ComplaintsforThe Entrust Group

• Initial Complaint

  03/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ********************************* Account number: ********** ********************* Thank you in advance for reviewing my information.I am a 67-year-old Registered Nurse who retired after 37 years of service in January 2024. I am now on Social Security.In preparation for retirement, I worked with a financial advisor to review my investments and move several funds to ****** to make management easier. Shockingly, we discovered that the account I opened with The Entrust Group in *********************************************************************** 2016, all the fees (including the $250 termination fee) were listed in the account application. When I made the request to move the funds, I was not informed of the exorbitant $250.00 fee. I reached out to The Entrust group after the transfer and was informed that when an account is emptied, it must be closed, and the $250 termination fee must be paid at that time.I want to encourage The Entrust Group current customers and potential clients to know about their fees so they can research whether this company has their best interests in mind. Worth noting, I moved several *** funds from other companies in preparation for my retirement and was NOT charged a fee for any of the transactions. I want The Entrust Group to know that they sent a blatant message to a long-standing customer that they do not respect older individuals. The Entrust Group did not have my best interest in mind since this termination fee money could have been used for groceries or the heating/electric bill. In my humble opinion, substandard business practices and treatment of customers. Respectfully,******** (***) ********

  

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  Dear ********************:
  
  Thank you for your recent letter.  We appreciate hearing our clients experiences and being provided an opportunity to respond to them.
  
  You wrote that when you and your financial advisor moved over several funds from Entrust to ******, you Shockingly discovered that the account earned no interest.Further, you claim not to have been informed about the exorbitant termination fee that is assessed on Entrust accounts. It is true that Entrust does not pay interest on deposits. Interest is not paid as Entrust is neither a bank nor a brokerage firm. It is a third-party record keeper.
  
  With regard to our termination fee being exorbitant, we respectfully disagree from several standpoints that we will try to address here. To begin, one must understand our industry, which is that of administering self-directed retirement plans. Self-directed retirement plans are comprised primarily of IRAs and 401(k) plans through which the client invests in alternative assets such as real estate, private company stock and notes (loans). As every transaction is unique and requires individual processing, these types of investments require far greater labor and significantly greater risk to the third-party recordkeeper administering them than do more traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds, the trading of which is entirely automated.  As a result, the associated fees for self-directed retirement plans are higher. This greater labor requirement, along with the enhanced risk as well as the knowledge of these specific and unique investment types, are some of the key reasons why traditional banks and brokerage firms will not custody alternative investments for their clients. 
  
  Further,Entrusts administration fees are charged to clients on a quarterly basis. However,during the accounts final quarter, no pro rata charge is assessed to the client. Depending upon the assets held by the client, this waiver of the final quarters fees can range from a low of $49.75 to a high of $498.75. The termination fee is in place to counter what would otherwise be a fee waiver.
  
  Finally, our account termination fee is transparent to all clients, appearing in large font in the center of our Fee Schedule provided to every prospective client prior to their establishing an account with **********************. If the fee was disagreeable, it should have been determined at that time, prior to the accounts establishment and not eight years after the fee was disclosed.
  
  For the reasons stated above, Entrust will not waive the account termination fee for your account. We hope you understand our decision to do so and wish you the best.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to respond.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************
  CPMO

• Initial Complaint

  11/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dec 2015 I opened 2 *** accounts with THE ENTRUST GROUP to hold some shares of private stock I bought through a friend. In 2017 I filed forms to transfer the stock out of Entrust and into my Fidelity account to avoid Entrust fees.I have been working on this unsuccessful transfer for 5 years and have gotten nowhere. While Entrust has collected approximately $5,000 in fees.We are being held hostage for what are EMPTY accounts they we can not get out of.It seems Entrust cant find my stock. Presumably because it was not registered properly. After many failed transfer attempts they deleted my account(!). My wifes account is still active and incurring fees.Entrust has been zero help in getting this resolved. Commenting that they have done nothing wrong. That is out of touch at best.Their proof of blamelessness is a one-sentence email they sent me say I understood I was solely responsible for making sure that the company updates their ownership records. I believe this could be categorized as an unconscionable contract having me agree to something they knew I could not personally do. There was no explanation of how to actually make that happen. I have now learned that person who sold me the stock was required to file paperwork with a medallion signature. That person's financial managers told me that was happening, but it must have gotten overlooked.Nevertheless, why was no explanation or warning of potential problems given to me as an unsophisticated investor? Why was I allowed to open an account without providing proof of correct registration? Why was I allowed to open an account that couldnt be closed? Why was my account not flagged with registration being a potential complication? Why were the many customer service people I spoke with in the last 5 years completely clueless with advising me?I can tell you why. Because it makes them money. Entrust may claim to have done nothing wrong, but I would say they have done little right.

