Complaints

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

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  Avalara Inc

  255 S King St Ste 1200 Seattle, WA 98104-3317

  
• 

  Avalara Inc

  512 S Mangum St Ste 100 Durham, NC 27701-3973

• 

  Avalara Inc

  6465 Greenwood Plaza Blvd Ste 200 Centennial, CO 80111-4910

  

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:12/06/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  We have charge incorrectly on multiple occasions. Subscription was upgraded with no signed contract for the update. No one from accounting department has reached out to us after multiple calls and emails to correct the billing issues. Account Manager does not help rectify issue or push it along to get fixed. There is no clear manager or supervisor to speak with. All the call centers are over seas dealing with people who do not speak English. They are handling taxes for us and dont live in this country!! There is a major problem with Avalara!! This issue has been on going since July 2024! Do not do business with this company. You can never speak to anyone when you call! Emails go unanswered for weeks.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/16/2024

  ****, thank you for bringing these concerns to our attention. We apologize that getting in contact with our team has been a challenge. To expedite the resolution, we had our Finance team reach out with an explanation of the charges in question. 

  As communicated with you, when a customer upgrades, ********************** bills the account for the entire term of the new tier, and then credits for the previous tier is applied to the upgrade invoice. In this case, invoice INV ****** reflects the remaining term for the 1000 tier, with a full credit applied for that tier in the same invoice. ******************** has been charged for the 1500 tier starting from the month of the upgrade. Therefore, you are seeing a charge for the 1500 tier from 1/25/2024 to 8/24/2025 (since the upgrade from the 1000 tier to the 1500 tier occurred in August). 

  Please follow up with our team directly regarding any additional questions on this billing. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/02/2024

  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.

  In March of 2023 I signed up for Avalara's sales tax management service for my small business. Their service was a nightmare. They were supposed to automatically file my sales tax reports with CA quarterly & make the whole process easy for me. They did not do that. Instead, they failed to file my report, causing me a huge headache & more paperwork. Their customer service is a joke. When I made them aware of a huge discrepency in their reporting, they blew it off. I paid for the year of their service so when the year was up, I submitted a cancelation request and informed them I would NOT be renewing and they had NO authorization to ever charge me again, & they were to remove my payment information from their website. March 28, 2024 I received an email from Avalara that my cancelation request was complete. But I continued to get emails from them with tax due date reminders, even though I was handling that on my own without their service, which I canceled. In May of 2024, I was charged $531.60 by Avalara without my authorization. I immediately contacted *************************** bank. After a few days, they refunded my debit ******** again reminded them that my account was canceled & they were to remove my payment information from their system. Oct 17, I again got an invoice from Avalara saying my account was past due & again, emailed them to remind them that my account is canceled and has been for quite some time. I was assured that "the cancellation has already been processed with case # ******** and invoice # INV-******* has now been credited." That last email was Nov 13. Then this morning, Dec 2, I received another email from Avalara that stated that my card "will expire on 12/31/2024. This credit card is your payment method for your services from Avalara." So clearly they did NOT remove my payment info from their system. This is absolutely fraud. They are trying to steal money from me and God knows how many other people.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2024

  ****, thank you for bringing this to our attention so we could assist. We want to apologize for the frustration as we understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting. Following your complaint, our team reach out to update that a credit for $531.60 was processed as per your cancellation request and that we have removed your credit card information from our records. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to resolve this. We wish you and your business all the best.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 22626777
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This company repeatedly lies. They have claimed over and over that my account is canceled and I won't be charged or invoiced again, and assured me that my payment information has been removed from their system, but then I continue to receive emails and invoices that say otherwise. I want them to provide proof that they have deleted my banking and credit card information from their system. I shouldn't have to deal with their negligence repeatedly. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/17/2024

  I received yet ANOTHER email from Avalara this morning saying that my card on file has expired and I need to update it for my billing with them. I canceled my services with them long ago and they have claimed MULTIPLE times that they've removed my card information from their system, even though they never have as clearly stated in my complaint.

  See the attached screenshot from the email this morning as further evidence.

