ComplaintsforHomePay, Provided by Breedlove

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In Q2 of 2022 I hired HomePay, a payroll service to handle payroll for a domestic employee who I share with another family. Both of us agreed to utilize their service. I am now facing a fine of more than $200 from the government of ************* because of HomePay's failure to pay a tax on time for Q4 of 2022. HomePay is insisting the failure occurred before I hired them. The ** website and the DC government confirm the underpayment occurred in Q4 2022, after which I had hired the company. All I am asking is that the company pay the fine, and accept responsibility. The company is refusing. I am trying to determine my rights under the law for this issue. It's not an huge amount of money, but the principle is a big one. I'm sick of tech companies getting away with this kind of brazen misconduct. I pay $45 monthly for their service, so I have spent more than $800 since hiring HomePay to avoid problems like this. The Terms of Use for the company is not clear on how to resolve such issues when there is a billing dispute with a tax entity. The company only replied to me when I published a negative ****** review.

  Business response

  11/15/2023

  Thanks for reaching out to us about this, and it was nice speaking to you to come up with a plan that met your needs. Were very sorry this matter has dragged on and impacted your experience with our service - this isnt the norm. 

  To recap what occurred, you joined our service in July with tax accounts that you had used in the past. Before we could file returns on your behalf, your prior provider needed to release themselves of their ***** of ******** so that we could represent you on your tax accounts, which took about 6 weeks. Additionally, after they released their POA, we needed to work with the state in order to reactivate the tax accounts, as they will not accept tax returns filed under a closed account. Unfortunately, the state tax account offices are very behind, so it took them several more weeks to reactivate those tax accounts. As soon as the tax accounts were reactivated by the state, we immediately filed your tax returns, but unfortunately by that time the Q1, Q2,and Q3 tax filing deadlines had passed.

  Since the tax returns were filed after the filing deadline,the state assessed penalties and interest. Were happy to report that we got both the Q1 and Q2 penalties waived, and there are no additional costs associated with those late returns! However, the state is refusing to waive the Q3 penalties and interest. Since the late filing was not due to an error in our tax processing, we are unable to cover the penalties and interest for you.There were no penalties assessed for Q4, as that tax return was filed timely.

  However, as we discussed, weve collected the Q3 penalty amount and remitted it on your behalf, so going forward you can feel confident that this will not be an issue again. Now that your tax accounts have been reactivated, well be able to file everything timely and avoid penalties and interest on all tax returns going forward. We apologize for the time and effort you had to put into this issue - as a courtesy, we are happy we could cover your service fee for the inconvenience. If you ever receive any additional notices, please continue to send these our way so we can research and assist with resolving these matters directly on your behalf. Thanks again for your patience as we worked through this with you, and we look forward to continuing to work with you!

• Initial Complaint

  03/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Hired Care.com/Homepay to support my Nanny payments and tax filing. I paid homepay $150 is membership fees to have them record paystubs, track taxes, and file them, so that my employee would have a W2 form for year end. After 5 weeks, the employment was terminated and I closed the Homepay account, and hired a new nanny through a new payroll provider. Homepay charged me for Federal taxes of $66.30 paid Sept 9th, but did not keep any paystub or tax filing records. Nor did they send a W2 to my employee at year end. When I asked to close my accounts, Homepay did not tell me the steps I needed to take in order to transition accounts properly; they gave no caution or clarification of what closing the account would mean to my employee and me. In October, while working to correctly file for the 2nd employee, it came to our attention that the previous quarter (1st employee) was not filed. I called Homepay to get the documentation and they insisted, "we thought the new provider was going to manage the tax return, we didn't keep the records. We assumed you would tell them the employee information." (Again, I did not employ this nanny past the 5 weeks while using Homepay, so I had no reason to transition the documentation). From July employment, to October questioning, Homepay deleted all records of my employee. They did not wait for my confirmation, they did not wait for the close of the quarter or year so that I could accurately track the taxes owed to the Federal and ***************** It is going to cost me $158 to have the new provider remedy the issue in hindsight to correct the tax documentation so that my 1st employee can complete her tax return for 2022.

  Customer response

  03/06/2023

  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.
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  01/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I inactivated my account and asked for my account to be closed. I was told that I would no longer pay any service fees, but I was still charged service fees for the 4th quarter because my account hadn't been closed despite me asking for my account to be closed.

  Business response

  01/26/2023

  We appreciate our clients feedback and are continuously looking to improve our service. We pride ourselves on being transparent with our fees from the onset and throughout the lifespan of an account. We know that the effectiveness and clarity of our communication is integral in achieving such. We also stand behind our fees and the work we do to ensure our clientscompliance with federal and state guidelines.
  
