Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Review: I filed my taxes with [redacted] January 1st, 2016. The return was accepted on the 11th, and on February 10th the bank rejected it. I verified with the bank on February 12th that my bank had sent the refund back. I spent several days trying to find out where the refund had gone, and other complaints on the [redacted] website led me to SBTPG, which told me that my account was under a "hold" and I needed to upload a picture of my photo ID to continue. There is no help offered on the website, no customer service form, and no contact number. At the time I uploaded my ID, I was told it would take two business days. I checked the next day and now I am told it will take "up to seven" business days (and obviously that can change as I received no email, no confirmation, and cannot contact anyone.) There is no explanation of the process, no confirmation that I uploaded my ID of any kind, and as of now I have not found a working number for this company. I also have not received anything from this company. My refund is nowhere in sight and there are no answers as to when I will receive my money and no way to contact this company.

The only information I have found about SBTPG is through complaint/scam websites and [redacted] help, and now I see why.Desired Settlement: Finish the job, give me an ETA on my tax return so I am not waiting months for this. Have a customer service form or number, and contact customers to let them know you will be keeping their money unless they send you their photo ID. If you are keeping thousands of dollars of my money for some length of time, please let me know why and what I can do to get that back ASAP.

Business

Response:

March 1, 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

20, 2016.

Your complaint stated that after filing your taxes with

[redacted], your refund was sent back to TPG after being rejected. Once you

learned this information, you were asked to upload your identification and that

the process would take 2 days. After over a week, you were still unable to have

your account released from the hold. You also stated you were unable to locate

TPG’s contact information which made it difficult for you to contact TPG to

inquire regarding the status of your refund.

TPG’s website, [redacted]

contains a Contact Us page. You can find

our contact information by clicking “For Taxpayers” on our homepage and then

click “NEED HELP?” on the following page.

You have a number of options on this page: 1) you may submit a request

by clicking the button at the top right of the page titled “Submit a request”

or 2) click on “Contact Information” to get live support by using the

appropriate support departments listed on the page. Our hours of operation are also listed on the

Contact Information page. If using our website to submit a request, you simply

provide TPG with your email address, subject title, description of your

inquiry, and choose whether you are a taxpayer or tax professional. You are

also able to provide any attachments associated with your inquiry.

Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was

chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 9, 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 R03/ “No Account

– Unable to Locate Account”. You may

contact the ACH Department for Security Service Federal Credit Union at

[redacted] 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.

If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not accept the

refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. Often times

this occurs because the taxpayer has entered the incorrect bank account

information or the account is closed. In these cases, the receiving bank

“rejects” the transaction and returns the funds to the sender, in this case,

TPG. TPG has nothing to do with the incorrect account information entered by

the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. Once TPG

receives the 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 verified your information and released the hold from your

account. On February 22, TPG was issued your tax refund as a check and mailed

it to you the same day. Your account confirms that the check cleared on March

1, 2016.

Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our

service did not meet your expectations.

We hope that the points above addressed your needs and provided the best

solution available to resolve your issue. In addition, we will further evaluate

how we can enhance our processes to avert this problem from occurring again in

the near future. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free

to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.

Sincerely,

Compliance Analyst

SBB&T is a joke. TurboTax should be forced to use another bank. I've used TurboTax for 4 years now. The first two were fine. I e-filed and opted for direct deposit like I do every single year, because it is what I prefer. Everything went smooth and perfectly every year. Until last year (returns filed for 2014). The IRS released my funds to them. They held my money hostage, literally. I jumped through MANY hoops, faxed and emailed so many proofs of identity verification (Federal I.D., Social Security Card, W2's), complied with everything they asked me to do. Nothing was ever right or ever enough. I called daily. They had me in tears for months. I told them I should NOT have to hire lawyer just to receive my federal tax return! They had already deducted their fees from my money $177 or something like that. They promised and promised that they mailed me out a paper check. They did not. They just held my money there. FINALLY, I somehow got the supervisor to tell me the problem. After bawling my eyes out over the phone to the man, telling him that my two children and I desperately needed OUR money, and how I really didn't understand why they were able to keep something that didn't belong to them, they already took their money out of my deposit and were holding my money hostage for NO reason! What were they doing.. Trying to hoId my $7,000 to try to draw as much interest as they could off of it before they would release it? I told him that they deserved to be shut down! What happened was a very STUPID problem, mind you, that should have been caught early on. Every time you call you have to state your name, your birthday, lasr 4 of your social, your mailing address, the amount of your expected refund, and your filing status. All of this should be proof enough with faxed and emailed documents. The Problem turned out to be somewhere in their system had my mailing address: 29, *city, *state, *zip. (*Of course its written like that to keep my privacy.) All that had to be done from the get go.. Was for a customer service Representative, CSR, to type in "P.O.Box".. since all of my information sent to them and me verbally telling them at the beginning of EVERY phone call to confirm MY IDENTITY stated such. The supervisor typed in "P.O.Box 29, *city, *state, *zip" clicked save. Then he released the HOLD they had on my account. Said the paper check was being printed out that very moment and that it would be put in the mail the next day. I waited about a week and called back just to make sure the status was the same. It wasn't. I was livid! They never mailed the check at all. I cycled through CSR, to CSR, to CSR, until I finally got transferred to the same man I spoke to before that corrected the problem. They tried to give me a run around again, and of course I am already super emotional at this point. Angry, frustrated, depressed, anxious, sad, scared, panicking. I felt victimized. So as much as I hated the thought of it, I couldn't be strong anymore. I started bawling over the phone to this man, once again. He swore on God and Country that he would personally see to it that my check got mailed out. I would receive it in 7-10 days.. Mailing from west coast to east coast. I thanked him AGAIN. And waited. 1week.. 2 weeks.. I call. Status says mailed out/sent. Week 3.. Still nothing. Week 4.. STILL nothing. I gave up and decided that I would just go through the hassle of either getting a lawyer or going to the IRS and seeing if they could fix it in a 6 month period or something. A little before week 6.. It arrived in the mail!! Do NOT TRUST WHAT THEY SAY. THEY DO NOT DO WHAT THEY ARE TELLING YOU! CHECK EVERY OTHER DAY TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE DOING THE JOB THEY SAID THEY ARE DOING! Yes, I did end up getting my money.. But I literally had to stay on top of it to the point of insanity. I know of two or three people who STILL haven't received their money from SBB&T and it is now March 2016. I love TurboTax. This will be their FINAL chance with me. I hope and pray that my experience this year differs from last year. I actually decided to try a prepaid card instead. The IRS is releasing my funds on March the 9th, 2016. I'll see how long I have to wait from there. I will review again.. Sorry this was so long.. But the PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW!

