Merrill EdgeReviews 71

I have been trying to withdraw money from my 529 to pay my son tuition fees since March 13th 2023, last Monday I am very shocked that I have not been able to withdraw my money today is the Tuesday 21st. Your lack of competence is affecting my life, now I have not yet pay the tuition fee with late charges on top. Stanford University will drop my son's classes for non-payment soon. I know you do not care. Unbelievable! I will not recommend Merril Edge to anyone and I am seriously considering moving my money elsewhere. I need to post my feedback on google and other social media for everyone to know Merill is lacking in professionalism and customer service.

I cashed out an $1800 rollover account after losing my job. Minnesota state Unemployment is requiring a letter from the institution that sent me the money including how it was accumulated. This letter is required for unemployment benefits. I have spoken with 8 people and it's as though I've never called before each time even though they say they are taking notes. The first time I was told to expect the letter; after not hearing anything I called back to find out that no, they will not send a letter. I say ok - put that in writing, that you won't give me the info - they are saying no. I keep getting transferred, told that i reached the wrong department then given same number I dialed. The representatives are nice, but in a creepy Orwellian way where you're just getting the same wrong information again and again, like they're just making it up. Nobody should be okay with providing this service. Even verifying myself can be totally different based on who picks up. This massive conglomerate is refusing to give me information only they have that I need for unemployment, and I am starting to think they don't have the information. They are comfortable saying no verbally but refuse to put that in writing. This massive conglomerate brokerage doesn't have the capacity to be handling retirement accounts. Be a trader or a retirement account place because you suck at doing both merrill.

We have been trying to get money from our son's account to help pay for expenses. He had emergency surgery this summer and we needed funds to help him with school fees. We have been told several times over the past 3 months that they will send us a check and it will be mailed and arrive in 10 business days. When it gets close we call and there has been nothing done and zero communication about the cancelation. Then we are given another promise just to repeat the process. Hours upon hours on the phone and on hold with zero follow through. We are at our wits end with this.

Words cannot express how frustrating it is dealing with Merrill Edge. Customer service is nonexistent. Expect hour plus holding times for any communication with them. They try to be nice but are unable to fix anything beyond what can be done by yourself online. Trying to escalate your situation to a supervisor leads to a we will get back with you, which doesn't happen. There is absolutely no advantage of dealing with Merrill Edge over Fidelity, Charles Schwab, or Morgan Stanley all of which provide much better customer service to their clients. Do yourself a favor and bank elsewhere.

Been with them for over 15 years. They only get worse. As a Premium Select customer I wait on hold for an hour and then they hang up and on hold again for another hour to be hung up on again. Don't bother with this company. Their new hires have no idea what they are doing. If you need assistance to make a trade, better off not trading as you won't get the share price your looking for due to Merrill's long wait and hold time.

You're better off with cashapp. Merrill has a day to vest, brokers fees, no voice recognition. Other apps are instant and FDIC insured. Don't let the brand fool. They're not efficient.

If you enjoy hitting your head against a wall then you should sign up for a Merrill Edge account. You literally cannot contact anyone there. It's a circular nightmare and a huge waste of time.

I've had my account for a few years and have never been able to get into my account. I thought I would give it another go, and boy did that bring back nightmares.

I've tried resetting my password online, but it always tells me there's a problem and to call a number. I've tried that number as well as the number on the back of my Merrill Edge card...and it always directs me to Bank of America (they are affiliated). But the B of A person always tells me I need to speak to Merrill Edge. So they have forwarded my call to Merrill Edge's number...but I end up back at B of A. And they have given me a number for Merrill Edge *******111), but I just end up right back at B of A.

Judging by the other comments here I simply don't know how they're still in business. They've probably gotten rid of all their phone people because they're losing money.

1) Terrible Call Wait Times - I've currently been on hold waiting to speak to a CS rep via phone support for 4 hours and 30 mins. I have to call in every couple weeks (due to their buggy website) and the average wait time is between 2-3 hours. These terrible support times have been this way for at least 2 years (probably more), and Merrill Edge has done nothing to improve the situation. This is ridiculous when every other brokerage I use has <5 min wait times to speak to someone.

2) Buggy Trading Platform - Aside from the terrible wait times, I have to call in every few weeks to place my trade since the online system has a bug where it claims you have insufficient funds even though your account balance clearly has enough to cover the trade, so you are forced to call the support line. This problem has persisted for at least 2 years (probably more) as well. Previous CS reps have said that this is a known issue, but Merrill Edge hasn't devoted the resources to fix their website.

