Jackson Hewitt - Casie and the Sunshine Band Farmington Missouri
Upon having my taxes done by this group of people it was nothing short of misinformation and bogus claims.
I applied to have my tax refund expedited through a MNL (Money Now Loan) but was denied by SBBT (Santa Barbara Bank and Trust).Instead I was told I WILL receive my refund via RAL (Refund Anticipation Loan).
It was then brought to my attention that there was an I.R.S. offset due to back child support from my ex's home state. Okay, not a problem except the offset was paid to the I.R.S. and the remaining balnce was directly depostied into Jackson Hewitt's bank account. SBBT was the funds director. The employee's of this Jackson Hewitt office told me that I would NOT be charged anything but the exhuberant fee of $174.00.
for tax preparation.
They called me on 02/02/07 to let me know that a check was ready for pick up at their Farmington, MO. office. I see they had taken the $174.00 but then also charged me $29.95 for SBBT fee for handling the funds! For what? They claim it is an 8-15 day refund. Thats CRAP! No loan, no customer service by SBBT and misleading information by this offices staff.
Casie (not sure how he spells his name) gave the attitude of oh well. If they were to refund the $29.95 fee they charged me for picking up a check I will consider using Jackson Hewitt again.
But let me tell you, get your monies worth by reading EVERY document they stack up in front of you before doing any final business with them. Make sure you understand the cost of doing business with Jackson Hewitt Tax Services, especially the office in Farmington, MO. They are making a killing at typing information for you so you should take as much time as you need to COMPLETELY understand what they WILL be charging you.
Trent
Farmington, Missouri
U.S.A.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
Jan
Crystal Lake,Illinois,
U.S.A.
The way things work
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, February 15, 2007
Dear Trent,
This is what I understand from your report. You applied for a Money Now Loan (MNL). Acceptance of a MNL application is based almost entirely on your credit record. What criteria the bank uses are not disclosed to anyone at Jackson Hewitt.
When a MNL application is denied by the bank, your application automatically becomes a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) request, as stated in your paperwork. Acceptance is based entirely on whether or not the IRS informs the bank that there is a debt indicator on the account. If there is, the bank cannot make a loan based on the refund, as it does not know if any of the refund is forthcoming. Debt indicators come from several sources, and include unpaid child support, unpaid alimony, and delinquent student loans, among others.
The forms you signed when you applied for the loan clearly state that, if the RAL application is declined, the request automatically becomes an Assisted Refund (AR) request. That means that, when and if the IRS sends a refund, it will go to the bank where it will be split among the Jackson Hewitt tax preparation fees, the bank charge of $29.95, and you. You will not be charged the interest amount that would have applied to the RAL had it been approved, but the bank service charge still applies.
All bank services involve fees -- some banks charge you just to talk to a teller. With the bank products you applied for, the bank receives your refund, issues Jackson payment of their fees, and sends you the amount your agreed to either as a loan or as the rest of your refund. The fee for these services is $29.95, and it is clearly spelled out in your paperwork.
The fee is the bank's fee, not Jackson Hewitt's fee. Being a CPA and not a banker, I have no idea if it is high, low, or anything in between. I just know that it is what it is, and that it was disclosed to you.
That said, I can only imagine how frustrating it has to have been for you to need this money, get denied for the MNL, then get denied for the RAL, then have to wait 8-15 until the IRS actually sent your refund to the bank. It's strange that you didn't know about the unpaid child support, but I'm sure mail doesn't always catch up from old addresses.
It sounds like Casey might have been more sympathetic to your situation. Unfortunately, there is nothing he could have done about the bank fee.
You are right about reading the documents you sign -- that is good advice for any transaction. I go over every important point with our clients, including every fee and what happens when the bank declines a loan application, and I ensure that all of my employees do the same, before the loan is applied for. It's important to us that there be none of the kinds of misunderstandings that you have experienced.
Sincerely,
Jan
Crystal Lake, IL
Jan
Crystal Lake,Illinois,
U.S.A.
The way things work
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, February 15, 2007
Dear Trent,
This is what I understand from your report. You applied for a Money Now Loan (MNL). Acceptance of a MNL application is based almost entirely on your credit record. What criteria the bank uses are not disclosed to anyone at Jackson Hewitt.
When a MNL application is denied by the bank, your application automatically becomes a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) request, as stated in your paperwork. Acceptance is based entirely on whether or not the IRS informs the bank that there is a debt indicator on the account. If there is, the bank cannot make a loan based on the refund, as it does not know if any of the refund is forthcoming. Debt indicators come from several sources, and include unpaid child support, unpaid alimony, and delinquent student loans, among others.
