The Closet Chameleon

Mr***, I'm very sorry you feel that wayThe fact of the matter is that you signed a contract for resolution servicesI have numerous documentation to show we spoke to you numerous times throughout this processYou got the best resolution base on your circumstancesBased on your financial
evaluation, you showed the ability to pay $xxxx.xx a month! You called the IRS against our advice and set yourself up in the $250/mo ppYour balance would have defaulted that payment planWe added the balance from and lowered your payment plan to keep you from defaultingWe applied for a penalty abatement but it was denied because of your prior tax issues before you hired usIn addition, we contacted the state on your behalf as a courtesyWe promise to resolve the matter, not a particular outcome for all of these reasonsThere is no justification for a refund We did our part and resolved your case with the lowest payment possible. S*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 11762984, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me
Regards,
*** ***
To whom it may concern;Platinum Tax Defenders owner Sherri Gastelum and I spoke over the phone yesterday (10/18/16) and discussed our varying views about how my case was handled It is now clear to both of us that there were some misunderstandings on the process that I was not aware of and that there were some miscommunication within the firm that were not made clear to her I believe after my discussion with MsGastelum, that there was indeed a desire to ensure that all of their customers (including myself) receive the highest level of service At times there is an unfortunate mistake that happens which I can understand Platinum Tax Defenders and I have come to an agreement to complete my service and I am extremely appreciative to MsGastelum for reaching out to me to address and resolve my concerns to my satisfaction

