Form 1099-MISC problem - I absolutely hate this ...

I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate this. Have you ever tried to contact a big company to ask a question or complain about their products/services and you were referred to their FAQ, or Forum or Message Board or something similar? This has become the norm these days. You cannot pick-up the phone or e-mail them directly, because you cannot find their appropriate phone number or e-mail address anywhere. These big companies very carefully guard their direct contact info. Everything is indirect. And these discussion forums are a nuisance as far as I am concerned. A bunch of stupids who have nothing else to do sit there all day and jump to answer your question -- most of the time either not to the point or what they tell you is totally incorrect!

If you use the Internet, I am sure you understood what I mean. The case in point today is Google. I decided to use their own platform to express my dissatisfaction. Hey, I have freedom of speech. So let me use it.

I have a few websites and I run Google AdSense ads on them and earn pocket change from Google. The income is ridiculously low - just pennies per click. Whatever it is, I have to report the income to IRS and Google sends me Form 1099-MISC in the beginning of each calender year stating how much they paid me in the preceeding calender year. This is an IRS requirement and Google reports my income to IRS also.

This year, for some reason, I did not receive the above stated Form 1099-MISC from Google (probably it got lost in the mail) and so I cannot complete my tax return. Normally, in such instances, one can always request the payer for a duplicate copy. So I thought of contacting Google and ask for a duplicate copy. And that is when the problem started. How can I contact Google? What is the phone number to use? What e-mail address should I use to contact their appropriate depatment? I searched and searched, couldn't find anything. The best e-mail address I found was for AdSense Support. So I sent them an e-mail requesting a duplicate Form 1099-MISC or for a link where I can view Form 1099-MISC online and print it out (a more or less standard practice these days).

What a big help I got! The reply starts with: "This message was sent from a notification-only email address that does not accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message." Then it continues as follows:

"We noticed that you may have contacted us without first visiting our HelpCenter: https://www.google.com/adsense/support?sourceid=nhcar. To receive faster responses to your questions, we encourage you to visit our helpresources -- they're full of instant, reliable answers to many commonquestions and issues.

I can't log in to my account.
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=8430&sourceid=tx&subid=nhcar&medium=em

I can't see ads on my website.
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=8439&sourceid=tx&subid=nhcar&medium=em

I haven't received a PIN or payment yet.
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=136&sourceid=tx&subid=nhcar&medium=em

My application was disapproved.
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81904&sourceid=asos&subid=ww-ww-em-hc&medium=em.

Or, get application approval tips at
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=75109&sourceid=asos&subid=ww-ww-em-hc&medium=em

If your issue isn't covered in the links above, we suggest you search or browse our online help resources listed below:-

AdSense Help Center: Our most comprehensive source for answers to commonquestions.
https://www.google.com/adsense/support?sourceid=asos&subid=ww-ww-em-hc&medium=em.

- AdSense Help Forum: Share questions and knowledge with other AdSensepublishers. AdSense team representatives also contribute to discussions and provide help.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense?hl=en&utm_source=asos&utm_campaign=ww-ww-em-hc&utm_medium=em.

- Inside AdSense blog: Learn the latest AdSense news, tips, and updates --browse by label, search, or subscribe to receive updates via email or feed.
http://adsense.blogspot.com?utm_source=asos&utm_campaign=ww-ww-em-hc&utm_medium=em.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team"

Wow, I feel like a criminal. Without first checking ALL of these above mentioned places and reading hundreds of entries how dare I contact them for help??? Don't I know their time is much more important than mine?

But actually I am thinking instead of wasting their time and writing such a long message to me (I know these are their form letters - they just copy and paste), would it not have been much easier just to mail a duplicate Form 1099-MISC to me or send me the link where it is available online? I got my bank's Form 1099-INT online. Why can't the biggest Search Engine company in the world make it available online? Google has conquered the Web. They are expanding everyday - they have browsers, they have telephones (competition to iPhone), and what not? They are a GIANT COMPANY. But they do not want to help their customers!!!

I know I cannot fight with Google ... they are simply too big. But I can make my dissatisfaction known to the world through them! I am repeating the keyword Form 1099-MISC again and again on purpose. I know this entry will be indexed by Google today itself and it will show up in their search results for "Form 1099-MISC" latest by tomorrow. Anybody searching Form 1099-MISC will find this entry very easily and will read it! Paying back Google with their own coin!!

Lastly, I have myself figured out a way to get a duplicate Form 1099-MISC from Google without trying to contact them anymore. I shall call IRS (I have their phone number) and tell them the problem. They will call Google and ask Google to mail a duplicate Form 1099-MISC to me. How about that for a solution to my problem???

Shoban Sen
http://bestnetguru.com/