Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Avalara Inc's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 127 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 70 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
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Submit a ComplaintThe 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:06/05/2024
Type: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.
Our company signed up for the Avalara *********** in November of 2022. Unbeknownst to us, Avalara included a 1 year free trial of their ***************************** on our account. We were not told of this, we didnt ask for it, and we didnt know it was there. On November 25 of 2023, this free trial expired, and Avalara began charging us $78 per month for this service. As soon as we realized our invoice increased, we requested to know why our invoice had gone up so drastically. After several back and forth emails, Avalara finally let us know it was because of the *** service. On December 14th, When we explained that we had not ordered it, or used it, they insisted that it was a 12 month service and while we could cancel, it would not stop the billing for the 12 month period. We canceled the service, and Avalara did provide us with two monthly credits, then reverted back to charging the full amount for the *** service. We tried again in June 2024 to cancel the service, and were told: We regret to inform you that you are not eligible for refunds because for *** you raised a cancellation request case#******** on 12/14/2023 and your *** got renewed on 11/25/2023.Hence *** services will be active till your service end date - 11/25/2024 and after that, you won't be charged for this subscription.It is well within the power of Avalara to end our service, and to stop billing us for it, and to refund us for the amount that we have spent on ***. That is our request.
Business Response
Date: 06/14/2024
*******, thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us so we could assist. We apologize for the unexpected charges and we understand your frustration in attempting to remove them from your account. Our team has looked into the issue and discovered that due to a recent system migration, our attempts to discontinue your ECM subscription did not complete which is why youve continued to be billed. We do apologize for this inconvenience and our team is working to cancel the subscription from the start date with intent to get your account credited for the charges. Please continue to follow up with our Customer Excellence team directly for updates on this matter, as they are overseeing this case until resolution. We remain committed to resolving this concern for you and we appreciate your patience.Customer Answer
Date: 06/17/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
***********************Initial Complaint
Date:05/31/2024
Type: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.
04/04/2024 Received invoice for RENEWAL with price increase from $3674.23 to $9249.85. We contacted We were told in writing by Avalara rep ******************************* that account could be cancelled NEXT YEAR 04/02/2025 our next renewal date. This is unacceptable and the epitome of bad business practice. I have attached the now 2 months timeline of timestamped activity as we attempted to follow Avalara procedures to confirm cancellation IMMEDIATELY as requested 04/04/2024. Avalara software is still active on our selling platform despite our requests to cancel. This is seemingly as an attempt to collect more monies. We have worked with our bank to stop the REQUIRED AUTOMATED PAYMENT associated with our account. Again, another required but bad practice when doing business with Avalara. We have all hard copies of both Avalara communications online as well as email communications; we could, if necessary, procure our phone records to include additional attempts made by us if this needs to be pursued further.We simply ask that account is null and voided immediately effective April 2024.Business Response
Date: 06/07/2024
******, thanks for sharing your concerns with us so that we could investigate internally. We understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting, so our team looked into your account records to confirm that all necessary information regarding the renewal process and the updated pricing was provided in accordance to our terms and conditions. As explained to you by our Customer Excellence team, we have confirmed that a communication regarding your account renewal and the updated pricing was sent to you on February 21st. This email was directed to **********************. For your reference, we have attached a screenshot of our email query records showing the recipients of the renewal notice email and the date it was sent. We have also attached a copy of the email as it was sent to your account manager, ******. Given that the notification was sent well in advance and no objections or cancellations were raised prior to the renewal date, we must adhere to our policy regarding renewals and associated charges. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter and we remain committed to providing the best service throughout this term.Customer Answer
Date: 06/10/2024
Complaint: 21785157
I am rejecting this response because: The attachments only show me a copy of an email sent to the account rep and a timeline suggesting that something was sent to us but who know what that would be.
Sincerely,
*****************************Business Response
Date: 06/20/2024
We have provided a copy of the renewal email and provided a screenshot of our records indicating the email was sent to ********************** which is the contact email on file for your account. We understand you are claiming to have not received the email, but we do not have access to your inbox and have no way of confirming its receipt. We recommend checking spam or junk folders. Our records indicate the renewal notice was provided in accordance with our terms and conditions.Customer Answer
Date: 06/21/2024
Complaint: 21785157
I am rejecting this response because yes they sent a hard copy of email as sent to their internal staff; and as of yet have not sent a hard copy of email showing my email. They did send a screen shot of time line with no email attached EXCEPT to their internal staff member. Odd to me when considering if available send it.
