Merrill Lynch Reviews (Wealth Management) 2024

Review:  Website is terrible, nothing makes sense. Customer service is also terrible, they have no idea how to use their own crappy platform.

Review:  The Mobile, AL office of Merrill is outstanding. Excellent customer service, outstanding broker in Austin Bradford. Very well pleased with the performance of our retirement accounts.

Review:  Been dealing with this worthless company for 3 weeks to have them ACH my money to me. They were able to send $.91 cents to my bank to verify and which they did able to verify and instantly took their .91 cents back. So the problem that they can never explain even from a supervisors stand point on why not 1 but 4 different ACH request for MY Money to be sent failed 4 times when they verified my linked account. Red Flag. Been dealing with Merrill since Aug 17 and it is now Sept 1 and I have yet to see my money. They are so called expediting me a check via UPS but the SUPERVISOR Jasmine stated that I will not see a tracking number for 1-2 business day. Ummm then that is not expedited. So with that being said, I will not see a check till Tuesday or Wednesday since Monday is Labor Day. Go figure. If your employer does 401k make sure it’s not with this company because you will go through hell and back just for you to withdraw YOUR money. They will lie and give you the run around.

Review:  I have not actually used the service, but having recently started a brokerage account and transferred a 401(k) with Benefits Online (Merrill Lynch) to Merrill Edge IRAs (Roth and Pre-Tax), I have been pestered to upgrade to fee-based accounts.

I have banked with Bank of America for my checking and some savings accounts for some time. My mother passed away in 2020 and I inherited a brokerage account. This account was with a commission brokerage with high fees and the advisor who I felt didn't serve my mother well. I transferred those assets to a new Merrill Edge account. The representative I spoke with said that she wouldn't try to up sell me, but almost immediately tried to do just that. I politely declined as I have been managing my investments for about 20 years.

Recently, due to some changes in my former employer's 401(k) plan, and to create separate Roth and Pre-Tax IRAs as the time for RMDs is approaching, I transferred those assets to Merrill Edge. During this process, I received a call and voice mail message from Merrill Edge in Washington, DC. Thinking there was possibly an issue with the transfer, I called back. The representative, (a different person than one I had spoken with earlier), clearly was interested in moving my brokerage account to a fee account, even though I had requested self-directed accounts. When the person found out about the pending transfer, the interest clearly increased.

After the transfer occurred, I had some difficulty purchasing certain Vanguard ETFs that I wanted, the system stated they were too risky. I have no idea why that was. I found other suitable investments and fully invested both accounts.

After the transfer, which the new representative was tracking, the person called back and asked lots of questions about my other assets, what my goals were, etc. The person also complimented me on how well I had done with my investments on my own. Soon, I was offered a presentation referred to as a Personal Wealth Assessment, which I hadn't requested. I was asked to come up to their office, but I declined, and the presentation was done online. This was clearly a sales pitch for the wealth management program, for the "bargain" fee quoted at 1.09%. There were specific recommendations, but I politely indicated that I wanted to manage my own investments, and keep my other assets where they are. I expect there will be more follow up pressure in the future.

Wealth Management fees seem high, and there is pressure to upgrade, even when the client clearly has investing experience, and has stated they currently don't want advice. There seems to be restrictions on certain types of investments, with no clear explanation as to why.

Review:  I’ve been with other brokerages, and I have to say, Merrill Lynch is one of the worst I have ever conducted business with. My decision to transfer my accounts over to Merrill Lynch was being a Bank of America customer and wanted everything under one platform. I have only had this accounts open for 7-8 months and it’s been one nightmare after another trying to transfer money from one institution over to Merrill. In addition, I have never seen so many advisers who cannot assist you, or return phone calls, reply back to emails, simple customer service skills, and good luck speaking to a manager. Even when you provide poor surveys and comments on the Merrill website, a manager will not speak with you. Which explains the reps…seeing managers set the tone for the office.
I believe the real problem here is 3 items:
1) this back office processing department which all transactions go through. This is the most irresponsible department. I don’t even think they could wash dishes if they were asked to.
2) an old Bank Of America system (Edge),
3) Poor leadership.

Also, when you cash/trade stocks, it takes the 4 days to settle in your account(s).
My husband clearly was the smarter one. He had me move my accounts over to Merrill (he was skeptical of Merrill). After watching the circus he is happy he stayed with Fidelity.

Review:  I am extensively being bounced between AIG and Merrill after my request started almost 2 year ago. Persistent holds and persistent demands for more forms and the demands keep changing time after time. I started this to have my over 100K funds released and still no affirmation that I ever will. I sought legal assist which so far has not helped either. Does SEC do anything to help?......anyone

Review:  Awful customer support. Messed up with transaction. I have an impression that they deliberately holding transactions in order to use your money for free. Simple transaction within the company took ten days. Spent hours on the phone to correct the situation. Will take my money to somebody else.

Review:  Horrible investment advice. Lost me a lot of money.

Review:  If I can give 0 star, I would. 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. 1) Impossible to reach. You will be put on hold for 1hr or longer each time you call. 2) They pay your cash position the worst possible rate. I had my account with them for 3 years. Due to a surgery, I did not check the account balance for a while. I have a IRA with Fidelity which pays normal market interest for cash positions, I have 3 times more funds in Merrill, and in 3 years time, they only paid $8 for my funds, which means Merrill scammed about $4,000 in interest alone. 3) I decided to get all my funds transferred to fidelity. I filed the first request, it took Merrill 20 days to tell me they declined the transfer, so I filed another request. This time, they charged me $49.95 to transfer my funds to fidelity, which I was not made aware when I signed up for the account. I was told because I am a platinum honor client with BOA, they will waive many fees, but that is not case. 4) Merrill has one of the worst investment selection around. Their IRA does not allow reverse ETFs or options. You basically can only buy, usually at the worst prices possible, without any risk management tools to protect your investments. I will NEVER used Merrill again, worst investment experience.

Review:  Please do not waste your time with them. CHOOSE ANY OTHER COMPANY!

Review:  Impossible to reach by phone, trying to close my IRA due to this, but can't. I guess they just steal your money, because you can't get any of it back..

Review:  I did not like customer service no one helped me or spoke English to me on the phone. The worst wait time was over 2 hours until someone picked up . I was not happy with them at all i do not recommend them to anyone who wants to invest. I was not making much money since i sold some stocks off any way happy that i pulled out !

Review:  Have been on hold for over 5 hours. On multiple calls. Have been hung up on and marketed to. No one has helped me with the simple transaction I'm trying to accomplish. They suck massively.

Review:  Merrill team (in Omaha, NE) is engaged and responsive to our investment objectives. One of the key reasons to hire a good wealth manager is to free up time, as you would need to spend a significant amount of it to achieve the same level of performance. If you don't have consistent time available for managing your investments and don't want professionals managing your money, I suggest low-cost index funds. Good luck!

Review:  NA

Review:  After having an account for more than 30 years they are charging me $49 to cancel my account. That is bull. The worst customer service and the worst financial advice while I had the account

Review:  As BOA has squeezed resources out of the Merrill Lynch service model, the systems are highly automated and inefficient. They try to sell online banking via a recorded pitch every time one must call. If there is a fraud alert: sales pitch for online banking…and 30-60 minutes later a human being will address why the suspected fraud and why your account was shut down. Then they’ll reactivate the account and apologize for the wait.
Commercial banks should not apply their mentality to the asset mgt business. But it’s an old legacy relationship, I’ve moved most of the assets. As I accumulate assets I will invest away from any BOA platform.

Review:  This is a long long story and since years, there is no resolution... I just want an empty account from my former emplyer to be deleted... Meanwhile it´s even empty as ML just charged it continously against the sahre that once have been in there! I tried to sell the sahres before, but could not get any access to the system. The contact methods and call agents advices have been useless... ML was not reacting to any formal air letter, I sent over from GY tu US. Just ridicoulous

Review:  This is one of the worst financial companies that I have had to deal with. They do everything slow and usually wrong as well. I wish my company would move to a much better company because there are certainly much better companies out there.

