Top 371 Merrill Reviews (2024)

Reviewed Aug. 11, 2023

I had worked with other institutions after my Brother's death, as the estate administrator. Others had well defined processes and systems and communicated clearly what was needed. I was able to submit forms and documents securely electronically. People I spoke to were Knowledgeable and confident. This was not the case at Merrill. They filter your calls through a call center that can only enter your questions into their system and read from their system, very little understanding of the process. Merrill does not let you speak to the people who have the knowledge.

Reviewed June 21, 2023

The girl on the phone had me answer at least 8 - 10 questions to verify me. All I wanted was my account balance.... She was nice, polite, young lady but Merrill Lynch sucks. I am 67 years old. I will close my account...

Mahalo nui loa,
until then....

Kelly (Ceallaigh)

Reviewed June 20, 2023

Reviewed June 18, 2023

Reviewed March 21, 2023

Worked with a Bank of Boston representative for Merril Lynch to obtain a $100,000 1 year CD. We verified with her in every way possible that the most we could forfeit is the accrued interest if for some reason we had to withdraw the money prior to the end of the year. She was emphatic that there would be no penalty, and there might be a percentage of the interest accrued that would be lost. SHE LIED!!! After six months we ran into a hardship due to my mother inlaw’s illness. We needed to take out half the money.

Reviewed March 9, 2023

First, please note you have to be a US citizen or PR to be eligible for opening a Merrill account. If you don't have such a status, Merrill will not allow you to open an account with them, and actually, that is a GOOD thing for you because Merrill's products and services are really terrible. Without BOA's acquisition, I don't think Merrill would be alive right now. I found the following things after opening a Merrill account:

1. As many people complained here, although they claim to offer 24/7 service, it is IMPOSSIBLE to reach anyone by phone. They say "For time sensitive requests, please call us 24/7 at 877.653.4732.". It is a total joke. If this is really a time sensitive request, you would probably better give up cause you will be put on hold FOREVER.

2. Their financial advisors do not care about you if you open a self-directed account. The only way to look for help is via their phone service which is impossible to use.

3. Their fund offerings are terrible. Their NTF funds tend to be the most expensive ones.

4. Their website often has glitches.

5. Their tax forms can be delivered as late as March 15.

The above things are bad enough, but the deal breaker for me is they stole my dividends! I set automatic dividend reinvestment for some of my funds, and I found they took away my dividends but did NOT give me the new shares. How could it be legal? Of course I could not reach anyone to help me with this. Please stay away from this ** company!

Reviewed Feb. 13, 2023

Reviewed Jan. 7, 2023

I have been banking with Bank of America for many years, so when I decided to roll over my 401k, I signed up with Merrill Lynch (owned by BOA). That was a mistake, and I will never use this company again.

1) Impossible to reach. You will be put on hold for 1hr or longer each time you call.

2) They pay your cash position the worst possible rate. I had my account with them for 3 years. Due to a surgery, I did not check the account balance for a while. I have a IRA with Fidelity which pays normal market interest for cash positions, I have 3 times more funds in Merrill, and in 3 years time, they only paid $8 for my funds, which means Merrill scammed about $4,000 in interest alone.

3) I decided to get all my funds transferred to fidelity. I filed the first request, it took Merrill 20 days to tell me they declined the transfer, so I filed another request. This time, they charged me $49.95 to transfer my funds to fidelity, which I was not made aware when I signed up for the account. I was told because I am a platinum honor client with BOA, they will waive many fees, but that is not case.

4) Merrill has one of the worst investment selection around. Their IRA does not allow reverse ETFs or options. You basically can only buy, usually at the worst prices possible, without any risk management tools to protect your investments.

I will NEVER used Merrill again, worst investment experience.

Reviewed Dec. 10, 2022

Danger, Will Robinson. ML controlled money for years belonging to my kids that was left by their mother who died of colon cancer. Merrill Lynch has charged thousand of dollars in fees per year per child for each account worth around $40k. The kids have requested funds be released as early as possible, that we be allowed to move the funds to another financial firm, that a specific Cincy financial advisor be removed from the account and that a full accounting of fees be provided.

Reviewed Oct. 4, 2022