Sincerely,
*****************************Customer Answer
Date: 06/25/2024
Good morning,
I responded to the BBB complaint but failed to include the email to which I am referring.
The company Avalara sent a hard copy of the email but shows addressee as that of their internal rep.
When we asked for a hard copy as sent to us they have yet to provide it; and should have been in the same data access as from which they retrieved email as sent to their employee.
If they have it why is it not provided?
******
Business Response
Date: 06/27/2024
******, the hard copy of the email sent to your account manager through our automated messaging system that you are referencing was provided to us directly from the account manager through her inbox. The query keeps a proof of send, but does not keep individual hard copies, as is standard with most automated messaging systems. As seen in the documentation weve provided, the email send status with the addresse as ********************** was confirmed successful which indicates the system did not receive any undeliverable concerns. Per our terms and conditions, Unless otherwise agreed in writing, Avalara may increase Service fees for each Renewal Subscription Term. In order for price increases to be effective, Avalara must notify Customer 30 days prior to the Renewal Subscription Term. Such notice may be in the form of an invoice or any other form of notice used by Avalara to communicate with Customer. As weve previously stated, our records indicate Avalara has upheld the term obligations by providing notice to the email address that your team submitted as the accounts main contact.Initial Complaint
Date:05/28/2024
Type: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 am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the lack of service support I have received from Avalara. Our company signed a one-year subscription with Avalara on 09/22/2022. With the understanding that they would provide sales tax advice and business ID application support. Unfortunately, the system does not allow us to perform any of these activities.Therefore, I sent an email to the sales representative and requested cancellation on 12/15/2022. However, there was no response. Despite my repeated attempts to seek assistance through phone calls, I have not received any support or resolution.Since our account was never fully set up and no payment was requested, we assumed our account had been canceled.Unexpectedly, on April 11, 2024, we received a letter from a collection agency stating that we owe over $15,000( sales order amount is $5,700). It has been 15 months since I submitted the cancellation request, and Avalara did not contact me before sending the account to collections.We have been trying to settle this case with the collection agency, they have declined our offer, despite the fact that we have never used their service.Sales and finance departments need to work together. It seems these two departments are falling apart.Business Response
Date: 05/31/2024
*****, thanks for taking the time to share your concerns with us and allowing us the opportunity to assist. We understand you attempted to cancel the services back in 2022, but unfortunately the request to cancel was sent after the 60 day cancellation window. However, our team recognizes you did not complete the set up of the service nor use it in 2023 so weve removed the additional invoice mentioned in your complaint and discounted the total amount owed to $2,850. We understand youve been in contact with our Customer Excellence team regarding this payment and have agreed to the settlement amount. For any further questions on this matter please follow up with the Customer Excellence Manager directly.Customer Answer
Date: 05/31/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
*****************Initial Complaint
Date:05/23/2024
Type: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.