Review: I don't have enough words remaining to express the entire situation ill try my best to shorten it, pretty much SBTPG has screwed me around telling 3 different times they put a hold on my account so that when my tax return refund came in they would hold it due to an error on my direct deposit account number. So on 2/5/16 I was told to try and login in 24 hours to upload my ID, so the first 24 hours passed, I tried logging in and it didn't work! 2/6/16 I called them they said the person I spoke 2 didn't do it right told me to try again in 24 hours, so I waited another 24 hours this now being 2/7/16 still didn't work, and it was now sunday and they were not opened to call, So on 2/7/16 I called them back they told me now the last 2 people I spoke to didn't do the escalation right and once again I was to log in in 24 hours, I waited yet again another 24 hours and for the 3rd time it didn't work! Now it was 2/9/16 I called them back only to find out they now received my refund and went ahead and sent it the account that I advised them was missing a digit. and I was still not able to upload my ID, So now there is no real resolution and no one can tell me where my tax refund money is or when I will be getting it! [redacted] had a numerical error and dropped the last digit off my direct deposit account number during the E-Filing with the IRS and when I notice I called sbtpg and they gave me the above instructions 3 different times and all 3 times it didn't work. im furious that all they are doing is saying sorry and nobody can tell me where my 4 thousand dollars is or when I can receive it!Desired Settlement: I want the Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to except responsibility for there employees lack of doing there job amd stringing me along to the point that now no one knows where my tax refund is at all! I just want my tax refund money that is legally and rightfully my money they have no right to be sending my money all around or holding onto my money when I advised of the issue well before they received my refund money! I would appreciate them making an exception and depositing the money in my account and not make me wait for a check when they finally do track down my money I have waited long enough and shouldn't have to struggle to cash a check that large considering I took all appropriate measuring to correct this problem to begin with! I'm Furious and NEED my Money

Business

Response:

February 15, 2016

Dear Ms. [redacted],

This is in response to your complaint filed

against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) with the Revdex.com

on February 10, 2016.

You contacted TPG’s customer service regarding an error with

your direct deposit account number. Your complaint stated that [redacted] had a

numerical error and dropped the last digit from the account number during the

filing process.

On February 9, 2016, TPG processing on behalf of Civista

Bank disbursed your tax related Refund Transfer (RT) proceeds to the account

directed by you in your electronic application. Funds in the amount of

$3,820.03 were sent out via ACH to RTN: [redacted] and DAN: [redacted] as

directed by the RT application from [redacted]. The deposit to the above account

was confirmed by the outgoing trace#[redacted]. The routing number in your

record belongs to [redacted] and the ACH Department can be reached at

[redacted]. Please use trace number

[redacted] and work with them directly to recover your funds.

If

a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not accept the refund deposit, the

transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. In these cases the receiving

bank “rejects” the transaction, and returns the funds to the sender, in this

case TPG. TPG will then re-disburse your funds via check.

New funds cannot be re-disbursed until the rejected

transaction is returned to the Bank. At this time, no funds have been

rejected back to TPG. If funds are not

available or the bank refuses to return the funds, TPG cannot compel the bank

to do so. The case may then become a

civil matter between you and the financial institution and/or the owner of the

account into which the funds were deposited.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel

free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.

Sincerely,

Compliance analyst

I've been doing with turbo tax for a few years never have I had a problem with them getting my asking information wrong... So now They can't find my return. Said that Santa Barbara bank Has it and has tried sending it twice!! You all are doing that to collect money. And must have changed my account information.

After my interactions with a representative and a supervisor ("[redacted]") this afternoon, I immediately decided to file a complaint with this company. As a higher education administrator and based on my extensive experience with customer service and the relations with customers, this company is lacking quality and integrity to offer

For example, both representative did not listen to my needs and did not strive to meet the request in a polite and professional manner. They were extremely rude and defensive. The adequate skills in ensuring customer satisfaction was not presented...even after a second phone call.

I will never recommend nor use this company again. The impact today was unfriendly and aggravating and more importantly unnecessary.

Review: IS HOLDING MY 2014 TAXES FOR 2 MONTHS NOW , GIVING ME THE RUN AROUND REGARDING RELEASING MY FUNDS , PLEASE HELPDesired Settlement: PLEASE SEND MY TAX MONEY THAT BELONG TO ME.

Business

Response:

RE: Case [redacted]

04.06.2015

Dear [redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed

against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on April

1, 2015 in regards to service issues.

Upon review

of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared

through Turbo Tax. On February 10, 2015 the IRS funded your federal return;

fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an additional bank 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 R03 “No Account/Unable to Locate Account”.

The funds were returned to TPG on February 12, 2015. Please feel free to use

trace number [redacted] to discuss the rejection issue directly with your

bank.

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 or simply return the funds to the

IRS. TPG

charges a commercially reasonable processing fee to cover the expenses

associated with processing 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 and $25 for the processing to return to IRS. This fee is disclosed in

your online agreement; a sample document has been attached for your review.

Because your

attempt to change your account information failed we were unable to obtain the

personal information from you in order to verify your identity and to make the

applicable changes needed to correct your account information. Funds returned to the

IRS on March 20, 2015. IRS can take several weeks before they acknowledge

receipt and post to your account.

