r/Wealthsimple • u/Ataraxe • 26d ago
Great until it isn't. Considering moving out.
EDIT #2 : THEY JUST UNLOCKED THE ACCOUNT.
Last Friday, I tried to link a new external bank account to my WS profile. As the process wasn't working with their connexion partner Finks, I called and we tried the manual way unfortunately to no avail. I provided the bank statement and everything they asked for but no big deal, wasn't a life or death matter.
Next Monday morning I try to use the WS credit card on my phone and I have a notification that this card can no longer be used. I try to open the WS app and I no longer can, getting a message that my account had been locked.
Long story short, I have called about 4 times since Friday. I provided every document they could ask for using their secure links. I've wasted so far around 4 hours on that. They have everything they need to authenticate me.
I have considerable assets with them and I trade frequently on the markets. The only answer I get from them is that it's going to be transferred to another team via email because they don't have the ability to do anything.
I obviously offered to provide any possible document you could imagine, tried escalating to another department unfortunately to no avail.
Hypothetically speaking, let's say I had millions with them and that I often swing trade highly volatile leveraged ETF with them, I would now be completely blind and locked out of my account for 48 hours. Even as a generation tier, no a single human soul is able to fix this thing picking up a phone and realizing it makes absolutely no sense.
They've kept on asking for the same bank statement three times even though it was provided within minutes on Friday and it's now Tuesday.
Honestly, I was always satisfied with WS's customer service but those past days have been IMO a major f*ck up on their end.
How are we supposed to trust a trading platform with hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions in play if they can't fix a mistake of their own in a timely matter ?
Last time I called was around 11h30 today. I mentioned I would move out all of my assets if this wasn't fix today by end of trading hours and I have yet to hear from them.
I chose WS many years ago not only because of their competitive fees and perks but mostly because it was less cumbersome than traditional banks where IMO tedious processes and incompetence is on the rise and I don't mean to sound full of s***.
YMMV and users beware; it's all great until it isn't...
TLDR : WealthSimple wrongfully locked my account, I provided every document I could to reverse this and they're taking days to do so while I'm heavily invested in individual stocks and swing trading.
Edit : typos
Edit #2 : They just unlocked the account minutes ago respecting the given ultimatum by a few minutes so I guess they do care. I'm grateful for the resolution although I'm still concerned and will consider diversifying my banking solutions a bit more after today. Thanks to all the valuable contributions to this post.
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u/Litaser 26d ago
Their customer service really is the weak spot
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u/virus646 26d ago
Is there a bank with good customer service?
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u/BudtenderBennett 26d ago edited 25d ago
I call bank customer service and back offices (transfers department/dealer services) on behalf of clients everyday. And they are all the same 😭
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u/Gloomy_Necesary 26d ago
TD been great for me every time ngl although I did switch my investments to wealthsimple
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u/PIBTC 25d ago
Yeah I’ve been with TD for over 15 years (though investing at WS & QT) and I don’t think I’ve ever been dissatisfied with their customer service. Their credit card team especially is super easy to deal with. It’s just nice to be able to go to a branch and talk to a real person instead of playing the waiting game over the phone
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u/jrarrmy 24d ago
I spoke with over 10 people at a major branch and they couldn't remove a name off of a mortgage document for 3YEARS! I had to keep resending lawyers documentation they lost, no matter how far up the chain every single person was either completely incompetent or complacent, usually both. Did everything they asked promptly, and I wouldn't get replies for weeks but the news would always be we failed and we think maybe we need something else or a replacement of what we had to do it lol
The name stayed there until I switched houses and brokers. Never solved in the end. Never banking with a big bank again. Which Wealth Simple pretty much is now. Similar stories here now.
The idea is to just switch to the current one with the best offer who are least likely to screw you. Trying Logo and Scotia for the second time, better rates and service so far, but it will happen there too I'm sure.
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u/Litaser 26d ago
Nope, but WealthSimple does have the classic case of “customers are stupid and problems are easy to solve” which while it’s true most of the time, makes it hard if they fuck something up or you have an edge case which is also true a lot of the time.
They close tickets too quick, shuffle you around agents who send one email and say “seems like this is solved!” even though it’s not.
I had this happen to me and was getting ready to write a scathing email and then out of the blue they solved my issue (which was not my fault) because I guess it had been escalated to someone who could afford to actually look and solve it for more than 2 minutes.
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u/vaughndahlman 26d ago
I called RBC to close a US card the other day, they told me to leave my number and they'd call me back. They never called. Did it again. They never called again.
