Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Review: Ok I filed with turbo tax- like I do every year. I was unaware that there was a typo in my account number [redacted]0874 (correction is [redacted]) I received no notice of any kind of mistake. Rather than email or calling the decided it was a " great " idea to send a check! I went in the website to change the typo and have a 2nd deposite requested! After not receiving the deposit I called their customer service and was told my check WILL arrive in 7-10 business days! I waited and waited and called several times about no delivery!! They " apparently" don't certify the check at all and the customer has to hope they receive it!!! Customer service was VERY rude and didn't take any responsibility that the time of delivery was not accurate. I was asking to VOID the check and deposit the amount into my acc!! I was given the runaround and excuse after excuse as to why it hadn't arrived!!! It was suppose to be deposited on 2/9/2015 but here we are 2/28/2015 and I'm still waiting on it to arrive!!! I kept being told " it's suppose to" _____ and their " suppose to's" never delivered!! I'm extremely livid they refuse to take any responsibility for their lack of certainty and horrible customer service! [redacted] if you VOID a check it's not cashable. Plain and simple!!!![redacted] I will NEVER use turbo tax again!!! I'm never going to suggest this "company" to anyone!! Apparently I'm not the only one with this issue!!! It seems to be an ongoing problem that they have had!!! Guess I shouldn't be surprised!!!Desired Settlement: I want the 20$ they deducted to print the check and send it returned!! Had they had a tracking number on the mail that $20 would have been necessary. I want the full amount deposited into the acc on file, and a written apology from the company!

Business

Response:

RE: Case

03.03.2015

Dear [redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed against

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to the Revdex.com on February 28,

2015 regarding wrong account information.

Upon review of your record, a Refund Transfer

(RT) was chosen when your taxes were prepared through Turbo Tax. On February 9,

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 11, 2015. According to your contract, TPG issued a Cashier’s Check on

February 12, 2015 and mailed to the address on record.

You stated in your complaint that you have

not received the Cashier’s Check mailed on February 12, 2015. We apologize for the inconvenience this has

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

Service agents. Please fill out and

submit the Indemnity Bond attached along with the required IDs so that we can

place a stop payment on the lost check and reissue a new one for you. You may

forward these items directly to me so that I can assist in processing them. I will ensure you have tracking information

for this item to allow you to trace en route.

Please feel free to contact me at

[redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 4 pm if you have any further

concerns or questions regarding this complaint.

Respectfully,

Compliance Analyst

Review: I used TurboTax to do my 2013 taxes. The same way I do every year. My intentions were to have my refund direct deposited into one of my bank accounts like I do every year. Instead I received a letter, along with a cashiers check, from Santa Barbara Tax Products Group. The letter claimed that they were unable to complete my deposit and as a result my refund was automatically subtracted a $20.00 'reprocessing fee.' This is absolutely absurd. There is obviously a scheme going on here. This business has had at least 5 complaints within the last 7 days, mine is now the 6th. I feel completely robbed of my money and I want it back.Desired Settlement: Santa Barbara Tax Products company needs to refund that $20.00 reprocessing fee to me. If they fail to do it through direct deposit another check will suffice. Until that happens this matter shall remain open.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr.

[redacted],

This

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

Group to the Revdex.com on February 27, 2014 regarding service

issues.

Upon

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

prepared through Turbo Tax. On February

19, 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 Citizens Banking Company Refund Processing Agreement. Your

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

Locate Account”. You may contact Bank of

America and provide them with trace number: [redacted] for further details

regarding the rejection of funds. The

funds were returned to TPG on February 21, 2014. According to your contract, TPG issued a

Cashier’s Check on February 21, 2014 and mailed it to the address on record,

which you state in your complaint you received.

TPG has

nothing to 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 returning the funds to the IRS. When the rejected refund was returned, TPG

made a good faith attempt to deliver the refund to you through an alternative

delivery method, which was a Cashier’s check.

TPG charges a commercially reasonable processing fee to cover the

expenses associated with reprocessing these items. Most banks typically charge between $25 and

$35 for return item fees. In this case, you were charged a $20.00 reprocessing

fee for the rejection of funds. This fee

is disclosed in your online agreement; a sample document has been attached for

your review.

For

future reference, please verify your banking information for the deposit of

your refund. For direct deposit, the taxpayer’s name must be on the

account. For a joint return, some banks require both names on the

account. As a courtesy, TPG will reimburse the $20 fee via Cashier’s

Check to your address on record.

