Charles Schwab & Co. Reviews

They stated that it was not worth the time and effort to verify the stock certificate of a low-priced stock. Charles Schwab issued it to me eight years ago. Their name is stamped on the back of the certificate! I wasn't asking to "cash-out" or "trade," simply to add it to my existing Schwab account. Charles Schwab sent me to a third-party financial services company, ComputerShare, who could only offer to issue me a new certificate. There's nothing physically wrong with the actual certificate. I was advised to seek a broker who does not have this price limit rule on shares (certificates), an arbitrary rule, open an account, go through their validation process and then deposit and trade the shares as desired/usual.

It has already taken two days to get this far. Currently, I have one local broker, TD, checking on their policy and another distant broker, TR, willing to open and accept the stock certificates. It will take several more days to go through the process/mail. I couldn't help but notice that the stock price has tumbled and I just have to feel lucky for any monies that may come from this. It's a negative (loss) no matter what. Now, it's just damage control and fear of what new arbitrary rules may limit my access to my money and account in the future. Do I sell everything now at a huge loss just to get something/control out of my savings/investments?

The major account is a joint account. At that time, Schwab froze my accounts. I was told that I could sell stock, but any proceeds could not be reinvested into any new accounts. I hired an accountant to complete the required paperwork for the IRS. Fast forward 16 months and $12,500 in accounting fees, I received a letter from the IRS, but it wasn't the Transfer Certificate. It was the final estate tax closing document, showing in detail that I have no tax liens and do not owe any taxes.

I contacted Schwab upon receipt of the letter and forwarded it to them. Well, now Schwab does not want to accept the letter or release my funds. In addition, I was informed that I could have reinvested the proceeds of any stock sales. Not only I have no access to my investments, but I am out of interest income, too.

Now that I am more informed, the after taxed monies should have been put into a Roth or a trading account. Schwab indicated to me it would be easiest (for them) to repay the taxes a second time as they are too lazy to correct their mistake. This problem has been passed to 4 personnel so far and each one does nothing but suggest I get a financial planner to offer me advice on how to correct their mistake. The US government doesn't want the taxpayer to pay taxes on the same money twice. But Schwab personnel think this is the best solution, so that they won't have to correct their mistake.

When I inquired with Paul at Schwab’s Denver office, he claimed this was normal procedure and that my checking account was actually debited by the BillPay service to which Schwab outsources this function. So, the BillPay services collects interest on the float, in this particular example at least 4 days, since the recipients, even if they should receive the checks in Friday afternoons mail, will not be likely to cash them before Monday. To add insult to injury, I’ve had to replace the lost check (not lost at all as it turns out) to one of the recipients and asked her to void the original check if and when it reaches her. But to get my checking account balance to be re-credited with the face-value of that lost check, it apparently requires a call to Schwab Bank who will have to manually reverse the BillPay instruction.

To be precise, the majority of my BillPay checks are mailed and cashed the old-fashioned way, with my account debited only when the recipient cashes them. But some of them are, instead, treated as online payments which transfer the money not into the recipients account, but into that of the BillPay service which turns around and issues a check and collects the float in the process. Am I the only one to find this practice despicable? I’d be glad to supply more detail if anyone has an interest in getting to the bottom of this. Thank you for your attention.

I can not believe that they can just say what they want and threaten to close my account just because I do not feel that they have the right to pull my credit to use my money.I am not applying for credit here and the gentleman at schwab updated my information from a previous account and said sign here. I would close out my account today and will probably be transfering funds to another brokerage. As a consumer,should I have the right to refuse a company my credit report when I am not applying for credit.And doesnt a brokerage company have to inform me of my credit be pulled and not just say sign here after he updated my account.

I have received several different responses from schwab and they want to blame me instead of having a set of standards informing the consumer that they are going to check my credit.If I was informed of this before hand,I would never have opened an account with them.Instead they just stated sign here, your account has been updated According to schwab they only check credit on new accounts and the schwab representative stated that he was updaing my existing account. As an american if I am not applying for credit,how can a brokerage demand that I release them my private information.It should be outlawed and I want this matter looked into.

I have until september 30th or they will sell my account and send me back my funds. I am standing up to them on principle,simply because I want to know why I was not explained about this procedure before I purchased a stock.My account is frozen and I feel that I am being bullied. I do not know who they are but after talking with them I question there integrity. I was in the credit industry for years and when i said sign here to the customer,I was required to tell them by signing here you are giving us permission to pull a credit report.They were applying for credit and understood this basic principle.I am not applying for credit and I want Schwab investigated and for them to listen to the phone converstions that schwab said they recorded.

Do I have a basic right to not allow a company into my file?They accused me of having something to hide and I said that is the furthest thing from the truth.I just do not want an inquiry on my credit,especially when I am not applying for credit. Thank You,

I am currently down about 1000.00 on a stock purchase and to me that is alot of money.I also told schwab that if they do not want my business to pay me back my initial investment and I will gladly go someone else.I do not and will not let some one at schwab close my account without standing up for my basic rights.Sorry about the rambling but it just infuriates me.

