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The good, the bad, and the ugly - discover what customers are saying about Sterling Trust

Welcome to our customer reviews and complaints page for Sterling Trust. We understand that making informed decisions about where to invest your time and money can be challenging, which is why we've created this platform for our community to share their honest feedback about their experiences with Sterling Trust.

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4:10 pm EDT

Sterling Trust Fees way too high....bad service

I am a cpa, cfp, clu, and have been in the financial services for over 20 years. i have a thriving financial advisory business|.

i do not make it a habit to complain about companies|. sterling trust charges unreasonably high fees to custody assets?. i am extremely disappointed with their poor customer service!. they are slow move asset out, and quick to reject transfer forms/. their staff are rude.. They charged me over $400 to convert my roth ira from a traditional ira, and $135 to transfer my account out:.

this company preys on customer assets...fees them to death...then fees them on the way out.

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SoBay Investor
Los Angeles, US
Jan 17, 2013 11:45 am EST

IRA roll over by an untrustworthy financial advisor Meagan Phelps in Santa Monica into Sterling Trust has left my money hostage subject to the suspect business practices of Sterling Trust. When a REIT supervised by Sterling Trust required me to place it in a brokerage account, I filed paperwork to transfer all REIT funds into a brokerage with TIAA-CREF who placed it in Pershing LLC. Neither TIAA CREF nor Pershing has any record of the investments as of January 17, 2017 - 2 and a half months later. Calling Sterling to clarify, the representative with Sterling blamed a computer system error as to why she couldn't find my account. After a lengthy time on hold, she was surprised that I wanted to move my accounts and told me about the various fees I would incur to handle such transactions. I suspect that if I leave my investments here I will be a victim of fraud. Bad communications, questionable technology support, and unprofessional account services make Sterling Trust a BAD investment choice.

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5:42 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Sterling Trust high fees, poor service

i run a mid-sized financial advisory business, and have used Sterling Trust to custody some IRA asset for my clients. i have never complained about a company before...but feel compelled to do so now.

sterlings' customer service is abysmal, and their fees are unapologetically high. furthermore they make it expensive, and painful to fire them.

Once i made the decision to transfer my assets away from them, they were slow to acknowledge the paperwork, and quick to levy a battery of fees that are more than double the industry norm. the customer service reps are rude and uncooperative. routine transactions such a roth conversion carried hefty fees approaching $400.

do not ever choose this company as a business partner...you will regret it.

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Rufusbob
West End, US
Jun 18, 2011 2:54 am EDT

After being involved with Sterling Trust since 2007 as the Third Party Administrator for a small business 401k, I agree 100% with "Smokester's" comments about their extremely poor customer service.

I cannot address their fees, etc in the event of a transfer away from Sterling.

What power does Sterling Trust have to levy and collect fees when a client wants to transfer away? What's involved in the transfer process?

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3:39 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Sterling Trust Customer service

Consider my experience with Sterling Trust (privately owned by Equity Trust and the Richard Desich family)

Been associated with Sterling Trust for over 8 years in the capacity of agent for multiple self directed precious metals IRA's.

I manage several precious metals IRA accounts ranging from $60, 000 to $2M in value.

Sterling Trust was at one time owned by United Western Bancorp, Inc. and is now owned by Equity Trust.

Sterling Trust is best described as a massive failure in communication.

Whether one is a client or an agent one should expect total disregard for the customer.

Over the years I cannot count the number of times that my principals' transactions have been completely ignored by Sterling employees. Want to find a manager who cares so as to rectify any given problem? Not going to happen. The incompetent underlings have full discretion regarding if and when to escalate your concern to higher management which means your concerns, by default, are never heard.

Here is a recent email I sent to the executive assistant to the Desich family that controls Sterling Trust:

Sharon,

My name is SC. I manage the self-directed precious metals IRA's for several principals' assets held by Sterling Trust/Fidelitrade.

The current problems regard Sterling Trust account number XXXXX in the name of JC.

On February 14, 2011 an agreement was struck to sell (a bullion dealer) five silver bars for around $xxxK. As of March 3rd 2011 no transaction has been reflected at Sterling Trust. This transaction requires no shipping of bars due to this being an internal transfer within DDSC.

On 2/5/11 I called Sterling to check this transaction's status and was told that the cash balance would be posted on Monday to reflect that the $xxxK has been credited to J's account.

Monday came and went with no credit to the account. I called Sterling on Tuesday to find out what is going on only to be put on hold for a total of 45 minutes with no explanation of what exactly the problem is. At this time I requested the audience of the most superior of management and was told that this was impossible at this point. Was told that Chaneeka Moore would watch the situation and get back with me. No communication from Chaneeka as of this email.

To date I have been told that Fidelitrade has not processed the transaction but no explanation has been provided as to why Sterling is requiring its customers to light a fire under Sterling to expedite these transactions.

On November 2nd an identical situation occurred but it took one month to resolve because I(the agent) erroneously believed that Sterling would not allow a transaction to be in limbo indefinitely. I now understand that if I do not become a seriously screeching wheel that all transactions will remain un-executed and blamed upon Fidelitrade.