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
T*** ***
We have email proof as well- these emails prove this person S*** is a horrible business person who is terrible at her job and accuses her clients of lying-
In I fired NKSFB and Guerilla Union and began to manage my own career with K*** *** as my business managerIt's been good, she has been up front and diligent about helping me get to the bottom of this tax debt situationAfter she finally got a handle on what was going on with Platinum Tax Defenders we discussed firing them and finding a new solution, because even though I paid them 5000, a year had gone by with no communication or progress on my caseWe decided to let them continue working precisely because I already paid the retainer and didn't want it to go to wasteHowever, we soon began to receive aggressive emails from S*** *** of PTD, a lady I have never met, spoken with on the phone or even heard ofEven though nothing had been accomplished, S*** was aggressively demanding that I pay her even more money, using thinly veiled threatening languageI was confused as to how I ended up in even more debt when they were supposed to be solving my debt problems not adding to themS*** emailed my booking agent looking for money and told them I owed PTD moneyThis was not only not true, but very unprofessional and terrible businessK*** suggested I pay S*** some of the money she was demanding because it seems to us that not paying would make the situation worseWhat we wanted to do didn't matter thoughSomehow S*** figured out how to gain access to my bank account and paid herself the remainder of what she claimed she was owed out of my money without my permissionThis is theftAt this point this woman has taken 10,dollars from me, and my tax debt has only gotten worse, not betterThat makes absolutely now sense If stealing wasn't enough, S*** has apparently made a habit of misrepresenting my financial state to you, as well as blaming you for her lack of communication. Here are just some samples of her emails to myself and K***, check out how she describes Mr Batista as 'difficult"- From: S*** *** [mailto:***@platinumtaxdefenders.com] Sent: Monday, October 26, 3:PMTo: K*** ***Cc: Subject: Re: Platinum Tax Defenders Payment Reminder Dear T*** and K***: At this time, until we come to an arrangement to get paid or a schedule to pay the past due balances, I cannot justify incurring more hours with no payment. I am happy to get involved and "work our magic". This is the issue I have at this time. K***, you gave me your word the last time that I requested payment and you assured me that you would pay our fees. We moved forward and incurred more work on T***'s behalf. Now, after we incurred more hours you want us to continue working on this case with no payment or payment arrangement. As far as the case goes, this is nothing new. MrB*** has been like this since the very beginning and it's never enough. It's the RO's word against ours and I can assure you we would never put our client at risk. We have numerous documentation to support all the work we have done with MrB*** and how difficult he was being. If you remember, (as you were copied on every email), we complained about T***'s RO, MrB*** to his supervisor and Taxpayer Advocate Services for not approving the IA and not giving us a rejection letter. There is a protocol that the IRS follows when going through resolution. MrB*** refused to follow that protocol and send a rejection letter so that we could appeal his decision. The plan was to get an installment agreement accepted so that we can keep T*** out of collections and move the case out of the RO hands so that we can try and do some kind of offer. T***, I am respectfully asking for payment for the work that has already been done on your case. Or, at least a plan on paying us before we move forward with anymore work. Please advise.K*** response-***, We sent you a check in the amount of $just a few weeks ago and I have another payment slated to go out very soon. We have had numerous conversations that if T*** had the money to pay you in full and that was what was agreed we would do that but with the payments due to the IRS we are doing the best we can. I have always told you that I would send you payments as I could. We are not trying to not pay you but we have to do the work for T***. If the IRS levy’s T***’s money nobody wins. T*** will be without any money and you will not be able to get paid at all. I have asked you to please go through this process with us. Stay the course instead of pointing fingers and lashing out. Let’s call MrB*** back and see if we can get a payment plan done so that T*** will have a fighting chance to get on top of this debt and you can get paid for your work. I have prepared the so you wouldn’t incur any more cost - I have been calling the IRS to be sure he received what he asked for - I have been doing all I can do but you guys are the POA on file so I am limited as to what I can do. Your firm is who MrB*** is relying on and you are the decision makers so please don’t make this case any worse. You are the experts and T*** has put his faith in you and your firm to fight for him to the end and get a positive result. If you keep threatening nobody wins - if you want to be right let’s hash that out later and you can win I really don’t care. What we need to do today is to call the IRS - stay the course and fight like mad to stop the IRS from Levying and Seizing. There is no secret here - we aren’t holding back payment to prove a point - we don’t have the money to pay your bill in full…We are doing our best to pay you what we can and to pay the IRS what was agreed to. If more money becomes available and I can pay you more than what I have slated for you then I will do that. If you would like to agree to some sort of payment plan we can talk about that but again today we need to call the IRS - can you agree to make that call and to reach out to T*** and myself with an update? Thank you K***Business ManagerFrom: S*** *** [mailto:***@platinumtaxdefenders.com] Sent: Friday, November 20, 5:PMTo: K*** ***Subject: Re: T*** I put it in the system when we decided on the pay schedule. The system will run payments automatically based on the dates entered into the system. I'm sorry if I misunderstood how the payments would be ran. The next payment is due for 12/16, please let me know before that date if you are going to make changes. Thanks,*** On Fri, Nov 20, at 5:PM, K*** *** wrote:Great The other thing is how did you pay yourself with out me signing anything - you overdrew his account and it cost him money - I had you on tap to pay but I was waiting for a wire...On Fri, Nov 20, at 5:PM, S*** *** wrote:No, we left several messages for Alex today but never connected. Will try again on Monday. Have a great weekend.From: S*** *** Date: Wed, Dec 9, at 2:PMSubject: Re: Platinum Tax DefendersTo: K*** *** Cc: "S*** ***" K***:You were on the phone when we made this agreement!There is nothing about this that is fraud! I will not pull the payment as you requested, however, please honor it by mailing the check to arrive in my office by 16th of this month to avoid late fees. Please use the most recent invoice that was sent.Thanks,***On Wed, Dec 9, at 2:PM, K*** *** wrote:image001.jpgS*** - Reminder - You are hereby notified - DO NOT USE YOUR CURRENT SYSTEM OR ANY OTHER TO AUTOMATICALLY PAY YOURSELF. I have included our City National Bank representative. Should you take money out of T***’s bank account without authorization again this will be considered FRAUD. D***, Do not honor any electronic system to pay Platinum Tax Defenders. The payment made to them on 11/17/2015 PREAUTHORIZED DEBIT PLATINUM TAX DEF ACH PPD T*** GREENE @@800-991-6247 $2,was not authorized by myself or T***. We did not authorize this payment - some type of system was used on their end to take the funds out…please make sure this CANNOT happen again. ***, dec 1- Dear K*** and T***:We had an extremely long call with MrBatista today. He feels, and after reviewing the documents, I tend to agree, that the number do not add up. He was going to Levy because he is convinced you are hiding money and not giving him the information that he is asking for. We begged him NOT to levy and he gave us until Friday this week to get him the information he wants below. K***, when you met with him at the summons, he claims to us that he told you EXACTLY what he wanted to see and how he wanted to see them. I wasn't there so I have to rely on you for that. Some of the inconsistencies are as follows:1) The P & L's provided do not match up with the bank statements or the taxes2) T***'s personal P & L shows an annual salary of 15K (jan - Aug) and $14,cash draw and yet his annual child expenses are $34K +. That makes no sense.3) The P & L shows payroll taxes withheld but there are no records of any paid.Example: $16,Federal taxes $5,state, where is the proof?4) Current property taxes do not add up. 5) T***ra Inc has a list of payments made to various people. Are they indep contractors or employees? Where is the proof of those payments? 6) We need the work papers from the taxes that were filed in 2014. I don't see how they correlate. Perhaps we need to get on the phone with Peter to understand how those taxes were prepared based on your P & L. 7) He wants you to continue paying the $8K a month but you are paying it incorrectly. It needs to be tied to T***'s SSN NOT the company. More on that later but we need to write a letter to have those funds moved to the proper place.8) The P & L seems to be co mingled with personal. We need a clean copy of each entity P & L as well as T***'s personal P & L with the proof on each line item. 9) There are varied income listed for T*** throughout all of the documents. On the tax return it reflects approx $459K income on his K-1. You cannot write off child support or support for family members. 10) If MrBatista obtains what he believes T***'s true income is then he will put him in an installment agreement. Right now, he doesn't believe anything that is listed on the P & L which is why he is asking for the proof of expenses. When looking at the inconsistencies, I don't care if you were hiding money for him or not, I do need you to be completely honest with us on the true picture so we can accurately protect T***. Let's discuss tomorrow on any questions you may have so we can get the proper documentation in our office by FridayThanks!K*** response-***,We have some HUGE problems here. Number one you guys do not know what you are talking about. I don't understand why you wouldn't get myself and the tax accountant on the phone. You guys are just wrong on each point.1) P&L don't match bank statements - balance sheets match tax returns2) All wrong - you guys would need to look at the balance sheet to see money transfers from his corp to him individually 3) All taxes were paid - I have sent reports for all taxes paid twice4) The P&L is a DRAFT - the property tax amount was taken directly off of the 10985) I don't know what you are talking about - I would have to have something in front of me // are these deductions listed on the tax return?6) Why are you questioning how the tax return was prepared? The minute you had a question you should have brought myself or Peter into the conversation. 7) I will set T*** up personally on EFTPS8) What P&L are you talking about comingled ? Are you looking at the 433? B*** asked for a combined Financial - the books are not comingled9) I don't know what you are talking about and how does the K-have anything to do with Child Support?10) What expenes does he need proof of?I showed up at his office with two years of copies of ALL INCOME AND ALL EXPENSEI still have everything but I am just sickened that we are going backwards again.When you say he wants expense proof - I must know what he is talking about specifically. I still have my giant box full of all expenses and income copies - I can bring that to him.LASTLY - I AM ABOUT TO LOSE MY MIND - T*** IS NOT HIDING MONEY - I AM NOT HIDING MONEY - I TAKE GREAT OFFENSE As you can clearly see, the person I was paid of money that could've simply gone to the IRS was not only grossly misrepresenting me, but stealing from me, accusing the IRS agent of being difficult while at the same time accusing me of hiding moneyI am not understanding how a person with this level of incompetence was allowed to get this involved in my businessI am not hiding money and I want nothing more than to just get on a plan so I can pay what I owe and be done with this messThats all I've ever wantedI do not tell this story to excuse myself from debt or place the blame on others, I only seek to give you a complete understanding of a nuanced situationS*** was never concerned about helping me love this debt, she was clearly only concerned about her own pocketSo it was not surprising to me when Peter sent us this ripoffreport link about Platinum Tax Defenders, S*** in particularThey are scam artistsI have a right to be judged on my own merit, not thru the lens of scam artists who steal from and misrepresent meThank you for your timePlatinum Tax Defenders S*** *** Is A Scam Artist, accused of stealing 10K form someones bank account, just like she did with mine http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Platinum-Tax-Defenders/Simi-Valley-California-/Pla...⇄