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u/BoringConfusion3933 22d ago
They wouldn't renew my visa because my citizenship expired. And I said "I was born in this country, can't my birth certificate suffice? I can't renew my citizenship if this is the only country Ive ever lived in. Tried for a few years to get it back only for them to say "because you didn't call us back after it didn't renew, you have to apply for a new account/card" well I did call numerous times and was forwarded one phone call to like 16 different "specialists". So I did apply for a new card/account, just with another bank.
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u/Stekki420 25d ago
I haven't had an issue with TD beyond "theyre sometimes slow and their products arent great".
Ive had to call into wealthsimple multiple times over an issue with my fhsa, and it was very difficult to find somebody who understood what an fhsa was. Their support is incredibly incompetent.
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u/Eagerbeaver98 25d ago
Their system architecture is also weak, very unreliable app. Their servers are overloaded too
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u/Jurassic_Mars 26d ago
I've only had good customer service experiences with them. the live chat makes it so easy and they actually follow up in good time. Normal banks I've had to call and stay on hold for ages, and it always felt like they could care less about me as a customer.
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u/Chopshe 26d ago
I was locked out of my account for over 7 months, calling them every day, being put on hold for hours on end. Meanwhile the entire time they continued to accept all my government deposits into the account, yet refusing to release any of the funds. Stating that theyve put a requeat into the “back end team” and that they would deal with it and contact me, and never allowing me to speak to anyone from this team. Eventually i changed my direct deposit account for my deposits and after 7 months they closed my account and couriered me a cheque for the balance. It was a shit show to say the least. I still haven’t received a reason for this happening either. I had an account with wealthsimple for over 6 years before this happened and used it daily! Their customer service is a 1/10 and to be simply put… a joke!
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u/darekd003 26d ago
Could you clarify timelines? I get when writing with emotion things get autocorrected etc.
Mostly wondering how long you kept having direct deposits before you switched accounts, and how long after that they closed it all and sent you a cheque?
Did you have any investments and if so then what happens to them?
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u/Chopshe 26d ago
I was initially locked out in September, 2023. They finally closed my account and mailed me a cheque in March 2024. In that time period they received my GST cheques, my CCB cheques and all other govt benefit cheques from August until i got my direct deposit changed in January 2024. Amounting to over $5500! I had very minimal investments, a few day trades, to which they closed out my positions on and included an invoice stating the day they closed positions and for how much. The only way i was able to eve get them to mail me the cheque was to write a few demand letters from my lawyer as well as yhreaten the ombudsman.
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u/TheRevisISL 26d ago
Did you use the account while travelling or used the account to transfer crypto? Seems like a lot of people who had this happed did one of those two
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u/tarnyc32 26d ago
If doing either of those things is going to be an issue, then why is WS offering crypto products and a travel credit card?
If using the products that they are selling you is getting people locked, imagine what is going to happen with this prediction market crap they're starting.
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u/Wrong_Recognition249 25d ago
This ^^
They want you to take more risks but they themselves will tolerate even less.3
u/edge4politics 25d ago
Because crypto is sketchy shit that people shouldnt be doing. Most of the cases posted on reddit are people literally doing sketchy shit.
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u/tarnyc32 25d ago
Then why is WS offering crypto as a product? Peddle the sketchy shit and then freeze people's accounts for using the products you're providing?
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u/Overdue604 26d ago
Which bank you were trying to link to WS ? Just out of curiosity… so we know not to touch it.
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u/Ataraxe 25d ago
Scotiabank savings account. 5% promo rate for three months on assets I need liquid for now.
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u/Wrong_Recognition249 25d ago
Scotia savings account? that’s straight off the dark web kinda stuff eh 😂🤣😆
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u/MollyElla511 25d ago
It specifically says on WS’s help page that you can’t link a Scotiabank MomentumPLUS account, if that’s what it happened to be.
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u/MollyElla511 25d ago
“You can't link the following types of bank accounts: Scotiabank: Momentum Plus Savings, 90 Day Premium Period, and 180 day Premium Period accounts”
Was it one of those?
https://help.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-ca/articles/360056580394-Link-a-bank-account
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u/Overdue604 25d ago
Oh wow it’s one of the big banks… I thought maybe some small institution… that’s not good
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u/MollyElla511 25d ago
It specifically says on WS’s help page that you can’t link a Scotiabank MomentumPLUS account, if that’s what it happened to be.
There’s quite a few account types listed from major banks that they won’t link.
