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September 2024 by S. K.
tl/dr: Long story short, if you are trying to move an IRA specifically from Mission Square Retirement -- be VERY CLEAR that your portfolio will be cashed out and the funds sent as a check deposit, leaving you to start over from scratch and have to re-build it.
Back in July I set up an IRA account at Schwab, and spoke on the phone with a customer service agent who was very helpful and reviewed which funds in my existing IRA could be traded at Schwab, and which could not, but could still be moved over. Several weeks ago I submitted a transfer request to move my IRA over from Mission Square Retirement (which was awful from a customer service/access perspective). I did this in person at the Tysons branch, and during this brief visit I again mentioned the funds, and confirmed that half of them could be traded, and half could not; Again, the intent of the transfer was to ***move my existing portfolio over to Schwab*** so that I could continue funding it, as well as have better access to services. Last week I received email confirmation that the "check had been deposited." Upon looking into this, I found that Mission Square had sent a check to Schwab, and the balance was showing as a cash asset in my IRA account. All of the previously existing funds no longer existed, i.e. I had no portfolio. These funds had been set up and rebalanced over time, with planning. Half of those, I can no longer purchase shares of, because Schwab does not deal with them. The other half, I could perhaps re-construct, but the share price is likely not going to be what it was when I originally bought them. Friday 8/23 I spoke with customer service (support, not branch-specific) and the rep was very sympathetic and apologetic, though she obviously could not do anything about the situation. Had I been advised that Mission Square was going to cash out my IRA instead of moving it over as we had discussed, it would have greatly impacted the planning of this transfer -- I had zero desire or intention to have a check sent over and have to start rebuilding this portfolio from scratch, and at no point was this possibility ever brought up during the transfer process. Customer service advised me that apparently Mission Square has the standard policy of doing this transfer as a check deposit, which differs from almost every other brokerage. The Schwab Tysons office manager also advised me that this was the first time in 18 years he had ever seen this happen.
I have changed this review from 1 star, to 3. Customer service accessibility has been very good at Schwab. But everybody missed the fact that my IRA was going to be liquidated by Mission Square (yet another reason to avoid that company). And that was critical information to have.
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August 2024 by Raj Raj
Called their office..goes to automated answering machine with news playing in background...Hello, You are holding my money and I cannot access my account ! Disappointing !
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February 2024 by Maria
Went there to take care of my account rollover to Schwab. The staff (forgot to ask for his name) at the front desk was so professional and he made things so easy. I went in with a check from my previous account, and a few minutes later I was out with the check showing up in my Schwab balance.
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September 2023 by Steven Rossi
Best brokerage. Most number of services. Highest quality staff. Highly recommend.
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November 2022 by Kelly kleinvachter
Friendly, helpful
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November 2021 by Run Guo
I want to give a 10 stars good review if I can do that. This is the first time I do some account stuff for my business with Charles Schwab, my brain was empty when I face to the numerous financial terms, especially for me without any experience in this field. I would say many thanks to Lauren Blaney, she is patient and professional, she always replied my emails on time and answered my questions patiently. She did the online meeting with me and guided me step by step to set up my accounts and explained to me how to use these accounts. I never ever saw any person in any bank can be so nice like her.
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November 2021 by Tina C Woodruff
I've been trying to get ahold of someone, anyone, about our inheritance, but keep getting the run around of 'oh, that's someone else's department'.
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May 2021 by Frank M.
My family encountered a significant failing in Schwab's customer service while working on my mother's final tax return. After she passed away, our trust account was closed. Now Schwab refuses to provide an electronic file, and actualy said they could only mail us a 1099-B. We spoke with several Schwab people. They are far behind the times, and inconveniencing us significantly while we are remembering of our loss. We had no issue with exactly the same situation for a trust account with American Funds.
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February 2021 by Frank S.
Called the 1-800-435-4000 and have been on hold for 53.15 minutes and still waiting for someone to pickup. Also system has been down at key trading times. They compensated me $250, which was not enough given my dissatisfaction with their phone, app, and website, not being usable to do trades. What is going on?
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November 2020 by Santiago Guerrero
They are just a pain. I had a custodial account. When I turned 18 I went to the office with my dad to fill out all the paperwork to get the account transferred to me. After 3 weeks of sending faxes (they do not have an email to receive documents), going 3 times to the office they haven't transfer the account to me, I can not trade and has been just frustrating.
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November 2020 by Charles B. Roberts
The representative I met in this location was young and inexperienced and not the least bit helpful. He was not able to or did not want to do a retirement planning analysis for me...in my opinion he was being lazy. That was the reason Itook the afternoon off work to meet with him. Once I complained, he did the analysis and came up with 2 different answers. Total waste of time and tried to complain to the Schwab customer rep...while I was explaining what happened she was busy reading her computer screen and not really paying attention. The manager then came in and started yelling at me saying I was not allowed to be a upset in that Office. Do not waste your time if you want real stock market guidance as they will refer you to an independent stock broker anyway.
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November 2014 by Hari
excellent branch. had 3 checks from different places, was able to deposit all 3 in less than a minute without filling out a deposit slip. Services rep was very courteous, efficient, and helpful