I tried to see if a person could open a 401K without beneficiary information via Charles Schwab, and it was mandatory that beneficiary information be completed on the application. Charles Schwab is very difficult to work with and I have not been able to get anywhere with this.

I am afraid that even if I hire an attorney and present Scwab with papers proving Small Estate Heirship, that they will pocket the 401K anyway.

In February 2008 I made a payment of $25.00 bringing the balance down to $80.00. I didn't make anymore payments. In May I was notified that my balance was $184.52, that was including the late fees, in May I was served court lawsuit papers, June 25th I went into the store and paid them the $185.52 that was noted on the court papers. When I left I was told my account was paid in full and up to date. Last week I received a bill for $145.00, apparently it is the court filing fees, we never went to court! I don't think I should have to pay it unless I legally have to. I don't know what to do.

A year later my father had a heart problem that resulted in brain damage and he has slipped further and further into dementia which has required having him placed in a facility for the mentally impared. During all this my mother had another heart attack and a slight stroke that has left her in very poor physical condition.

In September of 2007 I took over all of their affairs. Getting control of the financial affairs required that I deal with eight banks, three credit unions, and four brokerage houses. With the exception of Charles Schwab this went as smooth as one could hope for. All were extremely helpful. But,Charles Schwab fought me every step of the way. Starting with refusing to accept my durable power of attorney and telling me that the only power of attorney they could accept was one that was done on a Charles Schwab form and went on to claim that it was required by SEC regulations and federal law. After that claim was challenged it was just one silly excuse after another.

As I saw it I only had one option. Eliminate the problem. While my mother is in poor shape physically, her mind and tongue are still very sharp. So I loaded her up and rolled her into Schwab and moved everything to a friendly broker who was more than happy to get our very large portfolio. People at the Schwab office seemed stunned that we would have the audacity to terminate them. Cost a bit, but well worth the money to be rid of Schwab.

I feel that schwab should do a little house cleaning in their vice president positions. this has given me cause to believe that if your high and mighty in the corporate world that you can just step on others. NOT this one. However, Fidelity Investments has stepped in and i now have the brokerage and checking that i need.

Just to let everyone know, Fidelity is rated higher and the list than Schwab is and their customer service is without question the best for a brokerage firm.

I had to rush changing my direct deposits back to my bank. And with me me being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder because of being in iraq i became depressed for a few days, and was unable to concentrate on my day to day activities.I felt as if no one gives a crap about the small people in this world.

I was induced to use this credit card in expectation of earning rewards which should be paid on a timely basis. I have other cards, like Discover and AMEX, that always pay promptly. Calls to Schwab & MBNA show they are both completely indifferent to resolving this matter in a timely manner.

I opened an account with $50,000 and told Schwab to put it in a Money Market fund yielding about 4.5%. Instead they put the money in their Scwhab bank at slightly over 1% interest. I believe they put my money in a money market fund and pocketed the other 3%. This is truly a scam and they did it without my permission. I would imagine they are screwing thousands of people this way. Only a greedy, sleazy company would do this to customers. I've had an account with Fidelity for many years and have never been treated this way.

Schwab insisted that I open a Margin Account even though I didn't want it.

Margin accounts charge you exhorbitant interest on your money and rip you off.

Schwab also promised my 50 free trades for opening a new account and failed to deliver. You need to read the fine print. I didn't do any trades for the first 45 days because the market went straight down. The fine print said the free trades were only good for 45 days.

I argued the point and they were really nasty. Accused me of being a inept at market trading, and badgered me for not making trades. Threatened to cancel my trading software. Schwabs attitude was really amazing and obnoxious. They cancelled my account.

I've been a broker and have been involved in investments for many years.

Schwab is the biggest scam I have ever come across.

I'm going back to Fidelity. They are great.

I lost several hundred dollars in interest that went into Schwabs pocket.

It's my opinion that it was stolen from me.

I also lost 50 free stock trades.

And I lost the opportunity to make other money in investments during the two weeks it took me to get my money from Schwab and move it to another brokerage firm.

Don't let Schwab steal your money.

It was originally set up with my accountant as trustee, he indicated that due to age he wished to resign and we agreed tp make my wife the trustee.

Despite filling out their forms 3 times and hand carrying them to the Scwab office it took 6 months till they made the change. They still have not gotten us a checkbook in my wife's name so we can access the funds to pay this years taxes on the trust.

my wife and myself have been forced to spend hours on the telephone with people who have no ability to fix things. We quite simply cannot access the money

This has been their practice for years and they refuse to supply the state tax info with their 1099 forms, causing an unwarranted delay in being able to file state income tax returns.

According to the California State Franchise Tax Board, they are required to provide the info by 1/31. This year I talked to 3 different people, the first 2 of whom denied that they even furnished the info, while the 3rd stated that they were not required to provide it by 1/31.

As a consequence of their failure to provide timely tax information, I have to delay filing both my state and federal tax returns every year.

I started down the road with Charles Schwab Bank only to find out that the mortgages are handled by Cendant while using the Schwab name. It became only too obvious that I wasn't dealing with Charles Schwab directly.

