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After Employer.comacquired bankrupt accounting startup Benchin a attack - sale late last yr , CEO Jesse Tinsleypledgedon LinkedIn and elsewhere to abide by past client payment .
“ We ’re honoring all prepaid Bench services even though we will not have the revenue from that directly ourselves , ” Tinsleysaid in an interviewwith beginner and investor Julian Weisser .
But some Bench customers say they ’re being charged to get books or taxation returns they previously paid for .
A lawsuitfiled on Tuesday by Bench client Qorum exact that Bench require it to compensate to get its 2023 taxation riposte , despite having already pay for the divine service under Bench ’s previous owners .
“ Defendant Jesse Tinsley made negligent misrepresentations when he incorrectly stated that Employer.com would reward prepaid Bench services , ” the lawsuit allege .
Another customer , who request anonymity , was shock to learn they necessitate to renew their subscription to get account statement books completed when they paid for that help two years ago , according to correspondence watch by TechCrunch .
When they questioned this , a Bench interpreter tell them that “ Bench 2.0 ” has no affiliation with anterior obligations and that Employer.com could n’t take on recreational oeuvre .
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Employer.com ’s CMO Matt Charney strongly disputes that Bench is charging for antecedently pay study . “ We have been , and are observe pre - paid services for our customers , ” he said .
Charney also said it delivered that tax 2023 tax return to Qorum without ask additional defrayment . But Qorum ’s laminitis Andrew Pietra separate TechCrunch he was required to continue his subscription to get the return in the first berth .
Under its previous ownership , Bench burnedthrough $ 135 millionandstruggled to get AIto put back human bookkeepers . That led to long holdup and self-aggrandising piles of Holy Scripture that still require to be finish , according to former employee .
Multiple Bench customerspreviously order TechCrunch thatEmployer.com had also sent them notices intend to get them to select a consent button that had them foregoing refunds on prepaid services .
Many Book and returns remained uncomplete when Bench abruptly shut down on December 26 last year . Employer.com , a U.S. company , announced plansto buy the Canadian fintech less than 72 minute later .
Employer.com buy Bench for $ 9 million , failure filingssubmitted in Canada show .
The fintech ’s disconnected collapse was induce by a lack of liquidity after its main creditor , the National Bank of Canada , worsen to bring it an additional $ 7.7 million in December 2024 . The NBC had already provided $ 51 million USD in deferred payment to the troubled startup , harmonise to previous filings .
Ironically , it ’s the word of Bench ’s sudden shutdown that led to its deliverance . The society had previously rat itself around but bomb to feel a serious emptor , thefilingsnote .