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because although they are stating I'm requesting a refund "after" the work had been performed, this is not the caseI'm requesting a refund because they didn't do anything I couldn't have done myself and made promises on what they were actually doing on my behalfWhether they said it verbally and then tried to trick me by having me sign an agreement that stated otherwise, the verbiage used was unfairCaleb knew what I was asking and answered in a way to satisfy me but then protect the company knowing they were going to actually be able to resolve my debt. It is comments like the one from Sherry "I do believe Ms*** is entitled to a refund for work we already performed" that confuses me and I'm sure other clients as wellEven if she meant to say she "doesn't believe", what the company says verses what they mean seem to be very different and difficult to understand. No, as a tax analyst, I wouldn't do work for a client and then refund them the fees if they didn't like the outcome, but I also wouldn't do the work without telling them of the fees involved first and have them acknowledge that they still wanted the work performedIn other words, I wouldn't amend a client's tax return and then tell them that they owe money for work that I did after the fact. I'm sorry that I'm a trusting person and still believe that a person's word is worth somethingI would've never paid the $fee if Caleb would've answered my question honestly by telling me that there wasn't anyway for him to know if the taxes would be reduce and that he couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't be paying this $and not still owe the entire tax balance to the IRS. I deserve a refund as, even though Platinum Tax Defenders says they did the work I paid for, this is not true.
Regards,
*** ***