Review:  The hold times waiting during every call (always - EVERY TIME the recording laughably says "we are experiencing unusually high call volumes") that means more than an hour each call waiting for a representative and then more time getting excuses and run-around and you must call because e-mails are rarely returned. I have been waiting for the distribution check from my deceased mother's 401k, the completed paperwork for which was submitted almost 6 month ago. She worked her whole adult life for BofA and this is how they reciprocate. I don't know how Merrill and its owner BofA are not ashamed and embarrassed by their poor and shoddy service but all that matters to them is the quarterly reports to keep the stock prices, and thus their personal compensation, up. Shameful.

Review:  (Ugh. Fixing my starred review as I accidentally gave 5 stars with my initial review. SMH)
I had to move funds from my 401k with ML to a different account. I called the bank I was moving funds to and got the correct information of where Merrill needed to send the check. I then called Merrill, waited on hold for over 40 minutes and got some young man who kept misunderstanding how the check needed to be written out.
By the end of the call, after correcting him repeatedly (and no, I do not have a speech impediment, and English is my native language), I thought he'd finally understood how the check needed to be written out.
Two months later, the check, made out improperly, has been floating around in the mail, been stapled three times, turned down by two financial institutions (at this point) - all because the Merrill Lynch intern (or new CSR) could not for the life of him transcribe what I was telling him.
So two months later, here I am back on hold with Merrill and this time it will be for an hour (per the automated service). I am beyond irritated as this is such a waste of time. I will never, ever do business with this company again, as incompetent as they have proven themselves to be. Like others, I wonder how they stay in business.

Review:  I tried to open my account with them. But it takes forever!!!! I took two hours to talk with Merrill online. They kept transferring me between different department, and always let me repeat my request and telling me I cannot help you but I will transfer to someone who can help you. Can you believe it repeated four times from four different person!!!! I finally give up and decide to get my money back from Merrill. It I can give negative review I will give negative 5 star.

Review:  My day trading is impossible on Merrill. Sometimes I don't even realize I just bought stocks. It doesn't always confirm a purchase. So, I go along my day not knowing I bought shares I should be watching.

Review:  why does Merrill Lynch require clients to purchase Itunes Gift Cards and Steams gift card in order for a client to transfer money from Singapore to California? Is this legit?

Review:  Wow, where do I begin? I bank with BOA for the last 20+ years. On the banking side they have been ok. But, recently i tried to open a brokerage account with ML and it took almost one month. I just got tired of waiting and told them to close my account even before it was fully open and ready for investment.
ML is the worst broker out there IMO.

Review:  I received a pension distribution (under $5000) in the form of a Merrill Lynch IRA since I left my former job. Since I already used Vanguard (would recommend btw), I wanted to transfer the ML IRA to Vanguard so I had everything in one place. As I'm filing my taxes over a year later, I realize that the amount deposited in Vanguard does not match the amount on Form 5498 from ML. I had to dig through a statement to find a $95 transfer fee charged by Bank of America. I don't remember consenting to this transfer fee, but if I did it was probably in very fine print. After reading reviews on this website, it makes sense why they had to charge $95 for a transfer... it probably took them several hours of research and labor to do something they should have down pat.

Review:  Been trying to close an IRA for two months and still do not have my funds transferred to my bank.
Every time I call I get a different person with a different excuse and different paper work required.
Nobody there knows what they are doing and seem to have a prewritten list of lies to keep from releasing your funds.

Review:  No wonder why the reviews here are mostly 1 star. I had a similar experience with Merrill Lynch like everyone else. That ML like any other company these days is blaming Covid for its lack of adequate service has nothing to do with the fact that its representatives (both regular employees as well as supervisors / managers) have no idea what they are doing and no responsibility to anything. I had to liquidate my ML 401K account and transfer the funds to Fidelity - it took ML 1.5 months for them to be able to write a check correctly for my funds to reach Fidelity after countless phone calls from myself as well as Fidelity (after they sent an erroneous check to them). ML's processes break at every step making one wonder how such a business survives - the answer is, most likely because of deals made between ML and big employers for certain "efficiency" related reasons. That way employees get locked into structures and programs that are not as good as they seem they are.

Review:  These guys should not be in the stock business. As of now 9:44 am the Merrill website has not been available, that is over 3 hours. I tried calling everyone I could find a number for and the wait/call you back time is 3 hours.