  

  Business response

  11/28/2022

  Dear ****************,
  
  We appreciate your feedback. It seems that our ******************** was in touch with you last month regarding your wife's account. *********************, our Transfers Manager,has shared some email communications she exchanged with you (see attached).

  
  As she reviewed all of your and your wifes accounts and detailed your transaction histories (see summary attached) last month, we determined that Entrust neither erred nor neglected your or your wifes accounts.

  
  In one of your email, you wrote,I have personally spoken with ***************************, who is on record as holding these stocks. They have told me (as they have told Entrust) that they have no shares in ***** and my name. That is the entire problem. As ********************* explained to you via email, the fact that ownership records were not properly updated was/is not Entrusts responsibility. As can be read in the emails attached from you and your wife (copies of which were included in our recent letter to you), you both acknowledged that updating these records was solely your responsibility. So while we are pleased to assist you with your account administration needs, we have no intention of waiving any of our fees as we did nothing wrong.

  
  Since your wifes account still have an asset in it, we are unfortunately unable to close it. In order to close the account, if you desire, you can distribute the asset Ecoark and then close the account. If you decide to do so, please submit a One-Time Distribution Form found on our website here: https://www.theentrustgroup.com/forms

  
  Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us by phone ***************, option 1) or by email (********************************************).

  
  Sincerely,

  
  The Entrust Group

  Customer response

  11/29/2022

   

  Complaint: 18348577

  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  Entrust customer service has been zero help in getting this resolved and are completely unsympathetic to my ordeal..

  
  

  Their only comment is that they have done nothing wrong. That is out of touch at best. And, in my opinion, bordering on delusional.

  
  

  Their proof of blamelessness is a one-sentence email they sent me say I understood I was solely responsible for making sure that the company updates their ownership records, which I felt I had adhered to. 

  
  

  I believe that email could be categorized as an unconscionable contract having me agree to something they KNEW I could not personally do. There was no explanation of how to actually make that happen. It turns out the one person who is actually 'solely responsible' is the person who sold me the stock. They are required to file paperwork with a (hard to get) medallion signature. That personas financial managers told me that was happening, but it must have gotten overlooked.

  
  

  Nevertheless, why was no explanation or warning of potential problems given to me as an unsophisticated investor at the very outset? Arent THEY the experts?

  
  

  Why was I allowed to open an account without providing proof of correct registration? 

  Why was I allowed to open an account that couldnt be closed? 

  Why was my account not flagged with registration being a potential complication? 

  Why were the many customer service people I spoke with (including the transfer manager) in the last 5.5 years completely clueless with advising me on how to fix this error? 

  Why was I given many inaccurate reasons for the rejected transfers? 

  Why was my account showing as empty after the rejected transfer? 

  Why has Entrusts customer service been focused on placing blame and completely unsympathetic to my situation?

  
  

  I can tell you why. Because this system theyve set up does not LOSE them money. All these things MAKE them money. All the while hiding behind complex unexplained technicalities and terms of service.

  
  

  Entrust may claim to have done nothing wrong, but I would say they have done little right when it comes to taking care of customers like my wife and I.

  
  

  I assume doing nothing wrong is a core tenant in many online scams. And this is beginning to look like what I have gotten involved in.

  
  

  5 1/2 years trying to close these 2 accounts. Five and a half years.

  
  

  
  

  Completely unacceptable.

  
  

  Sincerely,

  
  

  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have been attempting to transfer my sdira from entrust to another custodian and my original instruction letter stated to transfer the entire balance to close the account and to pay the fees from the account balance. Entrust first zero'd out the balance and THEN charged the fees knowing that they would fail for ***. So I added my credit card to pay to fees and tried again (with a lower balance because of the initial transaction fee (for a transaction that failed) and the *** penalty. This went through as expected, but they charged my credit card twice what they advertised on the instruction form ... but at least the account was closed. Except it apparently wasn't and there is no way online to close it. So I get another surprise charge 2 months later for the custodian fee for an account that should have been closed (per transfer instruction they no longer are my IRA ***********

  

  Business response

  11/28/2022

  Dear ****************,
  
  We appreciate your feedback and sincerely apologize for the frustration that you have experienced in working with us.

  
  It is clear that we originally failed at identifying we charged you twice for the same transaction, which is unacceptable, and we have already begun looking at ways to ensure this does not happen in the future.

  
  We have refunded the duplicate sell direction letter fee of $95 as of 11/23/2022.

  
  Please accept our sincerest apologies. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us by phone ***************, option 1) or by email (********************************************).

  
  Sincerely,

  
  The Entrust Group

  Customer response

  11/28/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

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