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My experience with Robinhood has been completely negative. I recently worked on a loan and needed to show the Robinhood transfer to my bank. Since there's no we

by quan 11y ago

My experience with Robinhood has been completely negative. I recently worked on a loan and needed to show the Robinhood transfer to my bank. Since there's no web interface you can't get the current month printout. There's no phone number to call, and it took them 3 days to reply to the zendesk ticket only to say they can't do anything and I have to wait til end of the month. The actual statement is only available a week after beginning of the month. Never again. I closed out my account and deleted the app.

jackreichert 11y ago
It used to be available on their site, but they do have a number: http://online-brokers.credio.com/l/128/Robinhood http://online-brokers.credio.com/l/128/Robinhood Not cool that they took it off.
pfista 11y ago
I've had issues trying to get statements as well, but they've since improved that and you can access all your statements in the app. That said, this is one of the most solid apps I've ever used. I don't think it has ever crashed or shown any strange UI bugs.
zwtaylor 11y ago
I agree that a mobile-only interface is just not enough when you're dealing with something as intricate as investing. They've tried to abstract away the many layers of paperwork from investing/trading, but it leads to things like the problems you've had. I tried Robinhood for a few days and started to feel that it was turning investing, something that should require significant forethought and research, into a bit of a toy. The fact that it specifically targets a younger millennial audience who most likely have no experience investing makes me a little uneasy. That's not to say the app isn't well designed and good-looking, but that a mobile-only app just might not be the best medium for investors.
- INTPnerd 11y ago
  I'm not seeing your point about targeting a younger audience. A great investor can come from a combination of being self taught and from experience. The earlier you start the better better chance you have to make mistakes, learn from them, and get good at it. When you are young, you probably don't have much money to loose anyway. Not investing until you are older, and have a substantial savings is when lots of money really gets lost or else they are completely depended on financial advisers, but still not knowing which of them to really trust.
  - zwtaylor 11y ago
    I'm not at all suggesting that young people shouldn't be investing, just that the interface and experience of Robinhood makes investing seem more like a toy or game than a discipline that requires a lot more than a few swipes and a tap. Developing a relationship with investing when you're young is a great thing to do, but Robinhood might not be the best gateway. I am interested in seeing where the app goes, as the design by itself is very well done.
    - TTPrograms 11y ago
      Exactly. If your investment decisions can be made so spontaneously that you want to be able to do them on a train away from all the data you need to make a decision (historical prices, balance sheets) you're going to get burned. There's no universe where a mobile-only trading platform could provide me any value.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
      I think Robinhood is a good example of how you can develop a seemingly great user experience based on a bad business case. When you consider that the average young, inexperienced investor is going to come out on the short of the stick by "trading" frequently, Robinhood's zero commission value proposition is quite weak. In my opinion, a young investor would be much better off signing up for an account at say, Fidelity, where they get access to a good deal of research and can buy and sell 70 iShares ETFs commission-free. Furthermore, Robinhood's stated target market ("millennials") is an odd one for a company seeking to monetize via margin. I'd venture a guess that most of the investors in this market don't even know what margin is, and the vast majority who do have no business using margin if they can even meet the minimum equity requirement to set up a margin account. If Robinhood is banking on establishing a relationship with young investors, this is naive. Whales will always take their money elsewhere and I doubt that Robinhood will ever be able to compete with folks like Interactive Brokers, OptionsHouse, etc. for the big-balance margin accounts. The fact that Robinhood is already expanding to Australia, which has a population of less than 25 million and where annual trading volume is significantly lower than the US, is telling.

by quan 11y ago

jackreichert 11y ago

It used to be available on their site, but they do have a number: http://online-brokers.credio.com/l/128/Robinhood http://online-brokers.credio.com/l/128/Robinhood Not cool that they took it off.

pfista 11y ago

I've had issues trying to get statements as well, but they've since improved that and you can access all your statements in the app. That said, this is one of the most solid apps I've ever used. I don't think it has ever crashed or shown any strange UI bugs.

zwtaylor 11y ago

I agree that a mobile-only interface is just not enough when you're dealing with something as intricate as investing. They've tried to abstract away the many layers of paperwork from investing/trading, but it leads to things like the problems you've had. I tried Robinhood for a few days and started to feel that it was turning investing, something that should require significant forethought and research, into a bit of a toy. The fact that it specifically targets a younger millennial audience who most likely have no experience investing makes me a little uneasy. That's not to say the app isn't well designed and good-looking, but that a mobile-only app just might not be the best medium for investors.

INTPnerd 11y ago
I'm not seeing your point about targeting a younger audience. A great investor can come from a combination of being self taught and from experience. The earlier you start the better better chance you have to make mistakes, learn from them, and get good at it. When you are young, you probably don't have much money to loose anyway. Not investing until you are older, and have a substantial savings is when lots of money really gets lost or else they are completely depended on financial advisers, but still not knowing which of them to really trust.
- zwtaylor 11y ago
  I'm not at all suggesting that young people shouldn't be investing, just that the interface and experience of Robinhood makes investing seem more like a toy or game than a discipline that requires a lot more than a few swipes and a tap. Developing a relationship with investing when you're young is a great thing to do, but Robinhood might not be the best gateway. I am interested in seeing where the app goes, as the design by itself is very well done.
  - TTPrograms 11y ago
    Exactly. If your investment decisions can be made so spontaneously that you want to be able to do them on a train away from all the data you need to make a decision (historical prices, balance sheets) you're going to get burned. There's no universe where a mobile-only trading platform could provide me any value.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
    I think Robinhood is a good example of how you can develop a seemingly great user experience based on a bad business case. When you consider that the average young, inexperienced investor is going to come out on the short of the stick by "trading" frequently, Robinhood's zero commission value proposition is quite weak. In my opinion, a young investor would be much better off signing up for an account at say, Fidelity, where they get access to a good deal of research and can buy and sell 70 iShares ETFs commission-free. Furthermore, Robinhood's stated target market ("millennials") is an odd one for a company seeking to monetize via margin. I'd venture a guess that most of the investors in this market don't even know what margin is, and the vast majority who do have no business using margin if they can even meet the minimum equity requirement to set up a margin account. If Robinhood is banking on establishing a relationship with young investors, this is naive. Whales will always take their money elsewhere and I doubt that Robinhood will ever be able to compete with folks like Interactive Brokers, OptionsHouse, etc. for the big-balance margin accounts. The fact that Robinhood is already expanding to Australia, which has a population of less than 25 million and where annual trading volume is significantly lower than the US, is telling.