   

  Thank you

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/23/2024

  ****, we apologize for the confusion. ************************** has been deprovisioned, however is showing active on AvaTax which explains the emails you are still receiving. We have submitted an internal ticket to have the account completely deactivated to avoid any confusion in future.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/23/2024

   
  Complaint: 22626777
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This is not the first time Avalara has claimed that it was "just a mistake" and that my account wasn't canceled completely. I have attached an email from Avalara from the last time they claimed everything was completely canceled. Yet here we are again, with them claiming innocence. The fact of the matter is that this company is shady and full of lies. They do NOT have my permission to store my credit card info. They do NOT have my permission to charge me for their useless services. They do NOT have permission to continue to email me and threaten me with past due invoice notices because I CANCELED THEIR SERVICE A LONG TIME AGO AND I DO NOT OWE THEM A SINGLE *****!!!!!!!!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/21/2024

  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.

  They charged 2000% more for a transaction amount upgrade. Historically, they charged the same amount to increase transactions. I am disputing the charge on my card. I have also removed my card from their website. In short, it is not a trustworthy company. They don't post pricing on their website. They told me there would need to be an increase in transactions but there was no mention of how much it would be. I assumed we would get another charge of the same amount charged in March of this year because that is how they did it the previous time.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/26/2024

  ****, thank you for sharing your concerns with us so we could assist. In 2019, the agreement your team signed with Avalara included a clause that AvaTax subscription would be auto-upgraded to the next Transaction tier upon exceeding the number of Transaction in the existing plan. For more information on auto-upgrades, please see our Terms and Conditions: *******************************************************;

  We understand your team requested a usage audit to confirm the upgrade was necessary and so our team met with yours on November 22 to discuss your usage. After performing the audit, we have confirmed the usage is legitimate. The majority of your usage comes from API calls received via the WooCommerce connector, which is not managed by Avalara. If your team wishes to reduce the number of API calls, you can work with ******** who manages the WooCommerce integration. 

  Given that the usage and auto-upgrade are valid per the signed agreement, the upgrade is valid, and we are unable to offer a refund. However, we understand your Account Executive and their management have indicated they will work to explore potential discounts and have scheduled a follow up call with your team on December 12. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/04/2024

  Please see attached for the terms we were sent to me on 1/30/24 regarding our renewal that was coming up in March of '24.  There is no mention of $1245 fees.  Rather there is an overage fee of $0.47.  I am disputing this with my credit card company and we are canceling our service with them.  This fee they charged us is fraudulent and not what we signed up for. Note that this information is being provided to you for others so that other companies know to proceed with caution and hopefully don't have the same issues that we are having with them.  Note that I am pursuing this directly with them and I as mentioned... disputing it on my credit card.  

   

  Thanks again... and hopefully you can help others avoid this fraudulent billing practice.  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/12/2024

  ****, thank you for your patience as weve worked to resolve this matter. We understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting and we apologize if billing expectations were not made clear. Following your meeting with your account team, ********************** has agreed in good faith to offer a $1,245.87 refund for the charges against the auto-upgrade. Additionally, we are downgrading your account from 500 tier to 250 tier. As agreed in conversations, ******************* will be responsible for the overages. Please follow up with our team directly regarding updates on this resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/31/2024

  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 am writing to file a complaint against Avalara, a company that has repeatedly made errors on my account and has double charged me for a service I am already paying for. Despite creating support cases for these issues back in April 2024 , six months have passed and none of my cases have been *********** account managers have changed multiple times during this period. Each new manager promises to resolve the cases and refund the money, but none have done so. Instead, they keep passing the blame to others and citing poor accounting systems, yet I continue to be charged month after month for services they assured me would be refunded.I have contacted the support line numerous times, only to be told that someone is working on it, but still, nothing has been resolved. My current account manager does not respond and appears unaware that action is needed to resolve these cases. This situation is unacceptable.Currently, I have two major unresolved cases with money owed to me and have no clear point of contact to expedite this matter.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/08/2024

  Volodymr, thank you for sharing your concerns with us so we could have our team look into the matter. We want to apologize for the frustration youve experienced with account support and we are working with our account management team to find a best course of action moving forward. We understand our Customer Excellence team has been in communication with you to provide updates on the requests you have submitted and our appropriate teams are engaged in researching the invoices you've outlined as potential double charges. We sincerely appreciate your patience as our team works to learn more and resolve.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/15/2024

   
  Complaint: 22498543
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I have not heard from anyone in the last 7 days that say how they will fix these issues. I got an email taht we are going to work on fixing but that is it. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2024

  Volodymr, your Account Executive reached out to you on November 26 to inform you that the previous requested refund related to Professional Support has now been extended and will reflect on your account soon, as well as the breakdown for INV-*******. We understand that youve requested to review these charges in full during a call, and that you were able to schedule with Account Executive. Please continue to work directly with our ****************** team, as they are most equipped to support you moving forward.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/29/2024

  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.