Dear Mr***: While we strive to provide the most effective and comprehensive tax resolution services to our clients, there are very rare occassions in which our processes do not fully satisfy our client's to our desired expectations This is one of those cases We fully understand and respect Mr***'s position and are committed to doing whatever is necessary to bring this matter to HIS desired resolution I hate that this situation was not handled to his liking I spoke with Mr*** today and believe we have come up with a resolution to this issue Sincerely,*** *** While we strive to provide the most effective and comprehensive tax resolution services to our clients, there are very rare occasions in which our processes do not fully satisfy our client's to our desired expectationsThis may be one of those casesWe fully understand and respect Mr***'s position and are committed to doing whatever is necessary to bring resolution to this matter I spoke to Mr*** and came up with a resolution plan and will assist with finalizing his tax debt with the state

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because: I do not think their resolution for of a payment plan of $was something only they could do They hav not resolved my tax but I called the IRS and was able to get$dropped and set up a payment olan at $a Month
Regards,
M*** ***

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:They are scammer and legal action it will be taken
Regards,
*** P***

Complaint: 12527687
I am rejecting this response because: My case was not being worked on, I contacted Platinum Tax Defenders on several different occasions and every time I was not given any information about my case. Also the communication level from this company is horrible sadly horrible, there was communication from the company in Sept 2017 regarding the company calling the IRS to seek some kind of resolution/agreement. A guy name David stated to me that he was in the process of calling, before I knew it the end of November has presented itself, and the IRS was in my mailbox again with an even larger bill. Platinum Tax Defenders did not do what they promised to do, also I declined the offer and compromise because David stated to me that the process would be six months before I would get an answer from the IRS. I will be back working way before that time. I have already invested $750.00 into this case (FOR NOTHING) I am not investing any more money ($186.00) for the offer and compromise to waste my time anymore. I personally had my case put in a non collectible status and I will start to make monthly payments which I should have done in the very beginning. Also I refuse to keep going back and forth with this company because of their poor communication and lack of services provided.
Regards,
A[redacted]

Mr. A[redacted] entered into an agreement with us for State and Federal tax resolution services. Mr. A[redacted] advised us he made approximately $2400 per month during his intake call. Based on that information it appeared he may have been a good candidate for a possible hardship program....