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,

Compliance

Analyst

Review: [redacted] has released my tax refund to Santa Barbara tax products plc as of 2/2/2015 and provided Santa Barbara with correct mailing address and bank info for direct deposit as requested and Santa barabara tax products plc have failed to deposit such refund in provided account per my bank no refund or deposit has been rejected as suggested by supervisors at Santa Barbara . Santa Barbara has also stated that they sent a cashier's check to an unknown address in Michigan where has never been a address on such refund . Santa Barbara states that somehow they're system has been tampered with and someone had enetered my account and added this address I spoke with [redacted] reps and they stated that the info they gave Santa Barbara was my correct information which was confirmed to be correct so the error has been made by Santa Barbara and they refuse to deposit my money to my given bank account and tell me they will need to send a form to be filled out by me and I need to send a oLD and SS card copies to be able to stop this cashier's check they sent out in error from being cashed and I will need to wait 2,weeks for the stop payment and still not have my refund in a prompt matter as this error was this company Santa barbaras fault verified by IRS and [redacted] .Desired Settlement: I want a refund of all charges applied and my money to be deposited to account requested on my refund as per my bank this has never occurred . I also would like an email of confirmation of such and an expected date of .

Business

Response:

03.11.2015

Re: Case [redacted]

Dear [redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa

Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com of San Diego on

February 26, 2015 regarding your refund direct deposit.

Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was

chosen when your taxes were prepared through [redacted]. On January 30, 2015 the

FMS/Treasury Offset Division of IRS funded your federal return; your Bank

rejected the funds and declared the account an R03 “no account/unable to locate

account” and the funds were returned to TPG on February 4, 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 on February 27, 2015 and

mailed to the address on record. Please allow 10 business days for receipt of

your check.

Let me reassure you that this breach did not occur at [redacted] or your online tax provider and unfortunately it is likely that the breach

occurred through one of the large national data breaches that has been

publicized in the past 12months or through a phishing scheme directed to one of

your personal devices. It is recommended

you take additional measures to enhance the security of your confidential

personal information in all areas.

Please feel free to contact me at ###-###-####, Monday

through Friday 7 am to 3 pm, if you have any further questions or concerns

regarding this complaint.

Respectfully,

Compliance Analyst

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I have yet to receive my funds from Santa Barbara tax products . And referring to my account they claim to have "attempted" to deposit funds ..that is my correct acct # and information as verified and according to my bank there has never been a such deposit refused. As for the breach in they're online system it was indeed done thru they're system which has a VERY poor security system. I was told by they're leads [redacted] and [redacted] that my funds would be sent overnight delivery which was not obviouslyvapproved and was sent with normal delivery . I was also charged 90.00 total for these horrible unprofessional services .In regards to intuit ([redacted]) I am well aware they forwarded all the correct information and the errors and breaches of security indeed happened at Santa Barbara tax products group. As I stated my funds were released as of the 2nd of Febuary and I have not yet recieced my funds . I was told by the 10th and now after calling again I was told the 16th. I am still awaiting my refund . In regards to the breach in system it was confirmed by the Santa Barbara group that it was I indeed done through they're system and fixed the errors in the address again. I also was thrown back and forth thru many representatives and leads that just passed the ball back and forth and as I stated I am still awaiting my refund . I asked them to please refund my money thru my account that I would send a motorized fax of all bank information I.D and S.S for a faster process and after being told they would send the forms for such process no emails were received after 3 days and at this time is when they finally sent a new check to the correct and original address on file before the breach took place . Thank you for your attention to this matter. I will be in touch as soon as I receive my funds .

Regards,

Business

Response:

03.16.2015

Re: Case [redacted]

Dear [redacted],

This is in response to the rebuttal to the complaint filed

against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com of San

Diego on March 13, 2015 regarding your refund direct deposit.

Let me reassure you that this breach did not occur at [redacted] or your online tax provider and unfortunately it is likely that the breach

occurred through one of the large national data breaches that has been

publicized in the past 12 months or through a phishing scheme directed to one

of your personal devices. It is

recommended you take additional measures to enhance the security of your

confidential personal information in all areas.

No

interest is earned on your deposit and your deposit is not being used by any

financial institution during the processing of your refund. 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. The claim that “there was never an

attempt make the deposit of their funds” is completely inaccurate in all cases.

Your Bank rejected the funds and

declared the account an R03 “no account/unable to locate account” and the funds

were returned to TPG on February 4, 2015.

TPG never intervenes prior to the funds being sent to the

receiving bank and rejected by the receiving bank. Please feel free to use trace number [redacted] to discuss the

rejection issue directly with your bank.

On February 27, 2015 a Cashier’s Check was mailed to the

address on record. If you have not received the Cashier’s Check we suggest that

you file an Indemnity Bond for the lost or stolen check. As a courtesy I have

enclosed the Indemnity Bond Form 15OL.

Please feel free to contact me at ###-###-####, Monday

through Friday 7 am to 3 pm, if you have any further questions or concerns

regarding this complaint.

Respectfully,

Compliance Analyst

Unbelievable con artists. Simply unbelievable. They lied to me and lied to me and lied to me just so they could hold my return as long as possible. Their customer reps were rude and incompetent. They literally told me that my check was in the mail on four different occasions, only to call back a week later to find that they had withheld it for random arbitrary reasons. What they do is outright fraud; I still haven't received my money.

I beg you, NEVER do business with Turbo Tax until they drop their relationship with these criminals.

Review: On 4 April 2013, [redacted] with HMS Services (Tax Products Group) PTIN [redacted] prepared my 2012 tax return. I contacted Ms. [redacted] on 30 January 2014, after verifying with the IRS that my refund for $1669.18 was sent, that I still had not received my refund. After numerous back and forth text messages, Ms. [redacted] contacted me on 8 March 2014 stating that she had been in contact with SBBT and that they would issue my refund. On 28 April 2014, she contacted me to see if I had received the refund and I again responded that no I hadn't received it. My final text to her was on 15 May 2014 which she never responded to and as of today, I have still not received my 2012 refund.Desired Settlement: I am seeking my refund for 2012.

Business

Response:

12/16/15

[redacted] Ave

[redacted]

RE: [redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa

Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on December 10,

2015.

