Complaint Review: Santa Barbara Tax Products Group - La Jolla California

I worked for SBTPG for a number of years. Back in December 2015 I was instructed by then immediate supervisor Kevin Scattergia to work in the shipping department. That was not job function or my request to work in the shipping department. My job title was custodian of records and I had plenty of work that needed completion. Nevertheless myself and a fellow co-worker were instructed to work in the shipping department. The day that we were instructed to work in the shipping the department was on a Friday. It should be noted, that I did not receive any training or warnings in regard how to conduct myself in the shipping department. It was briefly explained to me, what was required of me, while I was assisting the shipping department for the day. In the course of the few hours I was there I injured myself. However at the time I did not know this. After the hours that were demanded of my co-worker and myself were complete in the shipping department, we both returned to the building, where our actually workstations were. The rest of the day ws spent at my cubicle, performing my regular job duties. Later that Friday evening I started to feel pain in my lower back, neck and shoulder. On Monday morning I sent Kevin my immediate supervisor at the time an email. The email briefly stated that I had hurt myself working in the shipping department and would like to refrain from any job functions that were not in line with my job title. No response from Kevin regarding that email. After showing up for work a few weeks after the injury, with the pain, I decided to go to the doctor. When my doctor began his examination, he asked me when did I first recognize the pain, I gave him the date of December 18, 2015 and it happened while I was at work. He immediately stopped the examination adn informed me that this would be a worker's comp. claim, since it happened at work. So i go to work the next day and complete a claim form and submit it Human Resources. They of course provide me the information and authorization to see the company doctor. I visit the company doctor and after being examined I was informed that i would need physical therapy and it would be three times a week. So with this information and my prescribed medications I returned to work and submitting the information to HR and Kevin. Here is wher it gets unusually disrespectful. Now that Kevin has been informed of my condition and the doctor's reccommendation, it appears that this will cause a scheduling issue with the seasonal operations for the company. He sends me an email inquirying about my availability for the seasonal schedule. I in turn send him the doctor's reccomendation and my list of medications. Also I inform him that since I am taking the prescribed medication I am unable to operate my vehicle and I will probably be attending physical therapy during work hours. He responds with an argument that I have to work the schedule no one is is available. I gave him the same response regarding my condition and medication side effects. A day or two passes without incident from Kevin. On the third day he request that I follow him upstairs, I follow him and we have a seat in the company attorney's office. Brian was the company's attorneys name. Brian stated that I needed to work the seasonal schedule and if I would be so kind to sign an agreemennt taht stated, I will be on time, work the entire shift and if I was late or absent it would grounds for termination. I stated I had physical therapy and pain medications that I was taking that had side effects. Brian stated, that does not matter, either sign the paper or our relationship has ended. I refused to sign and wsa terminated on the spot. It has been hard for me. I settled a worker's comp claim, however I was ignorant to the laws and statute of time I had to file a complaint in order to recover damages for being terminated out of retaliation. So I am still in pain and the company has not reached out to remedy my financial situation, that should have never happened. 

Now you know my story. Here is probably some unfortunate taxpayer's story:

filed a return, used Turbotax and did not know SBTPG was a thrd party, that would receive your tax refund first and then disburse it. The refund was held, because it was suspicious or had some suspicious characteristics associated with it and that is why SBTPG refused to release it. Then the taxpayer has to submit documents to verify who they are and after that is done SBTPG still was reluctant or delayed the release of the refund. So you called everyday almost all day only to get the run around and possibly many different stories. The truth is the money was being held and SBTPG was probably making money off of the refund(with several other refunds that they were holding). While I worked there, the supervisors would give random answers as to why the refund was held, or why it hasn't been released or returned to the IRS. A lot of money was taken from taxpayers without their consent or knowledge under the guise of; Account handling fee, preparation fee, account research fee and forced bank printed check or re-disbursement fee. I wish I could put a stop to this, however it appears the IRS and federal regulators and auditors are all cool with how it goes down. So my $39.99 and possible $200 advice is: avoid SBTPG at all cost. Use the IRS website to file your return.

Former Risk Analyst/ Expert witnes / Customer Service Representative /Custodian of Records for SBBT and SBTPG xt 2816