ComplaintsforCharles Schwab Corporation

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Dear **************, CFA:I hope this letter finds you well. Our names are *************************** and *************************, and we are writing to address the service we recently received regarding an incoming international wire transfer into our Global account in ******** Yen.We contacted Charles Schwabs customer service on how to do an incoming international wire transfer in ******** Yen. Unfortunately, the Charles Schwab people we spoke with did not provide us with crucial information regarding the requirement of putting the address of the ******** bank involved in the note section of the incoming transfer. Instead, we were given outdated December 2018 instructions, which did not include this ************. Please see the scan of the attached PDF, which uses the word OR instead of the word AND.Due to this oversight, we encountered significant complications with the incoming international wire transfer. After several follow-up calls, it became apparent that the absence of the ******** bank's address was a critical omission, causing additional fees of JPN ******, on February 9, 2024, and a loss of the time value of money on our part. See the attached email in ********.As a valued customer of ********************************************* Global Accounts, we expect a correct version of the international wiring instructions from your customer service representatives. This incident has not only inconvenienced us but has also eroded our confidence in the reliability of your services.To rectify this situation and prevent similar occurrences in the future, we request the following:1.A refund of USD $100.63 into my brokerage account.We know that addressing this issue promptly will not only restore our confidence in Charles Schwab ***************** but will also contribute to the overall improvement of your customer service standards.We appreciate your immediate attention to this matter and look forward to a prompt resolution. Thank you for your cooperation.Our best regards,****** and *************************

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  Please see the attachment for an update.

  Customer response

  03/25/2024

  Dear Charles Schwab, Thank you for the response. I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. My best regards, ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  03/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am extremely disappointed with the treatment I have received from Charles Schwab Bank regarding my recent account closure and the holding of my funds without any valid reason. I am writing to file a formal complaint against the actions taken by your institution which I find to be unjust, arbitrary, and in violation of basic banking principles.I initially opened an account with ********************************************* Bank without any issues and proceeded to make a mobile check deposit of $444.73. Not only was this deposit accepted by your bank, but it also cleared both banks involved in the transaction. Subsequently, upon your request, I promptly verified my identity by providing my state-issued ID, which was acknowledged by your representative.To my utter dismay, the very next day following our conversation, my account was arbitrarily locked by your bank under the pretext of unknown reasons, and I was informed that my account had been closed. I was then instructed to transfer my funds to another bank, but shockingly, Charles Schwab Bank has prevented me from doing so, effectively holding my funds hostage without justification.I want to emphasize that I have complied with all requests made by your bank, including verifying my identity promptly and fully cooperating with your procedures. I have not breached any rules or laws in any way. Therefore, the unilateral decision by Charles Schwab Bank to close my account without providing a valid explanation or allowing me access to my funds is completely unjust and unacceptable.I am formally requesting the immediate release of my funds totaling $444.73 back to me in full. I demand that Charles Schwab Bank rectify this unjust situation by either granting me access to my account and funds or enabling a swift transfer to another bank of my choice. Holding my money without cause is not only unfair but could also be considered illegal and unethical.I urge you to take immediate action to resolve this matter and uphold the principles of fairness

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  Response to client is located in attached file.

  Customer response

  03/25/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   they accept my deposit and then congratulations on new account and the locked it ... now they want me drive to closet branch witch is in ** I live in ********* and also bring my kids mother and both our idd and the id is not the problem but finding her is a problem I don't have waybget in touch with her she pops up every few months this is not ok ysll took my money and I am contacting a lawyer and the attorney General  .. and local news 

  Business response

  04/01/2024

  Firm response located in attached file.

  Customer response

  04/02/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   nouthing was resolved yall took my money with no explanation and told menit wont be returned im contacting the federal attorney General and getting a lawyer ill see yall in court

• Initial Complaint

  03/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Complaint Regarding Withholding of Profit from Margin Account and Inappropriate Flagging for *************************** am writing to address a concerning issue regarding my margin account with *********************************************, . I recently sold securities (NVDA) in this account, resulting in a profit of $108,176. However, despite complying with all regulations and requirements, my profit has been unjustly withheld by Charles Schwab.The trade was executed on 03/01/2024, and I received valid trade confirmation on the same day. However, on 03/04/2024, I was surprised to find that my profit had been withheld and considered a Charles Schwab profit. When I contacted your representatives, I was informed that the profit was withheld under Regulation T and that I was not entitled to it unless I deposited additional funds to cover the trade.Furthermore, despite my efforts to resolve this matter by contacting the executive of Charles Schwab on 03/08/2024, I received a response on 03/11/2023, which did not address my concerns. Despite confirming that the trade was valid and profitable, Charles Schwab insisted that I would not receive my profit because I had used Schwab's money to make the trade.It is important to note that the sale of securities was made before my account was flagged for any violations, including *********************** to Regulation T, if no payment is made, the unpaid position must be liquidated, and the account must be 'frozen' for 90 days. However, since the sale of securities occurred before the account was flagged, there was no asset in the account to be liquidated.Therefore, I kindly request the immediate release of my withheld profit of $108,176 to my account. This withholding not only violates the law but also breaches our agreement and your fiduciary duty as my broker.I look forward to your prompt response and resolution of this matter.

