Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy

  755 Santa Rosa St Ste 200 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-2893

  
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  Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy

  PO Box 129 Santa Barbara, CA 93102-0129

  
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  Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy

  26619 Carmel Center Pl Ste 102 Carmel, CA 93923-8656

  
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  Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy

  c/o BBB Santa Barbara PO Box 129 Santa Barbara, CA 93102-0129

  
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  Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy

  189 N Villa St Porterville, CA 93257-3217

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have used Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy for a number of years to prepare my taxes. For each year I appeared at their facility to receive my copy of the documents and to pay by check (I have copies of the checks for the last four years of Fitzpatrick services...I availed myself to their services up until and including tax year 2021. For some reason, Fitzpatrick sent me an invoice on May 20, 2022 for $1695. I inquired by phone why the charges and was told they would get back to me....they never did. Since then, they have billed me every month and have added varying amounts of finance charges each month, as you can see. I have sent letters requesting explanations without response, and I have copies of all correspondence. I appeared at their facility in 2023 and was only told they would get back to me...they never did. I did inform them I will never pay them a penny until they can show me this original charge was legitimate. I cannot figure them out...they apparently have not sent me to a collection agency or filed a lien against my home. 

  Business Response

  Date: 04/24/2024

  Apologies for the delay - I only now received this email (had landed in spam).

  The invoice Dr J****** is referring to is for preparation of his 2021 tax return.  He received the tax return and invoice in 2022.  It has remained unpaid, which is why we continue to send invoices.

  If Dr. J****** does indeed have all our invoices, the one in question will refer to preparation of his 2021 tax return.  If he does not have a copy of that invoice, I will provide a copy.

  We have no record of payment on this invoice.  If it has been paid, he can send us proof of payment and we will remove the charges.

  Thank you,

  P***** ***********, CPA

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/25/2024

  
  
  
  Complaint: 21486260
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I have paid them...please see the attached PDF files, copy of check  #59 dated August 5, 2022 for $1795.00. Enclosed is a copy of check 23 regarding payment on June 20, 2022 for their late preparation of my 2020 taxes. Also included is a copy of a letter I sent the company complaining about their handling of my tax returns, it's self explanatory. In addition, if they try to claim the bill was, in fact, for 2022 instead of 2021 taxes, I filed  via TurboTax for 2022 and have enclosed a copy of a letter sent to me by the IRS indicating receipt of my tax return for 2022. In summary, Fitzpatrick Professional Accountancy has not been professional and I have shown to them multiple times the problems they have created for me. They were paid for tax year 2021 !! Thank you for your great service !

  
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  **** J****** Jr. Md
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/15/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The subject of this complaint is (1) fraudulent / inaccurate / capricious billing, and (2) FPA’s refusal to provide me with my corporate documents that I fully paid for at their premium rates.
  
  William Jesperson at Fitzpatrick professional accountancy prepared my 2022 corporate returns. On Aug 22, I paid the full fee for the preparation of these returns and FPA states they efiled them. However, they would not provide me with a copy of the return.
  
  Shortly thereafter, FPA sent me a new bill showing a charge of $450 for the meeting on Aug 7 when Bill Jesperson, my wife and I reviewed both my personal and corporate 2022 tax returns. When my wife asked FPA about that charge, the FPA employee, “CJ,” said it was for an Aug 7 consultation on my 2023 corporate taxes. However, that consultation did not occur. As email records show, the meeting on August 7 was a review of our 2022 returns and my 2022 corporate returns, included in the fees for preparing our 2022 tax returns, which we had promptly paid in full.
  
  Over the next several months, my wife and I had repeated interactions with FPA regarding the $450 charge for the August 7 meeting. My wife has logged phone conversations in which an FPA employee verbally acknowledged that the charge was an error.
  
  Despite repeated interactions to that effect, the billing department refused to drop the charge, and continues to hold that I owe $450 for a 2023 tax consultation that never occurred.
  
