Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/17/2024

  Type:Product 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.

   
  Complaint: 21587895
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  My claim to BBB was not made in bad faith, as claimed by the business. I finally received a response from the business after filing the BBB complaint. My spouse and I had been trying to get in touch with someone at the business for around a week using email (no reply), phone (inbox full), and even trying to use appointment booking on the businesses website (defunct link). I finally got a response from the business by using the chat function on the businesses website; this felt, as a consumer paying for services, like a last ditch effort to which I would also receive no reply. We had never made contact this way, nor had we ever been directed to make contact this way. Contact had previously been through email, the customer portal, appointment, or phone.
  

  While the business did respond to my last ditch effort to contact them through the chat function and did subsequently file federal and state tax returns, they were filed after April 15. We specifically employed a tax preparer in order not to personally take on the stress of preparing and submitting the returns by the filing deadline. We pay to not have that on our plates. Instead of getting that stress off our plates, the business redoubled it by not submitting in a timely manner and by not communicating via an expected method. We had to do a good bit of extra work to make sure the services we employed the business for were executed. This caused a great deal of stress. Frankly, Im not certain that if I had not checked the *** website and closely monitored my bank account, that the business would have caught the error and submitted the return without prompting.

  I fully appreciate that the business asserts that we paid for the preparation and not the filing, but if filing taxes on time when all the necessary information has been submitted is not one of the services they guaranteethat should be made clear up front. We would have certainly sought services elsewhere.

  I do fully expect that the business will pay any late filing penalties, but I am seeking further redress in the form of discounted or waived preparation fees based on the failure to file on time and, most especially, the utter lack of communication.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/28/2024

  Dear *** upon discovery that your return was not filed timely due to a rejection error we notified you directly that we would cover any penalties that the *** may assess in addition to your actual tax balance for late filing. We have not received any follow up from you verifying additional penalties from the *** were assessed but that does not negate you from paying the preparation fee for the return. We will not offer  a refund for the preparation of your return because the return was preparared fully, time was spent with you for an appointment, and the time and expertise of our preparers is what the fee covers. To date we have no record of you paying any of the preparation fee even though your return was prepared fully, a copy was provided and the return was filed once the error was discovered.  We do not charge for filing returns. In addition we have transcript record where your inquiry was responded to and addressed so the complaint of not having a follow up is inaccurate. You have not paid the preparation fee and we also have record of an hour appointment spent with you to prepare the return and the extra time spent to update your payment information on the return after your scheduled appointment. The fact that you have submitted a complaint against my business after I told you we would cover any applicable penalties for late filing seems in bad faith. We do not control the *** process for assessing penalties on taxpayers as that is explicitly at the disgression of the *** nor have you provided any documentation substantiating penalties have been assessed by the *** due to the error. All that to say the preparation fee for your return is still due and while we are happy to cover the late filing penalty if it is assessed by the *** once documentation is provided we will not be offering a refund for the preparation service. 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/28/2024

  Customer was provided timely follow up regarding the filing error but the fee charged is for preparation of the return and time spent with the tax professional. These items were fully completed and we provided confirmation directly to the taxpayer at the time the filing error was discovered that we would cover any penalties the *** may assess for late filing. In that consideration it is solely at the discretion of the *** if penalties are assessed and we have not received any documentation from the taxpayer that the *** assessed any penalties in relation to late filing. In addition when the taxpayer reached out via the online chat these matters were directly relayed to the consumer but they have yet to pay the remaining preparation  fee for the tax return despite the service provided for preparation  and meeting to review the return. We do not assess a fee for e-filing tax returns as that is included as part of the preparation  service. The service fee that was charged was to cover the preparation  of the tax return and the time of the tax professional.