After doing our due diligence, including the pulling of all tax records, contacting the IRS and State Taxing Authority, and verifying income and assets, it came to light that Mr. A[redacted] makes approximately $4800 per month and, per the taxing authority, he had not filed his 2015 Tax Return. Regardless of the income discrepancies, there were still resolution plans that we could pursue as long as he got in filing compliance. We advised the client of this and he said that he filed the tax return and the Tax Authority was wrong. As we told Mr. A[redacted], the burden of proof for a missing return falls to the tax payer. We asked him to provide us a copy of the return and we would rectify the situation for him, but he refused to provide the tax return to us. We followed up with the client several times to discuss this, but he would not answer the phone and did not have his voicemail set up. When Mr. A[redacted] would call us, it was usually outside of our operating hours. We sent follow up emails to Mr. A[redacted] requesting the missing 2015 Tax Return, but he still would not provide the document to us. We are well within our contractual obligation and no refund is due. However, we are willing to move forward with this clients case, but he needs to provide the missing tax return.  For future reference, we have people to answer his calls between 8 - 5:30 M - F Pacific time.  Outside of those hours, we have an answering service he can leave a message.   Sincerely,R[redacted]

Client hired us for a thorough investigation of an IRS tax issue, we asked if they had a State issue and they verified that their issue was with the IRS. After we completed the full comprehensive IRS investigation we discovered that the client did not owe the IRS. When advised of this, the client...

told us they made a mistake and wanted us to investigate their State tax issue, they stated that they did not know the difference between the State Government and Federal Government. This of course would normally be a totally different investigation with an additional fee, but as a courtesy we agreed to complete the State investigation for FREE. In order to complete the State investigation we requested the client send us some very basic financial information and some form of proof of their claim that they were exempt from paying taxes, which typically is not the case. The State investigation did reveal that the client failed to file State tax returns for a number of years, and we have advised the client that they do indeed owe taxes and need to have their tax returns filed. The client refused to send this to us the required information, even though we requested the information several times. This client is not due a refund, and as a matter of fact, took advantage of our goodwill and generosity.  Robert Stevens

IIn response to [redacted] and [redacted]'s case, throughout the entire resolutions process, we assure our client's that we will "Resolve" their tax matter in a manner that is within their ability to pay and that does not create a financial hardship. Regarding Ms. [redacted]'s particular case, we made...

it very clear verbally as well as via email that our goal was to establish a resolutions plan that both she and the IRS could live with. There is no mention whatsoever in our formalized documentation that promises that tax debts are "reduced" arbitrarily. On the contrary, we specify in the initial documentation that our responsibility to our clients is to provide protection from unforeseen garnishments, levies liens and asset seizures. When the opportunity to get tax debts “reduced" legally arises, then we always pursue that particular course of action... However, not everyone is eligible for that specific resolutions plan.... as we informed Ms [redacted].  Ms. [redacted] was told based on the initial financial information that she sent us that she did not qualify.  We informed her that we can try for an offer in compromise but because of her 401K, it may be problematic.  Otherwise, we can put her in a lower streamline payment plan and work on penalties.  She opted for the offer in compromise.  We prepared those documents and sent them to her.  We have done pretty much everything on her case.  She had to sign those documents and then they were to be submitted to the IRS.  At that time, she decided she wanted a refund.     In closing, the language in our PTD Agreement is very clear and precise and clearly states the definition of resolution. We do not have "fine print" and therefore, had Ms. [redacted] simply thoroughly read the agreement, she would have clearly understood that she was paying for a resolutions plan that was designed to protect her and satisfy the IRS at the same time.   Ms. [redacted] is not entitled to a refund based on the contract that she signed, the work that we have done and her direction to do so.  If she still wants us to file the Offer in Compromise, we are happy to do so.

