In October I was listening to a radio advertisement regarding tax problem resolution services. The company (Tax Lifeboat) was advertising a "100% Money back guarantee" if they could not help me or I decided to not continue the use of their services. I ended up calling them and speaking to a salesman (of course) who assured me that the fee ($2200 after I negotiated with them) would be completely refunded if I terminated their services or they were unable to help me. Having had some experience with these companies I proceeded with caution to the extent that I asked to speak to the CEO who again assured me that if they could not help me I would receive a 100% refund.
I decided to review their contract, which also had a 100% refund clause and subsequently paid them $2200 to see if they could help me with my IRS tax problem.in May the case worker I was working with determined I qualified for an "offer in Compromise (OIC)" with the IRS. I was then handed off to another "salesman" who proceeded to set the stage (pre sales speech) for another $8900 they would require to proceed with the OIC. He told me that other companies would be charging in excess of $25,000 for the same service, which I knew not to be the case. He said the amount was not negotiable.
I happened to have successfully submitted and negotiated one myself about 10 years ago so i knew from experience what is involved and what the process would be. I also had researched other companies that provide this service and found that fees ranged from $499 on the low side to $6,000 to $8,000 on the high side (all inclusive). I was so put off by the whole new fee thing that I decided to terminate the contract with Tax Lifeboat and request my "100% guaranteed refund".
After several e-mails and no responses I decided to send a certified letter requesting the refund to the CEO. I received a phone call immediately after they received the letter from the "salesman" and the case worker saying they wanted to make me happy and trying to negotiate the $8900 fee initially to $2500 and then to no additional fee at all. They just didn't want to refund me the $2200. I told them I would think about it and get back to them in a few days as I was travelling when they called.
At that point I had decided to submit the offer myself both because of the bad experience I had regarding the additional fees and the fact that my case is complicated and I thought I could do a better job of explaining everything to an IRS case worker. When I again asked for my refund I ended up getting an e-mail from someone claiming to be the CEO (not the CEO I spoke to initially). The e-mail had mis-spelled words, awful grammer and sentences that didn't make any sense).in it the person claimed that I had received services for my fee and that Tax Lifeboat would not be refunding me any money.
I responded and gave them one more chance to honor their advertised refund policy but received no response from them so I've decided to file complaints with the BBB, on line services like this one and any other consumer protection services available to me. If I don't get the refund after filing the complaints I will file a civil claim in small claims court agains the company.
In the e-mail from the "CEO" I was also threatened (see her words below - verbatim):
Per you outlined, steps you would take to get a refund, you are entitled to do whatever you think is best for your situation, as are we. Just please keep in mind we have copies of all correspondence via email and document submittal regarding your case and your correspondence as we proceeded with it, as well with IRS Contact documentation on their end. We are very proficient with service contracts and outlining in writing what you are paying for. We value our company reputation, and take dis - heartening words very seriously. We havent been in the business for 7 years, by not providing what services we have collected for, and again we take any claims or words of slander to the extent of the law.
She is referring to my certified letter where I indicated I would file complaints and a small claims lawsuit if they didn't honor their contract. BTW, their contract specifically states I can cancel the contract and request a refund and nowhere does it say the "fee" is for services outlined in the contract.
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