I spent a lot of time today on the telephone, trying to manage my finances. I've decided to stop participating in the stock purchase program at my company. The company changed the discount so that it is no longer an attractive financial option. They also transferred the purchase program to Computer Shares, which is owned by Merrill Lynch. In order to manage your shares, you must have an account at both companies.
What should have been a 15 minute project took almost THREE hours! I wanted to cancel my participation in the stock purchase program on January 2nd, but when I called on that day, the customer service person at Computer Shares said that if I canceled before the Dec 31st purchase was posted to my account, that purchase would not go through, and I would be refunded the monies set aside for the purchase. The Dec 31st purchase had a profit of almost $3000, so it was worth waiting a few days until the purchase posted.
The shares posted today.
My stock broker is at a different company. In order to transfer my shares to my stock broker, I had to first transfer my shares from Computer Shares to my Merrill Lynch Individual Investors account. So, I called Computer Shares to ask how to transfer my shares to my Merrill Lynch account. Catira, the Customer Service person, told me to call Merrill Lynch and get the DTC number as well as my account number. Does Merrill Lynch have a number listed on their main website? NO!
So, I had to log in. Well, my password didn't work. I spent 20 minutes creating a new password, finally logged in to Merrill Lynch's website, found the phone number, and called Merrill Lynch. The call went to Computer Shares, since it is owned by Merrill Lynch. Ebony, the Customer Service person for this call, told me to call Merrill Lynch. I explained to her that I had, but was routed to her. She argued that no, I hadn't called Merrill Lynch, I had called Computer Shares, and I need to get Merrill Lynch's phone number and call them. I asked her to transfer me to Merrill Lynch. She said that wasn't possible because they are not associated with Merrill Lynch. She finally agreed to transfer me to a supervisor--a man named Dustin who works for Merrill Lynch!
ARGH!
Dustin gave me the information that I wanted, and asked why I didn't just transfer the shares directly to my broker. I explained that Computer Shares & Merrill Lynch charge $30 to do that, whereas if you first transfer to Merrill Lynch, you can then transfer to any other stockbroker without a charge. He said, No, that's not true, there is NO charge to transfer directly from the Computer Shares account. I didn't feel like arguing with him, so I asked to be transferred back to Computer Shares so that I could get my shares transferred to my ML account.
Guess what? I got Catira, the first Customer Service person! I asked her why she hadn't originally just transferred me to Merrill Lynch when I had called earlier in the day, and she said that there was no way she could do that, since the companies weren't associated! ARGGGGHHHH! I finally got the order in for the shares to be transferred, then had to log in again to cancel my participation in the stock purchase program. In the meantime, Computer Shares may or may not take 10% out of my next paycheck, and the one after that, and the one after that, because the cancellation order may or may not have been executed. No-one can direct me to the person who stops the deductions from my paycheck--our payroll person says that it's done at Computer Shares. I'd like to know why my own company can't control what is deducted from my paycheck? Of course, no-one can answer that because no-one knows who is ultimately responsible. Is there a PERSON in charge ANYWHERE in the world any more?
I called my company's benefits department to let them know how hard it is to deal with this new company. The benefits coordinator said that they are trying to train the people at Computer Shares and Merrill Lynch to be more helpful and knowledgeable...and she said that I could have canceled on the 2nd, as I'd originally planned to! The Dec 31st purchase would not have been affected by my cancellation. In the meantime, money continues to be deducted from my paycheck to Computer Shares. Supposedly, I'll get a refund at some point...which costs me money since that deduction is now supposed to be directed into my ROTH IRA. Oh, and there IS a $30 charge to transfer shares from Computer Shares to any broker other than Merrill Lynch...Dustin was wrong (what a surprise!).
I'll NEVER use or recommend Merrill Lynch or Computer Shares for ANYTHING, since none of their employees know who owns them, knows how to work the phone system, and don't even know their own rules! Smith Barney and Scottrade are excellent companies, with knowledgable customer service agents, in case you are shopping for a stock broker!
If this experience is any sort of a barometer, no wonder financial companies are collapsing.
All I can do is PRAY that, by canceling my participation in the stock program, Computer Shares will not take any more money from my next paychecks. Apparently, they haven't stopped the deductions for other employees who have cancelled in the past few months. Our benefits department has walk them through each and every change, individually.
Computers have changed our lives dramatically, sometimes for the better, and sometimes not. In the past, I would have just made a phone call to my company, explained what I wanted to do, and everything would have been handled within a few minutes. It shouldn't have taken THREE HOURS to accomplish the above task--and of course, it's not even accomplished, it's just been "ordered!" Why are we being held hostage by technology? I won't know if any of this is successful for at least one or two pay periods. I'd sure like to know exactly what IS and ISN'T going in and out of my paycheck--and no-one is able to tell me until the computers figure it out!
Of course, I won't be able to arrange the final transfer of stock to my broker until the stock shows up in my Merrill Lynch account, which could be 3-5 business days. It will be another 3-5 days to transfer it into my stockbroker's account. So, I'll have access to my stock about 2-3 WEEKS after it was purchased with MY money! Why is that OK, and why do we accept this sort of inconvenience? Is it just status quo?
ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
On to better topics--this is a neat lake northeast of Denver--wouldn't you like to explore that shoreline in a small boat? Doesn't it look like a heavy metal "M" from an album cover? Sorry it's blurry, taken early in the morning prior to coffee....
Sunset, on arrival to Denver. I love the way the power-line right-of-way dissects the fields.
I flew to LAX on United last week. I sat over the wing, and noticed the reflection of the fuselage on the cowling. Isn't it remarkable that we can sit in a metal tube and fly through the air at 500 miles an hour, seven miles above the ground?
I spent part of today at the Natural History Museum with my friend Kaye, who volunteers in the geology department. I got quite a surprise in the restroom--when you put your hands under the faucet, someone starts a chorus of "Row, row, row your boat," coming from the drain! It startled me, but when I started the water at the next sink, and the stanza started at the harmony point, just as you'd sing it in parts at summer camp. Pretty soon, I had every sink going, and believe it or not, they had every choir section covered--soprano, alto, tenor and bass! If you ever go to the Natural History Museum in Denver, be sure to wash your hands! It's very entertaining!I checked out Karen McLain's website yesterday--she left a nice comment on my blog a few weeks ago. I don't know her, but I was curious about her. She's a very good artist--I really like the painting "The Boys." Please check out her work--if you need notecards, she sells them. She also does portraits, so please consider using her if you have a special furkid that you'd like to see immortalized. I like to support individual companies rather than chains. http://karenmclainstudio.com/available.htm
I hope you are having a good start to 2009!
No comments:
Post a Comment