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  Response attached.

  Customer response

  03/20/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   *********** have not provide me with a valid reasons to withhold my profit or a Solution to my issue  

  Business response

  03/21/2024

  Response attached.

  Customer response

  03/21/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   This business sent the same letter but with different date 

• Initial Complaint

  03/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had 1 bank account 2 investment brokerage accounts with schwab for last 20 years on july 14 2022 all my accounts were blocked and had been taken away up till today for no reasons or explanations were given I have been calling and sending letters to sell my stocks and send me the money i have not gotten any response Please help *********************

  Business response

  03/19/2024

  Please see attached for update 

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  To provide context, on July 12, 2023, I fell victim to an online scam by Bitmex.com that pressured me to send the money to *********, I lost a total of $318,000.00 due to the scam. During my visit to Charles Schwab at the moment of the payment, I provided the websites used by Bitmex in order to verify if it was a legitimate company. The representative told me that they did not see anything wrong with the websites and proceeded with the payment. The transactions that took place were very possible due to the reassurance of the representative. After realizing I was a victim I was furious with the judgment made by the employee of Charles Schwab and requested the details of the investigation they have done regarding their websites in order to determine that the company was okay. Considering the company is operating without a license and while working with a recovery company I was able to obtain the information that the websites did not exist long before I was scammed. This information has left me completely devastated and to this day I have not received the results of the investigation. After speaking with ***** multiple times I was told it is confidential and I believe they do not wish to share the information as they are responsible for my losses.

  Business response

  03/12/2024

  Please see the attached regarding response to client. 

  Customer response

  04/01/2024

  No.

  I am not satisfied with Charles Schwab's response. 

  Charles Schwab has a fiduciary responsibility, due to the fact that they are the successor trustee, on the Nevada trust,

  which is the owner of the account from whence the funds originated.  I, as the trustee, asked the successor trustee a straightforward question and I was misled. 

  Per Nevada lawyers: ***************************************************

   

  2.1. A Trustee's Duties and ******** of *********** As a fiduciary, you are held to a fiduciary standard of care, which generally means

  that you must take more care with other people's assets than you would your own.  The law summarizes these five primary fiduciary

  duties, which can be remembered with the phrase "A CLIP":

  A. You must ACCOUNT to the beneficiaries and keep them informed as to the management of trust assets.

  C. You must be LOYAL to the beneficiaries of the trust, which means that you cannot make decisions that favor yourself or anyone else more than the trust's beneficiaries.

  ---

  I've contacted the state of ******, to verify that I've understood things correctly regarding a successor trustee.  They informed me that a successor trustee is bound by the same principles, rules, laws as the primary trustee.  I don't see how misleading me regarding a potential investment or misleading me regarding a fraudulent investment fulfills "fiduciary" responsibility.  I asked a *straightforward*/direct question and asked for help in assessing the site.  The contrast between Charles Schwab and Robinhood, in terms of validating fraudulent sites is *****.
  

   

  Customer response

  04/04/2024

  I have submitted legal documentation that Schwab is a trustee.

  Was my response dismissed along with this complaint?
  

  Business response

  04/18/2024

  April 18, 2024
  
  Dear Better Business Bureau,
  
  RE: Case ID ********
  
  I am writing in response to the April 11th,2024 correspondence to Charles Schwab & **** **** regarding the above-referenced matter.
  
  Charles Schwab thoroughly researched the concern and responded directly to the person initiating the inquiry you forwarded in accordance with required regulatory guidelines.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to be of service in this matter.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  Client Advocacy Team
  
  Tel  ************  | Fax  ************
  Charles Schwab & **** ****
  ***********
  Mail Stop: PHXPEAK
  *************, *******;94105
  
  
  Investment Products:  Not FDIC-**************** Guarantee May **** Value

  Customer response

  04/19/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   

   

  Please provide the Nevada state regulatory guidelines that you say you adhered to.  I have that you owe me fiduciary duty as a trustee, which includes honesty, per the state of *******
  

  Customer response

  05/15/2024

  Re: BBB Complaint Case# ********
  
  Dear ************************,
  
  After reviewing your response on April 18, 2024, I came across a statement that is false.
  