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 8 am to 4 pm PST.

Respectfully,

Compliance

Assistant

Santa Barbara Tax Products Group

Review: I never received my tax refund. After calling both turbo tax and the IRS, I was routed to the bank. The bank informed me that they had received my refund from the IRS, but were unable to complete the direct deposit to my bank account. Instead, the bank sent me a paper check in the regular mail. When that check never arrived at my address, I called and was told I needed to send a bond form. I was also informed that I could call back after completing the form and provide my correct banking information for direct deposit. Instead, the bank sent a second paper check to the original address I provided. I spoke with 3-5 different people who informed me that Id have to wait an additional 11 business days to go through the same process, sending in the bond form and waiting for non-receipt of the check again. I asked for direct deposit because clearly there is an issue with mailing the paper check and its not getting to my home. At one point, I was informed that I would have to just keep waiting the 11 day periods and keep sending in bond forms. This is a huge waste of time, when clearly there is an issue with mailing the check. Putting several checks into the mail only increases the likelihood that someone will fraudulently obtain my funds. The final person I spoke with, before my call was disconnected, informed me that nothing could be done because they essentially have no idea where the first check is and mistakenly sent the second check to an address that was already correct and on file. I would like to resolve this by having the bank cancel the second check and direct deposit the funds into my bank account. I am more than happy to provide the correct banking information. The prospect of wasting time and energy on arbitrary waiting periods and bond forms is unreasonable.Desired Settlement: I would like the bank to cancel the second check and direct deposit the funds into my account. At the very least, cancel the second check and send me another with UPS/FedEx tracking to make sure that it is actually traceable.

Business

Response:

Review: I filed my taxes through [redacted] online and they use Santa Barbara Tax Products Group to process their fees before sending out refunds. I have called several time and been placed on extreme hold times if I am not disconnected I have not been able to speak with a representative. I received a deposit into my account for my refund which was significantly lower than the amount the IRS disbursed (confirmed the amount sent by IRS 2935.70 received 528.30).Desired Settlement: I would like to receive my refund asap!

Business

Response:

February 16, 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

11, 2016.

You contacted TPG’s customer service regarding your refund

amount. Your complaint stated that you received a lower amount that you

expected from your refund.

For purposes unknown to TPG, the Financial

Management Service (FMS) intercepted your refund

before it was received at TPG. FMS

offsets taxpayers’ refunds through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to pay off

past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts such as student loans and

state income tax obligations. Offsets to non-tax debts occur after the IRS has

certified the refunds to FMS for payment but before FMS makes the Direct

Deposits or issues the paper checks. Refund offsets reduce the amount of the

expected Direct Deposit or paper check but they do not delay the issuance of

the remaining refund (if any) after offset. If taxpayers owe non-tax debts they

may contact the agency they owe, prior to filing their returns, to determine if

the agency submitted their debts for refund offset. FMS sends taxpayers offset

notices if it applies any part of their refund to non-tax debts. Taxpayers

should contact the agencies identified in the FMS offset notice when offsets

occur if they dispute the non-tax debts or have questions about the offsets. If

taxpayers need further clarification, they may call the Treasury Offset Program

Call Center at [redacted].

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: the company that this business works with entered the wrong bank account information for them to direct deposit my federal tax refund into and they are refusing to give me my money. One lady said it would be weeks before they mailed me a paper check. this is my money and the longer I do not have it the more money in interest I am losing on my money.Desired Settlement: I want my money immediately.

Business

Response:

February 15, 2016

Dear Ms. [redacted],

This is in response to the complaint you filed against Santa

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

2016.

In

the scenario described in your complaint you have chosen a do-it-yourself (DIY)

tax preparation software package such as [redacted]’s popular [redacted] product. The

taxpayer is entirely responsible for the information provided to the software

including the disbursement account where the refund will be deposited. DIY tax

software requires that the taxpayer identify a bank account number where they

want the refund deposited.

If a taxpayer enters a 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.

Once TPG has received the rejected refund, the company has

the option of making another attempt to disburse the funds to the customer or

simply returning it to the IRS. As of now, there is a hold on your account. To

release this hold, please log into your account on the TPG website,

[redacted], and follow the instructions when prompted. Once verified and

approved, your funds will be re-disbursed as a Cashier’s Check.

If you experience any issues with this process or have any

questions regarding your account, please feel free to contact me at [redacted],

Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.

Sincerely,

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.

