poor customer service
I was laid off from my job and was informed that my 401k funds were going to remain in my Merrill Lynch retirement account until which time I could remove them, roll them over, or transfer them to another account. I do not know if Bank of America purchasing Merrill made a difference but somehow although I requested in writing to close the accout and cash out the account, half of the funds were rolled over into an IRRA. Fine. Until t he fees started kicking in. Hmm. I'm paying them for what? To hold my money? I can take the cash and put it in a savings account and MAKE money. So, I tried to call to hear my options with this account. It took FOREVER for them to locate my account and then they proceeded to sound confused when I asked about options. Really?! I called back today to inquire again although I was pretty sure I was going to close all accounts and reached the RUDEST rep on the phone. He too couldn't seem to locate my account. I gave him the account number, address, phone, spelled my name repeatedly and even offered the last four of social to verify. After trying to convince me that he wasn't trying to be difficult, he asked for my complete social. No. He asked again. I again said no, and offered additional info to verify my identity. He said without me giving my complete ss# over the phone he couldn't help me. What!? A company that prides itself on financial growth can't understand why I want to protect my indentity to some extent!. OMG. I ended the call extremely frustrated and anxious to cut all ties to this company. I guess I will try again tomorrow to find someone competent enough to help with this request. If you can avoid this company, in my opinion DO.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
refinance denied due to unfair practice
After 5 months of underwriting review, my refinancing loan was denied right before rate-lock expiration. Loan processor represented that the underwriter (an outsourced 3rd party company hired by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch mortgage) gave the following reasons: 1. Appraised value was too low ( in response, I submitted 4 additional sold comps to support the higher value to satisfy the LTV requirements) 2. W2 Income came from multiple sources thus only one employer income qualifies to calculate Income-to-Debt Ratio (in response, I showed 4 years of W2 income indicating the same income trends ) 3. Interest/dividend income cannot be included unless it is guaranteed for 3 years (in response, I showed 3 months of interest/dividends received and confirmation from brokerage firm that investments have a projected ROI, but no investment returns can be "guaranteed" for 3 years). Despite my efforts to provide all documentation, it appears that the bank has made a foregone decision not to honor the refinancing with the attractive interest rate offered 5 months ago. I believe the bank had to intention to close the deal and was finding excuses to deny. Is this legal, ethical?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
stupidity
Merrill Lynch sucks so bad it's impossible to fully describe
Years ago I had a brokerage with Merrill Lynch, and the broker was in Chicago very close to the action there. She was a Star, a broker with many large accounts. All she did for me was buy IPO's and flip them. Until one day she made a trade with my money without asking me first. She bought something I didn't want. When I asked her about that, she said, "You have to learn to trust me, I know what I'm doing". After taking a large loss on the trade, I closed my accounts with Merrill. I tried complaining to her boss and the company, and to the SEC, without any success at all. It wasn't worth hiring an attorney over. And it was discouraging when the Federal agency, the SEC, was so incompetent they couldn't help me enforce their own rules.
So years later, we opened an IRA at Bank of America. Little did we know that BofA was going to buy Merrill Lynch, but they did so. Suddenly we start getting a ton of ###, and yes I do mean ###, from Merrill Lynch saying they now were controlling our IRA. First it was called Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and now they changed the name of it to Merrill Edge. We started getting copies of statements from BOTH company names showing the balance of our IRA.
It was somewhat disconcerting to see how confused they are. So I called today and gave both the old account number and the new account number. Guess what? They asked, as part of a security question, "how much money is in your account". My answer was the amount listed on my statement. My answer was incorrect. After much discussion and proving who I was by answering many questions, it comes out that the account has ZERO funds in it.
I asked the individual on the phone, "Where did the money go". And he says, "He can't see that". I said, "Who can see that", he didn't know. So he put me on hold for almost 30 minutes and came back and said, "Someone would have to get back to me tomorrow". I mentioned how it says on the statement to call this number for 24 hour assistance, and he said, "Well, that doesn't mean we can tell you what happened to your account balance".
If you deal with Merrill Lynch and have had good experiences, well isn't that just jolly for you, but I will say you have been a very lucky person because Merrill Edge (or whatever the hell they are called now) is utterly incompetent.
A few minutes after this experience a Merrill representative called, apologized for the confusion and was able to explain that yes, of course, our funds were in the account. She gave me her name and extension. After I hung up, I realized how upset I was. Being told your IRA has zero fund in it, well, it made me surprisingly stressed. So I called back and tried to get the young woman who was so helpful, but she was gone or something. So I asked the young man to help me, and he said he'd be glad to and then ...he hung up on me. So I very calmly called back and spoke to another person, went through the entire identification thing again, answered all the questions, and explained to him nicely what was occurring. He said he would take the complaint and he did so, although I have to wonder if he really did take any complaint at all.
After a total of 2 1/2 hours trying to deal with Merrill Edge, I just want to go pull my hair out. What a nightmare! At least they have our money and didn't lose it all. I can only imagine if they'd been a real problem, trying to deal with this incompetence would be a nightmare. We are going to open a new account at a local brokerage where I can go in and speak with a real person, and transfer everything out of Merrill Edge.
Interestingly, I just got a response from Merrill Edge on this subject! Here it is cut and paste below. It was addressed to my wife, who's the owner of this account. And yet it says below, "As you are not specifically authorized on this account, we cannot provide specific details, but we can assure you that management will review the account and coach the associates involved."
Pretty amazing. They seem confused that even though my wife was logged into her account and we sent the complaint in her name from her account, they are still confused and think we are not "authorized on this account". These are some very seriously confused people.
Thank you for contacting Merrill Edge.
This message is to acknowledge and respond to your email received
12/4/10. In your message you expressed concern about the service you
have received when contacting us by phone.
We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with valuable feedback
concerning our customer service. We have reviewed the account and I have
brought this information to the attention of my management for further
consideration.
Merrill Edge sets high standards for customer service and we strive to
achieve those standards in every situation. I regret that this was not
your experience.
As you are not specifically authorized on this account, we cannot
provide specific details, but we can assure you that management will
review the account and coach the associates involved.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. As always, we
appreciate the opportunity to help you with your investment needs.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Dansereau
Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Oh and in response to the person above, I wanted to say that you wrote a nice note defending your mom and her work. But at the same time you admit that there is chaos at Merrill Edge. You talk about how over-worked your mom is, how stressed she is, and how others at the company do not care about their work nearly as much. You mentioned BofA's "crazy and stupid" (using your words) policies that BofA "thrusts" upon her.
I've had a huge amount of trouble with Merrill, and I've helped many older Americans who were having trouble with Merrill. The stories could go on for pages. I will continue to complain to people until Merrill actually starts treating it's customers with common sense and decency. A Google search for complaints against Merrill finds a lot. Me and the people I've helped are not alone in our experiences. Merrill Edge today is a chaotic company, as you said, trying to deal with the "crazy and stupid" policies thrust on them by BofA!
I wanted to add to my above statement that since then I've learned the SEC was probably the wrong entity to try and complain to. FINRA is perhaps a better entity to complain to at finra.org. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA’s mission is to protect America’s investors by making sure the securities industry operates fairly and honestly. All told, FINRA oversees nearly 4, 580 brokerage firms, about 162, 850 branch offices and approximately 630, 695 registered securities representatives. To file a complaint go here: http://www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/p118628
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Back in 1993, when I was only age 34 and knew NOTHING about investments compared to the knowledge I have now, I stupidly listened to my great aunt who referred me to a Merrill Lynch guy in Rockville, MD. I let this guy talk me into buying into a Nuveen fund. Two years or so later, I got a call one night around 8 PM from a Merrill Lynch guy who told me that he had taken the place of the guy I was dealing with. He also told me that he would NEVER have had me buy into that Nuveen fund which was basically only good for tax purposes, but which was not in any way meant to be part of a "growth" goal. I have to wonder what happened to the first guy since if he had any decency, he would have informed me that he was leaving the firm or perhaps, he was PUT OUT of there. Either way, that was IT for me at Merrill Lynch. Thankfully, an old boss of mine got me hooked up with Charles Schwab, and I've now been with "Chuck" for 25 years. No fees; no BS. I have a dedicated VP/Consultant that I deal with and life is da-n good. I would NEVER recommend Merrill Lynch under any circumstances. Here it is, two-and-a-half decades later, and I just read that ML has had the HIGHEST number of advisers fleeing the firm for greener pastures. Listen to this sound advice, people!
ML caught my eye back in the early 80's. I am so glad that my IRA is with AmericanCentury. My company allowed ML to handle employee 401k accounts and it was nothing short of a financial nightmare for account holders.
After retiring, I decided to move the 401k account out of ML. Everything you have read up to this point is still happening to account holders. I do not recommend trusting ML with anything more than giving you an ink pen to sign on the line to close your accounts.
