eTrade.com Complete Savings Account. Just open with $1 to get $25 Bonus!!

Me too, they must be doing a round of bonuses today. Funded 3/12, bonus granted 4/4 (no notice or deposit noted in the account, just $25 extra showing on the total available balance)
Sweet, I wasn't expecting it since I did it after the deadline...!

Received my $25 credit to my account yesterday. Thanks, OP

Got my $25 and getting out!

I've had several issues:

First time I signed up for this account it was ok until about 5 days later I tried to log-in and it wouldn't let me.. I called customer service and they couldn't locate my account for some reason and told me to sign up for another one. Mind you this is after the verification deposits to my checking account had been made (thankfully none of my money transferred, or I would have raised hell).. But somehow the account disappeared. Did not inspire confidence in the account.

Signed up the second time (choose only a dollar initial deposit this time after last time's issue). The $25 bonus took some time, but not too bad I admit.. I tried to transfer the money out to the bank out account I already verified and it wouldn't let me. I had to verify it for external transfers (ok, I guess as a security feature, but annoying nevertheless). They said they would send an email to my inbox with an activation code to verify the transfer. Never did. Tried again yesterday, and finally got an email. Tried to transfer, and now have to wait until the 16th to do it (I understand making people wait until next business day, fine). Further, the account is not FDIC insured.

All those little things combined (while some understandable, yet still annoying) make my we want to get out faster and move it into my FDIC insured, higher yield account, that I haven't had problems with. But to each their own.

Fair enough on the FDIC insured part.. I saw that plastered on the bottom of the screen that they are not FDIC insured, as I signed on.. perhaps that would be another complaint then they didn't clarify such..

Anyway, thanks for clarifying that for everyone. The rest of my post holds true from MY experience.

Keyboard said: I've had several issues:
I tried to transfer the money out to the bank out account I already verified and it wouldn't let me. I had to verify it for external transfers (ok, I guess as a security feature, but annoying nevertheless). They said they would send an email to my inbox with an activation code to verify the transfer. Never did.

Same problem here...never sent the email and the link to request a "replacement" hasn't reappeared.

wow - this is interesting - I was about to add a new external account and I got this message:

"We are sorry, but we are unable to enroll any additional external accounts at this time as your account has met the lifetime enrollment limit. Please contact a Financial Services Associate at 1-800-ETRADE-1 for further assistance."

Anybody heard or seen something like this before? I'll give them a call later today.
I have 19 active and 5 deleted accounts. Weird.

I called yesterday to close my account and the CSR said they couldn't transfer the money into my linked account so they have to send me a check.

tbike99 said: I called yesterday to close my account and the CSR said they couldn't transfer the money into my linked account so they have to send me a check.

Do you know if etrade charge you a fee to get a check for the closed account? I know Principal Bank charge a $5 fee for such "service".

lacr said: Does anyone know if the APY will be different(lower) for balances less than $25000 or is 5.05 APY the fixed APY regardless of how much money I keep in the account ?

Fixed.

Do they do any credit pulls??

Looks like the date is extended now:

Accounts must be opened by 5/31/2007 to quality for the $25 offer

"Must be a new account opened with new funds."

If I have a trading account with them, can I transfer the funds from there? or do I need to transfer from somewhere outside of ETrade?

bobes said: "Must be a new account opened with new funds."

If I have a trading account with them, can I transfer the funds from there? or do I need to transfer from somewhere outside of ETrade?

Probably not since it says "new funds". You only have to fund with a dollar, so you might as well just use a dollar outside of Etrade to ensure you get the 25.

Last week, I opened an online savings account with E-Trade, getting lured by the higher interest rate and the favorable reviews here on Fatwallet, after I had planned to go with ING Direct for a while.

What a mistake.

The process to set up an account was arduous, and I still don't have it set up right. First they had to "verify" the account, but they couldn't verify my bank's account eletronically, even though I have been banking electronically with them for years. I have to wait two days for them to place the verification deposits in my account, then report the totals back to Etrade.