Regards,

I have verified my information twice in the past week. I have attempted to contact you business about my take return approx 20 times and have been hung up on several times left on hold for 25 minutes several times and spoken to by some very nasty people. Turbo tax had a glitch ando cut off my account number it was nothe entered in wrong by me they have taken full responsibility and refunded what I paid for there service. I do not understand why your employees are so nasty. All I am asking for is my money which belongs to me. I have jumped through all of the requestrian hoops several times and this is getting old. One of your employees even threatened to send my money back to the IRS and "make me one through 5-6 months of hell to get it back. I am hoping you can help keep get my return back in a timely manner. I just left you a voice mail after 2 phone calls and 5 different people most of which refused to figure out who you were and transfer me to you when I called the number you gave me in the voice mail.

Business

Response:

February 17, 2016

Dear Ms. [redacted],

After speaking with you on the phone on 2/15 regarding you

refund, I confirmed with you that your account was taken off hold after TPG was

able to verify your information. Your refund check was

mailed to you on 2/16. Please allow up to 7 days for the check to reach

the address provided to TPG.

I would like to, again, formally apologize for the

inconvenience this has caused you and the manner in which your inquiry was

handled by our Customer Service. Customer courtesy is an extreme priority for

us and in this case, we apparently failed you. All the customer agents involved

have been reminded of their obligation to always process customer inquiries in

a respectful manner.

Sincerely,

Compliance Analyst

Review: I filed my 2013 tax return with turbotax who uses sbtpg for their banking after a very long process of identity theft procedures I finally was approved and my refund was sent to sbtpg I never heard or received anything from them after about 6 weeks I called them and they were very rude and not any help at all I continued to call day after day finally after 3 months which is now dec,2014 iam told that my refund was returned to irs I called irs and they didnt know anything about it being returned so they told me to allow 6-8 weeks as I did the final day for that was march, 2015 I called irs april,2015 and they now say it was never returned to them and that sbtpg is responsible to reissue the check either to them or to myself which they completely refuse to do in any way shape or form they are no help in this situation which they are totally responsible for they just down right stole my return with I worked very hard for I find it very unprofessional and unfair that a so called company can legally get away with something like this I have 2 granddaughters 2 support which made it extreamly difficult to buy their school clothesDesired Settlement: I would like my refund returned to me which iam totally intitled to and an explanation as to my they stole it

Business

Response:

S [redacted] Rd #**

AZ [redacted]

RE:

Case [redacted]

July 13, 2015

Dear

[redacted],

This letter is in response to the complaint

filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com of San Diego on

June 29, 2015 regarding your tax refund deposit.

Controls

are in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraud. In this

scenario the identifying documents requested to confirm identity where never received.

Because we were unable to obtain the personal information from you in order to

verify your identity, we couldn’t proceed any further in our efforts.

TPG

returned your funds to the IRS on October 23, 2014. It is recommended that you

contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 for further details.

Please feel free to contact me at

877-[redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm, if you have any further

questions or concerns regarding this complaint.

Respectfully,

Compliance Analyst

Review: They refused to release my tax money to me. They charged me fees for services they didn't perform to be rightfully refunded back to me. I didn't authorize them to receive my tax refund. I was deceived through turbo tax to use their services. My tax refund was 855.00 and since they have

Had it the amount has decreased by $80.00. I have contacted the company and they won't provided any assitence to me.Desired Settlement: want the amount of money taken from my tax refund for services they didn't performed. Turbo tax

Has already refunded $29.99 to me for the way their third party bank has acted toward me.

Business

Response:

We have forwarded our response directly to the taxpayer via email. Our processes were explained, sample bank application and screen shots were attached to our response to help clarify the disclosure of fees. TPG is also remitting the $20 reprocessing fee as a courtesy.

This place is a joke and I can not believe that I am going through this with this company. My refund in the amount of $5445.00 has yet to be sent to me. Something told me to verify my account information with turbo tax because I hadn't received my refund yet. I notice that my account number was missing the first number and the last number so I called this TPG and made them aware of this on the 10 of Feb because the IRS had sent the funds to me on the 9th. TPG insisted that I use this fake tracking number and call my bank because normally they would go ahead and submit the funds. My bank then took 6 hours to research a tracking number that didn't exist. So I call TPG and the rep tells me that I need to speak to someone from the ACH department. Once again I was told they did not receive a deposit with this tracing number. I went online and began to do my research on TPG. Mysteriously I am not the only one this has happen to and they do not call you or email you. I sent an email to them on the 9. Today I am just now receiving an email from tell telling me that the issue has been resolved and that I need to now again call customer service. I was told by customer service that I need to send in verification. So I go on the website and it says that my information would be verified in 2 days. So I call after 2 days and now I am being told that it will take 4 business days because of back up. This company is misleading at its finest! I will never use Turbo Tax again or anything that is associated with TPG. The rep also told me that they would just send the funds back to the IRS and how long would it take to get my funds. Well its going on 2 weeks so it looks like I would of been better off having my check in the mail. MY sister suggest I speak to a lawyer because how is it that the IRS sends out the funds after verification and now this company wants to hold your funds. There are so many horror stories about this company . Great Ive been on hold for 32 minutes and a recording comes on and tells me that I need to call again at a later time and the line hangs up

