Brokerage
A score out of 100 for how well reviewed a product is. It rises with positive reviews and with how many there are; negative and mixed reviews take points off.
So a handful of glowing reviews can’t beat a product lots of people like. No sponsored placements.
Topics grouped from customer reviews, with how many mention each; read the originals below.
Showing 12 reviews mentioning poor support Show all
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Oct 15, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They were fine with Merrill Edge until a backdoor Roth conversion, when Merrill insisted on leaving a small minimum in the traditional IRA or closing it. They are now considering moving their money away.
Reddit · r/Bogleheads · Dec 20, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
They opened Merrill purely to get Bank of America Preferred Rewards, but despite meeting the requirements the accounts never got linked after four escalations and hours on the phone, so they are leaving.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Dec 11, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Opening an IRA took a week of review, ACH and mobile check funding both failed with 'Something went wrong' errors, and support said a separate CMA account was needed to fund the IRA.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Sep 25, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They had a Self-Directed account for over a year, then Merrill sold all their holdings over outdated visa paperwork, citing a missed call and a letter they never received. They were upset by the lack of real notice.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Oct 17, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Long-standing Roth IRA was abruptly closed over an unupdated profile, triggering early withdrawal taxes and mailing a check to an old address.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Jul 14, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
Cumbersome back-office restrictions, rough platform design, and endless hold music make customer service painful.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · May 23, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
Requesting options trading approval led to the account being locked for eight days.
Reddit · r/investing · May 5, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
They say the Merrill outage cost them real money, that Merrill never owned up to the mistake, and that they filed a FINRA complaint over it.
Reddit · r/investing · May 4, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
They hit errors buying shares during the Merrill outage, then found the order missing and recorded at a different price. Phone support was slow, transferred them around, and the fix never appeared in their account.
Reddit · r/investing · May 1, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
They were unable to trade during the April 2026 Merrill platform outage and kept getting service unavailable errors while trying to cover shorts, calling it unacceptable and saying they feel stuck there.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Jan 13, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
They report their Merrill account was liquidated and then closed over the holidays, with no notice by email, matching the earlier poster's forced-liquidation experience. They were left asking what recourse exists.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Mar 28, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit comment
Their Merrill Edge IRA was closed without any notice, a check went to their workplace and was cashed by someone else, and an early withdrawal penalty followed. They plan to leave Merrill entirely.
Of the 79 reviews with a clear verdict, 34% are positive, 34% mixed and 32% negative. The praise mentioned most is great rewards. The most common complaint is poor support.
The praise reviewers mention most: great rewards (20 reviews), easy to use (13 reviews) and reliable (7 reviews). For example: They hold accounts at both Fidelity and Merrill and keep both, praising the credit card boost as an excellent benefit and using Merrill for their long-term positions.
The complaints reviewers mention most: poor support (13 reviews), buggy app (10 reviews) and account frozen (5 reviews). For example: Cumbersome back-office restrictions, rough platform design, and endless hold music make customer service painful.
It's how well reviewed Merrill Edge Self-Directed is, out of 100. Negative and mixed reviews take points off, and so does having only a few reviews: a product needs plenty of them, compared with the most-reviewed products here, to reach the high 80s and 90s. It's worked out from reviews only, needs at least 5 of them, and updates as new ones come in.
Category: Brokerage. Type: Brokerage account. Fees: $0 online stock, ETF and option trades; no annual account fees (options contract and other fees may apply). Minimum: No balance minimums.
79 are quotes from Reddit, each linked to the original. Customer reviews are checked for spam before they appear. Every review, written here or quoted, is read as positive, mixed or negative.