Complaint: 12669776I am rejecting this response because:Again, the facts are the facts.  I have $25,000 in IRS debit, when I hired this company to resolve it they charged me $2,900 to eliminate or get a major chunk of it removed. I asked in advance if the equity in my home would be a problem, they said no so I signed up.  5 weeks later I talked with the second representative he said " that with the amount of equity I have they wouldn't be able to do anything " The next time I hear from this company it was from there first representative I signed up with, he was rude and obnoxious. He was saying something like they could get maybe $1,500 reduced off of my $25,000 debit to the IRS.  In the mean time I had already called the IRS myself and was able to get more than that reduced off of my total.  So tell me again how you earned your fee of $2,900?  Bottom line is they LIED to me to get me to sign their contract. Then they provided me with ZERO results.  This place is a SCAM, and that is why I went to the Revdex.com so other people see this, so they do not get taken like I did.
Regards,
T[redacted]

That the client is rejecting the response because they "think" they could have completed the process on their own has no bearing on the work that we completed for them. We set them up on a payment plan while waiting for their audit to be completed. Once that audit was completed we would have further assessed their situation to get the best possible resolution available. They instead decided to call the IRS themselves and circumvent our representation. We are well within our contractual obligation and no refund is due.   Robert Stevens

We spoke to Mr. S[redacted] and explained that we did the services that we were contracted for by him.  He understood and told us this matter was closed. Thanks, R[redacted]

This client requested our services after advising us that she had failed to stay in compliance with the State and Federal government. At initial intake and during the qualification process the customer advised, as she did in her complaint, that she only received Social Security and a small...

retirement income, and that she had no assets. After becoming a client she maintained that the information she provided in the beginning was true. With every client, we verify all information provided to us, during this verification process we discovered that the client owns their home outright and has a rental property that they draw income from. In addition to this, after the client hired us to handle her IRS tax liability it was discovered that she paid off the IRS. This was all revealed after the client came on board, and after a substantial amount of work was completed, and resources dedicated, to the case. The Client needs to take responsibility for the inaccurate information that she provided us prior to hiring Platinum.  If she was honest with us in the beginning, we would have told her the exact thing we are telling her now   We offered to modify the case and pursue a resolution with the State and a possible penalty abatement with the IRS, but the client will not engage in a constructive conversation to discuss this.   There will be no refund as the work has already been performed.  At this point, we will consider this case closed.   Sincerely,Sherri Gastelum

My position is the same.  Armando was still giving us things to write off on his taxes after the filing deadline.  We did a penalty abatement at no charge and were denied because he had prior failure to pay penalties that had been abated in the past.  Out of courtesy, I will split the cost of the penalty fee and give him half of the $1,206.00 he was charged by the IRS.  If that is acceptable to him, please let me know. Sincerely, S[redacted]

We stand by our original response.  No refund is due. R[redacted]

A[redacted] contacted our company in March 2017 because she had received a CP 2000 from the IRS for tax year 2015.  In the conversation with A[redacted] it was clear that she was confused about this notice.  A CP 2000 is a proposal for changes and not an actual bill for the amount...