  We alert our clients at several points when they are inactivating their employee that their account remains open and advise them to close their account if they are not planning to rehire. These alerts include a pop-up message displayed at the moment the client inactivates their employee and an email sent seconds after confirming the inactivation of the employee,reiterating the account is still open, and explaining well continue to charge our service fee to file tax returns to ensure compliance with state laws as long as the account remains open. Each of these alerts includes steps a client can take to close their account. Additionally, we send an email prior to the end of each quarter letting our clients know their account is active and that service fees for that quarter are forthcoming.
  
  Many of our clients choose to add additional employees after they have inactivated another employee on their payroll, even if they werent expecting to need to, so we never make the assumption to close their tax accounts without confirmation.
  
  We reached out directly to this client in hopes of better understanding their concerns and to ask if they had any ideas or suggestions for how we could potentially improve or make our communication even better. 

  Customer response

  01/26/2023

  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. They have promised me a refund. F I receive the refund then the resolution is satisfactory. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  HomePay does not alert clients that if they have not hired a nanny, they should inactivate their Home Pay account promptly in order to avoid fees charged by HomePay to file taxes for phantom nannies and a tax return for phantom services. This is a predatory business practice and it should be stopped. Other clients have complained about it to the BBB and still the BBB gives Home Pay an A+ rating?! I hired a nanny who worked for me through 6/13/22, and then she left. I told home pay that she left and they continued to charge me for filing taxes for her and me for 6 months, 2 quarters. They said that it was because my account with them is open so they are legally obligated to file a tax return for me. They charged me for quarter 3, and I told them that I had no nanny and that they should stop filing taxes. They never said explicitly that they would keep charging me fees and filing tax returns even though I had no nanny if my account was left open. I finally decided to close my account with them after arguing with them on October 3, ******************************************** to file a tax return even though I had no nanny and had told them so. They said it was because I inactivated my account after quarter 3 had started. I have an accountant and so to pay him and Home Pay simultaneously to file my taxes is unfair. BBB please help clients to avoid being fleeced by the fuzzy language that Home Pay uses to communicate this predatory practice. I am a medical doctor who read their FAQS page carefully and still it was never made clear to me that if I had no nanny, for whatever reason, I should inactivate my account until I had hired another one in order to avoid these phantom fees. The language is tricky and fuzzy and it has fooled many clients. BBB, at this point, in my view, you are complicit in this scam if you dont intervene.Thank you for your attention!

  Business response

  01/11/2023

  We appreciate your feedback as we are always looking at ways to iterate and improve our product. We take a lot of pride in providing transparent prices to our clients from the very beginning and clear communication is a big part of that, which we believe was delivered to you. Below is a summary of our previous communications related to our billing and account closure process.  

  
  In Late May, you emailed our team that you would not have any further employees. At that time, you still had an active employee on your account with payroll. The next day, we replied to provide you with instructions on how you could inactivate your employee from payroll and close your account with us. A copy of this email has been attached.

  
  In early June, you inactivated your final employee via our website. On the page where you inactivated your employee, we alerted you of your account status with the following message - Your account is currently open, and well continue to file returns for you and charge our fees. If you plan to rehire, you can add them under the Employee tab. You can manage your account status on the Home tab.  Additionally, after you clicked submit, you received a pop up that you had to click through which said Your employee is inactivated and your account is open. Well continue filing and billing you for required tax returns to keep you in compliance. Lastly, we sent you a confirmation email on the very same day to confirm that your employee was inactivated and to remind you that your account was still active and open. A copy of this email has been attached. In that email, we explained that while your account was open, that we would continue to file tax returns on your behalf and, therefore, you would continue to be billed service fees. We also told you where you could change your account status to closed.

  
  Many of our clients choose to add additional employees after they have inactivated another employee on their payroll, even if they werent expecting to need another employee, so we never make the assumption to close their tax accounts without confirmation. We try to be transparent with this by alerting you of your account status and providing instructions on how to close at every step of the way. If your HomePay account is open, then so are your state tax accounts. And when your tax accounts are open, the state expects a tax return every single quarter - even if its to report that there were $0 in wages. If a tax return is not filed, your account will become delinquent and the state will start assessing penalties. 
  
  Again, we really strive to be transparent about our process and any upcoming fees. You referenced and attached a copy of our FAQ to this complaint, and the second bullet addresses your situation where tax returns are filed while your account is open. Ive provided below:
  Why am I being billed for the billing period when I no longer have an employee? 
  We bill in arrears, so the service fee you are being billed for is for the billing period that has just ended. If you had an employee, we must report the employees wages, which is why a service fee is being assessed. If you did not have an employee but left your account open with the intention of adding a new employee, we filed a tax return on your behalf showing no taxes due. If you are no longer planning to hire a new employee, you can close your account through your online account.