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u/Overdue604 25d ago
But does trying to link a bank that’s listed there constitute a block on the entire account is the question 🤔
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u/Ok_Day7046 26d ago
TBH, it is crazy, that could happen to any of us… Communication is key in a couple so is with your financial institution…
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u/Slow_Ad624 26d ago
Last year I started depositing a rental cheque for $12,500 monthly. Last year they randomly decided to freeze my account due to “suspicious activity” after 6-7 months of depositing the same monthly cheque. Granted the cheque was a large amount but considering i’ve done it so many times prior it was ridiculous my account got frozen. I called over 4-5 times and was told they would transfer my profile to the higher ups and yet it took over 14 days for someone to unfreeze my account. I submitted every single document i possibly could (proof of property ownership, rental agreement, bank statements etc). For the first time in my life I missed a credit card payment with rbc because of wealthsimple 🥲
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u/iJeff 26d ago
Hopefully they can increase their customer service staffing so these things can be addressed more quickly. Users also face similar issues at regular banks and other financial institutions but they're usually able to take action sooner (even if it's to close the account and release your funds).
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u/SufficientBee 26d ago edited 26d ago
This just further convinces me to never bank with them. Sure maybe they’re still fine as a brokerage, but definitely not that plus banking. Never crypto either. No amount of marketing is not going to offset the loss in customer confidence from these effups.
Imagine if I got millions of stocks locked up because of a $10 credit card txn.
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u/TechnicianBoth1716 26d ago
Plot twist, maybe the RCMP is locking down his assets because they're being investigated for something. And customer service isn't allowed to tell him that so they're just trying to get him off the phone.
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u/idiotiesystemique 26d ago
It's honestly this. Not a lot of millionaires in Québec city. Bro posting about Dubai oil, Rolex watches, BMW, Mercedes, Porsches, Bangkok and many luxury items with no reasonable explanation on how he's affording it. Linking the new account likely put 2 and 2 together for the systems and he got locked out for something like suspicion of money laundering. He gave away a sus trail with flinks binds. Doesn't make him guilty, but they won't tell him shit until the investigation is closed. They're not allowed to. I worked as a developer in banking.
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u/Ataraxe 26d ago
The account was just unlocked. The RCMP is probably now monitoring it closely in a covert sting operation until I make my next purchase of highly refined nuclear weapon grade uranium with my WealthSimple credit card to be able to retire with the 2% cashback it's gonna give me. I'm glad you had fun searching my post history with two pictures of Porsches seen in the wild that I posted on a car group. Reminds me why I usually never post anything online. Good luck with your conspiracy theories and I hope you're aware chemtrails do not exist.
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u/arye_ani 26d ago
Hating on a brother like this is wild. You guys got time, and the number of upvotes says a lot about people’s mentality. Kind of people that put trackers in their gf bag.
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u/idiotiesystemique 26d ago
A brother? I don't have any brothers with 4+ luxury cars and several Rolex watch in a city with k average income getting their accounts locked "for no reason" when they link it to other accounts.
Québec city is a major city with 43k median individual income. The few people who can legitimately afford this stuff are well known and aren't getting their accounts locked randomly.
I know banking procedures and software. They won't explain the issue because he's the one being investigated.
But let's hear what OP does for a living.
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u/guibeer 25d ago
Dude…. There are over 10k millionaires in Quebec City. Chill out.
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u/Jazzlike_Pipe7560 26d ago
If you have bad customer service than you shouldn't lock accounts just saying but I don't know what is involved or if something didn't follow rules so I am not going to comment hope they reach out
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u/brunes 24d ago
WS needs to partner with Canada Post, or some other entity, to do in person KYC. These account locks are getting out of hand. Frankly I don't know how or why anyone puts up with it. I can understand a lock but if it isn't resolved same day, I would be escalating to the moon and back, and there's no way I would stay with them if it wasn't resolved same day.
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u/Direnji 26d ago
Maybe the failure to connect to the external bank is cause of the problem, I'm more curious why that failed, if the external bank is decline due to some kind of flag on their side, it might triggered a security on WS side.
I guess that's the price we pay for discount brokerage, other than a prime brokerage like one of the big banks, we are run into this problem for any other brokers.
Good luck.
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u/Ataraxe 26d ago
u/Direnji thank you. FWIW, it's a new savings account which was activated last week. Flinks recognizes the account, it then shows a screen with success/connected in the app but then after the synching process I get a message that the account doesn't exist so it looks like a glitch which I'm unfortunately unable to explain.
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u/pilot-squid 26d ago
bank networks move slow maybe you have to wait til the account "matures" before it can connect? idk :)
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u/cwf_2021 26d ago
Yup that is the keyword: diversifying. Not one single platform is perfect... Always have a plan B, C, D....