They gave me the run-around for over 37 days. My funds were literally being held hostage, in my humble opinion. After threatening to sue, my funds mysteriously populated my transfer account. The sad part is that I wanted to leave the money with ML/BoA and keep it within a different retirement account, but after living the LIE I wanted nothing more than to get the hell away from ML.Now, BoA is a premier institution for my daily banking needs. Why would they allow ML the opportunity to scar customers?
Another thing...Please stop telling people what to do with thier money and using scare tactics disguised as sound advice to divert a person in walking away with CASH in HAND. A 401k is not the greatest retirement account by any means. It is a cheesy profit sharing tool used by companies.
Get to the part of the answer where you advise people to plant seeds financially and to not put all their eggs in one basket.
I have over 640k in my IRA with American Century. Early on, I played the money market and landed some great deals. I escaped loss two quarters in a row and decided to stop risking my 10k every 90 days. People...if you have $1.00 and the potential holder of your money does not treat you like you have millions...wonder why and walk away.
Retirement investing is a risky thing. Until you gather the right amount of eggs, you will do good to call your 401k a savings account with perks.
Never leave your retirement cash with the company you retired from (or left for whatever reason).
Please, please get that FOOL, Merrill of the air. How can you create great host like Rush and Hannity, then place a FOOL like Merrill on the air. It is an insult to the people of Arizona. Please do something, can't listen to KFYI from 4pm on.
Beware – Merrrill Edge Charges Exit Fee
After having my account at Merrill Edge for eleven years, I moved it to another brokerage. They charged me an exit fee of $49.95. This is unusual at a brokerage. Be aware of the fee before you open an account. They will charge you to close it.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, and that the EXACT similar scenario. Merrill Edge accidentally locked us out of our brokerage account, charged us immense fees, refused to provide any statements or transfer our liquid cash out. They threatened to sell our securities at market value, with their erroneous locking of our brokerage, and we are currently suing them for Breech of Fiduciary Duty, Securities fraud, deception, incompetence, Churning, bait and switch, breech of consumer protection act, all under federal and state laws federal securities laws. Also whatever the hell hole their name is Merrill Edge or Merrill Lynch - they are going down for causing us immense psychological suffering and no access to our money of which we desperately needed to survive on and for medical care. MERRILL EDGE IS THE WORST BROKER. DECEPTIVE, BREECH OF FIDUCIARY DUTIES, FRAUDULENT, INCOMPETENT, NEGLECTFUL, IMPROPER, DISHONEST, PREDATORY, ETC...
I wish I read this ten years ago.
Kind of sad when Bank of America rescued them But the bank has survived. One time before the rescue, the local ML branch managed to loose this little old lady's live savings. They looked out the window and saw a sheriff's deputy approaching the building with the usual hand full of papers. Turned out he was papering some other business in the building but the Murlies, darkened the office and locked the doors. They have one chow-hound who excels at taking vacations. The office keeps him under close supervision for whatever good that does.
Edge refused an international wire request to a relative then blocked my online account access said they were going to terminate business dealings with me so i had my bank/broker initiate transfer paperwork only to hav edge blovck saying account was on a hold!
it isn't their money! what right do they have for this?
i filed complaint against one manager for un professional/unethical actions guess this is their way of throwing a hissy fit
ill bury money in back yard before ever doing business with thesepricks again!
Merrill Lynch is the worst company to do business with.
their brokers only look to sell their clients the investments vehicles
that generate the highest commissions for them.
They never look out for their customers.
Merrill Lynch has been involved in almost every scandal on Wall Street
They paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines
without admitting any wrong doings.
The SEC should have put Meririll Lynch out of business
years ago. This has to be the worst brokerage frim in the world.
I received a form letter from Merrill Edge Pennington, NJ signed by **. At the end of the letter was the useless 800 number to Jacksonville, FL. So I did a bit of investigating and came up with [protected]. Dial that number, press 4 for the company directory. Then spell the person's last and first name. So, when you get an unhelpful response form letter signed by someone, Enter that person's name in the directory, get their phone number and 'reach out' to them!
BTW mtnandy; Did you actually read what you wrote? And I quote "They just screwed me out of $3, 300. Said that I bought more shares than I had money in my account for. " How did ML screw you when you bought something you couldn't pay for? Did you check your calculations when you placed the trade. Obviously you missed something. I know for a fact that if that were the case, it would have been researched and resolved because brokers take the SEC and FINRA very very seriously and these types of mistakes do not happen. Run the numbers again.
small customers are unable to speak to a human for service
Customer service number is [protected]. System is automated, but NONE of the options allow you to talk to a human. Many legitimate services for your brokerage accounts are unavailable through the automated system and you can't speak to a human to close your account and have a check sent with the proceeds.