  
  In addition to the emails referenced above, we sent you email updates about upcoming taxes and fees in June, July, August, September and October. We always alert our clients of any upcoming fees and taxes before the tax or billing period has ended, and again right before the tax or service fee is collected. That way, our clients have time to reach out to us to change payroll, ask questions, or even adjust their account status prior to any tax filing or billing collection.

  
  When you closed your account in October of 2022, we sent a confirmation email the very same day to confirm the change and to proactively explain the fees that would be debited from you in January - these fees were to file your Quarter 4 2022 tax returns, close out your tax accounts with the state, and prepare your year-end paperwork. Since we had already entered into the 4th quarter, a tax return needed to be filed and, therefore, we would bill for that tax filing. As stated previously, we always email clients prior to a tax collection or billing, so we also emailed you in December to alert you that tax returns were about to be filed and that youd be billed. We emailed you again in January letting you know of the exact debit details. 

  
  We are sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with closing your account, but we hope you can see that we have been very proactive in keeping this conversation open with you until the very end. Additionally, you and your employees will retain indefinite access to your online accounts, even now that your account is closed, so you can always access your payroll and tax documents when needed. And, of course, you can also reach out to us if you ever need any further assistance with your account. If you have any other suggestions on how we can be more transparent on our fees - we will always take feedback.
  
  

  
  

  Customer response

  01/12/2023

  Complaint: 18683243
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  HomePay needs to clearly tell customers that when they inactivate their employee in the HomePay system they should ALSO inactivate their HomePay account until they hire a new nanny so that HomePay doesnt file taxes for a nonexistent employee. That is clear communication. The email that you have attached does NOT state that. In my view, telling the client that if their account remains open HomePay will continue to file taxes for them is NOT transparent. It is tricky. Clarity would entail one of the following:

  1.  Adding a sentence that says that Home Pay is legally obligated to file a tax return for any client whose account is open. Therefore, until the client hires a new employee, they should inactivate their employee AND their HomePay account so as to avoid being charged for a tax return. Reactivating the account can be done with a click of a button.

  2. And/Or HomePay should send an email reminder BEFORE each quarter reminding the client that the account is open, and that although they have no active employee HomePay will file a tax return for them and their phantom employee.

  I have more that 50 emails from HomePay dating back to before 12/2020. They are all automated and have tricky language that does NOT clarify this point. Furthermore, the email response from HomePay below attempts to vilify me and make it appear as if I am inattentive. That is not the case. Home Pay needs to clarify this point. Many other clients have complained about this practice.
  Regards,

  **************;
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  10/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had created an account with Care.com paying only for 3 months and did not want to continue service with care.com after the employee hired through care.com stopped providing care for our children due to the employees personal reasons. I spoke with someone by phone stating that we no longer have an employee with care.com and I did not want any further services with care.com including the tax service. The rep that I spoke with stated that tax's were being filed soon after starting 4th quarter and attempted to persuade me in using tax service but I declined. After making it abundantly clear I wanted no further services, 554 dollars were withdrawn form my account to pay the employee for hours she had not worked since quitting with us. I had to call me bank to dispute it and care.com was advised to work it out with the former employee after the employee stated she never received the funds. I was reimbursed the money by my bank and the dispute has been resolved on my end. Care.com is now attempting to charge me 175 dollars for taxes that I had already stated I am declining. I do not want any further charges from care.com and I am not paying 175 dollars for employer/employee tax service that I stated more than once "I do not want the tax service.". I am willing to pay 75$ for the month of september as homepay did take care of the paycheck service when I had an employee at that time.

  Business response

  11/03/2022

  We were able to resolve the complaint directly. The client informed us that they will be withdrawing the complaint.

  Customer response

  11/03/2022

  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. I spoke with a representative named ***** that was willing to meet me part way in coming to an agreement. He also took the time to express his understanding in my frustration with the misunderstanding. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ************************* *******

• Initial Complaint

  10/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I hired a nanny in Q4 2021 and signed up for HomePay for payroll services. The nanny did not work out and ended up working for only 2 weeks. After that I promptly deactivated the nanny as an employee in my HomePay account. I was told by HomePay I would be charged in Q1 2022 for year-end filing and thus needed to keep my account open. An email from them in November did mention I would need to close the account by end of Q1 to avoid getting subsequent charges. Of course it is easy for customers to forget about this. As the charges were withdrawn from my bank, rather than my credit card, they went unnoticed for 3 quarters, results in 3 charges of $135, for a total of $405 in fees after I had no active employees to file anything for.HomePay places the blame on the customer, but it is clear they've set up dark patterns to lure customers into this trap. They could have easily given an option to close the account after the year-end taxes are filed, so that customers would not have to remember to go do it; they could remind customers that have 0 active employees that deactivating is not enough to avoid charges; and really closing the account shouldn't be necessary, as there should be an option to cancel the service (i.e. stopping filing of forms) while still retaining the account for historical records.Even though there was no marginal cost to HomePay for filing empty forms on my behalf, and it was clear they understood the situation and that this happens to many customers, they refused any sort of refund for the fees. It is very poor business practice on their part.