Upon review of your record, you had contacted TPG in April

of 2013 regarding your 2012 tax refund. Your refund, after deduction of fees,

totaled $1030.07. Since you did not receive your 2012 tax refund, you spoke to

a TPG representative for assistance. At the time you were asked to fill out an

Indemnity Bond for a reissuance of your check, but we were unable to process it

because it did not have the correct signatures. Unfortunately, we have not

heard from you since regarding your tax return until you contacted TPG again

with this Revdex.com complaint.

Per our discussion today, TPG will send you another Indemnity

Bond to fill out and sign. We will be able to process your tax refund once we receive

the completed Indemnity Bond.

We hope this satisfies your inquiry. If you have any other

questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 800-[redacted] Monday

through Friday, 7am to 4pm.

Respectfully,

Compliance Analyst

Review: SBTPG acted as the institution that received my tax refund (filed through Turbotax) from the IRS. SBTPG received my refund in early April. They deducted $104.98 Turbotax fee plus $34.99 "bank refund processing fee" and $25 "account research and legal processing fee." Then they returned the remainder to the IRS on May 13. They did not attempt to contact me with any problem they might have encountered depositing the money into my account before they returned it to the IRS. When I contacted Turbotax to find out what happened, I was referred to SBTPG. I spoke with three different people at SBTPG, none of whom could explain to me why my money was returned to the IRS. They did not say that my bank ([redacted]) rejected the deposit or provide any other reason. One of them went so far as to say they'd returned my money because *I* hadn't contacted them. But why would I do so when I had no reason to believe there was a problem? I did not receive my refund from the IRS until late September.

So as far as I can ascertain, SBTPG charged me $34.99 +$25.00 and provided zero "service" except holding my money for a month and then returning it to the IRS for unspecified reasons that they never told me about either proactively or when I contacted them. This led me to spend several hours on the phone with the IRS trying to figure out the status of the refund, and ultimately delayed my refund for nearly six months. It also cost Turbotax all my future business as I will not use them again after this.Desired Settlement: Return the $34.99 + $25.00 = $59.99 to me, ideally in a check sent directly to me at my address.

Business

Response:

[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,

Compliance

Analyst

Review: I reached out to customer service because my return had came to my bank but was then returned to the company and im still uncertain why...My tax preparer reach out to me and let me know that my deposit was on hold and that I needed to confirm my identity. I went thru the steps tot confirm who I was and I was told by a representative that I needed to get onto the website to have my direct deposit resent which I did. I have been reaching out the company for almost 2 weeks now to find out why I haven't received the validation email as of yet and my funds are still on hold. They are taking additional fees but not telling why they haven't sent the email as of yet. When I contact costumer service via email they are able to send an email to the email that is on file but yet still they state that they have no control over me receiving the validation email, I have asked to speak with their technical support department but they state that they cannot help me and will not transfer me. This is absolutely the worst experience I have been thru in regards to filling my taxes as well as assistance from a customer service department.Desired Settlement: All I want is the validation email so that I may receive my money, Im very upset!!!

Business

Response:

RE: Case [redacted]

03.26.2015

Dear [redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed

against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on March

15, 2015 in regards to customer service issues and fees.

Upon review

of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared

through Turbo Tax. On February 25, 2015 the IRS funded your federal return;

fees were deducted to pay your Turbo Tax user fees and an additional Bank

deposit product fee. The balance was deposited to the account instructed on the

Sunrise Banks, N.A. Refund Processing Agreement. Your Bank rejected the funds

and declared the account an R16 “Account Frozen”. The funds were returned to TPG

on February 27, 2015. Please feel free to use trace number [redacted] to

discuss the rejection issue directly with your bank.

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 or simply return the funds to the

IRS. TPG

charges a commercially reasonable processing fee to cover the expenses

associated with processing 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 and $25 for the processing to return to IRS. This fee is disclosed in

your online agreement; a sample document has been attached for your review.

Because your

attempt to change your account information failed we were unable to obtain the

personal information from you in order to verify your identity and to make the

applicable changes needed to correct your account information. Funds returned to the

IRS on March 20, 2015. IRS can take several weeks before they acknowledge

receipt and post to your account. 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.

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,

Compliance

Analyst

Review: I filed my taxes on [redacted] on April 15th 2015. I was told that I should get a refund within 2 weeks. Just before the deadline I received a letter from the IRS saying my return was under review. [redacted] then billed me because I passed their deadline to take money out of my return. So they took their fees from my checking account. Last week on Aug 4th I finally got word from [redacted] that my refund was being issued. I checked with the IRS and they confirmed this for me and that I would get my return deposited to my checking account within a day or two. Still no money in my checking account 10 days later. I called Tax Services yesterday and they said that they were not going to deposit money into my account without getting a whole bunch of personal information from me first. What gives this business the right to keep my money? They owe me over $700 and are refusing to deposit to my account which was already charged by them so they know it is real. I have never had this problem ever before for any reason.Desired Settlement: I want my tax refund money put into my checking account immediately. Failure to do so will lead me to contact my State Attorney General's Office and my local Congressman to have your business investigated. It is not under the purvue of your company to keep my funds. I should not have to prove who I am since you have all my information given to you when I did my taxes. I won't give you more personal information for people to steal.

Business

Response:

[redacted] Lane

Houston

TX [redacted]

RE: Case [redacted]

August 14, 2015

Dear

[redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed

against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on

August 13, 2015 regarding funds never received.

On August 4, 2015 the IRS funded your federal

return. Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and

fraud. 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. We requested forms of identification based on these

controls. Your statement on the complaint confirms this event.

Once you were verified as the lawful owner of

the funds, your refund was released to the account designated upon filing. It

is recommended that you contact Chase Bank directly to discuss your deposit.

Please feel to use trace number [redacted] when speaking with a live

agent.

TPG is a third party processor which issued

your IRS funding into the account you designated upon filing. You will need to

direct all questions or concerns to [redacted] if you made alternative

arrangements for payment of fees.

If you have any further concerns or questions

regarding this complaint please feel free to contact me at 877-[redacted], Monday

through Friday 7 am to 4 pm PST.

