Ameriprise Financial
Reviews and Complaints

Ameriprise Financial in Warren, NJ was recommended to me by my former colleague at work. The advisor I dealt with seemed honest and trustworthy and that convinced me to open an account at Ameriprise and transferred my 401K and pension funds which were at that time earning about 30% and 5% respectively at GSK. I opened the Ameriprise account in December 2013 (believing that this Ameriprise advisor can do better) and entrusted him the management of the account indicating to him that my goal was to grow the 401K for my kids. He created 3 subaccounts, annuity/insurance (funded by the pension fund plus about 1/3 of the 401K [why?], with pension deferred for 2 years [why?]) and 2 separate stock portfolios (funded by the balance of the 401K). Then my nightmares started. He was investing in mutual funds with the highest front loads and highest expense ratio; he was buying and selling mutual funds which are intended for long term investment; only 6 out of twelve mutual funds were hardly earning; he invested in depressed Europe stocks all of which were consistently giving negative results. By October 2014, after 10 months with Ameriprise, my account was diving downward loosing significantly in a bullish market that is over 10% high. I did not feel or see that my funds were being managed with my interest in his mind. By November 2014, I decided to close all accounts before the damage become unmanageable. It was a costly account closure with over $30, 000 penalty in one sub account alone plus fees and other charges. One more thing, he never highlighted to me the fees being charged on the account, over $500 each month plus the annual fee of $750. It was a very costly experience for me. The lesson here is to avoid Ameriprise financial advisor/broker and perhaps other brokers too as they work for fees and commissions in buying and selling stocks! Personally manage your portfolio so you can sleep at night!

On 8-2-2013 I was involved in a four car collision and the at- fault driver took full responsibility for the accident, however he had minimum coverage. I decided to use (my insurance) Ameriprise to cover my damages and was harassed, treated unfairly in addition threaten. The passengers in my vehicle were my daughter (20 yrs.) as well as my two grandsons (19 months and 9 months). I submitted my claim, I was first asked then it became a demand by two Ameriprise representatives on two different occasions to provide proof of auto insurance for my daughter. I informed both reps (on two different occasions) that my daughter does not have auto insurance due to the fact that she does not drive nor does she own a vehicle, thought this was over. Several weeks later I received a voice mail from Ameriprise Rep Jill, stating “since you failed to provide your daughter’s insurance information she will be added to your policy.” (Saved the voice mail) I decided to call a friend at Allstate Insurance to inquire about this. I was told that Ameriprise had no right to add my daughter to my policy under these circumstances. I contacted Ameriprise (spoke to Karen) and requested their decision to add another person to my policy in writing. Karen's response was “We have your daughter listed as the driver and your last name is different on the report." I asked her if she has a copy of the report, (I was placed on hold) she said yes. She confirmed that I was listed as the driver. Then I informed her that there was a supplemental report which contains my correct last name. I thought that was the end of that.I then got a letter dated 10-16-2013 stating that my policy has been revised due to a driver change. I contacted Ameriprise once again and spoke to Rep Jessie (Female). I requested an explanation of the driver change. Her response was “We need proof of where your daughter resides in order to remove her from your policy." I told Jessie “It clearly states on the police report where my daughter resides as well as where I reside. She did acknowledge that she in fact saw the addresses on the police report. However, she still insisted that I send proof of my daughter's residence and proceeded to tell me when they receive it, it will take three days to process. I responded “I hope once you guys receive this information that will be the end of this harassment, I have two terminally ill family members to take care of and I don’t have time for all this." Silly me I thought this was the end of the unprofessional service, I was wrong.I faxed my daughter's lease agreement on 10-21-2013 at 09:17 and received a confirmation page. A few days later I got a threatening as well as unjust letter from Amerprise Vice President, Client Service Carol Kammin, stating that they will withdraw a one-time payment of $1071.29 from my account and proceeded to threaten me "If your premium is denied by your financial institution, you will receive a premium notice for the full balance of your policy premium." She gave no reason for the increase in my premium.
On 10-28-2013 I called Ameriprise spoke to a Rep Jessie (male). I explained to him all the issues I was having with Ameriprise and requested to speak with a manager; however I got a Supervisor Laura. Supervisor Laura explanation for the request of my daughter's proof of residence was due to the fact that my daughter had a fender- bender with my vehicle in 2011. I was still perplexed. I asked what does that have to do with this accident? I was the driver and I was not at fault? At the end of the useless conversation, I agreed to resend my daughter's lease in addition the confirmation page of the first fax. On 10-29-2013 I faxed my daughter's lease agreement once again and contacted them to confirm that they received the fax, which they did. I thought this would be the end of the nonsense, but no there is more.
I got a call on 10-15-2013 (at around 09:54) from Benita; she stated “I need a signed affidavit stating that you would not allow your daughter to drive your car.” I thought for a minute I was having a nightmare. I asked her, “On what grounds are you requesting this signed affidavit?” She stated, “We need this in order to remove your daughter from your policy.” I told her to put that in writing and send it to me, we confirmed my email. I am still waiting for that email.