  In your response you wrote: "I confirmed *************** determined and informed you how that website appeared to be fraudulent, and you continued to transfer funds. Our internal investigation details are proprietary and are not provided directly to clients".
  
  I initiated a wire transfer to a bank and was not informed about the fraudulent nature of the website during our initial conversation. Charles Schwab did not have information about the website until I disclosed it to ******************************* in July, and I explicitly asked him to investigate it. In a subsequent conversation in August, ******************************* explicitly stated that Schwab would never tell me whether or not the website was fraudulent. I hired an outside agency to investigate the website and found a multitude of problems highlighting the fraudulent nature of the website. This aligns precisely with what I discussed with the client advocacy representative, ******************, regarding case C-********. I explicitly took ****************** to the public domain information, and did a walk through showing him the fraudulent information, which he verified on the phone call, and which ******************************* did not share with me during either phone call. In your written response, dated Feb 16, 2004 you make no mention of informing me about a fraudulent website.
  
  I would also like to point out that there was a significant temporal & procedural difference between the wire transfers in 2022 to ****** and the wire transfers in 2023. In 2022 you verified that the wire transfer was going to a personal account, before passing the money through. You changed your procedures for the wire transfers to **********
  
  You suggested that I was made aware that the website seemed fraudulent, and despite that, I chose to proceed with sending the funds. I would like to highlight that your response contradicts your Account Agreement, which clearly states:
  
  1. "The Authorization Limit is the maximum amount you may withdraw from your Schwab One Account using your checks, ACH or *************** Transfers. Schwab may put a hold on funds in your Account or otherwise restrict withdrawals or transfers from the account to a limit that is lower than the Authorized Limit, if there is risk of fraudulent, unusual or unauthorized activity based on certain parameters established by Schwab."
  
  2. "You further authorize Schwab to obtain copies of your consumer and credit reports at its discretion, at any time, for reasons including, but not limited to, the following:
  
  To collect a debit balance in your Account;
  
  To investigate, detect and prevent fraud involving you or your Account;
  
  To help us evaluate whether to ****** extend or modify the terms and conditions of any credit you have applied for or received;
  
  If a deposit of funds or securities to your Account is returned.
  
  Source: 1. ***************************************************************************************** 2. ***********************************************************************************************
  
  Charles Schwab had the authority to limit my account activity, including withdrawals or transfers, based on suspicions of fraud. Additionally, you had a responsibility to prevent the fraud, yet you actively facilitated the transfer of funds despite the alleged warning. This contradicts the statement's validity, unless Charles Schwab deliberately violated the contractual agreement, in which case this becomes an even more serious issue that warrants legal action in court.
  
  I maintain my request for full reimbursement due to negligence on the part of Charles Schwab, and I am prepared to pursue this matter until my funds are rightfully restored.

• Initial Complaint

  03/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was told by the customer service that my TD account would've transferred over automatically months ago. That never happened. So I talked to the customer service again, and I was told that they found my account between TD and schwab, but need further verification. I've submitted the paperwork for verification months ago, again, no response and my account from TD is still not showing up in my schwab account

  Business response

  03/13/2024

  March 13th,2024
  
  Dear Better Business Bureau,
  
  Re:Case ID ********
  
  I am writing in response to the March 4th, 2024 correspondence to Charles Schwab & **** **** regarding the above-referenced matter.  
  
  Charles Schwab thoroughly researched the concern and responded directly to the person initiating the inquiry you forwarded in accordance with required regulatory guidelines.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to be of service in this matter.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  ***********************
  Resolution Manager
  Client Advocacy Team
  
  ************ / Fax **************
  Charles Schwab & **** ****
  ***********
  Mail Stop: PHXPEAK
  *************, ** 94105
  
  (1123-31MY)
  
  Investment Products:  Not FDIC-**************** Guarantee May **** Value

  Customer response

  03/20/2024

  I am rejecting this response because: 

  I still haven't received anything from schwab up to this date. No email, no notification in schwab website, no phone calls, no voice mail. Nothing at all. Where they can reaching out to me in????

  Business response

  03/22/2024

  March 22nd,2024
  
  Dear Better Business Bureau,
  
  Re:Case ID ********
  
  I am writing in response to the March 20th, 2024 correspondence to Charles Schwab & **** **** regarding the above-referenced matter.  
  
