Merrill Edge Reviews 

I tried to close my account with Merrill Edge in Oct 2022. I was given the run around 30 days. and advised that the check (300K) was lost in the mail and that I had to wat 30 days before another check could be issued. they finally sent another check and some how it was lost in the mail also. I called and filed a formal complaint. (fell on deaf ears) weeks later another check was sent out and IT WAS ALSO LOST IN THE MAIL. At this point I contacted every government agency that would listen. NO HELP. A total of 3 checks were lost in the mail. FINALY AT THE END OF FEBUARY MY BANK RECIEVED THE CHECK. I SPENT OVER 100 HOURS ON THE PHONE WITH ALL DIFFERENT AGENTS. THEY REFUSED FOR LET ME TALK TO ANY ONE BUT A LOW LEVEL SUPERVISERS . I LOST OUT ON $3,700.00 IN INTERST @5%. THEY DENIED ANY WRONG DOING AND OFFERED ME $100.00. I REFUSED. SOME TIME LATER I RECEIVED AN E-MAIL THAT IN INTERNAL INVESTAGATION SHOWED NO FAULT ON THEIR END. GO FIGURE. Now my brother has been trying to close out his account and M.E. has lost his check in the mail also. there is a lot more to the story but I will stop here. I just think this is nothing short of white collar crime. Investor Beware.

Absolutely horrible. Tried closing an account after being with them for many years nothing but problems. Going on almost 2 months now and they haven't sent the money. B.S. Excuse after excuse. Please do whatever you can to stay away from Merrilledge. Customer service puts you on hold for 30-45 minutes at a time and acts like they are trying to help. After 5 calls and endless hours on hold nothing gets accomplished.

I've been a client for 8+ years. The platform has not improved at all during this time besides a few face lift items on the website. In fact, they have gotten rid of the advanced trading platform they used to have (eSignal). I do not quite understand the good ratings from NerdWallet, and other financial sites you might come across.

Here is a summary of the problems I have come across:
1) Service - Not Exceptional and horribly bad: Called in for trade corrections over the years, and each time they can never get it right. I have to call in 3 or 4 times for these to get corrected properly. I have also had a bunch of paperwork snafus that service has literally bungled every time (no joke).

2) Platform is based on banking and not investments! There is NO ABILITY to search by TICKER or company name. YES you read that right! Need to look up transaction by ticker for a class action lawsuit? Sorry, can't do it. But you can search by amount, check number, and check range...I mean come on, really?

3) You CANNOT change your default tax lot cost basis method (FIFO). You can specify what lots of shares you want to sell, but you are limited to only choosing 4 lots max. And of course I have multiple lots I want to choose more than 4.

4) Mobile App: Oh my....what to say here. It is identical to the Bank of America app. This is again focused on banking and not an investment focused app. It is PAINFUL even to use to check your portfolio because the columns are so wide that you have to scroll horizontally to see the information you want. Think literally from the early 2010's.

They care about charging high margin interest rates and fees where they can while providing as little service as possible without spending any money to invest in their platform or making themselves better.

I will be transferring out as soon as I can.

STAY AWAY....STAY FAR AWAY!!!

Horrible trading platform! It is slow, unresponsive or in a loop often. Not good for day trading!!!!!!!

I love working with my advisor. Actually anyone who gets my call. I never wait to speak with an advisor, he is proactive and follows through, and keeps me informed on any transactions. They also perform better than another financial institution I use. Merrill has higher returns.

1. Abysmal customer service. Be prepared to get the runaround and unclear answers. Be prepared to wait on the phone.
2. User unfriendly trading platform. When was it last updated? Never.

2 stars because it could be worse.

Received a letter From Merrill Edge reSigning as custodian of my $75K ROTH IRA , out of nowhere after 12 years preferred platinum customer . 30 days to transfer and get out . No reason given . Froze my account from selling (except by phone ) unbelievable . Let me open positions and collect fees the same week , But now this.. IF this is how platinum customers are treated .. RUN ,DON"T WALK AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY . THEy CHARGED ME $49.95 FOR A TRANSFER FEE AS WELL , ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE BUSINESS AFTER 10+ YEARS , DO NOT TRUST .NO REASON GIVEN FOR CLOSING ACCOUNT

