Complaint Review: Designated Driver Alternative - Marietta Georgia

Ok, Mike Rhyne, co-founder of one of our competitors called Safe Ride, I see you are still up to the same old tricks of posting false information about me and our company while trying to remain anonymous. Why don't you put your name on these false reports you are posting? Perhaps it is because you are afraid people will google you and see that you have been arrested twice for driving safe ride customers around with an expired license and expired registration (verified on Fulton County Inmates website). Or maybe you are afraid that some of the people that paid you cash in exchange for community service hours might come forward and report you to the authorities, as I'm sure you are aware is highly illegal activity. You want names? I have them! I am not an accountant and obviously you are not either based on some of your false observations, which is why we pay an accountant to file our tax returns and make sure we are legal and legitimate. However, I will address some of you false statements. 

First, we filed 2010 and 2011 tax returns before we ever received notification that there was a problem with a missing tax return, so that is your first lie. We actually received notification not long after we filed the returns and quickly took the appropriate steps to remedy the problem. What was the problem? The IRS automated 3 year revocation computerized systems were looking for a $0 tax return for 2008 and did not find one. The reason they did not find one was that we filed for 501(c)(3) non-profit status in August of 2008 and were not approved until August of 2009, so we were not operating and not approved yet in 2008, so we did not file a return. We actually did not start operations until January of 2010, so our first tax returns we filed were for 2010 and 2011, which we were told by the IRS would get us current, but that information turned out to be incorrect. I talked to the IRS personally and explained what happened, and while they were apologetic, they said they could not reverse what the computers had done and restore the non-profit status until we filed form 1023 (I think that was the form number) and paid another $850, which we did promptly. The good news of this whole mix up was that we would not have to go back and file $0 tax returns for 2008 and 2009, and that the 501(c)(3) status would be restored back to the date it was revoked, so it would be as if it never happened. So, you are really making a great big deal out of nothing. If you read the paragraph on the IRS website in one of your screen shots, you will see that companies will remain on the list even after their status is fully restored. I already pointed that out to you, but you chose to ignore that info. 

Our accountant reports all our income as verified by bank statements and Quickbooks online, which automatically downloads all activity each day and then each transaction is allocated to the appropriate tax category. The accountant is fully aware of everything we do and personally guarantees each return, so I certainly trust his expertise and experience more that your deceptive comments and obvious lack of knowledge. 

As far as salaries, yes I did work for 2 years to build the business without taking a salary. I drove most every night to make money and build the business and received some company paid benefits (not salary) that assisted with living expenses, which were included as personal income on my personal tax returns (all legal). I have paid several thousand dollars in taxes the last year. Just this month I finally set up myself and one employee with modest salaries, well under the $50,000 + that you pay yourself and several other company employees. The primary reason for the salary is to pay personal taxes each week instead of having to come up with a lump some at the end of the year. This is all done through Quickbooks Payroll and is 100% guaranteed to be legal and legitimate with payroll taxes, federal income tax, state income tax, social security and medicare paid each month. So once again, you have no knowledge of anything you are saying and posting and are just making it up as you go. 

And concerning 1099's for independent contractors, we only issue 1099's to independent contractors that receive $600 or more in income from the company as legally required. Since our driver teams keep 80% of what they collect, as they should since they are doing most all of the work and using their personal vehicles, they receive very little payment directly from the company. They agree when they apply and understand that it is their responsibility to report the income they receive to the IRS. Your company's structure is very different as you have the drivers come in at 4, 5 or even 6am to stand in line to give you all the money they collected, so you can count it all and give them back a small percentage like 20-30%. This is probably why you can't keep drivers and have to rely heavily on community service volunteers, mostly who have been convicted of dui or drug charges, to drive your customers. 

Regarding the board of directors, we originally had 7, but most became inactive as they did not have time to commit since they had a full time job already or were looking for full time employment. So, I removed all of them with their approval or request and have set up new directors more directly involved with our designated driver service, which is our main focus now. 

I'm not going to address most of the other nonsense, as I think I have made my point that you are either grossly misinformed or are speculating or lying. Trying to tear down our business is nothing new to you, as I have blocked your from our facebook and youtube pages after seeing your lies posted. The fact that you try to remain anonymous on all these posts and even us the name DanglinNads on youtube is further proof that you have plenty to hide and are quite jealous and envious of our service. Both myself and my director of operations used to work for you, so we are well aware of your deceptive tactics and bad reputation. Our reputation is awesome and we plan to do everything within our power to keep it that way. The fact that we are doing way more rides that your company after only 2 years, when you have been in business over 10 years, confirms that. As I stated before, if you would spend more time building your business instead of trying to tear down competitors, you might be able to save your struggling business. No one likes a sore loser, so buck up and focus on your own business.