Review: They were paid to handle my Income Tax return direct deposit. They declined to deposit my fund that the IRS sent them. I called to confirm why they gave no reason for the delay are why they decided not to fund an approved IRS deposit. I was insulted by someone claiming to be a supervisor for Santa Barbara Tax Products Group LLC when asked to speak with his boss I was told he is his own boss I cannot make a complaint against him.Desired Settlement: If they are to unprofessional to handle a simple IRS approved deposit they should not be getting paid for services they are unable to provide now I will have to wait 7 weeks for a paper check due to their unprofessional practices.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr.

[redacted],

This

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

Group to the Revdex.com on March 11, 2014 regarding service issues.

In

accordance with your contract, a temporary account was opened to receive and

process your income tax refund and pay your tax preparation fees from your

refund. Our Risk Department felt your

return to be a suspicious or fraudulent filing and funds were placed on a hold

for further review.

On

February 7, 11, and 14 our Risk Department called the phone number on your

record to verify the return. On March 7,

2014, you spoke with TPG and you were made aware of the actions on your

account. Our Risk Analysis Department requested documentation to validate your

identity and the tax return in order to release the held funds for which you

refused to provide us with the requested information. Because we were unable to obtain the personal

information from you in order to verify your identity, we couldn’t proceed any

further in our efforts. A determination

was made to continue the hold on the funds and contact the Criminal

Investigation Department of the IRS.

TPG has

begun the process of returning your funds to the IRS, which includes the TPG

fee which you requested to be reimbursed.

On March 13, 2014, TPG received an IRS request for the return of your

funds. You should know that once we have

returned funds to the IRS it can be several weeks before they acknowledge

receipt and post to your account. It is recommended that you contact the IRS at

800-829-1040. You may contact our Risk Analysis Department at (800) 814-0401

between 8am and 4pm PST if you would like to discuss this matter with a

representative. Please understand it is

our obligation to investigate these matters thoroughly to ensure the money is

forwarded to the lawful owner.

My

sincere apologies for the manner in which you were spoken to and treated, I

agree that this should not have happened. I appreciate you bringing this

to my attention and thank you for your input and feedback. This complaint

has been forwarded to the Risk Manager.

We thank

you for the inquiry. If you have any further concerns or questions regarding

this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, 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 have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[They have responded with false

information. 1st I answered every question their unprofessional Supervisor

asked. Their supervisor was not at happy to hear my voice tone and yes I was

very anger and did not hide that fact. Their supervisor had all the questions

answered he then proceeds to defend his companies’ illogical policies instead

of doing his job to deposit IRS funds. He basically got mad at me because said

I cursed at him then he says ok sir based on your negative comments I will be

sending your funds back to the IRS. There would be no way of any kind of fraud

to be determined based on what I was asked and did answer these is have

been doing my direct deposits for over ten years know all of a sudden there is

a fraud without any proof these is should be put out of business]

Regards,

Business

Response:

There is nothing additional that we can supply this taxpayer as his account has been flagged possible fraud.

In order to close this rejection and complaint I wanted to provide some insight to the Revdex.com. Mr. [redacted]’s record shows his filing status as single, using an online provider such as Turbo Tax with a $95,000 refund which derived from an income gained in a few months time. In cooperation with the IRS, his funds were placed on hold and the Criminal Investigations Division at the IRS was contacted. TPG offered to release the funds once he provided supporting documentation which would have been reviewed through our IRS direct contact, he rejected that offer and used a few chosen phrases to express his frustration. Our agent was unable to deescalate the situation and our agent proceeded with the only other option which is to return the funds back to the IRS. Our IRS contact served an indemnification and requested the funds back for further investigation and review. These funds are queued to go back to the IRS. He may contact the IRS at 800-829-1040.