They have lost me money this morning because I have no access to my account.I am making a complaint to the SECC.

Review:  If you are like me and you live and want to trade on your mobile phone then Merril Lynch is not for you. The app doesn't have a way to disclose cash funds that are available for trading. If you trust the balance available on the app, you're going to get yourself into trouble. Many securities can not be purchased on the app as well, I have gone to execute a trade only to be given an error message that says, "This can only be purchased on a desktop version." When trading on the desktop I get trading errors, locked out of my account, and today the website is down. Usually three times a week I have to call them to have them unlock my account and this isn't user error. It's their website. If you want to trade quickly, you won't be able to. Many securities require text message verification that can take 1-2 minutes to receive the number. Sometimes, the message never comes and when you go to get another verification number, it locks you out. If you want to throw your money into a stock, set it, and forget it, Merril Lynch is for you, otherwise go with WeBull, RobinHood, or ETrade. It's 2020, come on Merril Lynch!!

Review:  I have been with the firm for years. Now retired, I am in income and cash. So now that I don't regularly trade, my account was shuffled over to an assistant to my financial advisor studying for her license and not yet certified! What? First she tells me I should consider selling half of my ATT. I did not agree and she argued the point at a latter phone conversation. ATT is earning me good income. Prior to that, my then advisor, suggested I sell my limited partnerships, but when I questioned about capital gains, my question was ignored! With the last stock market decline, I never even got a call from them. So I called and asked why I did not receive a courtesy call, I was given the "not to worry" answer. So now months later I get a phone call from a ML advisor from another state wanting to take over my account! What? They are the worst for personal service and only want you if they can constantly make money off you! Do not ever use Merrill Lynch!

Review:  I had the most bad experiance with this company, associates are not educated well to respond hour question. specially when you ask question about maintenance call. I never receive one solid respond to my question, they just guessing. Everytime i call to verify something, everyone respond differently. They had sold some stocks because of "human error",can you imagine their manager said that to me , and when i call and ask, he told me "we are a human". Never trust their responds. Bottom line, save you money and do better research which company is good to invest. Or try and see why all reviews have one star only.

Review:  I appreciate the effort BoA/ML made to move easily between banking and investment accounts. My family has banked with BoA since selling a small securities business to BoI over 150 years ago. We remained loyal, but were repeatedly disappointed. Growth for growth’s sake led to repeated write and melt downs. Now it is run equitably, intelligently and is a bank to be proud of and trust once again. My wife raves about you too. Keep up the good work.

Review:  I opened an account with $2500 to start trading for my daughter, about a few days I realized I couldn’t sell make any transactions, I called customer service and they told me that my account was closed and couldn’t give me a reason. I asked for a manager who told me that it was a company decision and a letter would be sent out to me , I pushed to get clarification but he claimed that all the details he could give me. They gave my money back but I lost money when the price moved up on the stocks I was holding. Honestly the strangest Thing I’ve come across.

Review:  It takes this app on my iPad forever to load and trying to put in a trade is a nightmare. This has been going on for months, so I know it’s not an update issue. Also,I updated my internet to twice the speed and still haven’t noticed a difference.

Review:  Trying to close a trust account and getting no response, simply a runaround. Same as many of the other reviews

Review:  Was moving my IRA from ML to Fidelity (for better returns) and my ML Advisor had to submit a request with the ML Custom Managed Desk for approval and execution. Took 3+ business days - lost thousands of dollars on a simple transaction. All I got was a sorry - I (ML Advisor) did not know he needed approval from the ML Custom Managed Desk. Not happy!

Review:  I was scammed at the N Raleigh office and deceived with a false interest rate that was assured to me. I took my funds out of an account that ended up making more for this LIE!

The Broker just wanted to increase his portfolio, so HE deceived me!

Review:  since BoA took over ML has turned down hill - many mistakes and errors and incompetent folks with tenure
sad state of affairs when they do NOT understand the investment vehicle they put you in.

Review:  Just try to transfer your funds from Merrill Lynch to a different company. They will make it as difficult as possible. I've been trying for 2 months now and they just give me the runaround. I've sent them every form they've asked for but they say they're all the wrong one. I guess they always win.

