Some Robinhood merchants unable to contact customer service try a different tactic: show up at the front door.
According to police reports, a handful of Robinhood clients drove to the start-up’s headquarters in California to speak with a representative and in some cases destroy the property.
A total of 10 reports from January 28 to February 9 obtained by CNBC detailed frustration with the start of the trade. Some clients attempted to explain bill issues to security guards outside the nondescript one-story building in Menlo Park, a Bay Area suburb, and were given a paper form to fill out. There were no Robinhood-related reports before that date this year, the city police said.
A spokesman for Menlo Park police said that in the incidents as many as 15 people protested outside the office, and a male suspect threw a t-shirt at a security guard. Another suspect was cutting into a sculpture on the Robinhood property. A third man threw animal feces at the front door, according to police.
Robinhood came under fire from users and lawmakers in late January for limiting the buy side of some transactions. Some accused Robinhood of protecting hedge funds short stocks like GameStop. Robinhood said it was not making those decisions based on the interests of market makers or hedge funds, and that it should limit the transactions to higher capital requirements.
Robinhood declined to comment on the police reports and customer service complaints.
2,400 miles to Robinhood
Forty-three-year-old Rayz Rayl said he’d been using the free trading app for seven years and recommended Robinhood to friends before the end of January. The professional poker player told CNBC he lost $ 50,000 trading Nokia – one of many stocks limited on the platform due to volatility.
After failed attempts to contact Robinhood customer service, he decided to drive more than 2,400 miles from his home in Sellersburg, Indiana to Robinhood headquarters last Thursday to close his account.
“I have money in my Robinhood account that I need to support myself,” Rayl, who has three children, said in an interview outside Robinhood headquarters. “My money is currently being held hostage by Robinhood, I can’t get it out.”
Rayl said he was locked out for more than 10 days. After his interview and a request for comment to Robinhood by CNBC, he was contacted by customer service and given access to his account.
CNBC witnessed another Robinhood customer kicking and knocking on Robinhood’s front door, claiming the start-up had “$ 2 million of my money on hold,” asking to “remove my account number.” The man declined to speak about his complaint.
In the weeks since, more than two dozen lawsuits have been filed against Robinhood from clients seeking damages. Another lawsuit filed this week against the trading app comes from the family of Alex Kearns – a 20-year-old who committed suicide last year after falsely believed he owed more than $ 730,000 after trading options.
Certainly, the incidents at Menlo Park only represent a handful of Robinhood’s 13 million customers. Despite the backlash online and on Capitol Hill, the start-up appeared to be adding record-breaking accounts in the last week of January. JMP Securities estimates that Robinhood saw 600,000 mobile downloads during the week of GameStop trading.
Robinhood’s user policy outlines possible losses and trade restrictions. Users agree that “Robinhood may, in its sole discretion, prohibit or restrict the trading of securities or the substitution of securities in My Accounts.”
Rayl said he knew the risk of losing money when he signed up for Robinhood and lost a whopping $ 20,000 in poker in one day. According to Rayl, his inability to buy certain stocks set this apart from other losses. He said that Robinhood restricting customer transactions was “pulling the carpet from under the customers.”
For now, Rayz is taking a break from the stock market.
“I don’t trust Wall Street right now – I’ll move all the money to cash and take a break,” Rayz said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to day trading after this happens.”