on file including my full name, address , email address phone number and it was no excuse for me to not be contacted in a timely mannerTo whomever is charge of the [redacted] you need to take drastic measures in improving your customer relations because the service tactics that are being deployed is running your business into the ground! If you take a look at the number of complaints here on the Revdex.com this company has a 97% in negative reviews and % Neutral with 0% in positive reviewsEven a blind man can see that this company is failing pile of garbage! As of today on March 3rd I finally received some type of communication in a email from you [redacted] informing me that my account has been taken off of hold and I also received a phone call as well but it took almost a month for you to do your job properlyAs of today on March 3rd my tax refund has still not been direct deposited into my checking account that I had selected on Feb 7th to have my refund sent to meI was told to wait -business days to see the refund post to my accountIf I do not see my tax refund posted to my checking account on March 7th you will be hearing from my attorney by March 10th Please beware that I have contacted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (C.F.P.B) due to this financial inconvenience as well as you states local Attorney Generals office to look into your companies business practices Regards, [redacted] L [redacted] [redacted]

Dear Ms [redacted] ,This letter is in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 1, 2018.In the complaint, you state there are issues regarding the fees deducted from your refundYou were unaware of TPG’s involvement and did not authorize them to collect a fee of $To resolve this issue, you would like TPG to refund the $39.90.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 BankThrough this relationship, [redacted] is able to offer tax products which are sold through TPG through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation servicesThe 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 refundThis service is optionalThis saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider.According to our records, on February 19, 2018, 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 and RT processing feesOn February 26, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPG in the amount of $On that same date, TPG deducted the software tax preparation fee of $44.90, the RT processing fee of $and deposited the remaining balance of $to the bank account indicated on your tax return.The SAMPLE screen shots and RT paperwork, enclosed the letter mailed to the address on record, will establish that our fees and references to the Bank are adequately displayed throughout the [redacted] website as required by banking regulationsThe fees are noted in two separate sections: on the RT application and the RT fee disclosureYou electronically signed this application and disclosure document before the refund product is transmittedTherefore, you agreed to these governing terms and conditions through the software application.TPG has 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 must deny your request for your fee reimbursement.If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact TPG at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday between 7:00am to 4:00pm (PST)Respectfully, [redacted] ***Program Operations Analyst

Dear [redacted] , This letter is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 24, In the complaint received, you state when the IRS approved your refund, $was to be deposited in your checking accountHowever, after only receiving $3,you called your bank and were told TPG made this deposit, not the IRSFurthermore, you do not have an account or contract with TPG and they did not have consent to take any fees out of your returnTPG owes you $and you have documentation to prove soTo give you some background information and help you appreciate our role in your complaint, we would like to explain TPG’s relationship with [redacted] ***TPG, on behalf of [redacted] (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providersThese products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront feesWhen your taxes were prepared through the offices of [redacted] ***, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) productWhen the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the BankWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank feeThe balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayerAccording to our records, on January 29, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted] ***This means that you used a tax professional to prepare your tax return and elected to utilize a “Refund Transfer” (RT) to pay for your tax preparation feesFor purposes unknown to TPG, the Financial Management Service (FMS) intercepted your refund before it was received at TPG FMS offsets taxpayers’ refunds through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to pay off past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts such as student loans and state income tax obligationsOffsets to non-tax debts occur after the IRS has certified the refunds to FMS for payment but before FMS makes the Direct Deposits or issues the paper checksRefund offsets reduce the amount of the expected Direct Deposit or paper check but they do not delay the issuance of the remaining refund (if any) after offsetIf taxpayers owe non-tax debts they may contact the agency they owe, prior to filing their returns, to determine if the agency submitted their debts for refund offsetFMS sends taxpayers offset notices if it applies any part of their refund to non-tax debtsTaxpayers should contact the agencies identified in the FMS offset notice when offsets occur if they dispute the non-tax debts or have questions about the offsetsIf taxpayers need further clarification, they may call the Treasury Offset Program Call Center at (***) ***-*** To keep you informed about the status of your refund payment, please use the following tools, which are updated in real time: • Please utilize the “Where’s My Refund” tool at the IRS to check on the status of your refund - https://www.irs.gov/refunds including any notices of refund reductions• Please log into your TPG account on our website to get up-to-date information about your Refund Transfer filing Additional information is available through our help center and automated phone centerOn February 22, 2017, TPG received payment from FMSOn that same day, a deduction for the TPG Refund Transfer fee and [redacted] ***’ tax preparation fee were madeTPG then made a payment to the account indicated on your tax returnPlease refer to the detailed client letter mailed to the address on file for the payment detailsThe RT paperwork provided will establish that our fees and references to the Bank were adequately disclosed to you prior to the transmission of your tax return by your tax preparer and as required by banking regulations The taxpayer signs this application and disclosure document before the refund product is offeredTPG provided the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable fees and making payment to the tax preparer which you directed on the agreement We hope this clarifies any questions you may have related to your refund and feesIf you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at [redacted] , Monday through Friday, 7:am to 4:pmSincerely, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