I got into merrill edge mistakenly 10 yrs back and did not really pay close attention to how much better other brokerages like E*trade are in comparison. Their software systems and web interface is inaccurate, and despite being told about their bugs, Merrill has employees who are fat, lazy sit back and have not bothered to fix their system deficiencies which would give full info to a client. Like other reviewers say here, merill does not offer some services simply because their software is a piece of crap cf say E*trade. Merill enjoyed an old clientale for decades who'd buy one bond or stock and sit it on it for years. so merrill lost out against E*trade who competed and got trader types. DO NOT PUT YOUR $ in MERRILL being tempted by their promotional bonus offers, as you'll get poor execution, so lose money with no visibility They have Poor software systems for margin trading, charge you margin interest for no reason, then waste months and cannot defend themselves with no clear evidence

I have self-managed account at Merrill Edge, which is Dimond's preferred client. If you can’t trade spread, collar under your retirement account,
When I talked to multiple customer associate about the issue, they told me Merrill do not allow you to trade spread, or collar under your retirement account in their system, because of the margin and risk factor.
Please note it's not an SEC restriction, The reason Merrill Edge does not allow trade spread, collar under your retirement account is because their system can’t support to trade spread, or collar under retirement account, and they told me Merrill Edge will not improve their trading platform.
I will be moving my accounts from Merrill Edge to another brokerage company where I can trade spread, and collar under my retirement account.
Furthermore, you can’t contact upper management.

I will be moving my accounts from Merriel Edge to other brokerage company where I can trade spread, collar under my retirement account.
Furthermore you can’t contact upper management.

Potentially the worst and most unintuitive website I have ever used

I am glad that these reviews confirm my horrible initial query. I put $1000 into the brokerage account just to test the water. When I called with a simple question I hung up after 30 min of a conversation with India interspersed with sales recordings. I did not get near to being able to ask the question. I wanted to leave eTrade as they are merging with Morgan where I already have an account. Just to be diversified. Now I will close my Merrill Edge account and just accept staying in eTrade

This is by far the worst online broker to deal with. This is a Bank of America company. If you have dealt with BoA then you what I mean. Opened an brokerage account on line could not fund it. Clled thier service team got the run around for 3 days talked to at least 6 people. Never got a straight answer and never resolved the issue. Closed the unused accound and was charged $50.00 for closing the account I could not use. STAY AWAY, FAR AWAY from Merrill.

I transferred my brokerage account from Ally Invest to Merrill Edge and the cost basis did not get transferred. I contacted both Ally Invest and Merrill Edge, nobody was able to figure out what went wrong.
The service associates on the Merrill Edge side were completely useless! Instead of investigating the problem, e.g. contacting the clearing firm APEX (as advised by Ally Invest service associates), they just played dumb and left me alone with the problem, saying they couldn't do anything (which is BS). I called at least ten times without any progress.
Eventually, I reached out to Ally Invest again and they were able to provide the cost basis documentation from their side. The difference in service between Ally Invest and Merrill Edge was day and night:
- For Merrill Edge it takes some minutes until you get connected with an associate, and they start with the same BS every time ("Thank you for being a loyal customer blah blah...."). For Ally Invest, I reached someone immediately and he was able to help.
- For Merrill Edge there is no help chat or messages you can send. You always have to call!

I would not recommend switching to Merrill Edge based on my experience. I can recommend Ally Invest, never had a problem except you're not able to sell specific tax lots there (that was my reason to switch).

TOD acct...just trying to get the shares transferred has become a nightmare. Simple enough to set up a 3way conference call....but the ML rep dropped the ball ... we had the date, we waited. But ML guy was a no-show for the scheduled conference call. We had to call around to find someone else to speak to us.

That guy was ok. We then take the docs to notary...
.5 is not 50%
So I was told to correct and re-notarize. (Mind you, BoA is a 1hr wait for a notary).
New documents signed and FAXed....never hear from ML...I go to check on acct... no transfer.. 10days.
#1 guy can't be located, #2 guy was only filling in, not his job...so we now get guy#3... who says I'll send you documents you fax them and I'll transfer the shares.. ITS THE SAME DOCUNENTS I HAVE SIGNED, NOTARIZED 2X ALREADY..L
MERRILL LYNCH EPIC FAIL.
BAD BUSINESS PRACTICES

It got worse. The 3rd guy told me to send the TOD notarized document via their secure email. I followed the instructions. I never got any response from ML. STILL NO transfer of funds. I then went online into my MLE acct that they required me to open. I went into mail. I uploaded the document and sent it to "ML DIRECT" within their own system. 5 Days later STILL NO RESPONSE. I have made contact with them 4 ways with a notarized document. No response. I will try ONE LAST TIME tomorrow Aug 2 2023.
I shouldnt have to send them a notarized document 5 times, using fax, email, and interoffice system mail. Horrible experience.

