http://irs.gov has a relatively clean and bright home page with lots of topics readily apparent to the casual observer. A pleasant-looking man says, "I'm waiting for my refund" as are many of us, so I click there.
A three-step process appears. How nice, straightforward, clear. Except...warning...
"Please DO NOT CALL our toll-free number unless 'Where's My Refund?' specifically indicates that you should." And above that warning, another curious item - "Keep in mind that IRS telephone assistors will not be able to provide additional information." Good thing I found that, given that I have to keep it in mind.
Look around...aha. Step 3 is "Where's My Refund?" Got it.
Below that...hmm..."IRS toll free hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time." Awkward phrasing, and worse, there is no number provided. No phone number anywhere on the page. Well, let's try working through the process.
- Check 72 hours after you e-file - no problem. It's been a week and a half.
- You need: SSN, filing status and EXACT refund amount - no problem.
- Get your REFUND STATUS [a link] at "Where's My Refund?" [A graphic link]
Wonderful news. My refund hit the bank two days ago. Except, not so much...the bank knows nothing about it. "Please wait until that date to contact us again because we cannot take any action until then. Thank you for your patience." Someone is thanking ME for patience? That's a nice thought...and again, no phone number nor evidence of a link to same. The "Refund Help" gives me much, much more information than I could imagine needing about how to deal with the form I've already finished. Okay, let's back up.
Back at the home page, there's a menu at the top with "Contact IRS." This sounds promising. One of the options on the resulting page is "Contact Us for Status of Your Refund," which likewise sounds promising. Click...
ARRGH, we're back at the 3-step process page. Back to the home page, and back to "Contact IRS." Oh, there's a note BELOW "Contact Us for Status of Your Refund" stating "Want to check on the status of your refund? You can check online with the Where's My Refund application, or call 1-800-829-4477. (Please wait at least four weeks before calling.)" This is the first time that "Where's My Refund" has not had a question mark.
I somehow don't think waiting for four weeks is going to help with whether or not the bank should have my refund, so I dial the number. I go through one minute of information including the cryptic "We will update our systems with the new information very soon." Then I go through an automated process almost exactly the same as "Where's My Refund?" and learn...yes...that processing of my return is complete, it was delayed (for which they apologize) and the refund should be in the bank...two days ago. I am also advised not to contact them before that date, which doesn't seem like it will be a problem.
I finally, after three calls, locate a mechanism by which I can wait for an operator to assist me. The current hold time is 10 to 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I discovered that while I had not been invited to a meeting, my attendance was required in two minutes, so I had to break out of the queue and attend to business.
The phone tree one must traverse to actually speak to a human being is quite challenging, and to avoid any further annoyance to the IRS than this faithful report already provides, I will not go through the procedure. Suffice it to say that one must score correctly on five different levels of automated responses, enter nothing for the sixth and then resist the temptation to press 1 to indicate that you owe the IRS money. This is when you are told how long the current hold time is; my time to this point was 4 minutes and 37 seconds. Once on hold, you are provided with suggestions that you take your question to the IRS Web site, and of course that their representatives are helping other customers.
Please believe me when I say that the attendant who answered my phone call (at 33 minutes, 12 seconds after the connection began) was extremely pleasant, gracious to a fault and very patient with me having violated several procedural steps to make my inquiry.
The problem - this year's program is malfunctioning. The automated systems are giving out incorrect information and the IRS is experiencing processing delays with bank deposits. She suggested that I wait until the week of March 12th to call back and see whether or not further information was available about when the deposit would be made; she also complimented me on submitting a tax return with no errors.
