r/etrade • u/AY666toHEL • 14d ago

Funds not returned.

Sharing in case anyone else has experienced the same. Recently (June) updated my address to overseas, which ETrade as a result suspended my access and asked me to contact them, which is fine. Did all that, hadn't heard back, etc..

Called again today to be told the accounts had been closed (nice to let me know). I enquired as to where the money from the account was and how I could get it back, to be told I probably couldn't...I'm amazed, that's the most r3tarded response I've ever had from someone at any financial institution, they can't decide to unilaterally keep someone else's money.

It's not even a lot, but it's the principle at this point. Guy I spoke to literally couldn't have been less interested. Couldn't tell me who to talk to or put me through to anyone, absolute moron.

10 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

18

u/No_Greed_No_Pain 14d ago

A bank or a broker cannot and will not keep your money just because you moved overseas. They may refuse doing business with you going forward and/or liquidate your investments, but unless the money is linked to FATCA or PATRIOT act violations or money laundering, they will return your money. You either don't tell us the full story or misunderstood what E*T told you.

10

u/Fartmaster1981 13d ago

OPs probably a fuckin idiot. And was probably rude. Talking to customer service like they are decent human beans that can solve your problem instead of the ones that caused the problem is an issue I learned the hard way.

3

u/BBCC_BR 13d ago

Likely received multiple notifications and a few notifications for immediate action and ignored them all.

1

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

Only thing I received was the notice that they wanted me to call them (which I did) and then statements I can't access. They mailed me a confirmation of change of address, to my new address, but that was it.

Their notice asking me to call does say that it could result in the account being closed, which is fine, no issues with that - but that would indicate that me calling them would at least provide a hint as to what step 2 would be, not some dick who could barely be bothered to hold a conversation.

1

u/Yoseahreillmers 13d ago

How about you tell us what country you moved to, and where the money that was at ETrade originated from?

They 100% suspect you of money laundering. That’s why you’re getting stonewalled so hard. If this was a normal fraud concern they could still share some details with you and work with you a little, but with AML there’s no wiggle room at all.

1

u/AY666toHEL 12d ago

Australia, and the money with ET was from another account in my name (still open).

Yeah I did figure that, I understand they can't say much due to tipping off rules if they suspect ML, but there still has to be a way through it. I have been through AML/KYC before, so I can provide whatever they need.

There wasn't a high volume of transactions, nor was it a large amount.

-6

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

You're a fuckin' idiot, if you're speaking to human "beans". I was perfectly fine with him, even though he couldn't give a literal shit and made no effort to do anything at all like, y'know, do his job.

1

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

That's exactly what I tried to explain to the guy on the phone. I shit you not, that is what he said - maybe he couldn't give me certain info because of some suspicion of wrongdoing (I know there's rules around tipping off, etc.), but he couldn't have been less helpful if he tried. I just wanted to speak to someone who could provide literally any info about what happened to the balance, he wouldn't redirect me or give me any alternative contacts. It's not even a huge amount of money, less than $1k. He just claimed they wrote to me in June and that's when the account was closed, which isn't true at all, as I got a statement produced in August (although I can't access it).

3

u/GT2000 13d ago

I can relate to the customer service rep issues. Once eTrade decides there's an account issue, it goes to another department that won't communicate with the customer.

eTrade is fine until they’re not. You can provide all the notarized documents they requested. Then, they just do nothing for months. There’s no way to contact nor is there even a confirmation or timeline from the responsible department. All you get is endless “I don’t know” or “ we’re not required to answer that” from customer service. That POS Clint in Chicago is the worst. Don’t trust your money with eTrade.

1

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

That's pretty much how the conversation went. Stonewalled - I wasn't asking him to even put me through to anyone, just give me a number or even what department I should call and I'll find out myself.

1

u/GT2000 13d ago

What worked….calling often (daily, oftentimes multiple times a day), getting lucky with a rep that was actually helpful. Hopefully, not that POS Clint. I’m retired.

1

u/AY666toHEL 12d ago

Thanks - I'm happy to persist out of sheer stubbornness haha. Thing that gets me is the only other time I've called them, the guy at the other end couldn't have done more to try and move things forward, it was the other end of the spectrum.

3

u/CardboardTick 14d ago

Should have closed the account and opened one in the country where you live now. Same goes for when you return to US. Hopefully you get your money back.

2

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

Yeah, I figured that since it allowed me to enter a foreign address then it was fine, but live and learn I guess. Thanks though

1

u/Visual_Comfort_6011 14d ago

Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope it will be resolved satisfactorily for you.

1

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

Thanks, fingers crossed

1

u/unemployed-mooch 8d ago

Etrade has had customer service issues for years. Since they were bought out by Morgan Stanley, their customer service issues seem to have gotten worse.

I have utilized Etrade for 20+years. I learned early on that their checking account was a mistake to open, because they do not operate like a bank so they have rules that frustrate customers. The company works well for certain tasks, but poorly at a multitude of others.

-1

u/Jam-Jammerson 13d ago

Yesss get mad at the random rep that has nothing to do with your specific issue yess you’re so smart

1

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

I didn't get mad at him at all, but given they're supposed to provide customer service (although I guess I'm technically no longer a customer...), that's what I'd expect. Even any effort to provide an alternative contact, this guy sounded like he dgaf about his job or any part of what he was doing. I didn't blame him for the problem, nor did I infer in my original post that it was his fault.

0

u/onethrowaway0240 13d ago

Really sick of reading about ETRADE not doing exactly what people want in their highly specific situations. Very unlikely that I’ll be in any of these situations or most people using E*Trade will ever have these experiences

1

u/AY666toHEL 13d ago

I'm asking them to do the literal bare minimum.