I have Powers of Attorney for both of my parents and Merrill Edge will not honor them. They are deliberately blocking my access to see or do anything for the benefit of my parents. My father had two brain tumors that were recently operated on and had radiation treatment. My mother is legally blind and has no knowledge of these financial matters since my dad handled it all. Apparently Merrill Edge likes to hold accounts hostage in the face of legitimate Powers of Attorney from Georgia.

Actually I would give them a rating of zero. I went to apply for an new account. my credit report was locked by me. so they asked me for more and more and more information to verify my idenity and my address. Then after the 12th call, the rep asked me for my 1099 from schwab and ameritrade and a copy of my 1040 tax return page 1. I sent all this information and in the end after all these calls they said that the address on my drivers license did not match my application. They said I could cancel my application, then unlock my credit report then open an account again. What a huge run around. Each time I called the 800 # and gave them my appication number, a new rep got on the phone, spend 10 minutes reading the notes, then there was no continuity of what I talked about with the prior reps. This process was over a period of 1 week long. Finally I talked to a supervisor and he said he would review the audio calls of why the rep asked for my 1099 forms from schwab and Ameritrade and my tax return to verify my address. The supervisor said I should of had all three of my credit reports unlocked and it was my problem that I shouid not have had my credit reports locked. I lock them for security. Wow, I told the rep that it was meant to be and if their service was this bad just for the process of applying as a new client, then imagine how bad it would be when you became a client. Then I looked at reviews on the internet. wow, all very bad reviews. I am so happy I went with them. the process of opening an account at IB and etrade was so much easier.

I signed up a year ago for guided investing with an Advisor; the advisor only called me when I opened the account, was very friendly, and said we could have quarterly reviews on the account. Five months later, when my account had losses, I tried to reach out to the advisor, who could not be reached; after calling multiple numbers, I was told that my advisor was on maternity leave for six months, which is great for her, but the company should have transferred my account and to someone else, which I requested at the time.

A couple of weeks ago, the app alerted me to review my plan with the advisor; when I clicked the link, the app said no Advisor information was available. Since I was not getting the service I was paying for, I proceeded to call the 1-800 number again to stop the charges for investing with an advisor and get a refund for a service I never had.

They said I had an advisor and would get a callback. To my surprise, I got a call from the same person that opened my account; she said that my account was being managed; I asked by who? since I have not had a call from anyone in over a year, even after I tried to get in contact with my advisor. She said, unfortunately, she was out for six months, but even after she returned did not try to reach out.

I requested the cancelation, but no refund was given since, according to her manager, the account was managed. Still, again I was paying for a premium that included an advisor that never engaged. So save your money and avoid requesting an advisor-guided plan.

OH MERRILL EDGE where do I begin? I have an account of over $100,000.00 which is supposed to give better customer service and help you make money, It is absolutely the opposite of that! I originally signed up with Merrill Edge because they told me they allowed self managed online trading of OTC PINK Stocks, however they lied. No problem with other brokers. I have lost millions with Merrill Edge. I also could have made another 3 million about a year and a half ago when my OTC stocks of certain companies when way up and they made it so difficult to sell and wasted so much of my time. This week I also tried to make some trades but they did not approve me which when I signed up I could do right through the app but now customers have to contact a rep by phone get stuck in vmail hell and then they call back a day later and get more info on what you want to do and then call back the following day to say they do not approve your legit request. Very FRUSTRATING. Now I am stuck. Don't get Stuck with Merrill Edge. Do not ever ever do business with Merrill Edge or Bank Of America BOFA.

Been trying to open a Merrill self-directed IRA for a month! Run around after run around. Love BofA but they need to fix this! Put most of my retirement portfolio into Fidelity, which took me like 15 pleasant minutes to open online. Only want Merrill for BofA integration anyway, but I'm done! You can get them on the phone but then they act like they have no relation to Bank of America!

Can't contact this company over suspicious transaction activity in my account. Merrill Edge doesn't answer the phone after repeated hold times of over 45 minutes each. They don't even provide email support. As a consequence I liquidated all account holdings and transferred all funds out via online portal. Can't even contact them to close the account and there are still more of these unexplained equity transactions occurring in my account that I did not make.

How can you trust an investment firm that hides from you?