  FPA continues to refuse to provide me with a copy of my 2022 corporate tax returns, as well as other materials that they prepared for my wife and me, on the ground that we first need to pay the $450 fee for the fictional 2023 tax consultation that—as they have repeatedly acknowledged—never occurred.
  
  FPA’s refusal to provide my 2022 tax returns and other records is incurring financial damages. It is also, to my understanding, in violation of state regulations.
  
  Thank you for your attention to this matter.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2023

  Hello - I am prepared to respond to this complaint within the next day or two.  I was out of town all of last week for the Thanksgiving holidays.

  Thank you for this short extension so I can properly respond.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2023

  This former client has spent extreme time and effort in his attempt to bully my staff and my firm into writing off our legitimate invoice for services he requested.  

  Hanif Wonder engaged our firm in August 2022 to form a California corporation, followed up with his request for services in regards to corporate compliance.  Although he paid the initial invoice of $1055.00 he failed to pay the subsequent invoice of $450.00. This non-payment on his part resulted in many months of finance charges on the account.

  In 2023 he retained our firm to prepare the corporate tax return for 2022.  After the tax return was completed and signed, the client called our firm to schedule an appointment with Bill Jespersen, CPA, for 2023 tax planning.  Our receptionist, CJ, clearly recalls calendaring this appointment for consultation services, which are separately charged per our engagement letter.

  It is our firm's stated policy that no tax returns are released to clients without payment in full.  The client met with me in an attempt to get the tax return released without payment.  As a courtesy accommodation, I wrote off over $100 in finance charges if he would pay that day.  I agreed to research his question regarding the additional $450.00, which I did.  I confirmed with both CJ and Bill Jespersen that the consultation was for tax planning and appropriately invoiced to the client at $450.00

  I have attached documentation in support of my response, including his signed engagement letter with the appropriate language highlighted.  If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

  Thank you for your consideration of this response to the complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/13/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This company wrote a letter to the IRS explaining why the tax return was late - it was THEIR FAULT the tax return was late - they missed the deadline - and now they are harassing me and trying to charge me interest on a $250 bill for writing a letter that would not have been necessary if they hadn't been late.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2023

  Thank you for allowing me to respond to this complaint.  It's disappointing when a client misrepresents our services in their effort to escape payment.

  Please see attached documents in our refute of our claim.  Per file notes, this client was late submitting her tax preparation documents to us due to her son's illness.  We advised her that this late submission of documents could cause the tax return to be filed late, and she understood.  Although we made an effort to file her tax return by the November 15th deadline, other client tax returns who submitted documentation timely took precedence and hers could not be completed in time.  We prepare tax returns first-in-first-out to be fair to all clients.

  This client received a late filing penalty notice from IRS and brought to us for reply.  We wrote a letter on her behalf requesting abatement of the $680 penalty, which was granted.  For this service we charged $250 - an amount much less than the benefit she received from our services.

  Please also see our engagement letter, signed by Ms. Jorgeson, detailing her responsibilities during our engagement, and our additional fees for additional requested services.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/12/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Taxes done for us last year after the firm acquired our previous accountant firm and records. I requested our records (which we had paid to have uploaded to the former firm) and was told I would need to pay $95.00 per year of taxes. These are digital taxes and require no effort to make available.
  However, in addition to this, I was to have access (free) to my records until the end of 2022 but the digital vault had been closed. The firm blames the former firm for this, taking no responsibility and being a bit hostile when I requested to speak with a supervisor for an exception. I requested to be contacted with other options

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  We acquired Cindrich and Company in November of 2021.  Complainant was one of the clients transferred to our firm with that acquisition.  Cindrich and Company's practice was to upload clients' tax documents and completed tax returns to SmartVault, which we agreed to hold open through 2022.  This was not a program we otherwise used.  Cindrich knew we would not renew it and we kept it available to clients during 2022 as a courtesy.  To our knowledge, Cindrich did not charge clients to upload this information into SmartVault. 