Thank you,

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.

Well I am only rejecting because they are still lying

it sounds like they heard the recorded phone conversation I had with the

Supervisor and are now trying hide the fact why my refund was returned. It was

not because of any fraud according to their Supervisor it was because he felt I

cussed him out. Like I said this guy was not trying to ask many questions at all

there was never any mention of details of my return. Since they are continuing

to lie I will take this up with the US attorney General these is are

reporting false information most unprofessional thing I have ever seen from any

US company.

Regards,

Review: This company is the "middle man" between the IRS and the taxpayer when you use Turbotax to do your taxes and choose to have the fees deducted from your refund. The IRS issued my refund 2 days ago, the direct deposit was rejected by my bank because it exceeded the daily deposit allowance. Now this company has to mail me a printed check. Their website says the mailed it 2 days ago. However, in speaking with 3 different customer service reps (one who I'm pretty sure was drunk), they said the check had not even been printed. So their website was totally wrong! Which is giving out false information. The customer no service reps said that there is a "delay" in printing the checks. Ok, so what's the delay? NO ONE could tell me. No one, not even supervisors knew what the "delay" was on printing my check! They are holding all my money hostage while they "delay" printing my check! And NO ONE can tell me WHY! If there's going to be a "delay" in properly getting people their money, maybe they should offer another solution. I am deeply disturbed by what's going on with this company and it just seems shady. I'm seriously thinking about getting a lawyer!Desired Settlement: Either a check without a "delay" or a direct deposit to a different account/s immediately.

Business

Response:

February 10, 2016[redacted]Dear Ms. [redacted],This is in response to the complaint filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the Revdex.com on February 8, 2016.You have stated within your complaint that you requested TPG to send your refund via direct deposit, but the direct deposit was rejected by your bank because it exceeded the daily allowance. Unfortunately, TPF has no control over your bank’s decision to reject the deposit. TPG made another attempt to disburse funds to you. Your refund was converted into a Cashier’s Check and was mailed to your on 2/6/2016. Please allow 5-7 business days for the check to reach you.On behalf of TPG, I would like to formally apologize for any trouble or inconvenience this may have caused you. If you have any questions or have not received your refund, please contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm.Sincerely,[redacted]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. As a note, I would ask TPG to consider the information given out on their website versus the information given out by customer service representatives. For example, their website said a check had been printed and mailed out to me on Feb 3, 2016. However, in speaking with 3 different customer service representatives, I was told there was a delay in printing the checks - this was on Feb 4 and Feb 5, 2016. No one knew what the delay was, which would've been helpful to know so that we as customers could have a better understanding. The first representative I spoke with actually told me that the IRS was trying to get a hold of me by phone to verify my bank information. I knew that could not be true because the IRS does not call people for information, especially financial information. I do know that TPG has no control over the direct deposit procedures of my bank. And that is not my complaint. The nature of my complaint has to do with the information given out on the website that wasn't true as well as customer service reps not being able to tell customers what the delay was about in printing and mailing checks. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.Regards,

Review: My direct deposit was rejected due to an error on the account number on 2/3, it's 2/18 and the IRS still does not have it because Santa Barbara Bank has not returned it yet. They were issued the refund on the 2nd, took their fees out, transferred it to my bank on the 3rd and due to the account error was immediately rejected bank to Santa Barbara - there is NO need to have held it this long other than to get interest on almost 7K. I've been on hold for 15 minutes and nothing - zero - just hold music. When I called and entered my SS# a recording told me that the $ was returned to them - ummm hello - so then why hasn't it been returned to the IRS???? I need my money just like everyone else.Desired Settlement: I want my money returned to the IRS or a check sent to me

Business

Response:

February 26, 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 18, 2016.

Your complaint stated that your

direct deposit was rejected because there was an error with the account number.

You spoke with customer service but were unable to receive the information you

needed regarding your tax 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

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 rejected refund, the company has the option of

making another attempt to disburse the funds to the customer or simply

returning the funds to the IRS. As you mentioned in your statement, you

requested TPG return the funds to the IRS initially, and then later decided to

validate your identity through our website so that we could disburse the funds

directly to you.

The aforementioned controls are

in place to protect our customers from identity theft and fraud. On February

23, I spoke with you on the phone regarding the hold on your account. On the

same day, TPG was able to verify your information and release the hold. TPG

processed your check and sent it February 23. Please allow up to 7 days for the

check to reach your address on file.