I wouldn't be so bothered by the website bug if it didn't take me 2-4 hours every other week just to be able to place a trade due to their 1) terrible call wait times and 2) buggy website. Both of these known problems have been this way for 2+ years, so Merrill Edge obviously doesn't deem them important enough to rectify. I assure you Merrill Edge, the extreme annoyance you are causing your customer base is costing you far more in revenue than you are saving from not fixing your website and hiring additional support staff.

I opened a Merrill Edge account as I have been a customer of BofA for many years. I simultaneously have an account with Fidelity. The Merrill account is awful. Comparing it to Fidelity is night and day. The site is slow, the research is not at all user friendly, market/stock alerts come hours after the alert is triggered. Add to that the inability to get in touch with a human unless you want to sit on hold for 45 minutes makes the entire experience awful. I'm definitely looking at other options. I read all the available reviews prior to opening account and most rate it fairly high. Don't believe it.

Stop your false advertising right now! When I open an new account with call, you don't tell me problems that the money is coming from Bank Of America, why does no one explain this problems why it's an issue after 90 days? You don't want to give to customer promotion money. So You must stop FALSE& TRICK Advertising! I am so unpleasant use your brokerage because YOU LIE TO ME! You use FAKE & TRICK! I can't reach out you so I just post it! Hope you response ASAP and give promotion Money ASAP. I waste time and my $200,000 money with you during 90days. Because you lie to me. Think about Who's fault.

They initiated a margin balance without confirming with me that that is what I wanted to happen. I will be leaving them forever.

I have been waiting 30 days to try to get my money back out of Merrill Edge. The telephone number is the only way, I am told, to get someone to help me but as of now I've spent more than 700 minutes on hold. I've spoken to two separate supervisors both of whom indicate their hands are tied and I have to continue to wait. They have blocked and put holds on my money for no explainable reasons. I am finally filing formal complaints and hiring a lawyer. Please avoid this company at all costs.

Literally the worst! I should have read the reviews before contacting Merrill. My first time opening an IRA and by the time money was pending I made the mistake of trying the debit card they sent me. Within 24 hours it was under investigation and my account terminated. The gentleman told me they no longer want to do business with me. There was no business done. The hold times are definitely out of this world. I was on the phone for an hour and spoke to a human for 5 min in that whole time. They have no answers, don't do what they say they will. I'm still waiting for 2 emails which I haven't received. I only get info if I call and that's when I have hours to spend not knowing how long it will take to get no where. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. HORRIBLE!

They provided incomplete information to start my sons account, wire money, customer service and setting up our financial institution to the Merrill Edge account to make purchases ( unless you are a Bank of America account holder). It's like they don't need or want new customers. If you call customer service you are on hold minimum 30 minutes. Staff is pleasant but I don't know if they have the knowledge of how to set up accounts. They nicely provide incomplete or wrong information. Misinformation caused stress ( they couldn't find $3,000.00 of wired monies), loss of time, loss of money, headaches & frustration. When I ask to speak to a manager there is never one available, during business hours and after hours. Why do I have to provide a rating in order to write this review. They should have a no star rating.

They Stopped Message sending service from online account, while other companies are leveraging more and more chat based support.
Their Phone Support Sucks as well. You have to stay on phone for 3 hours at-least. If you step away for am minute and unlucky you have to try same thing again. Also, Their staff has not much experience. Trying to contact since 3-4 months and still no luck for issue of their Trading platform bug.
My advise is to tranfer to another trading platform.

Merrill Edge is the only brokerage I know of that doesn't even have a way for clients to get in touch with a live person. Seriously, you can't sent them an email, can't chat with them. Only "option" is to call and hold times are about 45 minutes if you don't get hung up on first. All of which wouldn't be a problem if they can keep track of simple things like margin applications and did I mention that account setup takes 4 business days, so any positions that you have planned are long blown up by the time they "get to your file". If you don't value your time or money, then Merrill Edge is awesome!

The customer support and it's attitude to customers it the worst. Part of my stocks was blocked due to OFAC instructions, Merrill just moved the assets to an escrow account without direct notification me as a customer, when asked 7 times now for written confirmation that these stocks are still mine, and just blocked, refused to provide any written statement confirming my ownership of the blocked asset. I have the same stock blocked in TD Ameritrade and JP Morgan accounts, by they, in contrast, provide all the statements with proof of ownership for the blocked stocks, willing to support me as a customer. Quality of service is subpar, which is quite familiar to anyone who called Merrill support service and had to wait 2+ hours each time waiting for an available representative. Even when come to a personal appointment to Merrill rep at Bank of America, these folks do the same - call support and wait for 30+ minutes. I see them as a the worst brokerage firm in the market. Will run away as soon as I manage to transfer my stocks out.