DO NOT BUY THIS INSURANCE THAT IS SOLD THROUGH COSTCO.
DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER YOU ARE VICTIM OR INSURED YOU WILL GET SCREWED. YES THIS IS THE SAME COMPANY THAT WE BAILED OUT IN 2008 and THEY STILL CONINUE SCREWING US AMERICANS! DON'T LET THEM GET YOU! READ BELOW STORY:
I was involved in an auto accident last September 2011. This lady ran a red light while I was making a left turn. I was 90+ percent into my turn when she hit me.

Immediately Ameriprise wanted to ding me 15% because they say I should have had eyes behind my head and swerved to miss their insured and hit the pickup truck that was to the immediate left of me. Not only did they ding me but they also screwed their own insured by giving her an "old sweaty three year old car". They wouldn't replace her NEW Toyota! The agents you deal with are "RUDE" and "UNPROFESSIONAL". Their agents can't even spell their name correctly! That's the Calibre of personnel you are dealing with.

First off (1) Do not give them ANY information over the phone or written communication especially if you are the victim because they will use it against you. Only say something like "their insured hit me" and keep repeating that. (2) get an attorney especially if you are the victim because they will not settle with you unless you do.

One more thing if your buy from this insurance the $450.00 savings they say they will save you on the Costco website will wind up costing you a lot more. What they do not tell you is that your $450 savings will turn into an expense for you because they will NOT listen to you and pay out. They will save you $450 by discounting what they pay out to the victim and put the $450 in their general fund.

In other words this insured will wind up paying me $2000.00 through our court system because they would not protect their

I set up my son in a CESA a few years ago. At the time we were told that there was no minimum monthly investment due to the fact that it was a qualified educational savings account. However, recently we started noticing fees for the quarters there was no activity. We decided that due to the fact that this supposed pollicy had changed, gave an order to sell our shares and close the account. Three weeks after our request to close our account they finally sent a check that was 20% less than what the closing amount was.

Watch out for Ameriprise Financial Company!

Ameriprise will lie to you to get a contract such as Variable Life Insurance, Annuities.

In my case, before I signed the Variable Life Insurance and Annuity contracts I asked/confirmed the Ameriprise financial advisor if I could cancel these contracts at ANY time, WITHOUT ANY fees/WITHOUT ANY penalties.
But Ameriprise charged a surrender fee $3139 when I cancelled the Variable Life Insurance (within 10 years of the contract signed).
I think this is FRAUD.

Watch out for Ameriprise Financial Company and be careful if you sign a contract.