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 02/11/2014, the IRS proceeded to deposit with SBTPG LLC, both my federal and state refunds to be direct deposited into my checking account information given to the tax product group. My state refund in the amount of $167.00, was indeed ACH Direct Deposited into my checking account, my federal refund in the amount of $2,108.10, was somehow, REJECTED BY SUCH SAME BANK???? I indeed called SBTGP on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of February, 2014, trying to find the reason why my federal refund did not make it into my checking account information given to the bank. Of course I was lied to by a customer service representative with the first name of [redacted], and subsequently told that such said bank had indeed, on top of the tax fees amounting to $69.90, an additional $20.00 was indeed deducted from my federal refund of $2,108.10, and the remaining balance of $2,088.10, would be sent in a printed cashier's check, through regular mail to be received by me after the holiday on Monday, February 17th, 2014.

To say the least, I am livid with this type of negligent behavior and theft of my hard earned refunds!!!Desired Settlement: I would like a check in the amount of $20.00 to be either direct deposited into checking account information given to sbtpg, or a $20.00 check to be mailed to physical address given to sbtpg! I promise I will never deal with any/all tax products groups ever again!!!

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted] and TPG have come to an agreement and the complaint has been resolved. Mr. [redacted] will update you on the status of the complaint. Please see his response below:

Ms. [redacted],

Thank you ever so much

for your expeditious manner in solving this grave issue for us. It has been

plainly stated as to the fault of my banking institution, [redacted] Bank, for

indeed erroneously REJECTING my federal refund. Again, Please accept my sincere

thanks in solving this matter for us. We indeed will continue to wait for our

cashier's check to surely arrive sometime this week.

Gratefully yours, Mr.

I did not choose to do business with this horrible company but sadly, I was forced to because I filed my taxes electronically through Turbo Tax (who uses SBBT for payouts). Their customer service line is NEVER available. EVER! Firstly, you can never get into the queue and IF you're lucky enough to get in, they simply hang up on you after 60+ minutes of waiting.

They have yet to respond to an email, they changed their turnaround dates twice during my time dealing with them. Just very inconvenient, very poor treatment of their customers and I'm wondering how or why they're even still in business.

I used TPG to process my income tax refund through turbo tax. I called when I noticed that the information that they had on file for me is incorrect. I inputted the incorrect bank account. I was hoping that the account information could be corrected. They told me due to high fraud alerts they no longer do this a check would be mail to me once I verified my information. On Feb 11, 2016 I was told that it takes 2 business days for this to be resolved. Once those 2 business days passed I held the lines for over 40 minutes and was transferred and hung on. I called back and held for over 30 minutes and at that point I was told 4 business days. I waited the four business days and nothing was done. I actually waited til day 6. I called back and now I am being told 7 business days. I have used Turbo tax for several years and never had this issue so it is a little frustrating but I totally understand that the account mix up is my fault. This is ridiculous to treat a honest consumer this way. At this point I feel that my funds are being held and they are unwilling to help. To continuously change the amount of time that it will take for them to look at information and verify should not be an burden that is placed on the consumer. I am being charged for them to process the refund as well as they say they will charge me an addition $20 to process a check. To pay for such horrible service is upsetting to me. At this point I don't know what the hold up is and the representatives are rude and unwilling to help. If you can afford to pay the fees up front please do so because TPG isn't helpful and Turbo Tax say they can't do anything. This is a lesson learned for me. I will NEVER use them again.

Review: I filed my taxes threw turbo tax they gave sbtpg my money to retrieve the money ivowed for filing I had a number missing on taxes so they mailed me a check on 12th February I moved from address I filed under I fax right account number and new address to them same day they refuse it and sent to old address post office instead of forward ing my mail sent it back they received it back on 21 of February said they could not resend but had to return to irs it s the 11 th of March I they havnt return my money yetvon there complaints web site people saying same thing and they never got money this bank is a fraud irs says they dnt send it back but deposit it to irs account they lie abput giving it tovirs and wont give u your money cause irs site says it was deposied so they wnt help u n they no that how they still your money n they need tobbe stoppedDesired Settlement: My money its mine not there s what the are doing is stealing just want my 7586$ and the world to know about turbo tax and Santa Barbara tax product group wrong doing scam

Consumer

Response:

