When Edward Jones says customer service, do they mean ruining customers' lives, or is this just another case of the big dogs stomping on the little guy?
Since May 15, my life has been slowly dismantled more and more every day by the Edward Jones financial company, based in St. Louis, Missouri. On May 15, they decided to close my business account without any notice. No notice was even given verbally. That same day, they also accepted what would unknowingly be my last business deposit. Still no one cared to inform me that I was making a deposit into an account that no longer existed. I kept going on my merry way, writing my employees their paychecks, paying for materials, and taking care of the usual business. Then, alarmingly, people started to let me know their checks were being returned stamped "account closed."
Completely bewildered, I immediately called Edward Jones to find out what was going on or how this could even be possible. Rick Powell, the Orland Park, IL branch manager, said yes, they had closed my account, and even though I had money in the account, all checks were going to be returned. I asked how this could be, considering my account was not in the negative or anything, and his response was that they felt my account was a risk. Even though I thought this was one of the craziest things I had ever heard, I kept my cool and assumed it could be corrected. I then asked them to at least give me my money back rather than keep it in my now closed business account, so I could salvage some of the damage they had secretly done to me. Rick Powell said they would not release my money, claiming that they wanted to see what checks I had written first, even though it did not matter and they were still going to return them.
Slowly I began to lose all of my customers, understandably so, since I could not even use my own company's money to finish their jobs. Then I began to lose employees, whom I valued very much, since not only did their checks get returned but there was no way of paying them. Bills began to pile up. Still my money was not being released, and I was still getting the same excuse, that they wanted to see if any other checks were going to come in. I quickly lost the business that I started with nothing and made into something very successful. It was my golden gem, my American dream, and the only means of support for my family. It was stolen from me by Edward Jones as if it was nothing.
I tried to contact their compliance department, since they are the ones who handle complaints. I heard nothing back. Desperation began to set in, because I soon was going to have to worry about how my wife and I were going to get by. Edward Jones still had all of my money, and because of them no more money was going to come in either. I attempted to speak with Rick Powell again, hoping he might have some conscience and help me get my money back. Not only did he tell me sorry, it was out of his hands, but he also announced that he would be freezing and then selling my retirement funds as well. I thought there was no way the higher powers of Edward Jones could possibly know what was going on (some of this, I understand, is actually illegal), so I tried to contact one of the head partners at Edward Jones, named Jim Weddle.
He, of course, never returned my phone calls, just like everyone else at that company. Finally, an employee at Edward Jones who felt terrible about the situation gave me his home phone number. She felt surely someone of Jim Weddle's stature would not tolerate his employees engaging in such practices, so I phoned him at his home in St. Louis, Mo., and explained my situation to his wife, since he was not there. She said she would have him call me, but again, of course, he did not call. Then one of my former employees thought she could try to help me, and she called him at home too. This time, after she explained my situation again, his wife retorted that this happens all the time, so do what you gotta do.
Now we were really panicked, because if this does happen all the time, what would make them want to make things right with me? It was obviously a normal practice of theirs. Finally, on June 2, the Edward Jones compliance department called, willing to hear what had happened. I told them everything their company wrongfully did to me, which is a lot more than I am even describing here. Again, just like with everyone else, I haven't heard anything back from them. I did finally receive the money I had in my account on June 6, but quite frankly it is too little, too late.
Because of them, I not only lost all of my jobs, so I have no more income, but all my customers want all their money back on top of that, again understandably so. My wife and I signed a contract for our dream home, but because Edward Jones shut my business down, the mortgage I was approved for is no longer available. No employment, no mortgage. My wife and I were doing well, on top of the world, but now, again because of Edward Jones, the bills piled up so badly that we are in a huge hole with nothing but problems.
I want everyone possible to know this story. It still has not worked out for my wife and me, and I am not sure it ever will. I have contacted every Edward Jones employee in authority who could help, and more government agencies than most people probably know exist. I have hit nothing but brick walls. However, I am hoping to at least prevent this from happening to anyone else. No one deserves to lose everything they had and worked so hard for. It is one of the worst nightmares imaginable. Customers of Edward Jones need to be cautious. If this could happen to me, I am sure it can happen to others as well. Jim W's wife verified that. In fact, the same employee of Edward Jones who felt bad for me also told me other horror stories of what they do to their customers. I don't think it is safe for anyone to trust all of their money with Edward Jones.
I just hope this problem is only with this financial institution. Otherwise, our hard-earned money may not be safe anywhere. If you have any questions, or would like to see the proof of what they did to me, please contact me.
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