Consumer complaint received 2024-12-30 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: ROBINHOOD MARKETS INC.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Robinhood changed my last name on my account without my permission, which is causing issues with my SSN. Despite me providing multiple forms of ID to demonstrate that my last name has a special character ( there is a phonetic spelling and a preferred spelling ), they have restricted my account and refuse to provide customer service support. Details below. 

On XX/XX/year>, I received an email from Robinhood asking me to upload an ID, or my account will be restricted. This happened last year as well, so I immediately provided supporting documentation to avoid an account restriction. When I registered for an account with Robinhood years ago, I used the preferred spelling of my last name ( XXXX ) since that's on record with my SSN. The phonetic spelling of my last name is XXXX, which is what's written on my driver 's license. Robinhood changed the spelling of my last name from XXXX ( correct ) to XXXX ( incorrect ) without my knowledge. This obviously caused a mismatch with my SSN. I pointed this out to them several times, but the correction was not made, and my account was eventually restricted. 

I have contacted customer support over 25 times during the past 2 months. My chat requests weren't returned for 3 days each time, and the responses were always inappropriate, not focusing on the issue or even trying to understand what I was saying, which is not rocket science. 

Initially, there was no option for a phone call, but eventually, this option appeared. When I asked for a callback, which is the ONLY way to get on the phone with someone, I wasn't called back for days! And when I received a callback ( on 3 separate occasions ), it was always at XXXX which makes me think it was purposefully done that way to make sure I " miss '' their call. There was a callback number provided in the voicemails which gave me an error stating the number is disconnected- WHAT THE HECK! 

Most recently, on XX/XX/year>, I received an email from customer service saying they understood my issue and apologized. They said if I uploaded ( yet another ) ID document ( I lost count of how many times I did this at this point ), the issue should be resolved. I did exactly that and even notified the person that I had completed my task. I uploaded my passport which includes BOTH spellings of my last name ( phonetic and preferred ). After 10 days, there were no updates, so I emailed back the same email thread asking for an update. I received an auto-response stating my case had been closed! My account is STILL restricted, so I'm not sure what they did or what the update was. This is so beyond frustrating and a colossal waste of my time. What a failure of customer service. I will close my account and reach out to an attorney AS SOON AS they release my funds, which they have been holding hostage for months now. This is unacceptable. 

The worst part is most of my chat history, documenting my frustration and Robinhood 's incompetence have been miraculously removed from my account. I am providing whatever 's left in my account but know that most of my chat history has been DELETED by the company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation