Some Robinhood dealers who cannot get in touch with customer service try a different tactic: to show up at the front door.
A handful of Robinhood customers drove to the business’ headquarters in California and demanded to speak with a representative and in some cases vandalize the property, according to police reports.
A total of ten reports from January 28 to February 9 obtained by CNBC were frustrated with the start of trading. Some customers tried to explain billing issues to security guards outside the impeccable building in the Bay Area suburb, and were given a paper form to fill out. There were no Robinhood police reports prior to this year’s date, the department said.
A Menlopark police spokesman said the incidents included as many as 15 people protesting outside the office, and that a male suspect threw a t-shirt at a security guard. Another suspect worked into an image on Robinhood’s property. According to police, a third man threw feces at the front door.
Robinhood came under fire from users and lawmakers for restricting the buying side of some operations at the end of January. Some have accused Robinhood of protecting hedge funds that have shorted stocks like GameStop. Robinhood has said it does not make decisions based on the interests of market makers or hedge funds, and that it should limit trading to increased capital requirements.
Robinhood declined to comment on police reports and customer service complaints.
2 400 miles to Robinhood
Forty-three-year-old Rayz Rayl said he has been using the free trade app for seven years, and recommended Robinhood to friends before the end of January. The professional poker player told CNBC that he traded $ 50,000 with Nokia – one of several stocks that were restricted due to the volatility on the platform.
After unsuccessful attempts to contact Robinhood’s customer service, he decided last Thursday to drive more than 2,400 miles from his home in Sellersburg, Indiana, to Robinhood’s headquarters to close his account.
“I have money in my Robinhood account that I need for living expenses,” Rayl, who has three children, said in an interview outside Robinhood’s headquarters. “My money is currently being held hostage by Robinhood, I can not get it out.”
Rayl said he was excluded for more than ten days. After his interview, and a request for comment on Robinhood by CNBC, he was contacted by customer service and had access to his account.
CNBC witnessed another Robinhood customer kicking and knocking on Robinhood’s front door, claiming that the company had ‘$ 2 million of my money on hold’, and asked to have my account number taken down. The man did not want to talk about his complaint.
In the past few weeks, more than two dozen lawsuits have been filed against Robinhood customers. Another lawsuit filed against the trading app this week is from the family of Alex Kearns – a 20-year-old who committed suicide last year after mistakenly thinking he owed more than $ 730,000 to trading options.
To be sure, the Menlo Park incidents represent only a handful of 13 million Robinhood customers. Despite the setback online and in Capitol Hill, the startup seemed to have added record bills in the last week of January. JMP Securities estimates that Robinhood saw 600,000 mobile downloads during GameStop trading week.
Robinhood’s user policy outlines potential for losses and restrictions on trading. Users agree that ‘Robinhood may, in its sole discretion, prohibit or restrict the trading of securities, or the replacement of securities, in any of my accounts.’
Rayl said he knew the risk of losing money when he signed up for Robinhood, and he lost as much as $ 20,000 in a single day in poker. For Rayl, his inability to buy certain stocks made him stand out from other losses. He said Robinhood’s trade restriction amounted to “pulling the rug down”.
For now, Rayz is taking a break from the stock market.
“I do not trust Wall Street now – I move all the money in cash and take a breather,” Rayz said. “I do not know if I will ever return to day trading after that has happened.”