If I could give them zero stars, I would. The whole experience was very punishing, stressful, and disorganized. They waited until 4 months, after my Mother's death to even contact me about an inherited IRA. On my first call, the associate asked me so many personal and intrusive questions. Not even a therapist or doctor would ever ask such personal questions. They claimed it was because the Patriot Act requires it.
Instead of letting me work with a local advisor, I was forced to use the advisor who had been working on my Mom's IRA. She was on another coast and wasn't at all a good fit. So instead of going to my local office and getting everything done in a visit or two, this process took 3 months.
They want a phone call to verbally verify every little thing. I cannot even count how many phone calls this process requires. Apparently they don't use electronic fraud prevention measures. I had to call them to verify that I did indeed sign the form they sent through My Merrill. The company is stuck in the 80s. They called me so much that I had to finally ask them to stop cold calling me. Tasks that should be able to be completed in minutes, take days. Tasks that should be able to be completed in days, take weeks.
I emailed the advisor and associate and informed them that I was very upset by the lack of organization and antiquated processes, the advisor actually apologized and was kind. But, then it got worse. Apparently that email pisses off the man in charge of this branch. Adrian emails me on a Wednesday and demands that we speak on the phone. I tried to tell him that I wanted to wait until Friday and would rather call the associate I had been working with. The reason was because I was not feeling well and had a stress headache and sinus pain coming on. I wanted to walk away from the situation for a couple of days, before coming back to it. I don't know if it's because I was a woman speaking out against his company is what.
Dealing with the death of a loved one is difficult enough. When you add layers of bureaucracy, incompetence, and unhelpfulness makes it that much harder. I will never give this company one dime. read more