The transaction occurring on January 12, 2011 was finalized within one week because I involved upper management at (a bullion dealer) in the previous transaction.

My expectations are that transactions are to be completed in no more than one week and without me calling Sterling Trust everyday to "remind" them to do their job. Furthermore, when I get the idea that the lower echelon customer service people are not interested in solving my principals' problem then said problem needs to be escalated to an individual that does have an interest in solving the problem. As it is, Sterling Trust has exhibited no interest in solving the problem of excessive transaction times or even adequately explaining why there are excessive delays. Don't you think that allowing lower level customer service(cs) staff the discretion to not escalate cs problems to upper management will produce the outcome of improper or no escalation of customer service problems as has been the case here?

Sterling Trust's behavior has spooked all of my principles to the point where they are preparing to move their accounts out of Sterling Trust. Since no satisfaction is forthcoming from Sterling I am requesting the audience of Richard Desich so that he may know what is going on. I fear that Richard may have no idea how bad the communication problem has gotten at Sterling due to the fact that Sterling will not reveal supervisor names in order to escalate customer service problems.

In my attempt to escalate this issue to an actual problem solver I have requested to speak with Jeff Kelly( Sterling COO?) several days ago. I was told that this could not happen because customer service problems must go up a "chain of command".

I would like a response from Richard addressing this issue. I need to know what Richard's position is regarding all of this so that I can better inform my principals. As an agent I have a fiduciary responsibility to my principals in making certain that they are operating with the most accurate information available so that they can make the most informed decisions possible. Lack of communication and transactional indifference leading to excessive transaction delays on the part of Sterling Trust staff has made being a customer a nightmare to say the least. Please have Richard inform me as to what my expectations should be going forward regarding all of this so that I may relay said expectations to my principals.

Thank you for your effort in this manner,

SC

As of 3/5/11 I have not heard a thing regarding this matter. If history is an indication of what will happen then all of my questions and concerns will be completely ignored. My principals are making plans to extract themselves from Sterling Trust as a direct result of the incompetence and indifference experienced throughout these several years.

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Very Duped Customer
New York, US
Jul 28, 2016 5:05 am EDT

When I started a couple years back they charged $100 a year to hold your gold, now they charge $255 including $30 in order for you to receive paper statements.

Does anyone know a good company that does not take advantage of their customers as far as they can through them?

Thank you very much.

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Frustrated and angry customer
Orem, US
Jan 10, 2012 8:01 pm EST

This happened to me last year when I tried to close my IRA precious metal account and take possession of the coins. I was told I could do so and that it would be $135 to close the account. I had about $270 in the account at the time. I waited for it all to be done when I received a request for $200 in order to close the acct. They had taken out the annual maintenance and storage fee of $200, when I know I sent the request on time to avoid that. So, I let it go.

Now I am waiting again for the closing of the acct. Sending a request Dec. 16, 2011 I waited until Dec. 28 and called to see what was going on as I needed to close the account before the end of the year . The woman was very nice and found that my request was on the bottom of a pile and she put it up for immediate attention. On Dec. 29 I received an email stating that the request would be "sent" that day or the next.

I then checked the first of the year and found I have zero balance in the account - so I guess they closed it, but wasn't sure what happened. I received an email on Jan 6, stating they had completed my request on Dec. 16, 2011. No, there was still money in my account on Dec. 28.

So now I am waiting. I have seen no charges for the closing of the account (as there was only $71 in it when I sent the request) or the charges for shipping of the coins on my credit card. I've just sent off another email. What a pitiful company - corrupt, inept, uncaring, and totally unprofessional.

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PatchB
Poolville, US
Jan 05, 2012 6:01 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I know exactly what you mean. I have been stuck with these "people" for years and get nothing but total frustration and loss of a great deal of MONEY. They lie knowing that I know they are lying. It seems like its just fun for them! I tried to close my account with them but I can't even accomplish that!
My last experience with Sterling was with a distribution sent to them from my IRA account in August of 2011. Now it is January 2012 and after six phone calls in which they told me the check WAS mailed...nothing ! I know, with experience, that they are holding the distribution just to collect the annual fee, which is illegal, but WHO in their organization is forcing these clerks to do things that they know is illegal. The CEO, CFO, or some low level VP who only gets his bonus based on how much theft he can accumulate each year ?
People think that our problems are the Economy or Health Care...NO...its Companies like Sterling Trust with their Corporate Mentality! Reminds me of the last group we couldn't communicate with in Waco Texas.
God Help Us

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CK!
Waco, US
Nov 16, 2011 3:38 pm EST

I used to work at Sterling Trust Company...I know exactly how they operate and I'm so sorry you had to deal with that! Your complaint certainly does not surprise me as their customer service is terrible; managment is worse! If you google Sterling Trust Company, there are many complaints and [redacted]s. Do NOT trust this company and I advise you to move your assets away from Sterling Trust Company ASAP!

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