Charles Schwab & Co. Reviews

I deposited $10,000 in August of last year at the local office in Sioux Falls. I discussed current money market rates and decided that was a better option that a CD at that time. When I downloaded my 1099 this year, I noticed that the total interest was $3.36. I called then and asked why I had received no interest on my $10,000 for over a year. I was told that the local people said that I did not request a money market deposit and there was nothing they could do. That was an outright lie to cover their asses. I don't know who ended with my roughly $500 in interest, but I can tell you who got cheated out of it. DO NOT do business with these people. They are dishonest and not willing to admit an obvious mistake or even TRY to resolve the issue.

Schwab has grown substantially since opening accounts there twenty years ago. It's highly securitized today with multiple layers just to reach customer service. There's one feature of the brokerage that's been weak from the beginning: The News functionality. By the time one hears of breaking news about a fund or stock that could be a bombshell to a holder, it's often too late. Opportunity loss can easily result from such information blackouts.

If zero stars was an option, then I’d choose zero. While the customer service on the 24/7 phone line is great, there is always some sort of red tape, whether it be depositing cash (no atm) or liquidating assets. The hold up always seems to be with the “back office”, and they can restrict your account making it difficult to access funds or any other financial information regarding your money. RUN FAR AWAY. Don’t waste your time.

Could not get the account open for two days.

I hurriedly made and account to take advantage of the app Autopilot but Schwab made it very difficult. I opened the account in my name instead of my trust name and a staff of Schwab told me to just cancel the account because it would be too much trouble. Each time you do an external transfer into your Schwab account from their site you must prove it is you (no trust after you completed once like most companies), They do not answer all messages and I am traveling out of the country with a 12 hour time difference and they cannot understand why I don't call the USA toll free number. Their site clearly states 1-2 business days for external transfer into my Schwab account when using their site but it took about a week and they messaged me to confirm 5-7 days. I would never recommend and will change quickly.

Updated on 12/06/2025: Follow up to my story: I spoke to a Schwab rep today who told me that they CLOSED my account. Once again, no call, no email, no notification whatsoever. Caveat emptor. On the plus side, I'm glad I found out how awful they are BEFORE sending in a big deposit. Disgraceful treatment and service. Quite astonishing, really.

Dear Fellow Customers,

In a corporate world of indifference and immorality, it is refreshing that Charles Schwab is considerate enough to make weekly check mailings from my account to a charitable organization, and they are doing it at no extra charge to me, and they are providing me a written documentation of the giving. Kudos to Charles Schwab in a day and age where the bottom line rules often at the expense of customers and the services they receive.

Charles Schwab and Thinkorswim for trading is the biggest scam. They are scamming the retail trader all day. Customer service is in denied of the right answer. I was not able to sell my position every time I have profit but always able to sell my position when I'm losing. I closed all my account with them. Is the worst company. I wish I can sue them for my loss. But they make you agree on all small print before you open accounts with them. Run far away for this company.

Cross your fingers if you're expecting help with a transaction. They believe whatever a merchant says and did not back me despite proof despite documented proof. Trusted the name. It is hype. Disappointed in follow-thru. Would never recommend.

I was anticipated on investing over $100,000 for 2025. I had three brokerage firms to work from that included Charles Schwab. For each broker, I started small investing less than $10,000 to learn about its service/s (pros/cons). Needless to say, Charles Schwab FAILED miserably! After placing an order investing into their fund SCHD of over $6,000, I held the fund for 2 days checking my account periodically on a daily basis. After 3 days Schwab mysteriously erased my account rendering my balance $0 in quandary. Even though I contacted Schwab to determine the error, they were unable to justify the mishap. Hence, I filed a complaint with SEC and CFPB for assistance. After the complaints were filed, Schwab closed my accounts and later reinstated my accounts without the history...very deceptive to say the least. In reverence to brevity, I will NEVER do business with Schwab and hope this will help others in searching for a better broker.

We've been with Morgan Stanley for decades, but have recently started working with Schwab. We have been so impressed with the customer service, the communication, the educational seminars, our representative, and their responsiveness. Most of all, we're impressed with the website, the comprehensive services offered, and the ease of use. We're looking to move more of our business over. Thank you Collin at the East Cottonwood office for being there for us!

I am rapidly losing confidence in Charles Schwab. For years I have tried to open a Pledge Asset Line, but instead of progress I was referred to Helen Peralta. I first contacted her over a year ago (no calls/emails back), and despite calling and emailing her again over the past two days, I have received no response. It feels as though Schwab has grown too big to care about long-standing clients. I’ve had a TD Ameritrade account since 2001, but this experience, with a single “wealth manager”, has shaken my trust in Schwab as a whole. At this point, I am seriously considering transferring my account to Fidelity.

My family was slammed by the purchase of TD Ameritrade by Charles Schwab. We did not want to be transferred but had no say in the matter. I am still struggling with not so helpful customer service dealing with the fallout. I have transferred 90% of assets to Fidelity and cannot edit to get the final account my son has out of Schwab. I have not appreciated any interaction I have had with Schwab, and requests that the claim should be completed in under 3 days. We are still waiting for action. Read reviews and pick a top rated broker. It’s not Schwab.

