- Report: #323403
Complaint Review: ETrade - Merrifield Virginia
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
ETrade
P.O. Box 1542 Merrifield, 22116-1542 Virginia, U.S.A.
Phone:
800-387-2331
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
E-Trade, ETrade, E*Trade Securities, Bank Obsolescence of small customers Merrifield Virginia
Starting with a $1000 minimum account balance, etrade now claims to have $167 billion in funds in 4.3 million accounts. Do the math. This is an average account size of $39,000.
Apparently this has made them recognize the expendable nature of their smaller accounts. The minimum was raised to $5000, whereby accounts below this amount were levied a $15 fee quarterly, and then to $10,000 whereby accounts below THIS amount are levied a $40 quarterly fee. The fees are waived if you are trading actively during the quarter. In otherwords, if you are trading (and thus probably eroding your account through losses and fees, there is no cost to park your money. If you are standing pat, however, you will be assessed.
In my case, I simply stopped looking at my account for 7 years, and didn't realize that a small balance which remained was being eaten away by accelerating fees. about $2000, instead of surprising me by having grown during that time, was DIVESTED of the positions (I don't even know who performed the trades) and the cash has dwindled, purely through fees to $350. Ouch. It's not a lot of money, but it would be nice to think that you could forget money in a bank and it's somewhat safe, no? This $40 quarterly fee on a bank account is not expected and is extremely inconvenient. They do have something of a monopoly, so I don't know where else I would go to do online trading, however I no longer feel safe with that option.
David
Brooklyn, New York
U.S.A.
Apparently this has made them recognize the expendable nature of their smaller accounts. The minimum was raised to $5000, whereby accounts below this amount were levied a $15 fee quarterly, and then to $10,000 whereby accounts below THIS amount are levied a $40 quarterly fee. The fees are waived if you are trading actively during the quarter. In otherwords, if you are trading (and thus probably eroding your account through losses and fees, there is no cost to park your money. If you are standing pat, however, you will be assessed.
In my case, I simply stopped looking at my account for 7 years, and didn't realize that a small balance which remained was being eaten away by accelerating fees. about $2000, instead of surprising me by having grown during that time, was DIVESTED of the positions (I don't even know who performed the trades) and the cash has dwindled, purely through fees to $350. Ouch. It's not a lot of money, but it would be nice to think that you could forget money in a bank and it's somewhat safe, no? This $40 quarterly fee on a bank account is not expected and is extremely inconvenient. They do have something of a monopoly, so I don't know where else I would go to do online trading, however I no longer feel safe with that option.
David
Brooklyn, New York
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Lee Ving
San Fransciso,California,
U.S.A.
They'll probably go under pretty soon
#2Consumer Comment
Sat, April 05, 2008
I'm sure the 4.3 million customers was prior to Nov 2007 and they've just never updated the information on the site. They're really scraping bottom, making a desperate attempt to avoid insovency. I got suckered into their Max Rate checking (3.25%) and Complete Savings (3.01%) since it seemed a great deal. They are not up front about the fact that they put a nine day hold on your funds once they have received them. They received my funds via bank transfers between 3/31 and 4/2, but are not making the funds available until 4/12. This is truly a rip. I think they're going out of business soon anyway, and I don't care.