  We are an established ************** wholesaler with an E-commerce site that has used Avalara for tax services for 8+ years. While our transactions have not increased by more than 5% in the last 12 months this service is claiming our account transactions have increased by ******% and they are charging according to that tier. We have requested audit details and to support this claim and we have not receive any actionable support data. We have requested via email, phone and chat methods to talk with anyone who can help and can not get a reply. This is frustrating especially when we need their services and we are willing to pay for actually usage.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/08/2024

  ***, thank you for bringing this to our attention so we could assist. We apologize that you did not receive timely responses regarding your usage concerns and we appreciate you giving us the opportunity to support. Following your complaint, a member of our Customer Excellence team reached out to you and performed a Usage Audit against your account for your current usage term to date (04/17/24-11/03/24). From this audit we were able to confirm that your usage is showing correctly on the Usage Report. This means that we are correctly tracking the amount of activity between your system (Drupal) and AvaTax. The detailed breakdown of this Usage Audit was communicated with you on Nov 4. Weve attached the email chain here for your reference.

  We appreciate your feedback on the amount of data available in the SalesOrder records and weve submitted an enhancement request to our engineering team to better improve this experience moving forward.

  Please direct any follow up questions to our Customer Excellence team directly so they may best assist you. We look forward to continuing to serve your team.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/12/2024

   

  Complaint: 22485964
  

  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The Blank records that you are referring to represents 88% of the billing that is overstated. 
  If Avalara is billing Hawk for doing work or providing service, PLEASE LET ME KNOW what service was provided. Specifically what data was sent and what data was received by Hawk. 
  Without some support details we can not validate you claim that anything transpired. 
  If no data was sent or received what service did Avalara supply to support its billing. 
  

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/26/2024

  To clarify, the *** calls listed in the audit with the SO***N/OUT information were the *** calls which were captured during the limited-time (few hrs) live audit. The "blank" *** calls (*****) are not blank - these *** calls are tied back to SalesOrder records from Drupal Commerce (column N of the "Live AuditTransactions" file that weve re-attached here for your convenience). SalesOrder records are typically associated with Quotes, Estimates, Orders, etc. While these SalesOrder calls do not include transaction numbers/ID in the usage audit, per the Enhanced audit file, they are calls generated from your Drupal Commerce connector to AvaTax.

  To confirm, regardless of how the data is displayed in the AvaTax usage audit ("SalesOrder" vs detailed transaction ID/numbers) - per our Terms and Conditions when an *** call is generated to the AvaTax tax calculation service, it will count towards your billable usage.

  Please read the following excerpt from our Terms and Conditions that you agreed to upon signing for your subscription:
  "1(a) Transaction Calculations. Fees for usage of AvaTax are based on the number of Transactions used in AvaTax by Customer. ********************** will charge a number of Transactions used each day equal to the greater of the results of (i) or (ii) below:
  i. The number of Documents recorded; or
  ii. The number of *** calls to the tax calculation service recorded, divided by 10.
  In addition to the Transactions counted under (i) or (ii) above, every 10 *** calls to the address validation service, other than *** calls that are specifically associated with a tax calculation, will count as one Transaction."

  As communicated with you, Avalara does not store the data associated with these calls and is therefore unable to provide the data you are requesting. To reiterate, we have submitted an enhancement request to our Product team requesting that we update the way we capture SalesOrder transactions data to improve audit quality. However, as evidenced above, the charges are valid per our agreement regardless of the data display. Thank you for your understanding.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/25/2024