Respectfully,

Compliance

Analyst

Consumer

Response:

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,

Review: I used TaxSlayer.com to prcoess my taxes. I elected for direct deposit. TaxSlayer.com selected Santa Barbara Tax Products Group ("SBTPG") to process the refund/direct deposit. SBTPG received the funds from the IRS, then claims they attempted to direct deposit the funds to my bank account but that the account number given was incorrect (it was not) and that the payment was rejected. SBTPG then, without contacting me, mails the check to me and charges a $20 additional fee that to my recollection was not authorized by my contract with Tax Slayer or them.Desired Settlement: Refund of the $20 fee.

Business

Response:

May 20, 2013

RE: Revdex.com

Complaint ID: [redacted]

TPG ID: [redacted]

Dear Mr. [redacted],

This email is in response to the complaint filed against Santa

Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) on May 16, 2013 regarding the disclosure of

the $20 reprocessing fee.

In accordance with your online contract, a temporary account was

opened to receive and process your income tax refund and pay your tax

preparation fees from your refund (see page 1 of the screen shot

attachment). Upon review of your record, the IRS funded your federal

return on May 13, 2013. TPG attempted to deposit the balance to the

account instructed on the [redacted] Bank Refund Processing Agreement,

RTN #: [redacted], DAN #: [redacted]. This routing number belongs to

[redacted]bank; however they rejected the funds and declared it an R03, “No account/Unable

to Locate Account”. Please contact your Bank’s ACH department and provide

trace number [redacted] in order to determine why the funds were

rejected. Once the rejected transaction is returned to TPG, a bank

printed check, minus a $20 reprocessing fee, in the amount of the disbursement

is mailed to the taxpayer per the online signed agreement. Please see the

attached sample copy of the agreement to review the disclosure of the

fee.

In the scenario described in your complaint letter you chose a

do-it-yourself (DIY) tax preparation software package, Taxslayer.com. 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 the customer wants the refund deposited.

If a taxpayer enters a bank account that will not accept the

refund deposit, the transaction is rejected by the receiving bank. Often

times this occurs because the taxpayer has entered incorrect bank account

information or the account is closed. In these cases the receiving bank

“rejects” the transaction, and returns the funds to the sender, in this case

TPG.

TPG has nothing to with incorrect account information entered by

the taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. Once

TPG receives the rejected refund the company has the option of making another

attempt to disburse funds to the customer or simply returning the funds to the

IRS. This second attempt to deliver the refund to the customer is for the

benefit of the customer. If the funds were returned directly to the IRS

the refund would be delayed for an extended period of time, likely several

weeks or sometimes months. Therefore, when the rejected refund is

returned, TPG makes a good faith attempt to deliver the refund to the taxpayer

through an alternative delivery method, which is a paper check mailed to the

taxpayer’s address of record. TPG’s method of converting the rejected

electronic deposit to a paper check and immediately mailing to the customer

takes only a few days for the refund to be received by the taxpayer instead of

several weeks.

While the process of converting the rejected deposit to a paper

check ultimately provides benefit to the customer, there is a substantial cost

to TPG for handling these items. There is a charge to TPG for rejected

items, there are staffing costs for handling the items, and there are costs

printing and mailing checks. TPG charges a commercially reasonable

processing fee to cover the expenses associated with processing these

items. Most banks typically charge between $25 and $35 for return item

fees.

The SAMPLE screen shots and Application enclosed will establish

that our fees and references to the Bank are adequately displayed on the

TaxSlayer application for 2013 as required by banking regulations. TPG

provided the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the

applicable fees and depositing the monies into the account which you directed

on the online agreement. However, as a courtesy we have enclosed a check

for the $20 reprocessing fee. We hope this satisfies your request.

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 4 pm PST.

Respectfully,

Compliance Assistant

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

[redacted]@sbtpg.com

Consumer

Response:

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 business has offered no meaningful resolution, instead supplying copies of a "template" contract that they admit is not the actual contract I agreed to, nor do they have any evidence of electronic signature of their alleged contract.

As the financial institution has evidently said to many customers with similar complaints, they contend that I did not supply the correct account number for the draft. This is unlikely because (a) I typed it directly from the check, and then re-typed it because it has to be keyed in twice into the system; (b) I've never had an issue like this before with other services, so I am skeptical I had any difficulty in typing in the number; (c) there are a lot of complaints about SBTPG from other customers online who had a similar situation and SBTPG also claims they typed in their bank numbers correctly; (d) SBTPG has an economic incentive for the draft to be rejected both because of your additional float on the funds and because of the $20 fee charged. The whole scenario is extremely suspicious. Unfortunately I did not photograph my computer screen at the time I entered the account information, but the surrounding circumstances here suggest something is quite amiss.

Regards,

Business

Response:

May

22, 2013

RE:

Revdex.com Complaint ID: [redacted]

TPG ID: [redacted]

Dear

Mr. [redacted],

This

email is in response to the rejected response filed against Santa Barbara Tax

Products Group (TPG) on May 21, 2013 regarding the disclosure of the $20

reprocessing fee.

Taxslayer.com

produced a copy of your contract with TPG (see attachment). Upon review

of the document, the account number provided on the agreement was verified as

the number electronically transmitted to TPG for direct deposit. The ACH

Department at [redacted]bank confirmed that the account number provided was an

invalid account number and does not exist at [redacted]bank. It is recommended

that you contact [redacted]bank directly to determine the issue with the rejection if

you still claim the account number provided is a valid open account.

Again,

TPG has nothing to do with incorrect account information entered by the

taxpayer or the receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds. In your

complaint, you state that we have a number of cases where the taxpayers claimed

they provided correct account numbers. If you review the responses to

these claims, you will discover that all were found to be issues with the

following: 1) incorrect account numbers (extra digits, missing digits), 2)

incorrect routing numbers, 3) closed accounts, 4) FMS/Treasury offset program

intercepted refunds, 5) rejections of joint refunds deposited into single

accounts, and 6) attempts at depositing refund into accounts that do not belong

to them (i.e.: family member’s account).