  Upon reviewing prior year data held in SmartVault we found many Cindrich clients' data and completed tax returns were not present.  Upon completion, Cindrich either sent a digital copy to clients or provided a paper copy of each year's tax return. Clients were then able to store those tax returns either as a digital download on their computer or store the paper copy in their files.  Neither Cindrich or Fitzpatrick were responsible for how clients chose to keep their tax records available for future use.  Both Cindrich and Fitzpatrick advised clients in their engagement letters of client responsibility to retain their tax returns and records. 

  Complainant was additionally advised via the engagement letter they signed that a $95 copy fee would be charged if they failed to keep their original tax return and requested an additional copy at a later date.  Neither Cindrich or Fitzpatrick kept original client documents.  All data used to prepare client tax returns was either transmitted by client via a secure portal or dropped off, copied, and returned to client with their completed tax return.  Complainant retained possession of all original documents plus a copy of the originally filed tax return.

  Neither Cindrich or Fitzpatrick is responsible for Complainant's failure to save current and/or prior year tax returns for future use.  It is our firm's responsibility to retain client data on file for seven years for audit purposes.  Because of that, we are able to provide clients with replacement copies should they fail to keep their originals.  However, any time we spend retrieving and sending additional copies to clients at their request takes time away from other duties.  All we sell is our time, and clients are charged for time spent doing tasks at their request.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/20/2023

  
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  We were informed that the documents would be retained in SmartVault until the end of 2022. I was informed by an employee at Fitzpatrick that this did not occur because the former owner did not pay thru December of 2022. This is when I went to retrieve our previous tax documents. My understanding is that it is the responsibility of Fitzpatrick to honor this agreement and not to penalized customers due to a misunderstanding between the two entities who hold the customer/client information.

  
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  L**** *******
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I reject the response from Fitzpatrick because we were informed that our digital tax documents would be available until the end of  2022. I attempted to retrieve our documents in December and they were not available. When I reached out to Fitzpatrick I was informed by the person on the telephone that the fee for keeping SmartVault active had not been paid by the previous firm's owner due to personal issues (not described). I was told I could get our 2021 documents without charge however anything else would cost $95.00 per digital copy. $95.00 to upload documents digitally feels punitive.  And not a customer positive response.

  We previously paid for our documents to be entered digitally and should not be required to pay twice to access what is our and paid for.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2023

  Complainant is wrong on all counts as documented by these attachments.

    Cindrich 2021 engagement letter signed by Complainant clearly states client has been provided with a paper copy and is instructed to keep that copy for five years.  Pertinent language highlighted in purple, pages 1 and 3.

    Cindrich letter contains no language speaking to Claimant's contention that Cindrich promised to keep tax data stored digitally for Claimant's future use.

    

    FPAC 2022 engagement letter signed by Complainant clearly states (also highlighted in purple, page 2, that they have been provided with a copy of their 2021 tax returns and will be billed $95 for additional copies requested at a later date.

    FPAC letter contains no language speaking to Claimant's contention that FPAC promised to keep tax data stored digitally for Claimant's future use.

    

    Cindrich invoice for 2021 tax return preparation. No stated charge for digital storage on client's behalf included anywhere on that invoice. No additional invoices were sent to client with that charge.

    FPAC invoice for 2022 tax return preparation. No stated charge for digital storage on clients' behalf included anywhere on that invoice. No additional invoices were went to client with that charge.

   

    Clearly, Claimant has failed to keep a copy of their tax returns as instructed by both Cindrich and FPAC and is looking to obfuscate that failure by blaming FPAC. I interviewed my staff to confirm if anyone told Claimant we were keeping access open through December 22 . Kameron, who worked for Cindrich before transferring to FPAC with the merge, clearly recalls her conversation with Claimant . Kameron told claimant that all additional copies for $95 each and had no prior conversation with Claimant telling her access would remain available through December. NO other staff member recalls telling Claimant her data access would remain available through December.