  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 will say VERY DECEPTIVE business practices and horrendous customer service. They utilize a renewal model similar to the infamous timeshare trap renewal model. Invoice for year 1 expenses came and it was relatively close to the proposal, so we paid. Year 2 was proposed at $1,695.00. I received an invoice 1 month AFTER the auto-renewal for $6,842.75. That was quite a difference from the initial pricing proposal. It was also over twice the amount of the implementation year. There was no opportunity to review the renewal or accept the charges.1. I told the sales team prior to initiating with their services that we would not need assisted support the second year. However, we were still automatically charged at an increased rate of $2,750.00, for implementation year it was $2,000.00. We also told the Account Manager we did not want it. The company refuses to refund it. 2. I have been trying to get a response from the account manager(s) assigned to our account since receiving this invoice in February. We have had at least 5 different Account Managers since January of 2024- it is now end of October 2024, and not one has responded until I finally emailed saying I wanted to add more services to my account. Finally, someone responded. 3. The Account Manager had no idea what we were being charged for. The original invoice "Product names" do not tie out to the new invoice "Product names". They provide no descriptions for what these products are. Nor the amount or level.4. Very little communication is performed via email. All is done via Zoom. It is my belief this is so AVALARA avoids having anything in writing or documented.I have contacted Support and they are of no help. Had I known Avalara was such a difficult and dishonest company to work with, I would have never signed up.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/04/2024

  ******, thanks for bringing your concerns to our attention. We understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting and we apologize if the billing expectations were not properly expressed. We also understand how the instability in account management and lack of response is frustrating and weve passed this feedback along to our leadership.

  Following your complaint, **** had our Customer Excellence team and your ****************** team reach out to discuss ways to resolve these billing concerns. We understand you are working to schedule a meeting to discuss. We remain committed to supporting you in this matter and look forward to resolving.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/04/2024

   
  Complaint: 22474647
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
    Although it is true Avalara reached out to schedule a meeting to discuss resolving the issue there has not yet been a resolution. They in the past have promised meetings but never came thru.  Once there is a concrete resolution we can revisit next steps.

  Complaint is not closed. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2024

  ******, thank you for your patience as we've worked to resolve. Our team submitted a refund request on Nov 13 for your account and communicated this update to you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/21/2024

   
  Complaint: 22474647
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  We did not receive a refund or any communication regarding said refund. Matter is still not closed. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/11/2024

  ******, our team has now sent an email on Dec 4 with the update that a refund for $2,750 was approved on Nov 26 for the Assisted Support which had not originally been removed from your subscription.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 22474647
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  although I have received an email saying they will refund, I still have not received the refund. 
  

  this matter is still NOT closed. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/23/2024

  ******, thank you for your patience. Our team reached out to confirm the refund check was processed and mailed on December 20th. You should expect that you should receive the check within 7 to 10 business days, please note the holidays may cause delay. Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/25/2024

   
  Complaint: 22474647
  
  I am rejecting this response because: we still have not received refund that was promised. 
  

  this issue is still not resolved. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2025

  ******, thank you for reaching out to let us know you did not receive the check. After confirming with our Accounting team, we can verify that it was originally mailed on December 20, 2024. 
  To resolve this, we have requested that Accounting void the original check and issue a new refund check to be mailed. Once the new check has been processed, we will provide you with updated shipping details. 
  We appreciate your patience and will keep you informed as soon as we have more information. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/14/2024

  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.

  Avalara's services are nothing as explained to me by the sales manager. I was told it was an "easy plug in" and "my taxes would be automated". There is nothing automated about it. Your software was sold to me as automating my sales tax collection process and every day I learn more and more that is nothing to do with automation and all inputting on my end. It is automatic for you, but not for the customer who is spending a ton of money on your software. I find it subpar at best. I was also told that I need to go into each of my 200+ items and add of tax code. I dont get why in the year 2024 I cannot connect your plug-in and have automatic solution pop-up - I have been filing my Florida State sales tax for six years and now from my perspective, it is now costing me $300 a month to file it. The portal is hard to use and the payment section of the portal is predatory. They do not let you remove credit cards when you need to change them out. I could not even pay my bill,; i had to contact the, because like everything else, **** pay did not work. Their support is not great either. I contacted their support and i got answers like this: "I see that you needed a solution for exempt sales documentation and our support team had provided you a walk around where you had to add them into file and import it, to reflect into the system." I am not paying for work arounds. I am paying for sales tax solutions. Their work around was for me to manually input all my data 200+ item into an excel spread sheet. Everything the sales manager sold to me has not been delivered. I requested to cancel because the contract was not as delivered and they said: "Your requested cancellation for Complete AvaTax Cancellation, Managed Returns has been validated and passed to Avalara Finance for completion at the end of your subscription term on 7/29/2025."If i delivered an unsatisfactory product i would be expected to refund. I am not sure what business model this is

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/24/2024

  ****, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We apologize that youve experienced challenges with the integration to our products as well as with the payment settings section of the customer portal. We have shared your insights with our product engineering team. 

