Complaints

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:06/12/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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.

  Sales tax rate includes a municipal sales tax (4.0%) for the town of ********* when I am 14 miles outside of the town boundary.Motorcyclegear.com promises, in writing, to calculate the correct tax rate only after you place the order. This alone seems unethical, as by then they already have your money. To make matters worse, they then they refuse to take any responsibility or make any effort to see what the actual correct sales tax rate is for a customers address. When I emailed on June 4 asking them to plug in my address to a sales tax calculator they refused, sidestepping the real issue and blaming the State of Colorado, which had nothing to do with their tax calculation for my address (June 5 email: we have no control on what your state charges you for taxes). Obviously this was unresponsive to the issue I ********* their June 9 email to me Motorcyclegear.com again pleaded that they had no control, it was all up to Shopify and Motorcyclegear.com had to use what ******* dictated. They chose to employ ******* and if ******* cannot get it right it is Motorcyclegears responsibility to bring it to their attention. They have, so far, refused to even try to examine the situation, much less correct it. My overpayment of $11.96 needs to be credited back to my card.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2025

  Taxes are calculated by ******* for the zip code entered at checkout. We are legally responsible to pay the required taxes to the state of ******** based on the zip code entered. We have no control over what the local government collects, but we must pay it to them.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/14/2025

  I am rejecting this response because:

  Motogear.coms reply to the BBB is a reiteration of their previous responses when I tried to work with them directly to address the issue of their improperly applying a municipal sales tax rate for my shipping address, which as I have documented several times is located far outside of any town or city limits, in a large unincorporated area of ****************, ********, where no municipal sales tax is applicable:
  
  Taxes are calculated by ******* for the zip code entered at checkout. We are legally responsible to pay the required taxes to the state of ******** based on the zip code entered. We have no control over what the local government collects, but we must pay it to them.
  
  Motogear.coms response is factually *********************** has (apparently) contracted with ******* to calculate the sales taxes due. This program is clearly flawed, lumping every given zip code into the municipal limits of the town associated with that zip code. All addresses have to display a town and a zip code. Lumping all addresses in a given zip code within town limits is obviously incorrect. Examining a zip code map for ***** reveals that the majority of the acres in zip code ***** are outside of the tiny ********* town limits (town has 800 residents), where no Mancos sales taxes are applicable. One other vendor had to use all nine digits of my zip code *****-9156 to apply the correct rate. Most vendors do not need this, and in any event Motogears software dropped these last four digits when I entered them.
  
  ************ made the business decision to contract with *******. It was their choice. No state or local government required them to use this service. Contrary to their response reproduced in full above, no state or local government required them to apply this incorrect formula; no local government collects these taxes: ************, or someone they contract with, calculates (improperly in this case) the taxes due and ************ sends them the money. They need to own up to this fact and respond to the issue of my shipping address: stop insisting they are legally responsible to apply an incorrect rate; they are not. It is happening because of choices they made.
  
  It is unethical and improper for ************ not to take responsibility for the situation they alone created: they could work with their contactor (apparently *******) to fix the software or they could select another contractor that has a functioning sales tax rate calculator. All the other vendors I purchase from are able to do this. In my initial filing with the BBB I provided a copy of my May 2025 receipt from ********************* that documents my shipping address and the correct applicable 03.3% sales tax rate. Below I have copied a June 2025 ****** order again with the correct tax rate.
  Is ************ asserting that all these other vendors are calculating it wrong and they have it right? Do you think ****** does not have this figured out?
  
  ************ clearly has the ability to try to fix this and for some reason are choosing not to put the work in. One would assume that for the long term success of their business reputation they would want to get this glitch in their tax calculator fixed and move on. Un-responded to the situation will fester and grow.
  
  
  
  Your Account
  
  Your Orders
  
  Order Details
  Order Details
  Order placed 
  June 8, 2025  
  Order # 
  111-4480102-2857841
  View invoice
  Ship to
  ****** L ****
  *************
  *********************
  *************
  Payment method
  Rewards Points
  AMEXending in 2000
  Order Summary
  Item(s) Subtotal:
  $63.80
  Shipping & Handling:
  $6.99
  Free Shipping:
  -$6.99
  Total before tax:
  $63.80
  Estimated tax to be collected:
  $2.11
  CO Retail Delivery Fees
  $0.29
  Rewards Points:
  -$43.56
  Grand Total:
  $22.64
  Arriving today
  Shipped
  
  Quilting the National Parks: 20 Original Designs Inspired by the Beauty of Our National Parks
  Sold by: **********
  Supplied by: Other
  Return or replace items: Eligible through July 14, 2025
  $23.62$23.62
  
  Buy it again
  
  
  ******-CABLE 5562 No. 20 Plate ****** Biscuits - 100 Per Tube , Brown
  Sold by: **********
  Supplied by: Other
  Return or replace items: Eligible through July 14, 2025
  $6.30$6.30
  
  Buy it again
  
  
  AUTOTOOLHOME 3/8" drill bit with Depth Stop Collar 6.5" Length Replacement Twist Step for Manual pocket hole Jig Master System
  Sold by: AUTOTOOLHOME
  Return or replace items: Eligible through July 14, 2025
  $6.89$6.89
  