  Client was sent an e-mail notification delivered to the address they had provided you to contact our service center for assistance as this matter required speaking with them directly. They have done so and the issue has been resolved.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to be of service in this matter.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  ***********************
  Resolution Manager
  Client Advocacy Team
  
  Phone ************ / Fax **************
  Charles Schwab & **** ****
  ***********
  Mail Stop: PHXPEAK
  *************, ** 94105
  
  (1123-31MY)
  
  Investment Products:  Not FDIC-**************** Guarantee May **** Value

• Initial Complaint

  02/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Charles Schwab had an offer for new clients, if you transfer a certain amount from a previous broker you would get a few hundred dollars. Not only they not give me that, I offer to at least cover the transfer fee of $99 ..They said yes "ONLY" if i can get documents from my previous showing the COST of TRANSFER. I did exactly what they wanted. NOW they are saying I need to talk to my previous broker. I upload my "fees" from ALLY just incase they say I never sent over the documents they wanted.

• Initial Complaint

  02/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Stock shares lost when ************ merged with ************ A new company was formed and stockholders of Allkem were to receive shares in the new company. Charles Schwab claims they are trying to find my shares along with other investor's shares who also have their shares lost. Every week I get the same excuse. It's time they put a competent person to research, track, and find the missing shares.

  Business response

  02/23/2024

  I am writing in response to the February 19, 2024 correspondence to Charles Schwab & **** **** regarding the above-referenced matter.  
  
  Charles Schwab thoroughly researched the concern and responded directly to the person initiating the inquiry you forwarded in accordance with required regulatory guidelines.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to be of service in this matter.
  

• Initial Complaint

  02/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I recently found out Charles Schwab Brokerage account triggered a margin from overdraft mistakenly since 04/04/2022 from my account. There was no reason for the overdraft since I had deposited more than enough fund in my account 3 days earlier evident from their own record. Since then they had been charging me around a hundred dollars margin interest every month. I called them several times asking for a full refund and they only refunded me *********************************************************** was around 2000 dollars.From their record: April 04, 2022 Overdraft Transfer from Brokerage ... TRANSFER Deposit: $5,623.13 Running Balance: $12,000.00 (they triggered margin for an overdraft to fill my account to ****** TREASURY DIRECT TREAS DRCT& ACH Withdrawal: $10,000.00 Running Balance: $6,376.87 April 01, 2022 Electronic Deposit ACH Deposit: $12,000.00 ( I deposited more than enough to cover the withdrawal 3 days earlier captured by their record) Running Balance: $16,376.87 The history of their resolution,After on the phone being pushed back and forth among many departments, the ***************** first gave 200 credit, I called again then they put me on their supervisor hotline, one rep called me once to promise me full refund but he needed to call me back for special acknowledgment from me; then he called again to promise me 400 credit instead but never fulfilled it; I filed to CFPB and they called me again and gave me 200 credit again then closed the case from CFPB. The resolution is unacceptable but no option for me to appeal the case from CFPB.Id like to get a full refund of all margin interest they have charged to my account since April 2022. Its misleading for them to default margin feature for their customers and no excuse to trigger a margin for overdraft to add my account to *****. These transactions were all clearly recorded in their own system. They kept blaming me not checking my statements; this is not my main bank account and I never thought I should check my bank for mistakes all the time and its frustrating they refused to correct their own mistakes. This is totally unacceptable, irresponsible and unfair resolution from the bank.

  Business response

  02/27/2024

  Response attached.

  Customer response

  02/27/2024

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The charles schwab website is down, not working, not responding, not allowing buy, sells trades to occur. Loss of over $1000 due to their poor site.

  Business response

  02/16/2024

  February 16,****
  
  Dear Better Business Bureau,
  
  Re:Case ID ********
  
  I am writing in response to the February 15, **** correspondence to Charles Schwab & **** **** regarding the above-referenced matter.  
  
  Charles Schwab thoroughly researched the concern and responded directly to the person initiating the inquiry you forwarded in accordance with required regulatory guidelines.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to be of service in this matter.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  ***********************
  Resolution Manager
  Client Advocacy Team
  
  ************** / Fax **************
  Charles Schwab & **** ****
  ******************
  Mail Stop: PHXPEAK
  *************, ** 94105
  
  (1122-2C31)
  
  Investment Products:  Not FDIC-**************** Guarantee May **** Value
  
  NOTICE: All e-mail sent to or from the Charles Schwab corporate email system is subject to archiving, monitoring and/or review by Schwab personnel.
  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