  Regarding your cancellation request, our Customer Excellence team has reached out to provide updates on this and will continue to do so as they are available. We remain committed to supporting you through this matter and throughout the remainder of your term.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/27/2024

   
  Complaint: 22419452
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The email i received is just "kicking the can down the road" - i am not going to accept it to show that they did something as i feel they are riding out the 7 days i have to accept or reject. Their email told me absolutely nothing other than "they are working on it". 

  On October 23rd they said this (email attached):

  ****

  "Hello ****,
  
  Sorry for the delay! I apologize, that it's taken some time to get this resolved.
  
  Over the week, I've reviewed the account and some of the cases that you've had and the experience you've had since you've been with us. I've put in a request to your account manager to review and process the cancellation/refund before the end of your term end (07/29/25).
  
  I'm hoping to hear back late today/early tomorrow, in which I can give you more concrete details and next steps.
  
  If you have anything in the interim, please let me know if there's anything I can do.
  
  Best,
  Cameron
  Avalara Support
  Avalara | Tax compliance done right"

  ****

  I have not heard back "late today/early tomorrow" and it has now been 4 days since receiving this email. 

  My resolution: Get out of the contract as they have not held up their end of the contract. I should not be stuck in something for a year when they missed the marl on their end. They are still sending me bills. 

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/11/2024

  ****, we appreciate your continued patience as we are working to resolve your concerns. As communicated to you by our Customer Excellence team, we have submitted your account for cancellation and refund outside of terms. Our team remains committed to overseeing this matter to resolution and will provide updates as available.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/18/2024

   
  Complaint: 22419452
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Every 7 days they answer this complaint stating that they are working on on rectifying this and they thank me for my patience. They are trying to get this case closed by me with a "non response". I will continue to reject this complaint until something is actually done. Right now they are kicking the can down the road hoping I give up or don't answer in time. I will not. 

  The screen shot from today, 11/18/24(attached), shows that they are still trying to collect money from me still. It also shows they are not connected to us so they are physically not providing a service. 

  I worked in corporate America for 19 years, at much larger companies than this with a lot more red tape. There are no excuses for this to be taking so long. 

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2024

  ****, the screenshot provided in your rejection that youve claimed indicates Avalara was still claiming payment as of 11/18 shows an email dated for September 30 which fell before the start of this complaint. 
  As shared with you in our last update, we submitted your refund for approval and our team followed up with you on November 13 asking you to disregard any invoice reminders you were receiving as they would be cancelled upon completion of the cancellation process. 

  Our records show we have now completed the cancellation and officially approved the refund. Thank you and we wish your business the best.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/08/2024

  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.

  We have been using Avalara since November 2021, when we had our website *************** on WooCommerce. During this time period, we paid Avalara for their services in processing all orders that went through our website for sales tax as applicable. In May 2024 we migrated to ******* Plus. Then on Sep 10, we imported our old orders (~80k of them) from WooCommerce into *******, so our customers could have their sales history available in their account.When we did this, every order that we had already paid Avalara for while we were on WooCommerce, was re-synced to Avalara via the Shopify-Avalara connector. None of these orders were filed for taxes; all that happened was that there were about 80k added API calls. And as soon as we found out about this, we went in and voided all of them. We reached out to our account **** and then had it escalated to his manager. I requested to be escalated to the **************** manager but it is being handled by a ******************* who is saying that all the charges are valid, and we need to pay them for a much higher tier of orders than what we need, due to all these duplicated orders. (Also note: on ******* Plus, these transactions are free - it is just the modifications due to voiding that we are being charged for).Our bill for the year based on legitimate orders should be $886.44 per month for the ****** order tier, for a total of $9707.88 (another problem: we tried to reduce from 15k the prior year to just what we needed, the 7500 tier, but our account manager didn't get this done in time so we are overpaying at the 15k tier for this year). Now they have hit us with an invoice for added fees of $16,898.99, all for these duplicate orders that got re-uploaded, orders that we already paid for them to process on our WooCommerce site previously! The invoice is due to auto-pay on October 25. We just want to have these added charges removed as they are extremely unfair. This is a very frustrating situation for us.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2024

  *****, we appreciate your bringing your concerns to our attention. We understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting and we apologize if billable usage and tiered pricing was not clearly expressed. 