  Business response

  11/04/2022

  We resolved this complaint directly with the client. The client informed us they would withdraw the complaint.

  Customer response

  11/06/2022

  Complaint: 18296997
  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:
  

   

  It is absolutely false - the company has not reached out to me at all, no resolution was reached, and I never promised to close the complaint with the BBB. It looks like the company is continuing to use its tactic of hoping customers ignore their email.

  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  11/11/2022

  After this response, we spoke with this member and addressed their concerns. We were told they would withdrawal the complaint. 

  Customer response

  11/15/2022

  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.
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Unfortunately, home pay never confirmed the Nanny was in fact hired by our family. They instead automatically paid her 2 paychecks resulting in over ***** with no additional security steps on their part. We were new to their services and did not realize this was going to happen without notice. The first check came out of our account, and the second check was paid by Homepay. (Again, without confirmation) The Nanny will not return the funds deposited to her account and Homepay is trying to collect the funds they paid. It is imperative Homepay changes their payment rules and regulations as this is a mistake on their part. lt should NOT be the responsibility of the family. We hope to resolve this issue and not escalate as it is pretty clear Homepay was at fault for their lack of communication, and poor follow through.

  Business response

  02/22/2022

  Complaint ID #: 16192799

   

  When this account was set up, the employees start date was listed as 10/14/21. We sent several emails to ensure the payroll process was clear. For example, on 10/15/21 we emailed ***** to let him know the first direct deposit would be for the pay period ending 10/22/21, to be paid on 10/29/21, and to make changes or contact us by 12 PM CST on 10/26/21. HomePay also sends follow-up reminder emails every Monday with the amount to be debited from the client account in order to pay their employee, again with the deadline reminder to contact us if changes should be made. This went out on as scheduled and we did not hear back.

   

  Unfortunately, when HomePay debited the clients account for the scheduled pay, there were not sufficient funds available and the transactions failed. HomePay paid their employee with our own funds so they did not miss their pay day, and in the meantime followed-up with the client, and re-tried the debit. We recouped our funds, but another payroll passed. This time, we were able to debit the employer account and pay the employee. It was after the pay date that we received communication that this employee should not have been paid at all. As a result, we offered to issue a reversal out of the employees account and back to the client bank account, but this reversal failed as the employee did not have sufficient funds in their bank account by that time. Upon further review of the account, Im happy to report that it appears that we havent seen any other issues and payroll continues to process smoothly and without issue.

   

  Sincerely,

   

  Cat Karwick

• Initial Complaint

  10/01/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My grandfather hired me to be his home health aid so my mother and I opened Homepay/care.com accounts. Today I received payment and an email stating Homepay/care.com took it upon themselves to enter my hours and wages and take money from my grandfathers account and directly deposited it into my account without permission from my mother or grandfather. When I called and confronted them and told them I will call the police for elder abuse and theft I was told I was no longer allowed to contact the company and they didnt have to fix the issue or explain how it happened, I dont even have access to my account to view the paystub. We want both accounts deleted from Homepay/care.com and the money refunded to my grandfathers account immediately or the police will be contacted and they will be reported for elder abuse and theft. They were not given permission to enter my hours or withdraw money from any account and directly deposit it into mine. Fraud, theft, and above all elder abuse.

  Business response

  02/22/2022

  Prior to the HomePay account being activated, our team had unfortunately already received several calls from ************** in a violent manner. Because we take account security so strongly, we informed her that we were unable to allow her to make any account changes under the primary contacts account, and that only her mother (the primary contact) would be allowed to do so. As a caregiver, we can only allow caregivers to make changes to their own online portal, not to their employers or anyone elses. After 5 instances of verbally abusive calls to our team demanding we make changes for her, we reached out to her mother to explain the situation, and that we would no longer be accepting calls from ************** directly. Her mother agreed and apologized for the disrespectful behavior. We took that opportunity to explain again how the payroll process works, and if no actions are taken after our reminder emails are sent out to the primary contact, our system approves whatever hours had been entered into their account as the standard rate of pay. This way, employers and their primary contacts do not have to take action every week unless their employees or caregivers hours change. Upon the primary contacts request later that afternoon, we deleted her HomePay account for her at no charge. This client was not billed any HomePay fees from start to end and we were happy to resolve this matter with her amicably.

   

  Sincerely,

   

  Cat Karwick

  Customer response

  02/22/2022

  Complaint: 15924944
  
  I am rejecting this response because: This complaint was months ago, and this company provides false information and provokes customers to react in such a rude manner. This matter has been settled but this company cannot be trusted and they can and will steal from our elders. Look at their reviews I am not the only one who has stated these facts. 
  
  Regards,
  
  Ashden *****

*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. ↩