Review:  I have been doing business with Merrill-Lynch through a 401(k), two SEP IRA's, and a small amount of stock sales since 1970. That's 49 years. They are the most professional folks I ever deal with except for my own employer (now retired). The only folks who come close are American Express.

They just solved a tax problem with regard to direct charitable contributions from an IRA to the charity, without going through me first. My CPA, who works for the most highly regarded firm in my city, missed it.

Reading all these negative reviews I have to conclude that satisfied customers like myself must hardly ever comment, but the vast minority unsatisfied must always comment.

On a scale of 0 to 5, I would put Merrill-Lynch at 10, AMEX at 5, Visa at 3, Cox Cable at 1, and Walgreen's at 0. So I am not alway a happy camper, but I sure am with Merrill-Lynch.

Review:  We have an elder care attorney who has filed a request on our behalf for Medicare coverage for spouse who is in pallative care in a nursing home.

The Medicare application has pending approval awaiting on a simple request to Merrill Edge to change spouse's IRA required minimum distribution from an annual basis to a monthly distribution.

I contacted Merrill Edge to request this change and the initial contact person was very cordial, told me the requirements to make the change happen, then a downhill spiral into the Merrill Edge rabbit hole began. Simply stated, six weeks after my initial request, I have spoken with 6-7 different representatives, submitted all information they requested (the last form they sent me was rejected, stating that it was the incorrect form even though it was the form they sent to me). The last representative told me that said he would mail me the correct form. That was over a week ago and I still have not received it.

This is a rather small amount of money involved but apparently is a Medicare requirement. Merrill Edge's incompetancy with this simple request is delaying Medicare's final approval which is causing spouse's medical bills to "pile up" awaiting payment.

I googled "Merrill Edge complaints".....and just one site had 282 written complaints, most of which involved much larger amounts of money that the persons complaining said that Merrill Edge was deliberately witholding their money . The complaints were very detailed and shocking. It seems that when Bank of America took over Merrill , Lynch, Fenner, Smith, et al (after the U.S. government bailout), customer service of Merrill Lynch customers changed to customer no-service.

Now that I know BOA owns Merrill Edge I can understand customer frustrations. I just recently closed my final account with BOA after over 35 years as a former customer due to their incompetance. It simply amazes me that banking regulators & the securities & exchange commission seemingly do nothing to correct these problems.

Review:  I have many examples of why I’m displeased, but the first one is truly concerning.
1. I wanted withdrawals from my Chase checking account terminated. I am moving my money to Fidelity and everything had been liquidated to move. I spoke to someone in December asking if this was completed and he assured me it was completed. January the withdrawal was taken from my bank.
I called customer service - 3 times. The first person “transferred me” and took the opportunity to hang up on me. The second person said he couldn’t see anything.
The third person left me on hold for 30 mins. She can’t find anything and I go on hold again for 20 more mins. She came back claiming this was a Chase issue and not ML.
I told her she was 100% wrong, the withdrawal was initiated at ML and not Chase. I know the difference.
She said their entire web team had searched it over and there was nothing like that on my account.
During my lunch break, I dig through my account and found it under transfers. I turned off the auto contribution myself.
How sad is that? That’s a basic function.
Why would you let these people touch your money?
2. I never talk to the same person twice. Every time I call I have to explain EVERYTHING over and over.
3. Every new person wants credit/commission whatever the reason and they try to make you take the reassessment for your investments again.
4. The fees are double Fidelity (who has more mutual funds and a 5 star rating)
5. They have stumbled through every interaction I’ve ever had with them. It should be smooth at some point and it never gets there.
I wasted my time and money.

Review:  Almost 3 weeks to process a hardship withdrawal and then get charged twice for it. Also requested it to be sent UPS and they sent it regular mail when I paid for UPS overnight.
Unreal

Review:  I have been trying to transfer my funds to Vystar for about three weeks with so much red tape when I call them I keep getting the run around and constantly getting so many different answers from them how to handle this. This is crazy...

