Has anyone else dealt with the Idiots at Merrill Lynch?

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

RUN, do not walk.

[Badger]

They made numerous major mistakes over the years while handling my wifes 403b account. They were the only option at the time since everthing else was annuities from insurance companies. I guess they didn't like it when she didn't go for their potential "churning" into their loaded accounts. Instead she deposted into a MM account and did annual transfers to TRP or Vanguard. They screwed up the transfers almost every time and it took a few months each time to straighten it out.
Finally rid of them.

[Emeritus]

I sent them a notarized power of attorney, they sent back a form that has to be notarized if you use any power of attorny form except their form

[M Paquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus I sent them a notarized power of attorney, they sent back a form that has to be notarized if you use any power of attorny form except their form

Classic. Call or fold?

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus ok so it got down to us saying to the ML guy on the phone "you will have a notarized demand for all the securities in your hands in the morning, with instructions on where to send them" His response was "unless it is on our form I don't think we will accept that." So I said , that is when I call the SEC and the police and the Washington DC news media. Its not your money Its ours!!! Don't know if he got the point or not.

Notarized documents will not get them to respond to your "demand", and most firms do not have to honor them. Medallion signature is what matters......

You're a lawyer, right?

[Emeritus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Notarized documents will not get them to respond to your "demand", and most firms do not have to honor them. Medallion signature is what matters...... You're a lawyer, right?

1) they had the medallion guarantee material already (see #20 thread above)
2) The notarized demand went in both from me and the other trustee on the account

The key is ITS NOT ML'S MONEY Its the trust's money. Having received both notarized and medallion guaranteed indicia of authorization, they were still stalling.

[growing_older]

I think I may be confused about a Medallion signature guarantee. I always thought it had to accompany the signature on the document with the instructions. You seem to imply that you can provide it one time and then they can re-use it somehow on subsequent letters of instruction. Or maybe you are saying you provided a Medallion guaranteed letter of instruction and then they told you that you needed a notarized one but after you provided that then they told you they needed a notarized one on THEIR form. If so, that's a ridiculous request.

[Emeritus]

this is the demand on their part. They came in late to the process and wont deal with anyone except using their forms. I sent in my appointment as trustee to B of A last March. I'm on the Bank of America Bank accounts. BOA medallion guaranteed that I am the trustee ML can't find the paperwork in the transfer. they refuse to accept a B of A certification !!!! Same company !!! unless it is now made again on their paper!!

[RE2Boys]

Fired ML in 2000. They changed their preferred fee structure from per transaction to % of portfolio. I stayed with per transaction structure. Service went from pretty good to crap instantly. I wasn't a fee generator for rep.

Had to deal with them as executor to my sister's estate in 2005. They weren't much better then.

RE2Boys

[Emeritus]

I sent all the paperwork in to move the accounts to Vanguard. I warned the Vanguard rep about the ML attitude

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus I sent all the paperwork in to move the accounts to Vanguard. I warned the Vanguard rep about the ML attitude

Neither Vanguard rep nor anyone else can do anything about that. Some firms are "bitchier" than others to get assets from.........

[Emeritus]

Tell me about it. Today's **** from ML is a "letter of authorization' on MLs stupid form that exactly duplicates the power of attorney I already filed.

I told my Bo A contact I would withdraw $25,000 from bank of america for this insult alone, so I did. There are a lot of CDs coming due in the next months
I have explained why I am firing them in great detail. The letter went to B of A Bank of America Executive Relations 100 North Triumph street Charlotte NC 28255
I started with

"if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas"

[Martha]

All these entities have internal compliance officers. To keep compliance happy they have to do things in a certain way. If you are the square peg trying to fit in the round hole it can be very difficult and frustrating to get things accomplished. In your case things were complicated by the confusion caused by the takeover. The power of attorney thing is typical and most financial institutions want their own form and may require an affidavit that the power of attorney you submit is still in effect. In my state there is a state approved form so I have not had problems in getting banks and brokers to accept the form, provided that it is accompanied by the affidavit saying it is still in effect. They may have additional forms as well that they insist upon. SEC won't care if these requirements are an inconvenience to you.

Transfering the stock to a new broker will likely require a new medallion signature guaranty on the transfer forms so they are guaranteed that you are authorizing the transfer. The Vanguard transfer forms have a place for the guaranty.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha All these entities have internal compliance officers. To keep compliance happy they have to do things in a certain way. If you are the square peg trying to fit in the round hole it can be very difficult and frustrating to get things accomplished. In your case things were complicated by the confusion caused by the takeover. The power of attorney thing is typical and most financial institutions want their own form and may require an affidavit that the power of attorney you submit is still in effect. In my state there is a state approved form so I have not had problems in getting banks and brokers to accept the form, provided that it is accompanied by the affidavit saying it is still in effect. They may have additional forms as well that they insist upon. SEC won't care if these requirements are an inconvenience to you. Transfering the stock to a new broker will likely require a new medallion signature guaranty on the transfer forms so they are guaranteed that you are authorizing the transfer. The Vanguard transfer forms have a place for the guaranty.