On May 10, 2024 we got invoiced for an upgrade. At the time of renewal, we advised the account manager from ********************** to remove auto-upgrade from our account. Same day (May 10, 2024), we emailed the new account manager that the invoice had been generated incorrectly as the amount was incorrect and we did not want the upgrade. We even tried to schedule a meeting with the Account Manager but he keeps cancelling them. No response on the cancellation, adjustment of the invoice. We submitted a support case and no response for over a week. The customer service is non-existent; account management doesn't seem to want to take meetings with customer issues. No way for us to remove our card from the account to prevent them from charging us again. We can't really do much short of dispute the transactions and/or cancel our card. Definitely not a good experience.Business Response
Date: 05/31/2024
*******, thank you for bringing this to our attention so we could assist. We apologize it has been a struggle getting ahold of your account manager; that is not at all the type of support we aim to provide. We also understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting and we apologize for the frustration. Following your complaint, we had our Customer Excellence team reach out to discuss further and research internally. We want to help resolve the concerns and ask that you please follow up with our Customer Excellence Manager directly so we can begin assisting. Thank you.Customer Answer
Date: 05/31/2024
The business has reached out after submitting the complaint via email. We are trying to communicate with them and see if this gets resolved.Initial Complaint
Date:05/21/2024
Type: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 requested cancellation of our account with ********************** five months ago, but it has not been processed. Our cancellation is due at the end of this month, and we have received no response from their support team. We are stuck in an endless loop of support cases with no resolution and receive no follow up on any support cases.Business Response
Date: 05/23/2024
*****, thanks for expressing your concerns so that we could investigate and confirm your cancellation. As our Customer Excellence Manager reached out to explain, your cancellation is in process and is scheduled to finalize at the end of your subscription term on 6/7/24. We understand the automated renewal notices can be concerning having already submitted for a cancellation, so our team has taken additional action to remove your auto payment and our accounting team has confirmed you will not be charged. We remain committed to supporting you in any way we can throughout the remainder of your term.Initial Complaint
Date:05/16/2024
Type: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 cancelled a subscription for a service they provided, however, despite having correspondence proving cancellation they have continued to withdraw funds from my financial institution.I have submitted 5 cases with the company through their online portal, I have rang my account manager daily with no call back, I have sent multiple emails to the account manager and 2 other people at the company. The reason I cancelled the account is because they were not performing the tasks I was being charged for. There 6 months of charges (@ $276.00pm) whereby they failed to perform an adequate service and in addition these are the charges that have taken after my cancellation. $553.60 5/1/24 & $3339.60 5/16/24 What concerns me the most is that I am unable to actually connect with anyone at the company.Business Response
Date: 05/23/2024
******, thank you for sharing your concerns with us so we could resolve. We understand how unexpected costs would be upsetting and we sincerely apologize for the billing frustrations. Our team was able to confirm that the cancellation was submitted prior to the renewal and we have initiated a refund for charges that followed the cancellation. Please follow up with the Customer Excellence representative that contacted you regarding any questions or updates on this refund.Customer Answer
Date: 05/23/2024
Complaint: 21723383
I am rejecting this response because: Whilst I received an email from someone at the company, they are still stating that they do not know when they will refund the money. I am about to incur interest expenses on these unauthorized charges. I have asked them to process this within 48 hours, and have received no reply since. I do not feel satisfied that they are actually going to refund my money.
Sincerely,
*************************Business Response
Date: 05/31/2024
******, we understand your concerns with receiving the refund and wanting to confirm this has been processed. As indicated in our accounting teams email to you on 05/24/24, we have refunded your credit card in two separate transactions totaling $3,893.20. Your rejection claims we did not respond to you regarding these credits, so weve attached the email here for your convenience in case it was not received. We wish your business the best.Customer Answer
Date: 05/31/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.The company have finally refunded all monies owed.
Sincerely,
*************************Initial Complaint
Date:05/14/2024
Type: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.
We had our annual review on Jan 3, 2024. At that time, we discontinued some services and added others. We signed our new agreement on Jan 10, 2024 for $2206.88/year. On March 20, 2024 Avalara charged us our full amount from the previous contract of $5041.32. Their support team is of no assistance. Our rep transferred our account to another employee on April 11, 2024. That employee has been of no help at all and won't respond.Business Response
Date: 05/22/2024
********, thank you for bringing this to our attention so we could investigate. We understand renewals can be confusing when hoping to both add and cancel products, and our team works hard to properly guide our customers in this process. After receiving your complaint, our team looked into your account to confirm we provided the correct information. In reviewing our recorded call with you on January 3, as well as the follow-up email sent on January 3, we were able to confirm that our team made multiple attempts to notify you of the responsibility to cancel the support product. Please see the highlighted portions of the attached screenshot. Unfortunately, we did not receive your cancellation through the provided form until February 28 which was after the renewal date. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to clarify and we look forward to assisting you in the future with any further questions.Customer Answer
Date: 05/22/2024
Complaint: 21713143
I am rejecting this response because:Your practice is very deceitful. Why am I required to sign a new contract when that contract will not be the one in effect? Sending further instructions in an email is minimal at best. The instructions should have been on the new contract that I was asked to sign multiple times. A signed contract becomes a binding document, not an email.