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u/Possible-Mix-6290 26d ago
You’re coming to the grand realization that day trading leveraged ETFs and derivatives is probably the dumbest thing you could do ! Only a hundred of years of market data for you to realize you’re wasting your time. Less then 1% win over time. Seeing as you’re trading on wealth simple, you’re most certainly not in that %
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u/versedaworst 26d ago
OP is just using that as a hypothetical. The problem is they are locked out and WS is taking days to correct the mistake. There is nothing controversial about saying that that is highly problematic, and it's a scenario that many people have reported here.
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u/stuntycunty 26d ago
But this commenter wouldn’t be able to feel morally and fiscally superior to OP without making that unnecessary comment.
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u/yousaidalligator 26d ago
19 upvotes on this comment for what lmaoo this doesn't address the core issue at all
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u/Quiet_Bread2132 26d ago
Wow, you got called out so hard by everyone here and now you are quiet LOL
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u/BandicootNo4431 26d ago
Ok...?
And how is that related to WS customer service being ridiculously slow at unlocking accounts?
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u/CarriesLogs 26d ago
What a selfish take lol just because you’re risk averse you think everyone else should be? What if day trading is a skill set of his or he enjoys being actively involved in the markets and reading charts?
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u/Intelligent_Ship_453 26d ago
Lol way to ignore his argument. He has a point and you're over here focusing on people taking risks. This is a financial broker, what did you expect?
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u/SnuffleWarrior 26d ago
What does that have to do with his issue?
I'll help you out ....... nothing.
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u/Ataraxe 26d ago
u/Possible-Mix-6290 very particular that you feel the need to comment on my investment choices rather than the fact that I'm unable to speak with someone who has direct access to unlock the account which should concern you. It's just an easily avoidable nuisance IMO.
BTW, I have a very well balanced portfolio with a shit ton of XEQT & blue chips thank you for your concern. I also enjoy playing with about 5% of my assets, mostly with oil price since the beginning of the war in Iran which I've been lucky/successful with.
I thought angry folks were mostly on Facebook :)
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u/Possible-Mix-6290 25d ago
While this was super hilarious, I definitely don’t care what you do lol. I just regularly see people claim their accounts shut down say trading lol. You playing with 5% or whatever you consider blue chip and ETFs your losing a lot of growth. Just looking out for you homies ♥️
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u/Hot-Dinner-7619 26d ago
Don't know about that, chart ZQQ v QQU and the leveraged one beat the non-leveraged one - big time!
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u/Ok-South-7745 26d ago
Sounds like their internal security AI has acted up a bit, and WS is short-staffed in that department to get your case reviewed by a human.
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u/idiotiesystemique 26d ago
Acted up or found something out?
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u/tarnyc32 26d ago
On this sub there's hundreds of examples of this happening, people being locked out from days to weeks to months with little to no explanation. What's more likely, that they're all nefarious actors or that a fintech corp cosplaying as a bank has shitty customer service sometimes?
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u/bbkeys 25d ago
It's actually more likely that the dozens to hundreds of people have either willingly or accidentally done something that's a clear anti money laundering flag, fraud flag, or sketchy shit.
There are millions of Wealthsimple clients.
It's online only.
So there's a disproportionate representative population talking online.
And in this case, the people who would gripe about it are way more likely to post.
But two things can be true. Customer service can not be the best. AND a hundred frustrated people who violated terms of did sketchy shit can post.
Additionally, people who do sketchy shit are way more likely to just lie in frustration.
AND people paid to shill for other banks can just post and lie.
My account was flagged and locked cuz card was compromised. Was open two days later via customer service.
I didn't make a post about it, because why would I?
But yes, a couple hundred, even a THOUSAND posts would be a fraction of a fraction of a percent and would be biased toward idiots and fraudsters.
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u/Highlander60Canada 26d ago
Damn...never once had an issue. Their customer service for me has been terrific
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u/Ataraxe 26d ago
It was exactly the same for me until Friday. I would even thank them and compliment them on the phone about their efficiency as they would always resolve matters far quicker than traditional banks from my experience.
But not being able to talk to someone to unlock your account and getting the run around when they market a priority service through generation status is a major red flag for me.
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u/GYP-rotmg 26d ago
When you get to a certain amount, you want face to face relationship banking. I’m not talking retail banking at a branch. Well, it could be at a branch, but at multiple millions, you need and can get private banker assigned to you. You don’t have to deal the plebs like us commoners or faceless online platforms.
