Overcharging for poor service
When I opened this account, there was ongoing confusion between Equity Trust and the private placement fund I was investing in. Resolving the mix-ups took nearly three months and an extraordinary number of emails and phone calls, often with different ETC staff members who became involved without having the full background. Most recently, I spent close to an hour on hold simply to verify a $500 annual fee — a fee I had already paid in full last July. I was then told that even if an account were opened on December 31 and the full annual fee paid that day, another $500 would still be due the very next day on January 1. That billing structure is difficult to justify from a customer standpoint. Between the repeated administrative confusion, long hold times, and substantial fees that don’t appear to reflect meaningful service value, my experience has been disappointing. I’m now evaluating alternative custodians.