Sincerely,
***************************Business Response
Date: 06/03/2024
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to clarify. The sales order you signed was acknowledging the changes to your products. Per our terms and conditions, any upgrades/downgrades/additional services purchased do not nullify any existing contracts. At the time of requesting modification to your tier levels on January 3, your current term (set to renew on January 19) which included Assisted Support was still active. Customers assume the responsibility to cancel the individual product(s) prior to renewal that they no longer wish to use. As stated in our last response, we understand this process can be puzzling which is why our team made a generous effort in good faith to notify you of the responsibility to cancel. Our team included step by step instructions and direct cancellation link sent to you in a recap email following the recorded call where your account manager also explained the option to cancel. We have reattached the email here for the Better Business Bureaus convenience as well as a screenshot highlighting the transcript of this aforementioned call. While we are sorry you may not have expected this cost, we are confident our team did everything to support and set the expectation of what was to come.Customer Answer
Date: 06/03/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that the matter will not be resolved to my liking, but there is nothing further to be done.
Sincerely,
***************************Initial Complaint
Date:05/14/2024
Type: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 tried to get in touch with Avalara for 2.5 months with no response or resolution about my account and why it was no longer allowing us to adjust what states I was collecting sales tax in. I had cancelled my tax return services back in 2020 with them, but still was using my account to collect sales tax. I was told by someone that I was not required to pay the bill and my account was activated. Now they are telling me I still owe that money unless I resign up for services. I also had to pay sales tax to states I didn't collect in because I wasn't able to due to the fact that Avalara wouldn't reactivate my account or tell me what I needed to do to reactivate my account. I emailed them multiple times throughout the 2.5 months and despite my asking them to reactivate my account I was never responded to. I finally had to get my sales platform involved to even get through to someone. I would like to be repaid for the taxes I had to pay out of pocket, and I am not paying the invoice for the services I cancelled back in 2020.Business Response
Date: 05/23/2024
******, thanks for bringing this to us so we could assist. After receiving your complaint, a member of our Customer Excellence team reached out to schedule time with you. We understand from this conversation and from researching your account history that your intention was to cancel the Returns product with us back in 2020. Since we did not receive a completed cancellation form, an invoice was triggered in 2023 for the managed returns. Because we did not receive a response or payment for this invoice, our system closed your account for nonpayment.
We apologize for the delay in response to your request to reinstate on February 19 2024, as the case was routed to our Collections team to review due to the account suspension. We recognize that you followed up on March 4 and March 6 before the Collections team responded on March 18. The team reviewed the records and recognized that while we hadnt received the cancellation form, the managed returns service hadnt actually been used since 2020, so our team canceled the invoice and reinstated the account on 3/19/24. We apologize if this update was not made clear to you, but we can confirm that you are not responsible for INV07728138.
Initial Complaint
Date:04/25/2024
Type: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 not been able to get in touch with any account rep prior to attempting to cancel our subscription we never wanted in the first place. When we were onboarded for the self service platform I said I did not want this and would never use it. They insisted it would be necessary to do a nexus study but could be cancelled immediately after. I have never logged into that system other than for the Nexus study and after the payment was due miraculously collections was able to loop in an account rep who said sorry I can't do anything. This is a software I was told I needed, never wanted and never used.Business Response
Date: 05/02/2024
*******, thank you for sharing your concerns with us so we could assist. We apologize for the frustration and have escalated to our Customer Excellence team for support. We understand you have set a meeting with this team for May 7th to discuss further. Our response here is to be in accordance with the BBB deadline, but we remain committed to supporting you and finding a solution that best suits your business.Initial Complaint
Date:04/21/2024
Type: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 cancelled our account # ********* on August 30, 2023 and the cancellation was acknowledged several times in writing. We were assured that a refund for charges would be made. Prior to today, the last charge to our credit card for canceled services was in January 2024. Today, we were charged $1,884.66. The ticketing system and waiting for email responses is not working. Also, we have been unable to remove our credit card information from the portal to prevent charges.Business Response
Date: 05/01/2024
***, we apologize for the delay in receiving your refund, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention so we could expedite the process. We have electronically refunded the following charges: INV-152325 $628.22, INV-****** $628.22, INV-****** $628.22 and INV-****** $1884.66. The following charges have been submitted for refund via mailed check: P-00566 $628.33 and P-***** $628.22. We wish your business the best in the future.
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