It s againstt thrm cause once you are approved for refund it s sbtpg who u deal with not turbo tax sbtpg is responsible for getting money to u after deducting fee for turbo tax doing your taxes n bank fee now I admit like I said before I was at fault for having a missing number when they yried to deposit on 11 th of February but on 12th when my bank returned money to them they was suppose to mail me a check I told them before they mailed it I fax them current address new one cause I had moved from address filed and all number to account so it was right they refused to accept fax sent money to wrong address it was returned to them they said they had to return to irs they got check back on 21 of February still irs not received my money nor me then I called turbo tax rxplained to them they said sbtpg said I had to go online to change or update account and address when I did they had my account to do so locked claimed they tried to srnd to bank again which they did not instead of sending back to irs no money irs said irs say it like direct deposit it goes right to irs accpunt cause am already was approved dnt owr no one irs said they either had to give me money immediley or return to them next day to be sent out neither has happen [redacted] dollats and on company website complaints hhundreds of prople said they did same thint we sent irs money never dif and they stole there money they will not do ot to me they need to be expose I need help or resources to make them give me my money like irs said it s minebthey can t hold it yet no one seems to now how to make them give me my money

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 10, 2015 in regards to customer 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 Sunrise Banks N.A. Refund Processing Agreement. Your Bank rejected the funds

and declared the account an R04 “Invalid Account Number”. Funds were returned to

TPG on February 13, 2015.

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 our 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

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

taxpayer address of record, was made on February 13, 2015. On February 24, 2015

the cashier’s check was returned to our office as “undeliverable”.

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 website

where customers can change their account information. TPG’s customer service efforts are highly successful as customers each

year utilize the Web to change account information prior to IRS funding. This

process along with the associated fees is clearly described in the 4 different

sections of the RT application. You attempted to change your address by fax

after the cashier’s check had been mailed. Please review the attached

application and agreement for full disclosure

Funds

have been returned to the IRS as of March 18, 2015. Please be advised that once

we have returned funds to the IRS it can be several weeks before they

acknowledge receipt and post to your account.

We thank

you for the inquiry. If you have any further concerns or questions regarding

this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228, Monday through

Friday 7 am to 3 pm.

Respectfully,

Compliance

Analyst

Review: Filed tax return using Turbo Tax on4/9. After 30 days with no refund I called IRS. Was told refund sent to [redacted]. Bank. [redacted]. told me Santa Barbara Products handled refunds. On 5/13 [redacted] confirmed Santa Barbara had my refund since 4/19. I asked why no one contacted me-was told they were waiting to hear from me. Was told my refund was being held for "audit purposes". I asked why my refund was held-three different people gave three different reasons. No clear reason why my refund was held. Was told I had to send copy of birth cert. copy of ss card and drivers license. To a blind fax number with no clear reason. When I asked agent [redacted] he basically told me to send the info or forfeit my refund-told me to get his phone number correct and hung up. Left message for a supervisor but never got a returned phone call. I googled Santa Barbara Tax and did discover they were a legit company. I still had apprehension about sending all my personal information into a blind fax number where anyone had access to the information. I did call the FBI where the agent said he never heard of a company holding a tax refund. I final sent the information extorted from me. Only to find out additional fees were deducted from my refund. Santa Barbara mailed a check. Never aching the money-which they were supposed to do from day one.Desired Settlement: I would like assurances my personal information was destroyed. Santa Barbara never executed their portion of the original agreement-I would like a refund of $74.98 sent in a timely manner. I do believe Santa Barbara should pay interest for the amount of time they incorrectly held my refund check which is approximately 41 days $119.58

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Review: I called to have a check mailed to me because I had to close my bank account after I had already filed my taxes, the company received my refund from the IRS on February2nd 2016 and didn't mail a check until February 8, 2016 after I was told that it was mailed out on the 4th. It is now February 19, 2016 and still no check has arrived.Desired Settlement: I want to provide my new banking information and have my refund direct deposit because I know they can do it as it has been done before

Business

Response:

February 26, 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 19, 2016.

Your complaint stated that you

called TPG to request for a check to be mailed to your address because you

closed your bank account. You were told the check would be mailed to you on

February 8th, but noticed it still has not been sent to you.

When a taxpayer requests a

different delivery method for their refund, TPG has to follow the appropriate

procedures to ensure the taxpayer is the correct bank account holder. TPG

allows taxpayers the opportunity to correct their initial mistakes which could

take several days or weeks. For corrections,

customers can go to the website change their account information online. TPG’s customer service efforts are highly

successful as customers each year utilize the web to change account information

prior to IRS funding.

Upon review of your account, we

considered your delivery changes and mailed you a check to your address on file. The check was verified on February 20th

and it was cleared on February 25th.