on the notice.  Until that notice becomes due there’s not a lot we can do to resolve the case.  In addition, the departments that we call are different than the tax payer and these departments do not speak to one another.  Her account we only called the IRS is false. It takes the IRS many months (usually more than 6) for these proposed changes to actually post to a taxpayers account and become due.  You will see in the Account Transcripts that have been uploaded into the account that in September there was a $0.00 balance due and that her case had been appointed to an IRS representative for review back in April.  The POA reran the same transcript report and the balance is now due for $4,889 effective December 9, 2017 (10 days from now).  Miss S[redacted] received the notice for the amount due over the long Thanksgiving weekend and decided to call the IRS herself rather than to call us.  The IRS agent moved her case into Currently Non-Collectible status and suggested that she may be eligible for an Offer In Compromise.  We were working on an offer in compromise for Ms. S[redacted].  On Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, she spoke with her Power of Attorney about the chain of events and was told at that time that we were working on her offer in compromise.   At the end of the telephone call she had agreed to let us complete the OIC for her.    Yesterday, November 29th, she made this Revdex.com Complaint.  Ms. S[redacted] signed a contract and in that contract it states there is a minimum fee charged as well as certain client duties.  Ms. S[redacted] defaulted her agreement.  It is unfair that a tax payer changes their minds and decides to cancel their services and expect a full refund.  We have done everything in the contract.  We are not done, and will still complete the offer in compromise process for her at the original minimum fee but do not feel she is due a refund.  Sincerely, R[redacted]

