I have been a Schwab customer for over 20 years and have gotten consistently excellent service at the Menlo Park branch. In the last 5 years I've set up multiple trust accounts at Schwab, including a couple of special needs trusts for relatives. There were some complicated issues, and Schwab handled them all flawlessly. I'm always impressed with the speed and professionalism with which Schwab addresses all my requests, questions and concerns. They are head and shoulders above any other financial institution I've used. Just superb. A++. read more

the last six months the S&P has been up about 7.6%. My money with Schwab has been -8% . Was told because I have most in high risk. I use Robo advisor which I thought would a least keep my head above water.Only have about 100,000 in there maybe I am doing something wrong. I wI'll not let keep going in this direction. read more

I lost 72k on charles Schwab , account manager assured me it is a reliable service, I decide to made deposit, after my first withdrawal they ask to reverify my account, I uploaded my ID and that was it, I was locked out. I don't use the service anymore because I now earn and withdraw from benarmstrong-trades. com with no restriction I buy investment plans on BenArmstrong trades and I have made a lot, that a reliable firm. What pisses me off about Charles Schwab is the poor customer relation. I wished I can get my money back from them but I've recovered from the new platform. read more

The branch is great, first rate service from Peg McLeroy and Richard Zak. The branch is first rate and VERY service oriented. No gripes there. I would avoid paying for Schwab's advised investing service. Make your own decisions. It isn't the fees that are bad, it is the advice and complete lack of attention after anything is purchased. Those idiots (who are not part of the Menlo Park branch) got me into some huge losses on a Schwab fund (Schwab Yield Plus) that was pitched as very low risk, low volatility. The disclosure docs characterized it the same way. In fact it was loaded with subprime mortgage related debt and went into freefall as investors exited en masse. I am out over $20,000.00 due to that fiasco and another $17,000.00 on two bank fund investments that were similarly misrepresented by my PAID Schwab investment advisor as very safe. Schwab is being sued for investor fraud on the Yield Plus fund disaster. I think the plaintiffs will win. If you make your own investing decisions Schwab is a good place, especially this branch. It is well run and very customer focused. read more

My experience with Schwab since I started a little over or a little under a year ago, and it has been the worst experience of my banking/investment life. I wanted to dabble a little in investment since I haven't been up to date with the market. I shared my interest with my friend and she recommended Schwab. From the beginning process to now, it's been one nightmare after another. My friend shared a referral code with me to enter and when I opened the account through online banking, I couldn't find a section to add my referral code. I sent a message with my referral code, and no one responded. I also shared my situation with a representative and she didn't responded. From there, I left it alone. But now, I'm upset. I have money sitting in cash and not earning interest. I completed an external transfer to my savings account it earn interest while I do a little more homework with the market. But instead, my transfer was returned and my other FI charged me a fee for the return deposit and there's no explanation from both parties to why my cash transfer was returned. My biggest regret is opening a Schwab account. read more

I recently decided that I wanted to invest a portion of my money with Charles Schwab. I made an appointment with my local office. I went in and met with a broker I felt could have cared less about who I am and what my goals are. I've discovered in this process that this particular investment firm has no interest in really helping someone with less than $250,000 to invest. I could have transferred more money into an account with them from other accounts I have elsewhere, but their lack of interest in me because I was only starting out investing $60,000 appalled me, and the last thing I wanted to do was give them more money. There are so many companies out there, all extremely interested in telling you how to invest your money, and make a ton of money off you in management fees. I really feel that Fidelity is a company that tends to treat everyone with the same amount of interest, regardless of how much your able to invest. read more

I recently moved several 401k's to an IRA. Not the biggest financial transaction in the world, but still needed to be done. I picked this location because my stepdad uses it for his bigger investments. Lillian was helpful, efficient and answered my questions. Minus 1 star for initial difficulty in getting in touch with her. read more

I've been using Schwab in Menlo Park since my early teens and they always made me feel welcome, despite obviously not being a "heavy hitter". :) Now I'm in my mid-twenties and they continue to provide great service as my account complexity increases - they're professional, fast, and courteous. I generally just walk-in for smaller stuff and don't have to wait long. (In contrast, when I "walk-in" at Fidelity in downtown Palo Alto I usually end up waiting *forever*...) read more

My investment manager advised me to go to my local Schwab to handle a matter involving an investment I had with them. The man behind the desk treated me rudely and with great impatience. They have my money but I guess that's all they want. I would never invest anything through them again. Poor service, unprofessional, and just plain bad. If I could give them no stars I would. Fortunately, I did not respond to this person with anything but proper behavior. read more

Professional and knowledgeable service with a smile. That's what you'll get here, even if all you gotta do is drop off a check. The place is always immaculate, air conditioned and there are a couple of oversize chairs if there's a line (which is rare). There's also enough parking in the lot since it's attached to some other businesses. Even when you call their 800 number for clarifications or questions, the people at the other end are very patient. Great doing business with you Chuck! read more

All the people behind the counter do is pick up the phone and ask some-one else somewhere else your question, which after a lengthy delay they parrot back to you verbatim. That's their function, that's the extent of their knowledge, and nothing more is expected of them Discount means discount, and do you really want a discount approach when you're investing money? We're not talking hamburgers here. Basically, the staff are intern-style young people fresh out of college, eager to help but quite unable to assist simply due to lack of experience, and wayyy superannuated older folks who look like they've taken a beating in life and have eventually drifted down to the bottom tier. If you're 50 and working at Schwab, you're probably not stellar at managing other people's portfolios. Nobody with an MBA or even a B.A. would start their career at Schwab unless they, for whatever reasons, utterly lacked better options. Back to the hamburger analogy, if you've studied the professional culinary arts you don't jump at the chance to serve cheeseburgers at McDonald's. Look, if a waiter screws up your order at a restaurant or a clerk bungles it at a fashionable clothing store, the situation can be remedied.But we're talking money here, the primary means by which you stay alive, so RESPECT the concept of growing your assets and do NOT succumb to the witless ideology of using a second-rate resource to manage your investment. It just doesn't make sense - does one look for a cut-rate surgeon so you can save a few dollars on a life-saving operation? Not only that, the second they're hired most employees are still seeking out better alternatives, so they're not exactly passionate about their position and the turnover is huge. So the person you're talking to, statistically, is either disinterested or too new to know the process. Yes, I was dumb enough to get a Schwab account, but only as a toy account to practice rapid trading - as long as I was on a learning curve and wasn't throwing around big numbers, the low cost-per-trade figure made sense. But I kept my full brokerage accounts for serious trading. By far the most alarming thing I learned about the Schwab online interface is that it often TRAILS free stock information sources such as Yahoo Finances - data and pricing are more time-accurate simply by Googling , for example, "INTC", and grabbing the relative real-time info off the screen. Money's too important to be a hobby on the cheap............ read more

Great Service from Mark P - I really felt valued. I don't know much about how my account works, so I had a lot of questions. Although I'm sure Mark was busy, he took the time I needed to answer all my questions and made sure I understood. read more

Can't say enough nice things about this location. Amazing customer service. Professional. Timely. Genuinely care about the guest. Went in with an ok mood and left happy. Coming to this location from now on! read more