COMPLAINT: Jean Lonergan, Fishers, Ind.

"My husband and I hired R. Joseph Stark CPA to prepare and electronically submit our federal and state taxes. On March 23, we reviewed our prepared tax forms from Mr. Stark and, per his request, signed to have them electronically submitted by his office."

"We were informed we'd have our refund direct deposited in about two weeks. We waited for the refund and on May 7, we contacted the IRS and Mr. Stark and found out our taxes had not been electronically sent from his office.

"Mr. Stark failed to submit them by April 15 as required by law. Had we not followed up with the IRS, this error wouldn't have been identified by Mr. Stark.

"We paid $300 for this service. We feel he didn't fulfill his obligation in a timely manner."

DESIRED RESOLUTION: "We want our $300 payment returned."

RESPONSE: R. Joseph Stark, CPA

"The member called me on May 7 and left a voice mail telling me that they had yet to receive their refund. I immediately researched the situation and discovered that we did not properly transmit their return electronically.

"I left them a voice mail that afternoon and stated that I was sincerely sorry for the mishap and that it would be transmitted as soon as possible."

"The return was transmitted the next morning, May 8. I met with them that morning and wrote them a check for the interest lost on their refund for the delay.

"I told them that the $300 they paid me would not be refunded, as I prepared the return accordingly and had two meetings with them about the return, along with the time and effort to prepare it.

"I've been involved in preparing their individual returns for approximately 15 years without any problems."

"In summary, it's unfortunate this isolated error has grown to this level. I take issue with many of their complaints, especially asking for the $300 refund, as their return was actually prepared by me."

STATUS: Stalemate