Review:  Again love the service, all you haters before me and you LAURA on 8-17-18, "what are you crying about?". You are lying and making your pathetic situation there fault. They do not take your money, transfers are instant real-time. Laura, you say invest somewhere else, why? Do you even invest anything?, do you know what a security is? You, the client call the shots, you make the decisions, you do you your own research, blame yourself. Ever hear of direct extensions to reach client support? Ever ask? No emails usually for security reasons, no brainer there. If your "hardship is real" or not , its your money, end of story, don't see your problem. Are you a rewards member? Example-Platinum honors tier. No fees for anything ever. In fact they pay me every month and it adds up. People love rewards programs, cash, miles, etc.. Oh boo hoo for you and all the other dramatic liars out there. Gimme a break. I am no different than you , not a millionaire or anything, just realistic and truthful. Its BankAmericaMerrillLynch, not the mafia for Christs sake. They don't just take money and charge you for things--Most all of you are big babies and outright lying about your experiences, get real, step up your game or go back to the bench.

Review:  They take your money, but when you apply for a hardship they do not care. They will deny you no matter how much you need it. They are so bad they have no way to contact them by email and have no way to answer back. They are a waste of time, invest somewhere else because if you need your money you will not get it. Actually would of checked no stars if they made it available. They will make you a new application just so they can charge you $45.00 each time you apply, without your knowledge. Big mistake investing with them.

Review:  Started with bank account, opened brokerage account, now with 100 free trades a month, i am a trading machine. All of you who wrote reviews before me are uneducated, emotional twerps who should consider going away. Try and find a broker that offers 100 commission free trades a month and will undo trades and adjust cost basis for you if an error occurs. Merrill Edge has done this for me. Up your game or sit on the bench where you belong, rookies.

Review:  We have been trying to settle my uncles estate with Merrill Lynch for almost 2 years now. Run, run as fast as you can. He had 1.4 million with them and all we get is excuses and delays, good luck and please read reviews before investing with anyone.

Review:  Horrible experience. It started good and ended very badly.
We are going to Schwab.

Review:  They only care about you if you have millions to invest and then when you do, they nickel and dime you to death.

Review:  Rude Customer Service Reps that hang up on you without warning.

Review:  I wanted to close out an account that had $ 50 remaining. After their fee to close out the account, they sent
me a check for $ .36. Things like this is why I don't ever invest with Merrill Grinch anymore. or the like.
Remember, brokers always makes money on your investments, but may be you will, too or not!

Review:  I had a large sum with M_L but every year the balance stayed the same even though the S&P and bonds were up 15% each year. They are masters of deception, telling you how good you are doing but your money does nothing.
Notice they are the only investment firm that does NOT have a performance tab or button you can click to see how your money has appreciated ( or not!). They do not want you to see how poorly they manage your money and how they rip you off!!!

Review:  I had a 401K through Merrill Lynch, then left the job and decided to get the payout to pay off some high-interest loans before reinvesting. Even with the heavy taxing, I was getting out with more money than I'd put in due to maximizing company matching. The first agent I spoke to about this thoroughly questioned my decision (that part is probably standard for withdrawing a 401K) with an awful attitude the whole time. Would respond to me with "K" and had a horrible tone from the moment I said I wanted to withdraw the money. And the company does not allow you to wrap things up online - they give you no other option but to call and talk to these jerks before they consider releasing your money. Then, I had to call again to finish linking my bank account to direct deposit the funds, and again the agent (different person) had a poor attitude the whole conversation once they realized I was withdrawing. Don't know if this is actually how they are trained, to discourage withdrawals and try to bully people into staying with this nasty company, or if these "professionals" take it upon themselves to be judgemental toward their clients. Either way, it's unacceptable.

The second call was only made necessary by the fact the website and email system is also garbage. It is not clear where you go for verification of a linked bank account. The email does not give a direct link to do so, and gives no explanation how to navigate to the page (just says "click verify at the bottom of the screen" without saying what screen). Even the woman I had been forced to call had no idea how to get to the page to do the verification - so I guess they just really want another opportunity to give you hard time before you finally rip your money from this company's clutches. Absolutely disgusting. Another greedy corporation that doesn't give a flying F about their clients, unless maybe if you're a millionaire already. Go figure.

Review:  When my dad passed away we sold what he had in this company and cashed it out they wait until the last minute to send you a 1099 on the information they told me they have until February 28th to send them out this is the last form I need to complete my filing ridiculous

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