You

stated that “SBTPG should make an effort to contact its customer before

mailing a check”. TPG does notify the customer, through e-mail, at

the time of funding, that the refund has been received and will be deposited

into the bank account. The customer is given the TPG web site and phone

contact information if they have any questions or problems. Additionally,

TPG allows taxpayers the opportunity to correct their initial mistake and avoid

reprocessing until the item is reprocessed, which may be several days or

several weeks. TPG offers a Web site as well as live customer service where

customers can change their account information. TPG’s customer service

efforts are highly successful as thousands of customers each year utilize the

Web or phone center to change account information.

You

also stated in your rejection that it was “unclear what service SBTPG

actually provided for the $49.99”. Please allow me to discuss who we

are and what products we offer to taxpayers in order for you to gain a better

understanding of our role in processing your tax return refund. Our bank

product provides the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees

deducted from their tax refund without paying any out-of-pocket costs.

When your taxes were prepared through Taxslayer.com, you chose to deduct

your fees from your refund. When the taxpayer selects our bank product,

they direct the IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the

Bank. When the Bank receives the IRS refund (usually 10 to 21 days from the

filing date), the Bank makes deductions from the refund to pay the tax

preparation fees and Bank fee. The balance of the refund is then

disbursed to the taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the

taxpayer (either a personal bank account or prepaid card). TPG provided

the service which we were contracted to provide in deducting the applicable

fees and depositing the monies into the account which you directed on the

online agreement.

In

your primary complaint, you designated a refund of the $20 reprocessing fee as

a satisfactory solution. TPG complied with this request and mailed a check to

your address on record on May 20, 2013.

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 4 pm

PST.

Respectfully,

Compliance Assistant

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Consumer

Response:

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,

Review: I Had the most horrible experience with this company and would like a refund because they did not do an the job on the service I paid for. I spent 4 hours today trying to talk to a customer service representative in reference to my income tax refund that they somehow deposited into a pre-paid [redacted] that I do not own, but is one of the products they offer on their site instead of depositing it the bank account that was provided on my return. In the 4 hours of continuous calling the automated system would have me on hold for 15-20 minutes to speak with a representive then hang up or say the office is closed when its well within their business hours. I was hung up on twice by 2 different Representatives. And when I finally did get through they would say I Have the wrong department and the cycle would start all over again.

Finally after 4 hours of this I got to speak with someone. I explain to her my deposit was returned to them because the banking information they submitted was incorrect. I explained I reviewed my tax return and it had the correct banking info. I called turbo tax and the IRS and they both confirmed my correct banking information. Santa Barbara Tax Payers group was the only ones with the wrong banking information somehow. They said they have no idea how it happened and would have to now confirm my identity and then they would mail my check to me. The 34.99 payment was for them to process the check and deposit it into my account not to mail it to me. So what I paid them for did not happen and I feel that money should be refunded to my because they were provided with the correct information but somehow my deposit was sent to a pre-paid green card account which again the company offers on their site, instead of the account that was confirmed by turbo tax, by the IRS and by a copy of my tax return. Only explanation I could get is "They don't know how it happened. This company is just sad.Desired Settlement: Money be refunded. After 4 hours of trying to talk with a live person, being hung up on and their incompetence on delivering their services I don't believe this is even a real company.

Business

Response:

February 17, 2016

Dear Ms. [redacted],

This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa

Barbara Tax Products Group through the Revdex.com on February 11,

2016.

In your complaint, you stated that after entering your

information for a direct deposit, your refund was going to be sent to you via

the [redacted]. You tried contacting TPG’s customer service and were unable

to receive a reason as to why your deposit was going to be sent to you through

the [redacted].

Upon review of your account, it shows that you applied to

have your tax return refund disbursed onto a [redacted] account, not a [redacted]. This is confirmed through the routing number used in your tax return

filing where funds were sent out via ACH to RTN: [redacted] as directed by the

RT application from Turbo Tax. The account number provided was rejected as an

invalid account number and the funds were returned back to TPG. Please log onto

our website, [redacted], and follow the

instructions to verify yourself.

In the scenario 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. DIY tax software requires that the taxpayer

identify a bank account number where they want the refund deposited. TPG has

nothing to do with incorrect account information entered by the taxpayer or the

receiving bank’s decision to reject the funds.

The

$34.99 that was charged to your account is a processing fee that you agreed

upon prior to using our refund transfer services. This processing fee is

clearly described in Section 1 of the [redacted] Refund Processing

Agreement:

1. NOTICE: No Requirement To Have BANK Process Your

Refund In Order To File Electronically.

YOU

UNDERSTAND THAT A REFUND PROCESSING FEE OF $34.99 IS CHARGED TO ESTABLISH A

TEMPORARY ACCOUNT TO RECEIVE YOUR FEDERAL TAX REFUND, TO PROCESS IT, TO DEDUCT

YOUR TURBOTAX FEES FROM THAT ACCOUNT, AND TO FORWARD FUNDS TO YOU. THE REFUND PROCESSING FEE IS NOT A LOAN; IT

IS DUE TO BANK WHETHER OR NOT THE REFUND PROCESSING SERVICE OCCURS. THIS FEE IS COLLECTED AT THE TIME THE REFUND

OCCURS. YOU CAN AVOID THIS FEE AND NOT

USE THE REFUND PROCESSING SERVICE BY INSTEAD PAYING THE APPLICABLE TURBOTAX

FEES TO INTUIT BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD AT THE TIME YOU FILE YOUR 2015 FEDERAL

INCOME TAX RETURN AND ELECTING TO HAVE YOUR REFUND DIRECTLY DEPOSITED IN YOUR

OWN BANK ACCOUNT OR MAILED TO YOU. IF

YOU DO USE THE REFUND PROCESSING SERVICE, YOU CAN EXPECT TO RECEIVE THE

PROCEEDS FROM YOUR FEDERAL TAX REFUND WITHIN 21 DAYS FROM WHEN THE IRS ACCEPTS

YOUR RETURN UNLESS THERE ARE PROCESSING DELAYS BY THE IRS. THE REFUND PROCESSING SERVICE WILL NEITHER

SPEED UP NOR DELAY YOUR FEDERAL TAX REFUND. THE COST OF PREPARING YOUR TAX

RETURN IS NOT ANY MORE OR LESS IF YOU PURCHASE THE REFUND PROCESSING SERVICE.