OK. Two days pass. Done.

Then I had to go through some other nonsense to set up the account to receive incoming money. (My mind is such a blur right now, I forget exactly what I had to do.)

Then I have to set up the account for outgoing transfers. But I can't. Apparently my e-mail address in invalid because it's AOL. (Come on. This nonsense should have stopped a decade ago.)

I call them up. First I get someone who is obviously stationed in another country and he is of no help. I call again, and get someone who sounds a little closer to home and tell her about my problem.

She tells me use another e-mail address.

I tell her I had the e-mail address for twelve years and don't want to use another one.

She insists there's nothing else she can do. Finally I cave and give her a backup e-mail address. Then she tells me they can't set the account up until the account has been opened for ten business days. WHY DID YOU JUST PUT ME THROUGH THAT NONSENSE THEN? She says she'll post an electronic note and automatically "reset" my account after ten business days. I'm thinking, OK, it'll be alright.

I send in a second deposit for about $1000. It shows up on the screen. Good.

The next day I check the account. No record of the deposit. No money pulled from my regular savings account. Nothing pending in either account. I figure I made a mistake and resubmit the deposit.

Today I check the account and both transfers are posted to the Etrade account.

I call up Etrade. Wait about 5 minutes and get transferred to an Eastern Hemisphere country again. I tell them that I made the second transfer because Etrade's faulty system did not register the deposit when I initially made it, and I needed to get the money back.

He tells me to set an outgoing transfer. Except I can't because of the nonsense I mentioned above. He connects me to a "specialist", this time apaprently in the Western Hemisphere.

This guy tells me that the reason they can't give me the money back is because they aren't in possession of it yet. (Even though the first deposit for the same amount is already posted to the Etrade account.) The guy tells me to call my regular bank and cancel the transfer. He assures me that it definitely can be done, even though they may charge a few dollars. I can live with that.

I call my regular bank. They say that the money has posted and that I need to call Etrade.

I call Etrade back. Five minutes on hold. Eastern Hemisphere again.

The rep tells me that since it's a new account, I have to wait 9 business days for a transfer. I said no way. I then asked to speak to his supervisor.

Another ten minutes on hold. Still in the Eastern Hemisphere.

The "supervisor" tells me exactly the same things that the first CSR said. I asked him to transfer the deposit that already posted to the account, and I could then live with waiting the nine days for access to the other money. Remember, the other rep I spoke to told me they couldn't give me back the money becasue Etrade didn't have it. But they have this first deposit.

After I explain all this, the guy still refuses to budge. I said let me speak to your supervisor. He said, "I am supervisor." I then said again, "Let me speak to YOUR supervisor." He then checked their "availability".

Another fifteen minutes on hold. He comes back and tells me they're not available, but they'll call me back.

I state very clearly that I expect a call back from his supervisor. He tells me he'll be in at around 11 a.m. (my time or his time?) and that he'll call me right away.

As of 3 p.m., still no call, and I'm not expecting one.

This was a horrible ordeal, and thank goodness I'm not in dire need of the money right now. As soon as I figure out how to get my money back, I'm closing the account and RUNNING far away from Etrade. I'll find an online bank that cares a little more about its customers and has mroe competent people working for them, even if it means a little hit in interest. .5% is worthless anyway if you can't access your money!

I had to call in to tell them that their 30 days were up. Within 1 business day, the $25 bonus was credited to my account. I guess you'll have to call them.

I opened a savings + max-rate checking (both with $25 bonus). Got the bonus on my savings, but not checking. Sent them an e-mail through the 'help' link on the site. 24 hours later I had my $25 credited.

Can this be done in conjunction with the $75 bonus for new etrade checking accounts?

Squeezer99 said: Does E-Trade show your interest $ accrued daily?Unfortunately, no.

1) yes
2) Six times a month. It's a banking regulation for any savings account.

It's six withdrawals a month, not year. Here's a quick read from our friends at wikipedia: Linky. I'd suspect anyone who has unlimited free withdrawals doesn't really have a savings account.