e*Trade

I have been with eTrade for decades, and prior to the acquisition found the company to be legit, honest, prompt, easy to work with, and excellent 24-hour customer service. I never worried about how someone was handling my funds, and they seemed to have enough tools, features, and trading options to where I feel they deserved my business. Additionally I found the former eTrade company responsive with respect to business suggestions -- such as making their website easier to use, and offering free or low cost certificates.

I don't know what's going on with e*Trade but they need to get their act together and FAST! They are messing with people's money and ultimately their livelihood. I was simply attempting to reactivate an old account and could not get reset credentials sent to me (I tried no less than five times). No one answers their phones or via chat. I see others who have posted here about about the lack of responsiveness. I recommend anyone who has money tied up with Etrade file a complaint with the FTC.gov and/or Securities Exchange Commission.

I opened an account with e*Trade then sent my stimulus payment to fund the account. My boy friend and I picked stocks to purchase and sell, gave us something to do. I tried to send $500.00 to a friend to help pay for a funeral. e*Trade froze my account and I have sent them pictures of my id as per their request. They refuse to release my funds back to me. Who do I file a complaint with? I am 72 years old, I feel they are using my age against me. Their customer service is the worse.

This is the worst online brokerage I have ever dealt with so far. For the last 3 weeks, I have been locked out of my account (not because of something I did), and there is no CSR answering the phones even at the branch. Today, I finally got a hold of someone at the "investment advisory" department, but only because they probably thought I was an institutional investor! The minute I can get back into my account, I will close it. I would not advise anyone to open an account with this outfit!

I had a personal investing account with Capital One, and Capital One sold the business to E*Trade. I haven't logged in recently, but tried to last night and this morning just to check my balance. My password didn't work, so I changed it through the website. I went to log on, and was told my new password is wrong. Did the process again and again with no success in logging on. Called customer service several times last night and this morning and held on for over 1/2 hour each time without being connected to an agent. Bottom line is it's my money and they present unreasonable obstacles to my getting access to it. My first action, once I get the pressing problem resolved, will be to withdraw my money.

In the past I tried to open a brokerage account with the company. I missed the time in trying to send important documents like my marriage certificate. At that time I was just adjusting as I have come from another country. Just because I failed to provide the docs they closed the account. Just recently I called to enquire if I can start the process all over again and the representative said the company made a policy not for me to reopen an account. The person didn’t state why but I find it kind of fishy- (their policy- it’s almost like they are judgmental). It’s a disappointment and it spoke volumes to me as to what they stand for. I hope they would do better. Thankfully there are other brokers who are flexible and open to accommodate interested persons who wish to invest.

My senior citizen 70 year old mother had 100 shares of tesla at a cost basis around 772 and a April 3 740 put option purchased on 3/3/20 for 6810.52. On 3/16/20 at 11:09am ETRADE sent a margin call for about $6800 via text in her eTrade account. No phone call. They always called her in past regarding any situations in reference to her account. Right before the close on 3/16/20 they liquidated both positions in their entirety. Almost 75k in stock with 5 hrs of a margin call via text. Her maximum downside with the option was less then 3k. When I called to get some answers with my mother and asked why both positions were sold totaling almost 75k for a 7k margin call. His answer was "they trade hand in hand and need to be sold together" lol. He was unaware that I had been a stock broker and passed my series 7 exam.

Looking to put a few ($3500) into the market I was anxious to test my knowledge of our economy so I joined eTrade. Starting with some cheap penny stocks I made $2800, then moved to other pennies that didn't pan out. So, at a small loss I sold then bought back in the next day when it tanked, knowing that it would soon recover. I went to my account 2 days later, only to discover eTrade had ripped me off for several hundred dollars!!

If you or your parents have a trust or IRA at Etrade, move it now to a firm that will be willing to help your loved ones manage accounts when the time comes. I recently became the acting trustee for my parents family trust and the financial manager for both my parents IRA's - all at Etrade. I've been trying to gain full access to their accounts for over 1 month and seem to be marching backwards as they have now restricted the accounts. My first contact was to send them the notarized trust documents (with CA legal springing trust document) and durable Powers of Attorney.

My parents left millions to me in eTrade. Unfortunately, my father trusted etrade. He signed for their managed account. Over 6 months after my father's death, I was asked to jump through a new hoop each month, never voluntarily given the forms that I must fill out. It was very frustrating. All they did was assure me it was not THEIR fault. They want to hold on to your money at all costs, no matter what your desire is. Other brokerage firms were amazed at their behavior. Do not put one penny in etrade. You will regret it.