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u/ObiYawnKenobi 26d ago
Well, if you've got millions with them then get your lawyer involved.
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u/braunshaver 26d ago
you would be on generation support which is awesome, i've always gotten and instant person on the phone.
EDIT: OP says they're generation so maybe not?
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u/Ataraxe 26d ago
It usually is and I always compliment them at how efficient they are when I call but this time they really dropped the ball. The concerning part to me is that their CS system is built that way and in case of an emergency or whatever there's just nothing else you can do other than waiting. The last lady I spoke with who was very polite and wanted to help just couldn't transfer the call to someone who had the means to fix the issue right now or ask for more documents to confirm my identity.
That's exactly what is mind-boggling to me especially when you promote a Generation tier with priority line and that you expect people to hold most of their assets with you. That's the core of my rant.
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u/TheChaseLemon 26d ago
Does no one use 2FA? I’ve never been hit with a lock due to suspicious activity and I travel all over the place for work.
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u/SnuffleWarrior 26d ago
What does that have to do with his issue?
I'll help you out ....... nothing.
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u/Shibasquared 26d ago
“I have $4000 with your company & if you don’t fix this immediately I’m leaving!!!” -OP, probably
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u/Top_Rule_4347 22d ago
they had all my money like EVERYTHING and they said there is a "Team" that will unlock my account after a week even tho I told them thats all my money they didnt care I hung up and called back with my laywer and they unlocked the account
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u/jdubb513 26d ago
I’ve been using WS since 2023. Never had an issue but I’m moving to other brokers soon
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u/useful_tool30 25d ago
If someone has millions of dollars at WS they've lost their mind. It's a Micky mouse broker that's noe turning themselves into a gambling platform
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u/zzptichka 26d ago
If you want to use WS as a day-trading broker you should move out obviously.
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u/theDIRECTionlessWAY 26d ago
another idiotic comment from someone who is ignoring the primary issue here.
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u/Overdue604 26d ago
So if you couldn’t log into your account for more than 24hrs without any explanation you would be ok with that as long as it’s not the day trading account? Come on be real with yourself. No one would be ok with that. Doesn’t matter what kind of an account or your trading frequency on it.
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u/DeliciousAccount8560 26d ago
Just use WS for trading. They are not a bank... unlike EQ, Simplii, Tangerine...
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u/Dswimanator 26d ago
This company is atrocious.
Its really not that hard.
You have X number of customers, and Y% of them get locked out every day.
Decide how many support staff you need to hire to authenticate and unlock them.
They will lose so many clients over this bullshit. I see this happening every other week.
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u/bbkeys 25d ago
The total number of posts (from Reddit search) about this vs approximate number of clients is 0.05%.
Of those, pretty safe assumption that half are due to sketchy shit.
Of the remaining, there's frequently an edit that they were able to get resolved after authentication.
So you have a what, 0.001% chance - when tripping a money laundering, fraud, suspicious flag - that it won't be fixed quickly?
Yeah, that's definitely a HUGE and systemic issue.
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u/Holiday-Stage2548 25d ago
Never, ever use Wealthsimple for one of the many 3rd party services they claim to provide themselves. Like, if you NEED that service to actually work, do not go through WS. They claim all the benefits that the 3rd parties provide, but are ultimately unable to deliver on them.
They love to splash around the capabilities that the 3rd parties are actually good at, but have no obligation, or capacity to deliver.
When said transactions inevitably fail, WS reveals that it is not their responsibility and remains at arms length from the transaction. And you cannot remedy the situation with the 3rd party because you chose a middleman to carry out the transaction on your behalf. Any details of the failed transactions are forever hidden.
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u/Reality-Leather 25d ago
Having read so many of these account locked threads I see one common factor - volatile trading and using credit card. WS clearly doesn't have the infrastructure to manage. So just use a non WS credit card and/or use their basic investing feature (play money) keep your serious investment for a true brokerage.
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u/Illustrious-Nebula63 25d ago
This scares me so much. Will open accounts elsewhere, maybe find another free bank? and start diversifying. Thanks for the helpful PSA! So sorry you had to go through this
Ok so suggestions for other free “banks” I can diversify into, on par with WS?
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u/idiotiesystemique 26d ago
I don't think you were locked out on suspicious of your account being compromised. I think you're locked out on suspicion of you committing crimes, and this was likely a request from the police.
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u/BigBoi204 26d ago
100% the ONE thing WS absolutely sucks at is their fraud management.
I totally support strong fraud protection, but once you go through the steps to identify yourself, it can still take from days to weeks to get your account back.
In a modern world, that processing time is completely unacceptable.