  Since receiving your complaint, our team has been in contact with you regarding the accuracy of the usage billing and our Terms and Conditions which outline that the voiding of transactions counts towards usage. However, we recognize that the communication on this could have been better throughout the numerous support cases you opened and so weve escalated to our account leadership who is working towards approving a resolution with your tier levels. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter. In the meantime, please reach out to the Customer Excellence team directly for updates.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/18/2024

   
  Complaint: 22396989
  
  I am rejecting this response because: what they have said is that they will look into this more, and they have escalated to higher level management. That is an important step but I don't want to close this complaint until we find out the result of their review, and ultimately get a confirmed resolution that we feel is fair.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ***

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/05/2024

  Thank you for your patience as weve worked to find a solution. As communicated with you directly, the Leadership team reviewed the case for your full refund request and made the decision to adhere to our terms and conditions as the usage billing, while unintentional, is valid. Please refer to the Service-Specific Supplemental Terms to learn more about what activity contributes to billable usage: ************************************************************************************;

  However, in good faith efforts to continue our partnership, we did agree to downgrade your account to the 7500 tier at your renewal in February, in addition to offering the 30% concession ($6,243.03) on outstanding invoices for a credit. We look forward to continuing to serve your team.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/12/2024

   
  Complaint: 22396989
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I need to discuss this with my leadership team, but before I can do that I need to know what they claim we owe them. It is unclear how much we are supposed to be billed for this large overage fee in the first place -  the discount % and $ amount provided is inconsistent with the amount we were originally told that we owed. Based on the communication I have received, it seems like we are being told that we owe a larger number than we did originally, and then we are getting a discount off this larger number. I have explained this to them an am awaiting a response - their billing system is very difficult for us to understand and it seems they are having some delays answering this as well. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ***

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2024

  *****, we recognize the confusion around the billing and the concession offerings. We understand from your message on November 22 that your team was able to decipher the charges. We remain committed to supporting you should you have further questions regarding the charges on your account and the concession we have offered. Please follow up with our team directly.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/04/2024

   
  Complaint: 22396989
  
  I am rejecting this response because: We did sign an agreement with Avalara to receive a 30% discount on the overage fees. Overall the overage is about $15k and we are taking the discount offered of $6243 USD. We still don't feel this is a fair resolution and we feel Avalara is unjustly profiting from us by making us pay for orders we already processed, which I will add, we imported to ******* and did not tag as processed, yet their connector went and processed them anyway. But it has already taken 2 months to get this far, and it doesn't seem they want to work with us to get to a resolution we feel is fair (which is to also credit us for a one-time $3238 USD "upgrade fee" they charged us as part of this). Since we have signed the agreement to accept the credit, I will resolve this complaint once we actually see the credit applied to our invoices. However, just to be clear, we will be accepting this because it's better than nothing, but not because we feel it is fair.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ***

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/08/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 added avalara tax via *************** for my website in june 2023 and paid $110 annual fee. My website has very minimal activity and Avalara didn't seem to be an app that I would need. I took avalara out from my site from bigcommerce and forgot about it. I am not aware the auto renewal that avalara imposed on my account. It seemed like Avalara posted the annual renewal without my knowledge in June 2024 with a due of $896.66, which is ridiculous. I contacted them immediately after I noticed this unreasonable fee on my avalara account in oct, they insisted that I need to pay the annual due that expired on June 2025, which I am not aware and not going to use at all. The signed up for the app was easy but get out of them is tricky. Their price hike (more than 8 folds ) and business practice really put customer in a *********************** position. I would like to cancel this auto renewal term that I am not aware of and resolve the due posted on my account. Thank you!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2024

  Hongyi, thanks for sharing your concerns here. We understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting and we apologize if renewal expectations were not clearly expressed.