Dear [redacted] ***, This letter is in response to the complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on April 24, 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 BankThrough this relationship, [redacted] can offer tax products which are sold through TPG through independent tax professionals and online tax preparation servicesThe 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 refundThis service is optionalThis saved you the difficulty of paying these fees upfront to the software provider First and foremost, we would like to apologize for your experience with TPG Customer ServiceWe 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 January 30, 2018, TPG received your electronic filing record from Turbo TaxThis 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 feeOn March 20, 2018, your refund was approved by the IRS and payment was made to TPGOn that same date, TPG deducted the fees related to your Refund Transfer and made payment via direct deposit to the account you designated on your returnOn March 22, 2018, your financial institution rejected the funds and declared the account an RNo Account / Unable to Locate Account, and the funds were returned to TPGIt is suggested for you to contact the ACH Department for [redacted] at 866-271- [redacted] for further details regarding this rejection and provide them the following trace number, [redacted] .When a taxpayer enters a bank account that does not accept the refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bankOnce 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 recordWe feel that this is a better option for our customers rather than rejecting the funds back to the IRSYou may also reference the RT Application and Agreement for these terms On March 22, 2018, TPG made a second attempt to disburse funds related to your return via a Cashier’s Check mailed to the address on recordHowever, on April 3, 2018, you called TPG and requested to place a stop payment on your check and have the funds returned to the IRS since you were unable to cash it due to an address changeTherefore, TPG began the process to return funds associated with your tax return filing back to the Internal Revenue Service, specifically the RICS/IVO Division of the IRS in Fresno, CAPlease keep in mind this process can take 2-weeksOn April 25, 2018, TPG returned funds related to your refund to the IRSPlease note that this process can take 10-weeks before the IRS acknowledges receipt and posts to your accountIt is suggested for you to contact the IRS directly at 800-829-for further details We understand your frustration and apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experiencePlease 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 theftIf you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:am to 4:pm Respectfully, [redacted] Program Operations Analyst

Dear [redacted] , We are writing in response to your complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 16, TPG understands your frustration with our verification processWe are very sorry for any inconvenience you have experiencedPlease 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 theftAccording to our records, on February 7, 2017, you were sent an email to the address on record to inform you of a hold placed on your accountTPG notifies the customer via email on how to release account holdsWe 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 emailOn February 22, 2017, TPG received payment related to your federal tax refundThese funds were held in a non-­interest bearing account for additional verificationOn March 10, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification and released the account holdOn that same day, TPG deducted the Turbo Tax software fees and the RT fee and made a payment to the account indicated on your tax returnIf you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact TPG directly at 877-908-7228, Monday through Friday, 7:am to 4:pmSincerely, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

Below is my rebuttal statement to TPG w/attached documents:The IRS has been contacted several times since 5/1/and as of today's date has no record of receipt from TPG of my refund return It has been weeks well over the estimated weeks stated by TPG and the IRS has not received my funds back from TPG.TPG has stated they are not responsible for incorrect account information, however, I contacted them several times prior to 5/1/and my address was corrected and reported to them yet they refused to re-mail my check using the correct information claiming they were unable to do that yet they managed to mail me a letter instead! As a result of their refusal to re-mail my check to the corrected address, additional charges were incurred needlessly to send my funds back to the IRS and to add insult the funds have been delayed in delivery an additional weeks as of today's date The letter mailed me is attached claiming TPG deposited my funds electronically to the IRS on 5/1/ Therefore, that is why I am requesting that TPG refund any and all fees for their inability to deliver my funds to me as stated Also, I am requesting TPG provide me with a batch number or check number of the electronic deposit they claim was sent to the IRS on 5/1/that allegedly includes my funds I will need to provide this information to the IRS in order for them to effectively investigate if said funds were ever sent by TPG Sincerely, [redacted] cc:Revdex.com and [redacted] M***