We are experiencing extremely large call volumes which

correlates to an extremely large, and unexpected, funding from the 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.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to

contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.

Sincerely,

Compliance Analyst

Review: We had filed our W2 form with this "company" only to be told that our billing address was not correct. After my wife had fixd this issuse we where told that it would take 48 hours to recive our money. It has been almost two weeks and still have not recived anything. I and my wife, have called this "company" to see what is wrong with the transaction but all I get is put on hold till I get hung up on or a busy signal. I am very upset and will go to te local news agency or who ever will listen and help me get my money. I am a father of two and I am the only one that works. Again if this is not fixed immediately I will file a compalt with law enforcement and the distrect attourny.Desired Settlement: I would like to get my money that I am owed that is all!!!

Business

Response:

March 2, 2016

Dear Mr. [redacted],

This is in response to your complaint filed against Santa

Barbara Tax Products Group through the Revdex.com on February 22,

2016.

Your complaint stated that once you learned your account was

placed on hold, you tried speaking with TPG’s customer service to learn why

there was a hold. You were unable to speak to someone after calling a number of

times which is why you filled a Revdex.com complaint.

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 and

unfortunate delays in processing. We apologize for the inconvenience this

has caused you and the manner in which your inquiry was handled by our Customer

Service agents.

Controls are in place to protect our customers from identity

theft and fraud. Our Risk Department has contacted your wife, [redacted], on

February 26 to discuss your complaint. TPG was able to verify her information

and release the hold from your account. Your refund will be direct deposited

into your account the same day your wife has spoken with us.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel

free to contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.

Sincerely,

Compliance Analyst

Review: I filed my federal income taxes this year through Turbo Tax which uses Santa Barbara Tax Products Group as a third party company to handle the disbursements of tax refunds. The I.R.S. released my funds to SBTPG and I was scheduled to have my funds direct deposited into my account on Thursday, February 6, 2014. After I had not received my deposit on Friday, February 7, 2014, I contacted my bank to find out if there was an issue and there was one. I incorrectly entered my account information so I immediately contacted SBTPG after speaking with my bank that same day.

I spoke with a representative by the name of Elena (ID# [redacted]) who suggested I submit an Account Change Form before the bank rejects the deposit so that when it does get rejected my updated information would be on file and I could have my funds direct deposited into the correct account rather than wait on a mailed check. I specifically told the representative that I did not want a check mailed because I was moving and I would submit the Account Change request. I was emailed a copy of the form. I filled out the form, attached the necessary documents (copy of my identification card, social security card, direct deposit form from may bank) and faxed it all to SBTPG on Friday, February 7, 2014 before 5:00pm EST. The representative said it would take 3 days for my bank to reject the initial deposit and 24 hours to process my Account Change request.

On the morning of Monday, February 10, 2014, I called SBTPG to verify that my Account Change request had been received and processed only to find out that a check had been printed and mailed out that same day. The representative Mattie (ID#[redacted]) said that my Account change was not received until Saturday, February 8, 2014 and it would take 3-5 business days for me to receive my check being sent via regular mail. I was concerned about this process so I submitted a Mail Hold with my local post office to ensure that my check would not be lost or stolen and would be kept there until I picked it up. I checked the post office every day.

The sixth business day was Monday, February 17, 2014, and I still had not received this check. On the seventh business day, Tuesday, February 18, 2014, I contacted SBTPG and the representative said that it takes 5-7 business days (not 3-5) and I should be receiving the check that day or the following day. The next afternoon, on the eighth business day, Wednesday, February, 19, 2014, I still had not received my check. I again contacted SBTPG to find out what the issue was with the delivery of my check. The representative said that I had to wait until 10 business days from the initial date of the check so they can be sure that the check was not returned to them before they could stop payment and to call back on Friday, February 21, 2015, if I still had not received my check so I can start the I-Bond process to reissue my direct deposit into the correct account.

Today is the ninth business day, Thursday, February 20, 2014, and I have yet to see a check. The post master at my local office doesn’t understand why this check wasn’t sent through priority so that it could be tracked. After doing some research today, I have found that this seems to be a reoccurring problem with SBTPG.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: As I was filing this claim, I visted the SBTPG website to retrieve my customer ID number I have noticed that there is a direct deposit going back to the company in the amount of my refund? I need to understand why this is.Desired Settlement: In order to resolve my complaint, I would like to complete the I-Bond process on Friday, February 21, 2014, so that when I still do not receive my check on the tenth business day, all of the necessary documents will be on file when stop payment is made on the check. I ABSOLUTELY do not want to wait on another check. This process has been completely unnecessary and I refuse to continue to wait around for my hard earned money. Therefore, the ONLY payment method I will accept is having my funds direct deposited or wired into my account along with the reimbursement of the $20 check processing fee since I specificall said not to issue a check and since this is what I was promised with my initial Account Change Form on Friday, February 7, 2014. I have been a loyal customer and this has been a 3 week long process that I do not appreciate. I have researched other complaints and I know that these requests can be accomadated unlike I have been told by some representatives. I would also like to be contacted via phone or email before the new deposit is made to verify that all information is current and accurate so there won’t be any further delays.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

This

email is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products

Group to the Revdex.com on February 20, 2014 regarding funds never

received.

Upon

review of your record, a Refund Transfer (RT) was chosen when your taxes were

prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 6,

2014 the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo

Tax user fees and an additional Bank processing fee. The balance was deposited to the account

instructed on The [redacted] Banking Company Refund Processing Agreement. Your

Bank rejected the funds and declared the account an R03/“No Account/Unable to

Locate Account”. From your Revdex.com statement

it appears that you submitted an incorrect account number and therefore your

Bank rejected the funds. The funds were

returned to TPG on February 10, 2014.

According to your contract, TPG issued a Cashier’s Check on February 10,

2014 and mailed it to the address on record.

The check was returned as “undeliverable”.

As

notated on your record, you contacted TPG and were advised to submit an Account

Change form with supporting documents.