  As per our Terms and Conditions, your account was automatically renewed upon completion of the previous years subscription and included a price increase. Avalaras mission has always been to serve global communities by offering the best tax compliance products possible, designed for use by customers of all sizes. In that spirit, while our largest growth segments have been in the mid-market of business sizes, weve historically priced our offering at the lowest tiers of service to meet the requirements of small businesses as well. Unfortunately, were now unable to sustain those prices while appropriately serving the needs of all customers in line with the economics of our own business.

  However, while we are unable to cancel your subscription mid-term, we have decided in good faith to offer a one time adjustment for the annual pricing to $121 and credit the invoice for $895.66 that you received upon renewal. Additionally, our team has processed the cancellation request for a service end date of June 8 2025, confirming your account will not renew next term. 

  Please follow up with our support team directly for updates regarding this concession.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/25/2024

   
  

  I am not completely satisfied with the resolution but I can probably live with it.  I still prefer Avalara would void that anto-renew term that I was not aware of.  I appreciate their understanding and effort to negotiate. 
  
  I have used many other online applications that have been designed in a way that are very much user friendly.  When customers sign up, these sites give customers popup clear messages specified that customers are about to sign up for an auto-renew service but they can turn this auto-renew feature on/off any time they want in their control panel after signing into their account.   When customers sign in into their account, the auto-renew feature is listed in the control panel, which can be turned off with just one click. This is very easy to implement with the technology these days. Obviously, Avalara does none of this and makes cancellation rather complicated and convoluted.   What alvalara choose to do is waste customers' time, energy, and money on the one hand, and cost their resources, reputation, and customers on the other.  
  
  I believe If Avalara is working towards being respected for a superior customer service, they should have void this auto renew term for me and credit the invoice for $895.66 without any condition.  With this solution they offer,  I am probably still going to have a negative opinion toward avalara and this story is going to be told many times among my social circle, my family, friends, students, business partners.
  
  One more thing, I would like to make it clear that I canceled the service with Avalara effective Jun 08 2025. No Renew Afterwards.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/04/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  Weve experienced quite a bit of difficulty with the teams we have talked to at Avalara and we only wish to cancel a contract completely due to the circumstances of Avalara cancelling the service we signed up for. Avalara cancelled a service and we were told that we would just need to fill out a cancellation form to cancel their servicesso we did. Now, Avalara billed us for a new service that we dont want and didnt sign up for and we discussed this with Avalara prior to cancellation. From our point of view, Avalara essentially terminated any contract when they End of Lifed the service we signed up for. They knew we were not going to receive any further benefit unless we moved up to the next tier of services. In order to get out of the contract, Avalara is asking us to pay for another year of service and connector we do not need. Can you please help us come to a reasonable resolution ? It is disheartening for us to continue to be pushed around over an invoice that could be settled in a number of ways. Our proposal is to pay the remaining $19 invoices because those would be fair to pay as long as we were actually billed correctly (there seems to be some confusion about that). Other than that, it is our position that we should not be forced into paying for another year of service since the service was cancelled on us with no realistic options other than to pay for a more expensive service. We just want to be made whole in this situation and since we are not going to receive services, why would we pay to receive nothing in return? That is just putting extra money in Avalaras pocket and not looking out for the best interest of the customer at all. Please take it under consideration that we are not receiving any service from Avalara at this time and that we want to walk away from doing business with Avalara because the service was terminated through no fault of our own.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/14/2024

  Michael, thanks for bringing this to our attention so we could assist. We recognize that our team was not consistent in communication with you regarding your cases, and we want to apologize for this frustration. The lack of response may have led your team to believe that Avalara canceled your services as stated in your complaint. Since we received your cancellation after renewal, per our Terms and Conditions we renewed your subscription for the 24-25 term and subsequently billed you for this service. However, our team recognizes that we did not express expectations clearly and we have therefore submitted a $925.18 refund request to leadership for approval. Please reach out directly to our team with any questions regarding the concession process. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make this right. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/15/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 22379426, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me with the exception that there is an additional invoice attached for $25 dated June 2024 that we are also disputing since that is for Avalara services to file small business returns.  We have not received the benefit of any of those services and had to file our own return recently. We will be happy to pay the other open $19 invoices that are due and owing.

  We also need written assurance from Avalara that our contract is terminated and we will no longer receive any invoices or services from them unless we were to choose to sign up with them again in the future.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Michael Datelle