We had noticed that Ameriprise Financials ( previously American Express ) had begun charging a monthly fee to our small brokerage account. After loosing so much in the stock market, we were fed up with the whole thing and decided to cash out and close the account. It is bad enough that Ameriprise charged $19 ( plus another $4.50 - under some other pretext ) for each 'sale' transaction .. but what really gets me is that they charged $100.00 to close the account ! Since WHEN do companies get to charge you if you stay open ( and are inactive ) and charge you for CLOSING an account ? I feel robed.
Is there someone we can complain to ? is this not illegal ? Am I looking at a potential class action lawsuit ?
Btw. I am planning to cancel all my Amex cards as well ... that is the last $$ they made off of me :)

The company prides itself of being number one in Variable Universal Life insurance (VUL) sales in the U.S. The fact of the matter is that very few people actually should buy that product. For the few ones that qualify it s a good investment. The main reason of this article is to expose Ameriprise on the fact that even though the market is down and all investment s are down, IF the client files a complaint, Ameriprise will refund their initial investment. Think about it, now you can get out of a product such as a VUL without surrender fees and get all or most of your money back. This company has so many issues with regulators that they are willing to reimburse you. Take advantage of this, if you have a VUL and your disposable investable income per month is less that $3000, call Ameriprise compliance, file a complaint, tell them the polciy is not "suitable" to your needs and maintain that position, within 6 months you'll get most or all of your invested money refunded.
Thank me later

Sam L. Thornal II an agent for Ameriprise Financial in Addison Texas advertises himself as a "financial advisor" and someone who is helpful for recent divorcees. What Sam does is sell Insurance under the cover of "Financial Advice." He is NOT a financial advisor although he has all the documents stating he is.

Sam looked at my income and current financial situation and suggested I invest in a $500K VUL policy and put 20K of my life earnings into a Fund of Funds. The VUL policy is loaded with fees Sam NEVER disclosed and I foolishly signed up for it trusting his advice. I make $60, 000 before taxes and he had me putting $500.00 of my bring home into the VUL. Sam and Ameriprise were taking at least half of that money in fees and getting rich on it while I became poorer every day. The Fund of Funds account is supposed to be a fund whose content is a collection of mutual funds managed by some expert him and his collaborators at Ameriprise and Riversource have absolute confidence in. Turns out it was a regular FRONT LOADED Fund which he did not disclose at the time of my signing up for it.

Summary:
ONE account, Sam Thornal put me in this account where I pay $120.00-year just to have what any bank gives away for free...checking, online banking, atm, drafts, etc. You have to set this account up or he will not do business with you.

VUL policy: about half of my monthly dues went to Sam Thornal. "VUL's are for people who make more than $250K-year" ( Warren Buffet ) Mutual

Funds: The setup paid Sam Thornal a fat commission and left me holding 2-3's or what I originally invested, since he received his commission up front.

Fees: Sam Thornal charges an escalating fee which he negotiates originally but then raises annually without any notice. He drafts the money directly from the ONE account he insisted on setting up.

Prymaid Scheme: Sam gives his customers discounts if they can bring in their friends. It is how I ended up in his office and let him earn my trust as he used my best friend to sell his services to me. By the time I figured out what had happened, 2 years went by and I lost my nest egg to Sam Thornal who turned from "nice guy" to a lawyer pulling paperwork out from years ago and telling me that I signed up for it and everything is "LEGAL"

The concepts of "TRUST", "ADVISOR", "AGENT THAT ACTS ON YOUR BEHALF" are all alien to Sam Thornal. He is a liar and is nothing more than an Insurance Salesman operating under the cover of Financial Advisor. He's a predator that takes advantage of the uneducated, recently divorced and others who are venerable.

PLEASE LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE, AVOID Sam Thornal II in Addison TX, he is a liar and a cheat and will take your money. I filed a complaint with Sam Thornal's manager who was more interested in taking the fees Sam charged me if he was going to deal with me. I filed a formal complaint with Ameriprise, let's see if they say or do anything.

My husband and I wanted to close his IRA with Ameriprise and transfer part of the money to an IRA at our bank and the rest to an IRA at another brokerage.

We gave them specific instructions, and even wrote on the forms that the transfer to the bank was to take place first and only after that was the remainder to be sent to the other brokerage firm.

Ameriprise ignored our instructions and sent the entire amount to the brokerage firm and nothing to the bank.

They apparently cannot follow simple instructions (we even numbered them 1 and 2).

They made no attempt to contact us about any problem, just did what was apparently easiest for them regardless of our request.