  Buy it again
  
  
  Kreg SML-C2B-250 Blue-Kote Pocket-Hole Screws, 2 Inch, #8 Coarse Thread, Maxi-Loc Head (250 Count)
  Sold by: Pattern.
  $26.99$26.99
  
  Buy it again
  
  
  The BBBs guidance acknowledges that the parties may not be able to reach agreement and suggests a plan on how to move forward be suggested. I will attempt to follow that suggestion: ************ needs to examine the documentation and work with ******* or whomever they choose to use,not insists they are powerless, as this is clearly not accurate.   ****** **** June 14, 2025

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2025

  We will continue to follow our legal obligation, the consumer can reach out to their local municipality about the tax since they will be the entity receiving the payment.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/17/2025

  I am rejecting this response because:   

  To date, in all three of my pre-BBB involved email correspondences with Motorcyclegear.com, and in the two subsequent BBB-moderated exchanges, Motorcyclegear.com has never questioned my well documented assertions that my delivery address is outside of all town/city limits and is not subject municipal sales taxes. To justify their charging me the additional 4% Mancos town sales tax (adding $11.96), they have variously blamed ****** government entities, their apparent contractor ******* (defined by *********  as *******, headquartered in ******,*******, operates an e-commerce platform for retail point-of-sale systems that offers payments, marketing, shipping, inventory management, transaction management, and customer engagement tools.), and then Colorado law. I also provided very recent receipts from *********** retailer ****** and motorcycle supplier ********************* supporting the correct total sales tax rate for my address as 3.3%.  Mostly Motorcyclegear.com has been completely unresponsive to the issues and documentation I have provided themlike trying to communicate with a brick wall.
  
  I will keep trying. I have attached a June 16, 2025 letter and other specific detailed documentation from the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners, via ******* **** Geographic Information System (***) Manager for ****************, specifying that that delivery address used for the Motorcyclegear.com order is outside of all municipal boundaries and is not subject to any town or city sale taxes.Please respond to this specific issue. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mr. **** at his direct phone number **************.
  
  In the most recent response Motorcyclegear.com claimed in charging me Mancos town sales tax they were complying with Colorado law. This assertion is nonsensical.Please review the relevant sales tax law under Colorado Revised Statutes (CRS)reproduced below. Please respond to specific aspects of the law that you feel prevent you from accurately imposing Colorado sales tax rates. Note that the *** do not require you follow erroneous guidance from a company based in *************. I have provided you site-specific Colorado law and site-specific ******** ********* Another Colorado government contact indicated that,eventually, if Motorcyclegear.com continues to refuse to make a good faith effort to implement accurate sales tax rates for ******** they could lose their ability to serve customers in ********.
  
  
  2024 Colorado Revised Statutes
  Title 39 - Taxation ( 39-1-101 39-37-301)
  SPECIFIC TAXES ( ********* 39-37-301)
  Sales and Use Tax ( ********* 39-26.1-101)
  Article 26 - Sales and Use Tax ( ********* 39-26-901)
  Part 1 - SALES TAX ( ********* 39-26-129)
  Section 39-26-105.2 - [Effective Until 7/1/2025] Remittance of tax - *** -vendor held harmless - requirements of *** database - rules - legislative declaration - definitions
  Universal ************************ 39-26-105.2 (2024)
  (1) As used in this section, "*** database" means the geographic information system database that the department of revenue owns and maintains, that meets the defined scope of work set forth in the request for solicitation, and is provided to vendors to determine the jurisdictions to which tax is owed and to calculate appropriate sales and use tax rates for individual addresses.
  (2) The ********************* shall immediately notify vendors when the *** database is online, tested, and verified by the ********************* to be operational, supported, and available for use. Notification to vendors may be provided in any way that the department deems appropriate and must be accomplished within existing resources.
  (3) Any vendor that collects and remits sales tax to the department of revenue as provided by law may use the *** database. Any vendor that directly uses the data contained in the *** database, or uses data from a third-party database that is verified to use the most recent information provided by the *** database, to determine the jurisdictions to which tax is owed is held harmless for any tax, charge, or fee liability to any taxing jurisdiction that otherwise would be due solely as a result of an error or omission in the *** database data.
  

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/19/2025

  In closing my complaint the BBB wrote me "Better Business Bureau has determined that the business made a good faith effort to answer the complaint and has now closed it".

  I cannot understand how the BBB could have reached this determination, that the "business made a good faith effort". I submitted multiple forms of documentation all of which confirmed what the correct sales tax rate is for my home/shipping address. Half a dozen sources from different entities all reached the same conclusion.

  The business, Motorcyclegear.com, submitted zero documentation to support the erroneous sales tax rate they used. None, not one source. They just kept insisting it was correct/was required by law but they were unable to provide any sources/documentation/statutes references that supported their position. How can just insisting one is right, while providing no supporting documentation a good faith effort? 

  In addition, their website checkout cart promises to use the correct sales tax only after a customer pays; only after they have the customers dollars. And then they refuse to even review the multiple data sources a customer piovides for the correct rate. How this not a fraudulent practice? How can the BBB not call them out for this misleading business practice?