The forms you signed when you applied for the loan clearly state that, if the RAL application is declined, the request automatically becomes an Assisted Refund (AR) request. That means that, when and if the IRS sends a refund, it will go to the bank where it will be split among the Jackson Hewitt tax preparation fees, the bank charge of $29.95, and you. You will not be charged the interest amount that would have applied to the RAL had it been approved, but the bank service charge still applies.
All bank services involve fees -- some banks charge you just to talk to a teller. With the bank products you applied for, the bank receives your refund, issues Jackson payment of their fees, and sends you the amount your agreed to either as a loan or as the rest of your refund. The fee for these services is $29.95, and it is clearly spelled out in your paperwork.
The fee is the bank's fee, not Jackson Hewitt's fee. Being a CPA and not a banker, I have no idea if it is high, low, or anything in between. I just know that it is what it is, and that it was disclosed to you.
That said, I can only imagine how frustrating it has to have been for you to need this money, get denied for the MNL, then get denied for the RAL, then have to wait 8-15 until the IRS actually sent your refund to the bank. It's strange that you didn't know about the unpaid child support, but I'm sure mail doesn't always catch up from old addresses.
It sounds like Casey might have been more sympathetic to your situation. Unfortunately, there is nothing he could have done about the bank fee.
You are right about reading the documents you sign -- that is good advice for any transaction. I go over every important point with our clients, including every fee and what happens when the bank declines a loan application, and I ensure that all of my employees do the same, before the loan is applied for. It's important to us that there be none of the kinds of misunderstandings that you have experienced.
Sincerely,
Jan
Crystal Lake, IL
Jan
Crystal Lake,Illinois,
U.S.A.
The way things work
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, February 15, 2007
Dear Trent,
This is what I understand from your report. You applied for a Money Now Loan (MNL). Acceptance of a MNL application is based almost entirely on your credit record. What criteria the bank uses are not disclosed to anyone at Jackson Hewitt.
When a MNL application is denied by the bank, your application automatically becomes a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) request, as stated in your paperwork. Acceptance is based entirely on whether or not the IRS informs the bank that there is a debt indicator on the account. If there is, the bank cannot make a loan based on the refund, as it does not know if any of the refund is forthcoming. Debt indicators come from several sources, and include unpaid child support, unpaid alimony, and delinquent student loans, among others.
The forms you signed when you applied for the loan clearly state that, if the RAL application is declined, the request automatically becomes an Assisted Refund (AR) request. That means that, when and if the IRS sends a refund, it will go to the bank where it will be split among the Jackson Hewitt tax preparation fees, the bank charge of $29.95, and you. You will not be charged the interest amount that would have applied to the RAL had it been approved, but the bank service charge still applies.
All bank services involve fees -- some banks charge you just to talk to a teller. With the bank products you applied for, the bank receives your refund, issues Jackson payment of their fees, and sends you the amount your agreed to either as a loan or as the rest of your refund. The fee for these services is $29.95, and it is clearly spelled out in your paperwork.
The fee is the bank's fee, not Jackson Hewitt's fee. Being a CPA and not a banker, I have no idea if it is high, low, or anything in between. I just know that it is what it is, and that it was disclosed to you.
That said, I can only imagine how frustrating it has to have been for you to need this money, get denied for the MNL, then get denied for the RAL, then have to wait 8-15 until the IRS actually sent your refund to the bank. It's strange that you didn't know about the unpaid child support, but I'm sure mail doesn't always catch up from old addresses.
It sounds like Casey might have been more sympathetic to your situation. Unfortunately, there is nothing he could have done about the bank fee.
You are right about reading the documents you sign -- that is good advice for any transaction. I go over every important point with our clients, including every fee and what happens when the bank declines a loan application, and I ensure that all of my employees do the same, before the loan is applied for. It's important to us that there be none of the kinds of misunderstandings that you have experienced.
Sincerely,
Jan
Crystal Lake, IL
Jan
Crystal Lake,Illinois,
U.S.A.
The way things work
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, February 15, 2007
Dear Trent,
This is what I understand from your report. You applied for a Money Now Loan (MNL). Acceptance of a MNL application is based almost entirely on your credit record. What criteria the bank uses are not disclosed to anyone at Jackson Hewitt.
When a MNL application is denied by the bank, your application automatically becomes a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) request, as stated in your paperwork. Acceptance is based entirely on whether or not the IRS informs the bank that there is a debt indicator on the account. If there is, the bank cannot make a loan based on the refund, as it does not know if any of the refund is forthcoming. Debt indicators come from several sources, and include unpaid child support, unpaid alimony, and delinquent student loans, among others.