March 10, [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] , This letter is in response to the complaint filed by the above referenced consumer with the Better Business Bureau against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) Upon review of your record, an RT was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo TaxOn February 2, the IRS funded the federal return; fees were deducted to pay the Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RTThe balance was deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Refund Processing AgreementYour financial institution rejected the funds because they were unable to locate the specified accountYou may contact the ACH Department for your financial institution at [redacted] and provide them trace #: [redacted] , disbursement date and amount for further details regarding the rejection of fundsPlease 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 issuedOn March 2, 2016, the refund was reissued as a Cashier’s CheckPlease allow business days for the check to be delivered to the address on recordNo interest is earned on your deposit and your deposit is not being used by any financial institution during the processing of your refundTPG is sorry for any inconvenience that you may have experiencedIf you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at [redacted] , Monday through Friday 7:am to 3:pm Respectfully, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

They claim that there is fraudulent activity and hold on to your funds until you are verified...but no one ever contacts you! So YOU must TRY to contact them when you notice something is amissWhen you try to contact them, you are placed on hold for hours or disconnectedThen they charge you a $processing fee and a $returned bank fee for attempting to deposit fund into your account??? I checked my bank account information and all that was provided is correctI believe they are scamming people and a public law suit should be filed to return money to individuals harmed by their fraudulent business practices

[redacted] size="3"> [redacted] RE: Case [redacted] Dear [redacted] , This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on February 28, regarding wrong account information Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo TaxOn February 9, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank deposit product feeThe balance was deposited to the account instructed on The Citizens Banking Company Refund Processing AgreementYour Bank rejected the funds and declared the account an R“no account/unable to locate account”The funds were returned to TPG on February 11, According to your contract, TPG issued a Cashier’s Check on February 12, and mailed to the address on record You stated in your complaint that you have not received the Cashier’s Check mailed on February 12, We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and the manner in which your inquiry was handled by our Customer Service agents Please fill out and submit the Indemnity Bond attached along with the required IDs so that we can place a stop payment on the lost check and reissue a new one for youYou may forward these items directly to me so that I can assist in processing them I will ensure you have tracking information for this item to allow you to trace en route Please feel free to contact me at [redacted] , Monday through Friday am to pm if you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint Respectfully, [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 March 9, First and foremost, TPG would like to apologize for you not being able to reach a live customer service agentWe take this complaint very seriously and are committed to providing each customer a positive experience with our company Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matterTPG, 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 providersThese products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront feesWhen your taxes were prepared through the software provider, Turbo Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) productWhen the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the BankThis service is optionalWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and RT processing feeThe balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer To help you understand our process we have listed out the events associated with your account as follows: According to our records, on February 16, 2018, TPG received your electronic filing record from Turbo TaxThis means that you used tax software to prepare your own tax return and elected to utilize an RT to pay your software and RT processing fee.On February 22, 2018, your account was placed through enhanced due diligence at TPG to protect your account from fraudPlease keep in mind, TPG notifies the customer, through email, 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 delaysUnfortunately, TPG did not receive your identification prior to the IRS funding your account.On February 27, 2018, your refund was accepted by the IRSTPG deducted fees related to your Software and RT processing fee and the balance remained on hold in a non-interest-bearing account for ID Verification.On March 6, 2018, you submitted ID verification, but unfortunately there was a problem with the uploadTherefore, you were asked to resubmit a copy of your driver’s licenseOn March 12, 2018, TPG received the re-upload, verified your identity and released the hold on your accountTPG then processed funds to be deposited to the account on recordPlease allow your financial institution 24-hours for the funds to be received and postedRespectfully, [redacted] Program Operations Analyst

Dear [redacted] ***- [redacted] , This letter is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 16, In the complaint, you stated on January 31, 2017, you contacted TPG to ask about a deposit that was sent to your bank on the 31st according to the websiteOn February 1, 2017, you still did not receive your deposit, which prompted you to call [redacted] Tax and were informed that TPG was experiencing a deposit glitchAlthough you were told it would take business days for the deposit, it actually took Because of this delay your bank charged you multiple overdraft fees that will not be credited backFurthermore, TPG is ignoring your emails and requestsIt is unfortunate that you were charged multiple overdraft fees by your financial institutionFunds are posted to the taxpayer(s) account at the discretion of the receiving bankTaxpayer(s) should contact their banks to learn the exact time that direct deposits are posted to their accountsWe cannot comment on the specific reasons, but it is customary that direct deposits post two banking days after a direct deposit is transmittedSocial media channels, such as the one you visited, generally reflect the subjective opinions of individuals and are not considered to be factual sources of informationHowever, upon receipt of your complaint, TPG investigated and has found no such glitch in its systemsWe 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 depositing the funds into the account which you directed on the online agreement; therefore, we must deny the request for reimbursement of your overdraft feesFor up-to-date information about your TPG account, please log onto our website www.taxpayer.sbtpg.com or call our 24-hour automated, toll-free number ( [redacted] )Respectfully, [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.Those fees were paid to turbotax and are outlined on the invoice I receivedTurbotax charged me in the amount of $and those fees are the only ones that have been authorized You have still completely failed to communicate with me until I have filed a claim with the Revdex.comYour customer service has completely failed me and other members have filed similar claims to the Revdex.com The offer to refund $is unacceptableI will await an offer to refund the entire cost of fees amount to $ (I see that $of this has been offered) for a remaining balance of $ I authorized the charges to my refund that turbotax in the amount of $You have charged me without consent $in fees After completing the turbo tax process I was never alerted of, communicated with, informed of, or reached out to regarding the status of the refundI have not received the check since dispurement date of 3/6/(it has been a calendar week) and never received tracking information, information about type of service, date sent or any other information regarding the checkI was never communicated with the status of the refund, the reason for delay nor a reason for the charges until a claim was filedRather than communicate the nature of any of these charges in advance, I have only been communicated with since filing a claim Regards, [redacted] ***

