Merrill Reviews

I had worked with other institutions after my Brother's death, as the estate administrator. Others had well defined processes and systems and communicated clearly what was needed. I was able to submit forms and documents securely electronically. People I spoke to were Knowledgeable and confident. This was not the case at Merrill. They filter your calls through a call center that can only enter your questions into their system and read from their system, very little understanding of the process. Merrill does not let you speak to the people who have the knowledge.

The girl on the phone had me answer at least 8 - 10 questions to verify me. All I wanted was my account balance.... She was nice, polite, young lady but Merrill Lynch sucks. I am 67 years old. I will close my account...

I was forced into Merrill Lynch through a employer bankruptcy. They turned my 401K into an IRA. Now I am a senior and I want to go in a different direction with my investments. It's 3 months and I can't get my money.

Merrill Lynch was once a very good brokerage for self directed investors. Unfortunately, over the past several years, customer service has become dreadful. Can't get through on the phone, no communication about special events in the account(s), very late 1099's at year end. I finally had enough and pulled every dime after 20 years with them. I moved both personal and IRA accounts to another brokerage where the service is good and the investment options are very good as is research reports and other things individual self directed investors are interested in having access too. Merrill is one of the oldest investment firms and it is sad to see it deteriorated to the point that it has.

Worked with a Bank of Boston representative for Merril Lynch to obtain a $100,000 1 year CD. We verified with her in every way possible that the most we could forfeit is the accrued interest if for some reason we had to withdraw the money prior to the end of the year. She was emphatic that there would be no penalty, and there might be a percentage of the interest accrued that would be lost. SHE LIED!!! After six months we ran into a hardship due to my mother inlaw’s illness. We needed to take out half the money.

First, please note you have to be a US citizen or PR to be eligible for opening a Merrill account. If you don't have such a status, Merrill will not allow you to open an account with them, and actually, that is a GOOD thing for you because Merrill's products and services are really terrible. Without BOA's acquisition, I don't think Merrill would be alive right now. I found the following things after opening a Merrill account:

I was calling Merrill to ask about options trade, before anything (john or josh) started asking me these questions: ss# (8 digits), spell my name and last name, dob, name of company I work for, name of my current position, my password to access my account and my personal ID, that is crazy!

I have been banking with Bank of America for many years, so when I decided to roll over my 401k, I signed up with Merrill Lynch (owned by BOA). That was a mistake, and I will never use this company again.

Danger, Will Robinson. ML controlled money for years belonging to my kids that was left by their mother who died of colon cancer. Merrill Lynch has charged thousand of dollars in fees per year per child for each account worth around $40k. The kids have requested funds be released as early as possible, that we be allowed to move the funds to another financial firm, that a specific Cincy financial advisor be removed from the account and that a full accounting of fees be provided.

I moved my IRA over.. It’s a substantial amount and now they do not want me to use it. I am retired and I really need the income. I think they want to keep my balance high so they can charge more fees. I notice they take fees out all of the time. So far they have lost $30k and charged me 3 times is three weeks. It might be a coincidence but they charge the fees when the market is up. I have already paid $1500 for 3 weeks of management. I will be changing companies if this continues.