The form and verification documents were received in full and processed today,

February 25, 2014. Please allow 48 hours

for your funds to post at your financial institution.

Please

feel free to contact me at ###-###-####, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4 pm PST

if you have any further concerns or questions regarding this complaint.

Respectfully,

Compliance

Assistant

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Consumer

Response:

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,

Review: I have been trying for over a week to retrieve my tax refund , I have given every document they have asked for and still a week later no refund, I have spoke with every customer service rep each one was a rude as the other , no one can tell me why my account is locked and what I have to do to get it unlocked so they are basically just holding my 6400 without any type of explanation. As of today every time I call their phone number it hangs up on me. I don't know what to do to get my refund and their customer service line does not and is not even trying to assist me in anyway.Desired Settlement: Release my tax refund to my bank account it is illegal for them to hold it and they don't have a valid reason

Business

Response:

February 16, 2016

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,

Compliance Analyst

Review: On January 23, 2015 I filed my taxes online with Rapid Tax. Through this filing agreement I authorized the Santa Barbara Tax Group Products to accept the refund for me and take all filing fees out of the refund and then send the remaining direct deposit amount to my bank. All was fine and I checked back daily to get the status of my return. On January 26th 2015 the IRS accepted my refund and on January 30 2015 the IRS sent the refund to the bank via direct deposit. Since January 30th I have been checking the Rapid Tax website, the Tax Products Group website, and the IRS website daily. Today is February 3rd 2015 and according to Tax Products Group, they have still not received my refund. I have confirmed this statement from both the website and a phone call that I made to Tax products group today. The woman I spoke to on the phone stated that it takes 1-3 business days to get the direct deposit refund. Once they receive it, it would be another 1-3 days before I receive it. So at the latest Friday February 6th, 2015 or Monday February 9th, 2015 I would have my refund. I had also sent an email requesting information on when I would expect my refund and it stated I woud not recieve it until February 16th 2015. I am skeptical that this company has received my refund and is holdng it for an unreasonable amout of time. In addition The two customer service agents I communicated with gave two completely different time frames to expect the return, leaving me with even more confused.Desired Settlement: I would like to get the word out to future or current customers that the delay in refund from e-filing from this company is completely unreasonable. Tax Group Products needs to insure that it serves it customers in a timely manner. Holding on to a customers money any longer than normal is a very unethical business practice and shoud be avoided at all costs.

Business

Response:

Case# [redacted]

02.09.2015

This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa

Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on February 4, 2015

regarding services issues.

According to the IRS website, “your refund was sent to your

bank on January 30, 2015 for direct deposit” and “if your refund is not

credited to your account by February 6, 2015 check with your bank to find out

if it has been received”. The IRS is allotting 5 days to allow your financial

institution to post the funds into your personal account.

Upon review of your TPG record, your funds have not been

received by the Bank. Please contact the IRS and request a Trace Request in

order to locate your funds.

We apologize that our customer service front line gave more

than one possible funding date. We have expected refund dates and expected

deposit time frames based on experience.

We thank you for the inquiry. If you have any further

concerns or questions regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me

directly at 877-908-7228 Monday through Friday 7am to 3 pm PST.

Respectfully,

[redacted]

Review: I've used this company to receive tax refund. They where very rude, and I was told different information by four representatives. I still haven't received my refund and am told that I ha e to wait for six weeks for an electronic filing status. The will tell you to call the IRS, but IRS released the funds on the 30th of January. Very dissatisfied customer. Advise everyone not use their products.Desired Settlement: To have payment returned and all fees returned to me.

Business

Response:

Case ID# [redacted]

02.09.2015

This is in response to

the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com

of San Diego on 2/5/2015 regarding service issues. Thank you again for

your inquiry and patience.

Upon review of your

record, no funding has been received from the IRS. According to the IRS

website, “your refund was sent to your bank on January 30, 2015 for direct

deposit” with the enhancement of multiple processing systems at the IRS, it may

result in processing delays for certain returns. There may be conflicting

information on when refunds will be disbursed based on all the IRS channels

(website, automated number and taxpayer hotline), but I assure you we process

any refunds from the IRS within 24 hours of receipt. In the meantime, our

customer service representatives are referring taxpayers that are affected to

check the IRS website and hotline more frequently for a better gauge on when to

expect their refund rather than contacting us since the IRS will be the best

source to determine the delivery date of your refund once they update their

channels.

I apologize for the

inconvenience this has caused you and 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.

Upon our conversation we

are working directly with IRS to resolve this issue in locating your funds.

If you have any further

concerns or questions regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me at [redacted]

Respectfully,

Review: The reason why I called them from the beginning is because I made a mistake and put the wrong account number of my prepaid card on my tax return. The prepaid company said that they sent my refund back to "sbtpg" so I was given there number from the IRS. So I contacted them and when I did I was given the run around immediately. I called and said, that my address that was on my tax return was no longer my address no more. Can I do an address change so you guys can know where to send my paper check. So they told my to go to there online website to update my address and call them back when I'm done, so I did that, but I was not allowed to update the address online. When I called back I was told some different information. I was told to fax them a utility bill with my current address on it, so I did that. I called back the next day to see did they received my fax, they did but still gave me a hard time. They now say that I have to fax in my Id and my ss card "which I didn't have at the time" in order to update my address I asked what else could I do and they said that I could either send my refund back to the IRS or have it sent to my address that's on my tax return. So I specifically told them NOT to send my check to my old address. I told them that I will call back when I get my Id and ss card so I can update my address and they said ok , we will keep your check on hold. So when I called back today March 25,2014 to give them the information they needed I get told that my check was already mailed off to my old address....... Not to mention I was given a hard time the whole week. I got the phone hung up in my face several times, got talked smart to numerous of times, and given the wrong information the whole time. They also went against my word now my refund check can be in the hands of another person. Please HELPDesired Settlement: I would like a refund for all the trouble and for my refund. I would also like an apology from them as well

Business

Response:

Hello Ms. [redacted],

My sincere apologies, I agree that this should not have happened. The information you were given should have been consistent and the check should not have been released until your address was corrected. 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.