Merrill Lynch Reviews 148

I placed an online Wire Request at 1pm on a weekday. The wire didn't actually get sent until the following business day (Merrill made an error). I called and they told me they would credit me back the $24.95 fee, and call me back with an explanation of why this happened. It's now 2 weeks later, and several calls from ME to THEM, and they still haven't taken ANY action. This place is a mess. I'm liquidating my account ($300k+).

I have a 401K account with Merrill Lynch and they have horrible customer service, lock my online account for no reason and when I asked my daughter to call the customer service to unlock the account, they hanged on my daughter because they said she can't be my representative, so rude and does not care about customer at all

I started an IRA account over 30 years ago. I have more money now than when I retired. I can't say enough as to how pleased I am with their financial experts. Great people to work with.

This place requires you to put 100k in order to open up a HYSA. If you try and withdraw ANY money your account gets frozen. Mine got got frozen for THREE months. Had to call numerous times. Showed several forms identification and even met with the VP to get my account sorted out. Even after all of that every time I try to wire money out to the SAME account with my name on it which should take hours at the most takes days and anyone knows who plays the stock market that by the time you get your money that opportunity is gone. Also they charge $30 for a same day which is fine but it NEVER happens same day. The fastest it's happened is 3 days and 5 phone calls.

These people hold your money hostage

Can we have a system to give a -10 stars?
I don't know why my employer has to still use this. Horrible website.

Very inept customer service. They closed my account claiming discrimination. They didn’t want my business bcuz I accused one of their inept employees of being a DEI hire. I was cordial but firm with my claim bcuz this occurred after the employee lacked any sort of accountability after wasting an entire afternoon of two customers. After years with my own account, and years overseeing another of a sizable estat, I have witnessed massive poor customer service frequently with Merrill. I assure you they are a sorry outfit. My assurance comes after extensive experience with multiple trading platforms not to mention I am old so lots of experience generally.

Don't for any reason get Merrill Lynch, all the money I've been saving for 7 years is in limbo because they can't send me basic information, I've been asking for it for 3 months now and I can't transfer my roll over plan because they couldn't follow basic instructions. I'm on hold for an hour an a half most of the time. I'm still waiting for my money. I'm so frustrated, angry or the irony that I can't do anything thing about it but wait and leave a bad review, they're a bank and I'm just a basic nobody.

I have been reporting their website doesnt work for over a year everytime I speak to them on the phone. They have NO email contact on their website (a VERY bad sign), they havent fixed the problem, they seem unresponsive at best.
The problem is simple, I have shares in a company that changed its name. They show me zero shares in the original name and dont show me the new name though they show the value of the shares. They DO show the shares briefly when you try and sell but then they rearrange the page with 'unuseful male cow poop' notices which are frankly irrelevant and the little panel they display it all in is not big enough. Its urine poor website design and would take a very short time to fix, they just need a scroll bar! If you have more than a single set of shares in a single company that never changes its name then the page will work, anything else and its trash. How can they be so blind, so ignorant? Its s***.

They do not follow SEC trade rules; you never know how many $$ you have. They put $$ from a sell trade into a margin account to avoid paying interest on the $$. Eventually, the $$ arrive in the cash account.
The mobile app logs you off every 3 minutes. They make it as difficult as possible for an investor to trade. You have to baby sit the app to avoid getting logged off to make a trade.

Have shares held through this company. I'm in the UK and so any contact with them is very very tough. No email contact.phone numbers never work from UK. Even when the company I work for asks them to contact me I get no call back from them. So basically I have money with them but any account issues and you're stuck if in UK. Would not hesitate in not recommending.

They shut down an elderly family member's account and won't explain why. They say the account is "under review" but they won't say why. They never warned her so her checks are bouncing even though there is $$ in her account. Have they been hacked again or are they really just this bad at customer service?

Should be zero stars. Along with the stress of my Mom passing - Now Merrill is finding reasons to hold up changing my children's 529 account to my name. My poor daughter is going to have to pay credit card interest charges because their Rep. Austin Tuttle doesn't know what he's doing. This is now almost week 7 and nothing has been changed

Merrill lynch are bank robbers, feeding on the financial naive. My wife had a small sep/Ira. Too small for active management so they without asking converted her account to send directed which she didn't understand. As a self directed account that the owner thought was managed, didn't generate transaction fees so ML decided to close the account -10% in fees. ML is not to be trusted..investor beware

Probably the worst banking institution I have ever dealt with. They are quick to allow you to transfer money in, but it is a different ball game when you want to transfer money out. They will slow roll you until you get so frustrated and move your money somewhere else. Save yourself the headache and bank with someone that actually cares about you. I would suggest doing so before anything urgent. It may take a couple weeks to get your money out of there.

Not able to access account. Transferring by phone is hopeless endless loops. If you do not have a USA social security number you are lost. They do not actively use their own brokerage account number. Really bad.

7-12-2024

Takes a considerable amount of time to connect with a ML representative on the phone.

More recently, they have delayed my 401(k) rollover for weeks.

In summary, working with ML has been generally stressful, uncomfortable, and inconvenient.

Update:

I opened a case with the BBB.

ML reconnected with me.

They said my last phone call for a rollover was disconnected to explain why they didn't do the rollover. I completed the phone survey after last phone conversation with ML rep. ML recorded this survey, so they have proof that my last phone call for a rollover completed successfully.

Summary: ML completed the rollover after receiving communication from the BBB and reconnecting with me.

Case: Closed.

My father passed away and left me his Merrill Lynch capital account and cash management account. Seven weeks after his death, Merrill Lynch is still dragging their feet on transferring funds to the duly appointed estate's executor who was approved by probate a month ago. We need the funds to manage final expenses, and to pay for taxes and urgent home repairs on his property, among other things. We keep being told that Merrill Lynch needs a new document, delaying the promised transfer by several days each time. On the last call, the Merrill Lynch representative made a snarky comment about me to the executor, saying, "someone really wants their money..." Yes, I do want my money. I had to take three months off work to move across the country, care for my dying father, then manage the funeral costs out of pocket. What I clearly don't want in my future is Merrill Lynch gatekeeping my account and outright blocking me from liquidating funds. I'm transferring everything to Fidelity as soon as possible.

1. Getting a wire out can only be done by phone call.

2. I did that and 5 days later the funds were back in the account without any reason for rejection and 32.5 USD short.

3. Account details were good and valid so I reattempted. Same result. In total, 65 USD short.

4. After 30 days of over 7 calls longer than 1 hour and 2 rejected transfers and 65 USD short, still no reply, no explanation of rejection (recipient bank clarified they did not reject or even receive the payment).

5. a text ticket opened in the system and a complaint registered more than 7 days ago, both are waiting without a reply or even an acknowledgement.

Stay away.

Cannot keep your money safe / don't resolve their errors

ML made a mistake with the tax authorities - wiring my money (incorrectly) to the IRS. People should be able to trust a bank with money - that was not the case here. Upon flagging this one would expect a resolution. ML admitted the mistake and indeed promises a resolution swiftly. Unfortunately it required 15 calls - some of over an hour, but they never solved it all. Good thing at the end they stopped promising a solution/ compensation so i no longer had to waste my life on the call centre (that hangs up often at random moments). Just to be clear - in they end they did not resolve the problem / get the money back they misplaced. Recommend against using them to keep your money (safe).

The review below titled "Do Not Invest with Merrill Lynch" -- about the sick game they play with beneficiaries to prevent them from getting their money -- is SPOT ON. Same thing happened to us. Certainly ensures that I will never invest with Merrill Lynch and neither should you. A scoundrel of a company.