The loan officer, David Daniels, that I worked with on the Good faith Estimate made plenty of claims how they could meet or beat any other companies' rates. When it finally came time to finish the application he asked for a credit card. I asked why and he mentioned that they charge $350 for the application if I don't close with Schwab. I hesitated and told him that I wasn't comfortable with a fee since no other lenders charge for the application. He told me about their Best-Price Guarantee which insured me that I would get the best rate or Schwab would send me a check for $500.

This seemed reasonalble so I proceeded with Schwab.

After completing the application, David gave me the name and number of his processor. I left no less than five calls with David after the application was complete and never once got a return call. I was so disgusted with this level of service that I felt compelled to get competing bids. Sure enough, I found two companies that had better rates. I decided to proceed with another company and made sure that I followed Schwab's policy and rules on the Best-Price Guarantee. The day that I was ready to lock I sent the competing Good Faith Estimate to Schwab to see if they would like to honor the quote and they declined and told me it was okay to proceed with the other company. All that I needed to do was send them the HUD Settlement Statement after closing and they would send me a check for $500. I followed their procedure and now they are reneging on their deal.

Since starting down the road with Charles Scwab Bank I have left approximately 17 voice messages and have only received 5 returned calls. I guess batting .294 % is pretty good by their books.

2/2/06 Hai Ramirez, a manager at Schwab said that my check would be mailed immediately. He asked me to follow up with him on 2/8/06 if I hadn't received the check. I left him a message on 2/9 letting him know that I hadn't received a check...no returned call. On 2/11 I received a letter from Diana Allain (Office of the President) stating why they can't honor their Best-Price Guarantee.

I'm out $350 dollars plus untold frustration and aggravation.

In the meantime, I'm writing checks and buying a car, as I think the problem has been taken care of. Again, I called a Schwab broker, who said he would send a check and not charge me a wiring service. How kind! As my checks starting bouncing all over, the insufficient fund fees piled up while the Schwab company assumed no responsibility. Johnathon Ramer offered me $60.00, as he said all of my charges (the charges I would not have had in the first place) had been waiived. I am finished with this company. When they're using your money, they're great. Otherwise, they'll leave you hanging.

Request re-embursement of illegal charge of $95.00

ShareBuilder has contacted Schwab four (4)times since March 2004; the last was April 21, 2004. Schwab advised ShareBuilder and me that I had to post $90.00 in servie fees to free the account transfer.

Funds in the amount of $90.00 were remitted and recieved my Ch. Schwab on May 17, 2004.

I just received another monthly statement (ending My31, 2004) from Schwab. I called to inquire; the account was never close, shares were never transferred and yes, the monthly fee is legit.

I have three accounts, IRA, checking and a dormant account from years ago. I asked them if they would close the dormant account, they said they would.

But..it didn't work out. They closed my active checking account and transferred the balance to the dormant account. I called to complain and got a name of a person that could help me. When I called her, she said that my account was really better the new way. At this point my only gripe was that I could not reconcile my checking account.

I have two direct deposits into my checking account. When the usual date for those deposits came and went without either of them, I called again. They said NOTHING COULD BE DONE but they would be happy to send me a form to forward to the depositors so they could change the account for the direct deposit.

Botton line, now I have a real financial delima on my hands since I cannot pay my bills! Again I called and again NOTHING COULD BE DONE.

And, in addition, I can't use my old ATM card and if I use the new one they sent, there are fees. Reviewing the new account setup, there will be a lot of new costs for me to do business with Schwab.

It has been a month from the start of this and I still do not have the physical checks so I am still in financial crisis.

Unable to pay my bills since Schwab bounced back the direct deposits.

It's basically a sneaky way for them to skim money off people's accounts and discourage people from moving their business elsewhere. I spoke with a manager at their complaint office and there is no recourse for the individual once the fee has been charged. They can get away with this because it's a small amount of money for each individual, but it undoubtedly adds up to huge profits for Charles Schwab.

I told them that I did not want the accounts closed, they proceeded anyway and then charged me fees for termination of accounts, transfers and trading fees.

Charges for termination of accounts, trading and transfer fees.

As you might expect the tax consequences of this would have been substantial particularly since one of the accounts was a retirement account. We contacted the Executive Offices but they refused to help us or provide us with the information they have about us or our accounts. The only justification they gave is that we were unhappy with Schwab's service.

Apparently, Schwab reserves the right to unilaterally terminate accounts at any time in their account agreements. Please note that this all occurred over the Holiday season so you can imagine how much difficult it was to complete this in the time allotted. Thankfully, Fidelity was extremely helpful with the transfer. To literally add insult to injury, Schwab charged us termination fees for closing our accounts. We wanted to make sure you all knew about this so you can consider it in making your investment decisions and will not be as surprised as we were if you are subjected to the same treatment.

Hours of our time over the holidays and the risk of substantial tax consequences.

Loss of $1200 upfront lender credit. Increase of $44 a month in my monthly mortgage payment

Schwab further reduced the value of my assets by $180, making it impossible to avoid their onerous fees.