The money goes in, but it never comes out. Stay away from Merrill Lynch Edge.
also there monthly statements are overly complicated for transactions, even worse than when it was just Banc of America Investments
scam
Since its untimely demise all areas of payment processing at Merrill is suffering. Since August 2008, I have incurred $200.00 in late fees as Merrill is now taking between 10-20 days to process payments. Payments mailed on the 14th of each much are not applied until well after the due date (21st) of each month. There managers play the blame game and really do nothing to acknowledge that they are beginning to have a payment processing issue.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
ruined my account
I am looking for advice or attorneys with experience in arbitration or litigation against a major investment broker who has purposefully not attended to my account, incurring extreme losses. I am a permanent resident in Australia and am an American citizen, and this case will probably have to be arbitrated in Denver, Colorado.
This broker has pointedly stated that he would not assist me as per our previous arrangements and has ignored my account to the point where charges have defrayed my positive balance into a negative and I am incurring margin charges besides my equities taking a massive beating.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My experience, exactly. Throughout this entire debacle I have not received any guidance, suggestions, insight support or guidelines. I asked very early on two questions: 1) which of the companies I am invested in are likely to be able to keep on doing business and pay their dividend? The only answer I got was " IBM has a very solid balance sheet and no debts". ( I didn't own IBM)
and 2) I asked which of my municipal bonds might be in danger of default, and again, the answer I got was very vague. I ended up researching some of them myself.
Kiplinger magazine stated in a article that if one's financial advisor was any good, his/her clients should never do as badly as the market. Well, I did as badly as the market ( even was not discouraged from selling out near the bottom ), and I am mad. I think a class action suit might be in order. But, like you, I am asking, where does one start?
the loan process was a nightmare that still haunts me
I have a perfect credit rating, well over 800 except for one problem. Four years ago I applied for a loan Thur Merrill Lynch, since this is the company that has all my money. The loan approval was easy....the loan process was a nightmare that still haunts me. The guy who first started my loan admitted after all the problems he had "dropped the ball" Oh...
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My mother has an IRA/ IRRA/ ROTH IRA account with so called Merrill Lynch / Edge. In mid-July 2012, my sister had texted me and mentioned to me about the account. When I had called Merrill Lynch the first time, I had spoken to an Ashley. She informed me of my mother’s account, how many shares were in her account and I had to fill out the Beneficiary Distribution Form. I attend UMBC and school began in late August. Once I got the swing of things with school, I decided to take care of everything in the beginning of September.
September 10 – I had sent in the death certificate and divorce papers. I had talked to Kevin, from the Ownership Transition Team, he had asked for mom’s social and he was able to look up her information.
September 15 – I spoke to a Paul, also from the Ownership Transition Team, and had informed me to fill out the IRA / IRRA / ROTH IRA / SEP SRA / Inherited IRA transfer instruction form.
Oct. 1 – I haven’t heard anything from Merrill Lynch. My financial advisor at the time hadn’t heard anything either.
Oct. 3 – My financial advisor informed me that my sister gets 50% and I get 50% from mom’s account.
Oct. 9 – I wanted to check the status of the account and was directed to someone in the Ownership Transition team. The Beneficiary distribution form I had submitted was checked “wrong” so I had to fax the Beneficiary Distribution Form again / resign and date. Once received, I was informed “the money can be transferred tomorrow.”
Oct. 10 – I was directed to the Ownership Transition team. They requested another copy of the death certificate and informed me stating that they can’t hold it. I sent the original copy back in 2010.
Oct. 17 – I was informed my account was ready.
Oct. 18 – I was informed that the money should be in my account by the end of next week. Merrill Lynch just had to make sure that the shares were divided evenly between me and my sister.
Oct. 23 – 10:40AM Lynn from Merrill edge called me and left a voicemail. I asked for the Ownership Transition Team and spoke to Ryan. He informs me that the death certificate is missing and I ‘accidentally’ checked two boxes on Section 5. How do I “accidentally” check two boxes when he was the one that guided me on how to fill out the form?
Nov. 5th – Still nothing. So much turn around. Not working. Sent in the Inherited IRA transfer instruction form before and was informed that I need to make an account with the type similar to how mom’s account is and I need to resend a new set of forms. Financial advisor mentioned to me that my mom has an IRA and I needed my account to be an inherited IRA to avoid tax. Need to just have the money mailed out by check to be deposited and used for school.
Nov. 8: I spoke to Anya and she mentioned that I need to go back to the Beneficiary Distribution Form. My sister already has an account with Merrill Lynch. I informed Anya that I’m asking for a distribution by check so I can use the money for school.
Nov. 26 – 12:34PM: First, the Beneficiary Distribution form was approved, but they have to go through the liquidation process. Told me I should have the distribution within a week / week and a half. I don’t understand why it even takes this long for the liquidation process?
Nov. 28 – 8:20AM: I was informed that a policy was just “put into effect ”, that the money cannot be distributed to me because it has to go into mom’s estate, which was closed back in 2010, and Merrill Lynch needs an updated from of Letter of Administration from court house. I was appointed Personal Representative back in April 2007.
Dec. 5: Had taken off from work to drive down to the courthouse in La Plata at exactly 8:30AM to get letter of administration. My sister met me there and we were done by 10AM. We call Merrill Lynch in the process to speak to this wonderful lady who was so very helpful at the Register of Wills office. Merrill claims that since mom’s account was set up the way that it was set up, neither me nor my sisters are beneficiaries on the account. We were informed that there are no beneficiaries on file. Dennis calls after we leave the court house and informs me to hold off on the Estate. I am beyond upset at this point. Informed me there was a similar case so they’re going to dispute this with Merrill Lynch.
Dec. 7TH: 12:30PM I call to find out the status about the dispute. I was informed that they lost and I need to go ahead and open the Estate – I have not opened up the Estate.
DEC. 10TH: Spoke to Dennis. Had to refax to him the beneficiary form and administration. Need to follow up this Wednesday – Dec. 12. Why do I have to refax everything AGAIN?
DEC. 11TH: Faxed beneficiary distribution form again, supplemental inventory paperwork in regards to the Estate & Letter of Administration. Spoke to Dennis and he said they should be fine WITHOUT the seal.
Dec. 12TH: Said there was confusion with the account. & they needed to see the raised seal on Letter of Administration. What? Should have told me that the first time! This is getting really annoying.
DEC. 17TH: 12:30PM They’re still waiting on the Legal Department to approve the testamentary to be able to “move forward” and be able to distribute the money.
DEC.19TH Alicia had left me a message from the Ownership Transition team. I return the call. I was still told that they need a Tax ID number and the SSN will not suffice. Why? I have no idea. Neither explanation nor reasonable cause was given to me. At this point, I'm beyond livid.
JAN.2013 - brand new year; I'm hoping for all this to be done and over with. Or so you'd think. An uninterested party informs me that the SSN number will not suffice due to the fact that my mother is deceased, hence why a Tax ID number is needed. Was it so hard for Merrill to say those words? Apparently it was.
This "organization" is so disorganized, I don't even know how to describe them anymore. The Ownership Transition Team has no idea what they're doing, they have no knowledge of what they're doing nor does anyone from that Team, and I believe in that organization, give a care if someone in your family dies or if you're trying to get the benefits. All they care about is money.
If you have the chance to get your money out, you should definitely do so. Inform your friends and your family, to spare yourself from the heartache and emotional distress that I have been put through for the past 6-7 months, please do not bank with these people.
I submitted IRA minimum required withdrawal paperwork on December 15th to Merrill Lynch for a deceased spouse IRA for my mother in law. The transfer into her name had been completed two years ago. It was a small account with no executive assigned and only an 800 number. The paperwork was faxed in. I also submitted similiar paperwork to three other institutions. At all the other institutions, including two discount brokerage offices the transfers were complete in two days. I called Merrill Lynch on the 23rd who told me the paperwork had to go through various departments and it would take six days in each department. As of today the check still has not been received. Their explanation is that they have many requests at the end of the year. Every other house responded and delivered in days. Weeks later Merrill Lynch is still backed up. Any small investor is crazy to use Merrill Lynch. Horrible response times, no follow-up explanatoions and higher fees. A year ago I submitted similiar paperwork and almost two months later it was returned saying we had requested that too much withholding had been requested to be taken out. Too much withholding? Tell that to the IRS. Similiar requests were made to the other institutions and processed with no problem. No call, no personal service, just a letter that when I called thereafer the person told me the IRS does not accept that amount. I called the IRS and they told me they would gladly take 100% of the properly submitted amount. So add bad advice to the list of Merrill Lynch's responses. There service stinks. I have written a review like this before. I understand institutions have problems in units and with certain hired workers. But Merrill Lynch is so bad, so uncaring that I am finally writing my first ever criticism. I am fortunately in a position where I can influence people to get there money out. 3.5 million will be gone by the end of the month. Get your money out, small investor. If you do not have an account executive you can easily talk to people, and they will even more easily blame you for their horrible service.