Some Wayward Stimulus Checks Are Now In The Right Hands, But Many People Still Waiting For Payments

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A week later, and problems persist with stimulus checks. Viewers flooded CBS 2's inbox with tales of woe, and while many viewers happily report their money is in the bank, Morning Insider Lauren Victory digs into why some of you still have long faces and no checks.

Working mom Melissa Defries has a lot on her plate in Tinley Park. Her daughter is learning remotely, so she had to switch around her work schedule, and that's not the only complication.

"Car issues and, you know, now my vehicle is starting to act up, and that's the only way I can get to work," she said.

Her $1,200 in stimulus money -- $600 for Defries and an additional $600 for her child – would ease her stress, but her tax preparer, Jackson Hewitt, said the payment might not arrive until Feb. 1.

"Never a good time when things wanna go wrong," she said.

Defries shared an email from Jackson Hewitt, saying "we are extremely disappointed" in the IRS.

A Jackson Hewitt spokesperson said the company proposed stimulus money mistakenly sent by the IRS to temporary customer accounts be released to its banking partner for distribution. The feds apparently rejected that idea.

Meantime, eight days after she first spoke to CBS 2 about her own stimulus check woes, Deann Smith, of Gary, Indiana, is still wondering what does she do?

The IRS payment tracker shows her stimulus check going to an account she closed last year Meantime, that account shows it sent the money back to IRS. So where is it?

"It's in limbo, but I'm still prayerful that something would happen," Smith said.

On the flipside, Robert Sosin is giving thanks after finally getting his stimulus money, which originally went to the wrong account.

"I would've never found it," Sosin said. "I'm very happy, and you guys helped me."

Last week, CBS 2 asked the company that handles his government benefits for help. Comerica Bank came through, locating his stimulus money in an account he'd opened in Las Vegas years ago.

"It's a little weird," he said.

He wasn't smiling when he first spoke to CBS 2, but he is now that he has his money in hand.

So is TurboTax customer Liz, who wrote in an email to us "one less thing to worry about."

Many viewers who use H&R Block also have reported receiving their money over the weekend, after the company was flooded with complaints when millions of stimulus checks wound up in the tax preparer's hands instead of those of their customers.

We've called the IRS media line more times than we can count regarding the problems with stimulus checks being sent to the wrong accounts. So far, no one has responded to our questions.

A news release posted on Monday said the IRS "regrets the inconvenience" to taxpayers impacted by money sent to temporary accounts, and promises to "reissue payments."