Complaint: 11762984
I am rejecting this response because:To whom it may concern,To start, I am under no illusion that the tax burden (i.e.: garnishment, and levy) are not a direct result of my own personal negligence in addressing them sooner and I do not think that this is pertinent to the lack of attention, detail, and overall sub-par service that has been provided by Platinum Tax Defenders.  I am also fully aware that Platinum Tax Defenders has no control over the state and IRS response times, nor have I ever made any comments as such.  I also reject that the firm was diligent in reaching out to the State of California, Franchise Tax Board, and I also reject that they were diligent in following up with me and I will provide email attachments when I repeatedly requested updates daily via email with no response.The firm never informed me when the power of attorney was sent to the FTB and I was not informed that it could take up to 10 days to be processed nor was I informed that they could not reach out to an agent until after the document were processed.  As indicated in their response to my complaint, form #3561 is a requirement by the FTB to review my information.  I sent that back on September 2nd, but they did not send it to the FTB until September 15th.  That is a 13 day delay and in my opinion a wast of almost two weeks of time to address my issue.  It is important to note that after I initially sent back all of the documentation, I waited about a week, and I phoned my case worker, Greg Meyer who informed me that they had not heard anything back and he would reach out to Maurice the attorney working on my case.  The response is accurate on my calls on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd of September to get a status update and I received an email on the 22nd with a small transcript of Maurice's call with the FTB which did not resolve anything. (See attachment named "September 22nd, Eamil".  I was never provided any information that my established income was under review and the reason that it was taking additional time.  The attached email was all that was provided.  In regards to the September 26th, call (after the initial garnishment went through without any additional information from the firm since the 22nd, I found out that my bank account had been levy'd.  When I called my bank Chase, they initially told me that it was the IRS that had placed the levy on my bank account.  I had called and spoke with my case worker (Greg Meyer) frantic (as my very first mortgage payment was due on October 1st) as all of the money I had to pay the mortgage was gone.  After going into my bank branch I found out that the initial information that I was provided by Chase was incorrect.  It was not the IRS, it was actually the State of California that placed the levy on my account.  I attempted to contact my case worker back but could not reach him by phone so I sent an email letting him know that I was incorrect.  In our brief email exchanged I agreed to go to the bank and get a copy of the levy document which I did and sent back within less than 24 hours. After I followed up again on the 29th, I received a response stating that my case worker would follow up with the attorney to get a status update.  I received a response stating that it was still under review and I responded again to remind them of the levy as that had not been addressed with the State of California yet.  (See attachment named "September 29th Email").On Friday September 30th, I became frustrated because at this point it had been over 1 month.  The garnishment had not been modified or dropped, the levy had been placed and I was getting the run around.  After reviewing the Revdex.com website for information on that day, I saw that Sherri (Owner) had been responsive to people when submitting information.  I also found the same thing on Yelp, so I made the decision to call her directly and express my concerns with what was happening with my case.  It was a very lengthy voicemail but requested a call back to discuss my case.  I did not hear back from her, and after additional attempts to reach here (as she has stated in prior responses on Yelp to call her directly to resolve issues) she still has made no effort to reach out to me, a paid customer, however, I did received a call from the attorney working on my case on Monday (Oct 3rd) afternoon.  He expressed his apologies for not following up, let me know the steps he was going to take to work to get this resolved, and I expressed that I did not feel that the level of communication was satisfactory.  It was very reactionary.  I only received responses when I would call.  There was very minimal effort to keep me informed from their side on their own. Maurice assured me that he would be my main point of contact and would keep me informed daily as the release of the levy was quickly approaching, and the next garnishment was about to go through.  That was the only day that I heard from Maurice.  I have not heard from him since.On October 4th, I received an email stating that they would be reaching out to the Tax Advocate and then I heard nothing.  I requested an update on October 5th - No response.I requested an update on October 6th - No response.I requested an update on October 7th - Finally I received a response that the State of CA FTB asked for my employers fax number and that I should check with my payroll department to see if anything has been sent.  No details.  No nothing.  I did in fact know that there was a reduction fro 25% to 15% that I did find out from my payroll department on the 6th, but I didn't hear anything from the firm that I hired and paid $1900 to help me resolve these issues.  This confirms that the communication level from this firm has been sub-par.  If they had an update on the 5th, why did it take 2 additional days of me asking for an update to let me know that there was a modification?  They only respond when you send them an email asking for an update and even then, sometimes they do not respond at all.  On this same day, I had asked about the status of the levy, and I was informed that they will talk with the State that afternoon but that they most likely would not get a response till Tuesday due to the holiday on Monday.  (Please see attachment "Updates" for email correspondence).  Tuesday October 11th, was the final day before my bank Chase was going to release the $3000 they were holding from the levy.  On Tuesday morning I received an email requesting a copy of my mortgage statement showing how much was due.  I sent that back promptly and then never heard anything back.  Wednesday the 12th, Chase sent the money to the State of California.  In regards to my "large disposable income", I am not sure where that information or how that had been determined.  Since working with Platinum Tax Defenders, I have had to take a cash advance of $2500 to pay my mortgage, I have been living on credit cards for the last 3 weeks, and I paid them $1900 to perform a service that ended up costing me a net $4400.  Had they reviewed my case properly and gave me advice that would have made more sense for me to simply pay the $5000 that I owed to the state, then I would not be in a worse situation now than I was before.  I still paid the state the $5000 through levy and garnishment and I am worse off financially than I was before.  I fully reject Platinum Tax Defenders response and am still requesting at least a 50% refund for the services that they were supposed to provide.  The response is not satisfactory.Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: 10699717
I am rejecting this response because: The response from S[redacted] was not accurate regarding my conversation with Amy today.  At no time, did I AGREE to drop this complaint.  The discussion we had went as follows:  She told me that not responding to the IRS for the meeting on June 11th regarding the CDP was planned.  She had no explanation or reason for not getting back to me about the papers I received from the IRS that I immediately faxed to them on June 29th.  I called and my wife called prior to the holiday both leaving messages regarding this missed meeting with the IRS and the certified letter from them that we recieved.  She asked me to lift the complaint and I told her that the only way I would lift the complaint was either by getting a refund from them for $7560.00 which was payment for the CDP or to complete what they told me they would do.   S[redacted]'s statement regarding the levy and collections was previously paid for and is not part of the $7560.  Please note in addition that on May 27, we received a fax cover sheet from them stating "Your power of attorney will soon have a collection due process hearing with an IRS agent to determine your financial standing and why you should not be collected upon."  Wouldn't you think this was the meeting they missed on June 11th?   I believe the only reason I received a phone call today was due to this complaint.  We want this to work out but at this time the complaint has to stand until we are satisfied and Platinum proves they truly are an accredited business.
Regards,
[redacted]