If you have any other questions

or concerns, please feel free to contact me at [redacted] from Monday through

Friday between 7am and 4pm.

Sincerely,

Compliance Analyst

Review: Company claimed IRS refund was submitted, but to date, IRS states this company has not submitted my refund to be processed. I have waited for my refund since 3/27/15. After several calls and letters with this company and the IRS, neither I nor the IRS have anything from this business. I'm afraid this company may be acting fraudulently and/or have no intention of sending me my Federal Return.Desired Settlement: Direct Deposit Federal Tax Return now and send written notice to my email confirming it has been completed so I may follow up with my bank within 24 hours to confirm funds are in my account.

Business

Response:

RE:

Case [redacted]

August 12, 2015

Dear

[redacted],

This is in response to the complaint filed

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

August 9, 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 March 13,

2015, the IRS funded your federal return; fees were deducted to pay your Turbo

Tax user fees and an additional bank deposit product fee. The balance was

deposited to the account instructed on Sunrise Banks N.A. Refund Processing

Agreement. Your Bank rejected the funds and declared the account an R03 “No

Account / Unable to Locate Account”. Funds were returned to TPG on March 18,

2015.

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 our 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 through an alternative delivery method is

a paper check mailed to the taxpayer address of record. The address provided to

the Revdex.com is different than the address designated upon filing. Our attempt to

deliver the cashier’s check on March 18, 2015 was returned on April 13, 2015 to our office as “undeliverable”.

Since

we could not proceed any further in our efforts, TPG returned your funds to the

IRS on May 1, 2015. Please allow approximately 10-12 weeks from the date for

the IRS to acknowledge receipt of funds. It is recommended that you contact the

IRS at 800-829-1040 for further details. Please be advised that once we have

returned funds to the IRS it can be several weeks before they acknowledge

receipt and post to your account.

We

thank you for the inquiry. If you have any further concerns or questions

regarding this complaint, please feel free to contact me at 877-908-7228,

Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm.

Respectfully,

Compliance

Analyst

Consumer

Response:

Below is my rebuttal statement to TPG w/attached documents:

They received my tax refund from the irs and placed a hold on it stating there was unusual activity on my account so I had to send them a copy of my identification to release the hold . they told me it

Would take two business days if submitted online and when I c g ecked with them again they said it Would be reviewed in 7 days . they need to fix their issues or I will be filing a lawsuit

Review: This production group over charged me for my income tax refund, I was charged $907.95 just for doing my tax return. That's robbery, I only receive $2065 and they took almost half, I never signed any papers to allow them to take that amount nor did I receive my money it was sent to a tax company in Atlanta ga. Please don't deal with this company....Desired Settlement: Reimburse me for sending my money to the wrong place and don't charge me $907.95.Send me my $2065

Business

Response:

[redacted] Ln

[redacted],

NC [redacted]

RE: Case [redacted]

04.23.2015

Dear

[redacted],

This letter is in response to the complaint

filed against Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (TPG) to the RevDex.com on April 11, 2015 regarding product fees.

Please

allow me to explain the role of TPG in this matter and clarify the information

provided to you by Tax Services Online. TPG, on behalf of the Bank, offers tax

related financial products through a network of tax preparation franchises,

independent tax professionals and online tax preparation providers. These

products provide the taxpayer a method of having their tax preparation fees

deducted from their tax refund without paying any upfront costs.

When your taxes were prepared through Tax Services Online, you chose a Refund

Transfer (RT) product. When the taxpayer selects an RT, they direct the

IRS to deposit their tax refund into a temporary account at the Bank.

When the Bank receives the IRS refund (usually less than 21 days from the filing

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

fees and Bank fees. The balance of the refund is then disbursed to the

taxpayer by way of deposit to an account designated by the taxpayer in your

case a personal bank account.

The

Bank charges a commercially reasonable processing fee to cover the expenses

associated with processing this bank product. In this case, you were charged a

$34.95 processing fee. TPG is a third party processor which made the deductions

from the refund to pay the tax preparation fees and Bank fees. As a

courtesy, TPG will reimburse the $34.95 fee via Cashier’s Check to your address

on record. It is recommended that you contact Tax Services Online regarding the

tax preparation fees of $873.00 or the IRS for assistance.

We thank you for the inquiry. If you have any

further concerns or questions regarding this complaint, please feel free to

contact me at [redacted], Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm.

Respectfully,

Compliance

Analyst