February 24, [redacted] ***>Dear [redacted] ***, This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on February 16, Your complaint stated that you have been in contact with TPG trying to get updated on your refund timeframeSince February 3, you were unable to receive the answers you wanted regarding your refund Our sincere apologies, I agree that this should not have happened The information you were given should have been consistent and your refund should have been issued in a timely mannerI reviewed your case 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 Upon review of your record, TPG was able to verify your information and mailed your check on February 5, Your account shows that the check was cashed on February 20, 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 10, [redacted] A [redacted] Prospect Street Apt 3E Milford, CT Dear Mr [redacted] , We are writing in response to a complaint filed through the Revdex.com against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on March 6, Please allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matterTPG, on behalf of Green Dot (Bank), offers tax related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises, independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providersThese products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront feesWhen your taxes were prepared through [redacted] Tax, you chose a Refund Transfer (RT) productWhen the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the BankWhen the Bank receives the IRS refund, the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank feeThe balance of the refund is then disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayerAccording to our records, on February 4, 2017, TPG received your electronic filing record from [redacted] TaxThis means that you utilized tax software to prepare your tax return and elected to initiate a Refund Transfer to pay your software feesTPG received the data file and no monies were transferredDue to certain fraud filters, your account was placed on hold in a non­interest bearing account for additional verificationOn February 14, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee for the RTTo 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 passportThis allows us to verify your identity and remove the hold from your accountOn March 8, 2017, TPG was able to validate your identification, released the account hold and disbursed your refund to the designated account you provided upon filingYour 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 processesCertain factors in your tax return caused your account to be flagged as potentially suspiciousWe take this complaint very seriously and are taking immediate internal action to review and research your claims of our verification processCustomers may need to re-upload due to entering incorrect information in the required fields, identification is deemed blurry, or if they abandoned the process before reaching the “success” screenWe appreciate your feedbackWe 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 theftAs a courtesy to you, TPG has decided to refund the RT fee as a direct deposit to the account on fileIf 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/requests/new, Monday through Friday between 6:00am to 6:00pm (PST) Respectfully, Santa Barbra Tax Products Group

[redacted] size="3"> [redacted] S [redacted] Rd # [redacted] AZ [redacted] RE: Case [redacted] July 13, 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, regarding your tax refund deposit Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraudIn 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, It is recommended that you contact the IRS at 800-829-for further details Please feel free to contact me at 877- [redacted] , Monday through Friday am to pm, if you have any further questions or concerns regarding this complaint Respectfully, [redacted] Compliance Analyst

March 9, [redacted] ***> Dear Ms [redacted] , This is in response to your complaint against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) through the Revdex.com on March 1, 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 productThe 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 bankOften times, this occurs because the taxpayer has entered 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, TPG Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted] ***On February 9, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your [redacted] user fees of $and an additional $Bank processing fee for the RTThe balance was deposited to the account instructed on the [redacted] Refund Processing AgreementYour 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, 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 recordTPG confirmed that the check was negotiated on March 3, It is recommended that you contact the online software provider for further assistance related to the reimbursement of your tax preparation feesTPG 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 feeWhen your records were researched further, it was discovered that the account number that was transmitted to TPG, had a instead of a 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 IRSThis unexpected spike in business caused extreme demand on our resourcesWe 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

April 19, [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, In your complaint you stated that your tax refund is being held after your refund was rejected by your financial institutionWhen you submitted your driver’s license to TPG to release the hold, you were told your license was invalidYou 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 returnOn March 16, your funds were placed on an automatic hold due to risk control triggered by information transmitted in your returnDuring this process, TPG requested you to submit documents such as your Driver’s License to verify your identityPlease upload your ID again or another option is to fax clear copies or your ID, social security card, Wand proof of address to 858-430- 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, am to 4pm Sincerely, [redacted] Compliance Analyst