The forms you signed when you applied for the loan clearly state that, if the RAL application is declined, the request automatically becomes an Assisted Refund (AR) request. That means that, when and if the IRS sends a refund, it will go to the bank where it will be split among the Jackson Hewitt tax preparation fees, the bank charge of $29.95, and you. You will not be charged the interest amount that would have applied to the RAL had it been approved, but the bank service charge still applies.
All bank services involve fees -- some banks charge you just to talk to a teller. With the bank products you applied for, the bank receives your refund, issues Jackson payment of their fees, and sends you the amount your agreed to either as a loan or as the rest of your refund. The fee for these services is $29.95, and it is clearly spelled out in your paperwork.
The fee is the bank's fee, not Jackson Hewitt's fee. Being a CPA and not a banker, I have no idea if it is high, low, or anything in between. I just know that it is what it is, and that it was disclosed to you.
That said, I can only imagine how frustrating it has to have been for you to need this money, get denied for the MNL, then get denied for the RAL, then have to wait 8-15 until the IRS actually sent your refund to the bank. It's strange that you didn't know about the unpaid child support, but I'm sure mail doesn't always catch up from old addresses.
It sounds like Casey might have been more sympathetic to your situation. Unfortunately, there is nothing he could have done about the bank fee.
You are right about reading the documents you sign -- that is good advice for any transaction. I go over every important point with our clients, including every fee and what happens when the bank declines a loan application, and I ensure that all of my employees do the same, before the loan is applied for. It's important to us that there be none of the kinds of misunderstandings that you have experienced.
Sincerely,
Jan
Crystal Lake, IL
Tj
Kellyville,Oklahoma,
U.S.A.
Jackson Hewitt Not At Fault
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, February 15, 2007
If you didn't pay any money out of your pocket at the time that you filed your taxes THEN you did recieve a loan. That is the ONLY possible way Jackson Hewitt will let you take the fees out of your refund directly. You recieved what is called an Assisted Refund which usually arrives in 8-15 days BUT you have a Federal debt(which is what deliquent Child Support is called) and due to that there is going to be a delay until they can figure out how much of your funds they wish to garnish.
It was YOUR responsibility to inform the tax preparer that you had deliquent child support because without that information he couldn't give you an accurate estimate on how fast you would recieve your money.
Furthermore, the 29.95 is a bank charge that Jackson Hewitt has NOTHING to do with. the papers you signed for your Money Now Loan from the BANK means that you authorized that charge and have no one to shed the responsibility off of.
The Jackson Hewitt employee should not of informed you that the tax preparation fees where all that you would have to pay, but he may of only been talking about the fees Jackson Hewitt THEMSELVES charge you. anytime you wish to apply for a loan with a bank through JH then you are also having to pay the bank and it goes out of JHs hands.
You are right, however, in saying that you should read every paper that a JH employee hands you to sign. Tax preparation is a very important aspect of life and it is ultimately YOUR responsibility if everything is done correctly even if you are paying someone else. Next time check over the papers like any responsible adult would do and maybe you won't have such a problem.
Tj
Kellyville,Oklahoma,
U.S.A.
Jackson Hewitt Not At Fault
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, February 15, 2007
If you didn't pay any money out of your pocket at the time that you filed your taxes THEN you did recieve a loan. That is the ONLY possible way Jackson Hewitt will let you take the fees out of your refund directly. You recieved what is called an Assisted Refund which usually arrives in 8-15 days BUT you have a Federal debt(which is what deliquent Child Support is called) and due to that there is going to be a delay until they can figure out how much of your funds they wish to garnish.
It was YOUR responsibility to inform the tax preparer that you had deliquent child support because without that information he couldn't give you an accurate estimate on how fast you would recieve your money.
Furthermore, the 29.95 is a bank charge that Jackson Hewitt has NOTHING to do with. the papers you signed for your Money Now Loan from the BANK means that you authorized that charge and have no one to shed the responsibility off of.
The Jackson Hewitt employee should not of informed you that the tax preparation fees where all that you would have to pay, but he may of only been talking about the fees Jackson Hewitt THEMSELVES charge you. anytime you wish to apply for a loan with a bank through JH then you are also having to pay the bank and it goes out of JHs hands.
You are right, however, in saying that you should read every paper that a JH employee hands you to sign. Tax preparation is a very important aspect of life and it is ultimately YOUR responsibility if everything is done correctly even if you are paying someone else. Next time check over the papers like any responsible adult would do and maybe you won't have such a problem.