I'll post a rather sour experience I had with etrade:
I signed up for an account with them right after I had moved. I deposited the minimum of $1000 to start and forgot about it for a few weeks. I finally checked and my account money had disappeared from my savings account, but also wasn't in my etrade account. I called to ask whats up, and the service rep says "oh, you're under investigation for fraud." Apparently etrade had background checked me and since my new address didn't match up with my un-updated drivers license, they froze my account and took all my money. That's all fine and dandy with me, but the fact that etrade made no attempt to contact me infuriates me.
The guy on the phone said that all I had to do was fax a letter explaining my situation and a copy of both my old and new drivers license and everything would be taken care of. After a few more weeks, still no money. I called etrade again, asking what's up. "Oh," he said, "it says here that the fax you sent was too dark and they couldn't read it." A valid excuse I guess, but again, I couldn't believe that etrade didn't try to contact me.
The lack of customer service I received from etrade is, in my book, appalling. They had my money for about two and a half months before I got it back (and quickly closed my account) and made no attempt to contact me, even once.
