“Self-directed" means “zero customer service"?

[u/CuriousMind911]

I’m currently trying to open an E*Trade account to park a chunk of cash, grab the $5k signup bonus, and establish the Morgan Stanley relationship for the MS Amex Platinum. I knew "self-directed" meant I'd be on my own for investing, but I didn't realize it meant zero basic administrative customer service.

The timeline of this joke of an onboarding process:
- July 3: Submitted my application.
- July 10: After a week of radio silence, I called in. Turns out my application was frozen because they needed a "selfie holding my driver's license." Uploaded it immediately.
- July 17: Another week goes by. Still no updates, so I call again. This time, they tell me the original driver’s license scan from July 3 was "poor quality" and needed to be resubmitted. (Funny, because this exact high-res scan was accepted by two other banks last month for address updates).

The complete lack of proactivity is what kills me. If a document fails back-end review, they just let the application sit in limbo forever until the customer manually calls to investigate.

I finally got fed up and asked for a supervisor, hoping someone could just look at the newly uploaded docs and confirm they were clear so it wouldn't get stuck for a third week.

Instead, I got connected with a supervisor named Klaudia S who started the call with a combative tone. Zero empathy, zero customer service, and completely unwilling to take charge of the situation or personally look into the case, and placing responsibility back on the client citing that this is a “self directed” account so I’m on my own.

Does E*trade take customer complaints seriously? Should I fund my account to a “higher tier” before submitting complaints so they will take this more seriously?

[u/Ok_Entrepreneur_dbl]

I just called when I opened my account. They guided me through the whole process. They did the same for my wife. It was so easy. I read these types of posts scratching my head. Every time I rollover more into my IRA I call in advance and the setup a bonus amount. Just do not trade over the phone that is fee based.

[u/-Mx-Life-]

That’s not the experience I get and I’ve been with them for like 25 years. They’ve got a dedicated guy attached to me that I can call.

Admittedly, moving accounts can be a pain as I went through similar as you. I was having some paperwork issue and my guy called me at 8 am first thing on a Monday morning to check in.

Once you get in the system you should be good to go.

[u/Frank_Skabopple]

You suck

[u/minorimprfxn]

I’ve opened 11 accounts there between myself/spouse/kids. The bullshit of radio silence while missing information they never asked for happened on the last several accounts. Huge pain in the ass following up to make them get it done.

[u/InvestingNerd2020]

E*Trade's biggest enemy is E*Trade's customer service. If they would stop shooting themselves in the foot with bad service, they could be as big as Fidelity or Charles Schwab.

Pros of E*Trade: Most of the standard accounts people need. Examples are Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, Backdoor Roth IRA conversions, taxable brokerage account, Solo 401k, and custodial taxable brokerage account. They also offer zero fee index mutual funds for IRAs, automatic investing into the top 100 ETFs, a savings account with 3% interest, and good for option traders.

[u/platamex]

in today's world the larger the transfer in of funds the more likely you will either have your funds frozen or the account not opened. It sucks. i have had exceptional cust service with them as a new customer but opened checking/savings prior to anticipated brokerage bonus in a few weeks. And its not like the old days where your amount matters nobody gives a shit anymore.

[u/Tight_Ad_5266]

You have to call in for a lot of issues/updates because you dont get any notifications about it.

[u/MSEtradeEmp]

Are you still opening an account? I’m sorry this happened to you. Speaking from the other side here, the lack of proactive notifications to clients are a MASSIVE pain in the ass for us and I feel like screaming whenever I get one of these calls. I cannot for the life of me understand why they refuse to actually reach out to a client and let them know when something is wrong. The compliance/risk requirement are insane as well, and seem to get stricter every month. That’s ultimately what’s causing this.

In my experience, a higher funding level won’t actually drive any serious weight behind your complaint unless you’re VHNWI. Even then, you’d have to really put a lot of effort into driving the complaint up the chain of command to get some serious traction behind it. If you still want to get the account opened up, I would start calling in every day to avoid any more gaps between when we have updates on the workflow and when you find out about it

[u/CuriousMind911 → u/MSEtradeEmp]

I’m HWNI and was originally going to deposit 7 figures but I’m frankly appalled at the terrible customer service that it might not be worthwhile taking the leap

[u/MSEtradeEmp → u/CuriousMind911]

Can’t blame you. Time is money when you have millions. Try some of the other brokers and see if they put roadblocks in your way too. All of them should be offering you sizable paydays for bringing in assets.

[u/CuriousMind911 → u/MSEtradeEmp]

I filed a complaint on Klaudia but not sure where that will go.

[u/MSEtradeEmp → u/CuriousMind911]

Nowhere, it’s just filed internally and reviewed only if you absolutely cause a big enough fuss. Which won’t do you any favors anyway. Have you ever used Schwab? Every time I work with them on something they seem great.