Gephardt: Lack of Customer Service Options Leaves Robinhood User Locked Out
Apr 1, 2021, 6:45 PM | Updated: 8:00 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Josh Christiansen said he was simply trying to secure his Robinhood brokerage account after noticing some unusual activity.
“I had noticed something weird with one of the trades that had been made,” he said.
So, he clicked an option within the Robinhood app to change his password. “It said you will have an email that will give you instructions to reset your password,” Christiansen said.
But he said the email never came. The action also left him locked out of his account.
Christiansen said he turned to Robinhood’s customer service for help, an email system, but did not get helpful responses. “It was all things you could do if you could log into the actual app, which I couldn’t do,” he explained.
Christiansen said he turned to Robinhood’s social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram, posting comments to try and get someone’s attention, but became frustrated when he was unable to reach a live person to discuss his situation.
“I can’t even imagine worse customer service,” he said.
Meanwhile, Christiansen’s account lost money while he waited for Robinhood to respond to his follow-up emails for help.
A popular stock-trading company locked out a Utah man who was trying to reset his password. I got the call when he couldn’t get the company to respond and help him get back in. Let’s see if @KSLInvestigates can help, tonight on @KSL5TV News at 6PM. pic.twitter.com/9TP0o1W9W6
— Matt Gephardt KSL (@KslMatt) April 1, 2021
After reaching out to KSL Investigators, we found complaints registered with the Better Business Bureau citing issues with customer service, including slow response times and lost money as a result.
We reached out to Robinhood through their corporate communications department. Their spokesperson told us by email “we are heavily investing in customer support” and pointed us to a blog post outlining expanded phone support.
Their Instagram page also recently spoke about efforts to improve customer service.
The same day we reached out to Robinhood, Christiansen told us he heard from someone on their escalation team, who was able to get him back into his account.
While KSL Investigators did not find a direct number to call for customer service, several clicks through a triage system resulted in an option to have a Robinhood customer service representative call the customer directly.
Have you experienced something you think just isn’t right? The KSL Investigators want to help. Submit your tip at investigates@ksl.com or 385-707-6153 so we can get working for you.