Schwab decided out of the blue to close my accounts due to "business decision". They are completely dishonest and I do NOt recommend them at all. If they ever send you a request for info about your accounts DO NOT answer. They collect this data and use it against you and for data harvesting probably. In the letter they sent me they told me my accounts will close later on and yet they closed it earlier... Does that sound like an honest company. Shady. Stay away from schwab. Furthermore their app is awful and terrible.

Very disappointed. I opened several accounts last year and I’ve yet to get my money invested. Process to get a wealth financial rep to get money invested is slower than snail's pace. Would never have opened accounts knowing what I now know! So many missed opportunities to get money invested. I can’t convey how disappointed I am. I called the rep's manager and have heard back. I suggest you go with another company.

Every time I have had a problem I speak with a person in seconds. The best checking account I have heard of. Often same day mobile check deposits. I can use any ATM on earth free of charge. When an issue comes up there’s no haggle. They just fix it.

I opened an account with Charles Schwab with two hundred dollars that I transferred from my checking account. It took 3 days for the funds to be available to me. Understood. It was a new account. Then deposited other $200 and took 4 days. I got to one thousand and over a month from the account being opened. So, on June 3 2025, I transferred $2300, to Schwab. Money long gone from my personal checking account. It sounds crazy but the funds will not be available for me to buy any stock I want, in the deep, until next Tuesday. From Tuesday to Tuesday to get a transfer to Schwab, available to you.. It sounds crazy. How can someone be in business doing that? Not my business. Going in person tomorrow and searching searching for another broker after finishing this review.

Absolutely terrible customer service. A large wire transfer did not through and I was never notified. When I called about it I was on hold over 40mins and I was told by the person from Schwab to redo the wire myself.

Charles Schwab customer service leaves a lot to be desired. They state that they will fix problems which they often do not. They make offers which they do not fulfill. When questioned they are truthful.

Tried to open a Trust account. Fill out application and they say it is wrong. Fix errors and then wrong again for different reason. Do this a few times. Then ask to upload documents. Done. Not enough. Won't Trust document. Big no from Trust lawyer. Privacy issue. Finally say OK but one more item. Did that. After 6 months of this they send email stating application has expired and start over.

I recently decided to work with a Financial Advisor at Schwab after managing my own portfolio for 20+ years and growing it to $1.5M. The Advisor at the Pasadena office was sweet and nice during our initial meetings, and made promises about the "Wealth Advisory Program". It sounded good, almost too good to be true, so I signed on. After reading the Wealth Advisory Agreement, I asked questions of the advisor before I signed. She assured me that there are no charges for trades, and other promises. So I enrolled. Then crazy things started happening. This woman said she'd be my advisor however she brought on a young, inexperienced guy who started calling me to arrange meetings. I questioned this, and was told he was brought on board to transition my investments into the program (i.e, "do the paperwork"). Suddenly his picture appeared on my Schwab web page??

Terrible communication and account documentation. Phone "representatives" are clueless and arrogant. I have been an account holder for over 20 years. Schwab customer service has become non-existent. All they want is their fees. Recently, they removed about $24,000 from my account with NO explanation or documentation. They refuse to address my questions. Will have to file an SEC complaint.

My brokerage account was transferred from TD Ameritrade. I have attempted to link a checking account to my brokerage account in an attempt to consolidate my assets but what appeared to be a straight forward process has proven to be an exercise in futility. I have lost count of the number of times I have called "customer service" and visited my local branch office. Each phone conversation is essentially starting from the beginning and I am immediately sent new forms to fill out or transferred to a different department. Three weeks of jumping through hoops and I still haven't been able to set up a joint checking account linked to my brokerage account. I'm definitely going to check out other brokerages that have local offices with representatives that service customers start to finish.

Stay away at all costs! They stole $400k when one of their overnight brokers screwed up an order and they are refusing to let me listen to the call. Do not trust them with your money! Lawsuit here we come!

27+ year trader and this is the worst brokerage ever. I was an AmeriTrade account holder. Schwab purchased Ameritrade. Multiple times I had sent funds of 190k to credit into my account and, although they located it, they could not credit and sent it back multiple times. They could not even push forward a simple wire. This company is inept and caused me to lose over 100k due to their lack of ability to take care of customers. Highly recommend finding another brokerage if you want to make money and work with an efficient broker.

You can't link *many* external banks with your Schwab Brokerage account. I tried 5 different banks and only one worked! The problem is with Schwab, not these other banks which have no issues with each others. Pretty lame if you can't transfer money in/out of your brokerage account.

Contacted to transfer stock account. Nikita walked me through the process. She stayed with me to fill out the forms as well. Made life simple for me. 03/31/2025 was the date she helped me and after uploading image Nikita verified she received the documents and explained the process going forward.

Charles Schwab charges above average margin rates and provides a disservice to clients by having telephone interaction with non registered and unlicensed reps who are untrained without experience and will cost you money.

I was hacked and my details stolen. Even with 2-FA, I had my balance drained and after sending countless emails to support, they did nothing about it. They did not even try to help me which is wrong. I had to hire cypher-forensics to help me track down how this happened because your support team are inadequate lazy people uninterested in their jobs. If you're like me, then head over to 'cypherforensics' website or find them on X.