I agree 100%. While it is easy to blame the Bank, the Patriot Act changed things forever, and its not as easy as it used to be. The new Financial Reform Act will make it even harder. It matters little that the investor or customer of the bank is inconvenienced, the regs are the regs.........

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus Tell me about it. Today's **** from ML is a "letter of authorization' on MLs stupid form that exactly duplicates the power of attorney I already filed. I told my Bo A contact I would withdraw $25,000 from bank of america for this insult alone, so I did. There are a lot of CDs coming due in the next months I have explained why I am firing them in great detail. The letter went to B of A Bank of America Executive Relations 100 North Triumph street Charlotte NC 28255 I started with "if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas"

Honestly, do you think you are "sending a message" by pulling $25,000 or even $1,000,000 out of their bank?? Maybe that would work at the local small hometown credit union but not at BOA.

[M Paquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus Tell me about it. Today's **** from ML is a "letter of authorization' on MLs stupid form that exactly duplicates the power of attorney I already filed.

I've been through this fire drill in probating my mom's small estate and handling her trust. It doesn't matter if your paper matches their form. All the poor paper pusher at the other end knows is that the only form they can accept is theirs, because their Legal/Compliance people said so. They are not allowed to interpret or 'be flexible' on this sort of thing, as they are not trained in the interpretation of these documents, and are not empowered to make such decisions.

Our local notary knows me on sight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus I told my Bo A contact I would withdraw $25,000 from bank of america for this insult alone, so I did. There are a lot of CDs coming due in the next months I have explained why I am firing them in great detail. The letter went to B of A Bank of America Executive Relations 100 North Triumph street Charlotte NC 28255 I started with "if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas"

They won't much notice, but if you're lucky you might get back the form letter explaining how they value your business.

Successful complaints against a bank seem to require meticulous record keeping, certified mail, and attaching a complete history of the complaint to date along with supporting documents (copies of previous correspondence, copies of certified mail receipts, records of phone conversations, etc). After the first couple of rounds, if no progress is made, bring in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as well as the CEO's office and whatever executive VP handles retail operations. The OCC involvement means that the Compliance folks will need to generate a report justifying the bank's actions. (Yes, another form letter, but now you're costing them real money, not some chickenfeed profits of a 25K CD.)

I generally save the effort for when the bank screws up in spite of my following their procedures and using their forms.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by M Paquette I generally save the effort for when the bank screws up in spite of my following their procedures and using their forms.

I think the best results can be obtained by firmly grasping the 2MC in both hands and sternly lecturing the EWS at top volume on exactly how this procedure should be done... that'll generate the respect due for this behavior.

[M Paquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords I think the best results can be obtained by firmly grasping the 2MC in both hands and sternly lecturing the EWS at top volume on exactly how this procedure should be done... that'll generate the respect due for this behavior.

"Ah... Engineering Officer of the Watch, Request permission to enter Maneuvering to discuss the situation..."

[Emeritus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Honestly, do you think you are "sending a message" by pulling $25,000 or even $1,000,000 out of their bank?? Maybe that would work at the local small hometown credit union but not at BOA.

Just keep that in mind the next time someone toots the "wonders" of free enterprise, since unlike those worthless lazy governemtn employees they will lose business if they screw up .

More seriosuly it tursn out they mangled the account numbers in the takeover

the checks don't have the ML edge account number on them or the account name. teh ML edge website doesn't have the account number printed on the check. there is no easy way to determine whcih checks go with which account, even for a ML rep. We have 5 accounts with thesame two names on them. At teh Banc of america teh name of teh account was on the check but ML said "we dont do that , and you will just have to figure it out" IO said how since their computeer numbers had two more digits than the checks?

He said he would fill out a form and someone from ML might get backto me.

One of the advantages of being inside the beltway is that almost everyone knows a senator or congress person.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emeritus Just keep that in mind the next time someone toots the "wonders" of free enterprise, since unlike those worthless lazy governemtn employees they will lose business if they screw up . More seriosuly it tursn out they mangled the account numbers in the takeover the checks don't have the ML edge account number on them or the account name. teh ML edge website doesn't have the account number printed on the check. there is no easy way to determine whcih checks go with which account, even for a ML rep. We have 5 accounts with thesame two names on them. At teh Banc of america teh name of teh account was on the check but ML said "we dont do that , and you will just have to figure it out" IO said how since their computeer numbers had two more digits than the checks? He said he would fill out a form and someone from ML might get backto me. One of the advantages of being inside the beltway is that almost everyone knows a senator or congress person.

Ever consider using spell check?

(Sorry Al, I beat you to it...)