Consumer complaint received 2024-12-07 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: ROBINHOOD MARKETS INC.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
Hello. My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Here I want to provide an explanation about the things happened as I open up a new case against Robinhood.

I recently opened a new account at Robinhood ( https : //robinhood.com/ ) because I was considering starting investment for the first time. I transferred the fund from my 2 bank accounts, but soon encountered with a serious problem. Let me explain what happened in chronological order. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I initiated transfer of {$3000.00} from my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  of XXXX XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I initiated transfer of {$1.00} from my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  of XXXX XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I initiated transfer of {$46000.00} from my XXXX savings account ending XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I initiated transfer of additional {$2000.00} from my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  of XXXX XXXX. ( This one is still pending as of XX/XX/XXXX, even though XXXX  XXXX is saying it already went through on their end ) As of XX/XX/XXXX, total of {$49000.00} of fund was transferred to my Robinhood account from my two bank accounts. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, transfer process of the first three ( XXXX + XXXX + XXXX ) was completed and the money came into my Robinhood account. Upon confirmation, I initiated transfer of this fund back to my bank accounts, but Robinhood system did not let this request go through despite of several attempts. The reason why I initiated transfer of fund back to my bank accounts was because while waiting for the completion of the transfer to Robinhood, which is between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I changed my mind and decided to not go ahead with investment at Robinhood. I did try to cancel transfer process but it did not let me, so I had to wait until XX/XX/XXXX. 

When the transfer process was completed on XX/XX/XXXX, Robinhood system clearly stated that the money was now in my cash account in Robinhood and is ready to be used for investment and also that the transfer back to the bank account was possible. Subsequently I tried to transfer the balance back to my bank accounts from which I originally transferred the fund, but it continuously showed an error message saying that the request was denied because the money has to be transferred to the original bank account from which the fund was deposited and that it was not possible to transfer the fund to another bank.

This message did not make sense at all because all of the bank statements that were listed on my Robinhood account to which I tried to transfer the money back were exactly the same bank accounts I deposited the money from in the first place on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX. I was very shocked looking at this happening, so I went to the Robinhood support chat ( which is the only means to communicate with Robinhood as the phone number they had did not reach to any real support despite of several call attempts ( XXXX ) ) to ask about what is the reason for repeated denial of transfer. The chat responded to try transferring to other account instead of XXXX savings account, which was the XXXX  XXXX account. I tried that, and when this also did not work, I tried with lesser amount, as well as with exact amount such as {$46000.00} back to the XXXX  account from which it originally came, but none of these attempts was successful.

A little bit after several failed attempts to place
transfer of money request, Robinhood suddenly placed a restriction on my account. When I clicked on the restriction detail on Robinhood website, it showed steps to take, including present XX/XX/XXXX bank statement of XXXX. I downloaded the statement from XXXX XXXX  site to upload the statement Robinhood was requesting, but there was nowhere I could upload, neither a link was there. All I could do was to continue the page by clicking the continue button ( I do not quite remember what was it actually called, but this was the only thing I could do ). After clicking the button, it showed the following message : " Your accounts are restricted until we finish our review.

Your account security is imperative to us, and as a precaution, you won't be able to open new positions or transfer funds on any of your Robinhood accounts while restricted. '' At this point I have no access to my money and all I got is the above message. Robinhood did not let me transfer my money back to my bank accounts, and it is now blocking me from accessing to my money for no appropriate reason and no explanation whatsoever, which is the same as freezing my fund by illegal means. I feel like this is even a criminal act Robinhood allegedly did against a powerless customer like me. I do not owe anything to Robinhood, nor I invested or made any purchases on their platform. All I did was to transfer money from my bank accounts to my account on Robinhood, and then tried to transfer that money back to my bank accounts.

I tried to reach out to Robinhood on XX/XX/XXXX all day using every possible means including sending chat messages and placing phone call request, but no response came so far. 
As of XX/XX/XXXX, Robinhood suddenly decided to close my account for no reason as it is now saying the following message : " Were closing your Robinhood account due to recent account activity. Well notify you once were done. '' I can not reach out to them despite of many attempts via chat and request for call ( no real agent answered despite of calling their main number ), and I have no way to get my money back. Robinhood still holds my money as of XX/XX/XXXX. 
Hence, I am filing a formal complaint against Robinhood and I humbly ask you to intervene on this matter ASAP and let me have my money back from Robinhood that is currently illegally and unfairly withheld while having my account closed for no reason.

Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation