Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromRwn W

  Date: 10/24/2023

  This outfit, EQ Unify, needs to rehabilitate their approach. They are currently creating unneeded panic and charging illigitimate fees. This behavior is unethical. The letter should simply read something like: "This is to alert you that you account is at risk of being flagged as inactive" followed by instructions on how to update the account. If they want to charge a fee for their service, then ********** $20, not 10% of the value of the shares. Ridiculous!!

  EQ Unify

  Date: 11/15/2023

  While we appreciate your feedback, we note that the situation for shareholders is more urgent than your suggestion implies. If a shareholder receives our letter, the account is already flagged as inactive, or is registered to a deceased owner, and is at risk of escheatment. Once shares of stock are escheated to the state as required under state unclaimed property laws, they will be sold and in most instances the shareholder will only be able to recover the value for which the shares were sold, not the market value as of the date they claim their property. This is a very real risk of loss for a shareholder, and action is generally required. In addition, our fully disclosed fees are in exchange for the convenience offered by our service. As stated in multiple places within our correspondence, if a shareholder is not interested in paying our fees to aid in selling, transferring or replacing lost or destroyed certificates, they can contact the transfer agent directly to resolve the matter by updating contact free of charge or completing any additional requests. We even go so far as to provide the contact information necessary for the shareholder to do so. Each recipient is therefore free to judge for themselves if they want to avail themselves of our services for the price stated.

• Review fromJohn S

  Date: 09/15/2023

  Total scam dont fall for it. They claim I have stock shares unclaimed/inactive. Far from the truth! I get dividend checks automatically deposited to my bank account every quarter. Anything they find is public knowledge unfortunately. They want to charge 5-10% to even if it was legitimate you dont need them for anything. BEWARE

  EQ Unify

  Date: 09/29/2023

  Please be aware that our service is not a scam. While you are correct that you can remedy the inactive status of your share account without our help, you are not correct in your assumption that you do not have shares at risk of becoming unclaimed due to inactivity. A part of our service is to educate shareholders regarding their at-risk accounts. This may include accounts that are enrolled for automatic deposit of dividends because many states do not consider a previously authorized recurring deposit to be customer activity. In the opinion of many states, an automatic deposit does not indicate your awareness of the account because it does not require any action on your part. That is why you still must initiate contact with the transfer agent to reactive your account. You may do so on your own, as disclosed in our correspondence.

• Review fromGordon H

  Date: 08/16/2023

  EQ Unify is highly suspicious.They contacted my wife by mail regarding an inactive shareholder account. Their letter claimed that I could avoid any fee by calling ** Shareowner Services at no charge to remedy this matter; however, the phone number they provide is not the ** Shareowner Services phone number for the company whose stock my wife owns. Red Flag! RED FLAG!! R E D F L A G !!!Why would I want to give personal information, such as the full shareholder account number, to a person at a random company that is unaffiliated with the company whose stock my wife owns?This might not be a scam, but it sure smells like one. No way am I giving them my wife's full account number. In my personal opinion (I am not a lawyer or in law enforcement), you are a fool if you do.

  EQ Unify

  Date: 09/01/2023

  EQ Unify is a legitimate service designed to notify individuals who own direct registration stock that their investment is at risk of escheating to the state absent their taking some action. We simultaneously offer, as a voluntary service and for convenience, our assistance with re-activating the owners account in exchange for a fully disclosed fee. As illustrated by your review, many people are not aware of the risk of escheatment, nor of the relationship between their shares of stock and the stock transfer agent that maintains the ownership records for the issuer. The phone number provided on our letter for the stock transfer agent is a valid number. It is not the issuer specific phone number that *** be provided on customer statements, but rather directs to customer service representatives at the transfer agent that are trained to address dormant accounts. In order to prevent fraud, and for the protection of the owners investment, the transfer agent will request validation of the owners identity which *** include account number and/or partial social security number. In most instances, they will not provide information to an individual other than the registered owner, even a spouse.If it is more reassuring to you, and your wife is aware of a direct issuer phone number at the transfer agent, she can call that number instead. The representatives will explain the dormant status of the shares, and assist her in taking the necessary and appropriate action to avoid escheatment.

• Review fromDavid G

  Date: 07/08/2023

  Along with everyone else, I also received a very dense four-page letter from this company. The format of this letter is clearly designed to raise concern over an account that they have information about (either by public record or by affiliation with the institution in which the account is held). That they have (at least) the last four digits of my account number is most unsettling.DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. Contact your financial institution directly. I say this because, if this is the method that they use "to alert you to the fact that your account requires customer-initiated contact to prevent it from being delivered to the state as unclaimed property," then I have no faith that they would be anything but ruthless if you allow them access to your account.To **********************'s responses to everyone, below, I will agree that, on the first page, they state that their services are voluntary and they list their (horrific) fee schedule. On page 2, bullet point two does state that you can call your account's "transfer agent" instead of them. But the number listed does not agree with the one on my quarterly statement and is the same area code as theirs.All this said, the format of the letter is CLEARLY designed to accrue business through fear. It might as well be a scam. I'm glad I found this BBB page.

  EQ Unify

  Date: 07/13/2023

  While we appreciate that you took the time to provide feedback on our letter, we must take issue with the assumptions your review makes about the purpose or design of our outreach. Ours is a service of convenience for individuals whose direct registration stock accounts require customer-initiated contact in order to avoid becoming unclaimed property. Our outreach is performed only on accounts for which we have been authorized to do so by the stock issuer.Because we are reaching out regarding direct registration shares, contacting a financial institution, as erroneously advised in your review, will not prevent the account from becoming unclaimed property. Instead, the owner must contact the stock transfer agent; or they *** avail themselves of our voluntary service in exchange for a fully disclosed fee. The phone number provided on our letter for the stock transfer agent is a valid number. It is not the issuer specific phone number that *** be provided on customer statements, but rather directs to customer service representatives at the transfer agent that are trained to address dormant accounts.Finally, while we do not agree with your characterization that our outreach is designed to accrue business through fear; we do try to convey a sense of urgency regarding dormant accounts. This is for the benefit of shareholders. If shares become unclaimed property and are turned over to the state of the address of record on the account, as required by law, they are generally subject to sale by the state. While the owner *** re-claim property from the state at any time, in many states there is no requirement that the state make the shareholder whole by replacing shares previously sold, or returning the current market value of the shares on the date of the shareholders eventual claim. Rather, the owner would be entitled to only the value for which the shares were sold by the state, which in many cases *** occur immediately upon transfer.

• Review fromRobert T

  Date: 01/11/2023

  As earlier reviews state, Ive had a DRIP shareholder account in good standing for decades. I received a letter from this voluntary sleazy company trying to scam me out of 10-15% of my account for no benefit to me. They can go to h***

  EQ Unify

  Date: 01/23/2023

  If you received a letter from us it is because you own or are otherwise entitled to an account that is considered inactive. Even DRIP accounts may become inactive and at risk of escheatment for different reasons, depending on the laws of the state of the address of record on the account. For example, some state laws do not consider the automatic reinvestment of dividends to constitute owner-initiated activity in an account. If you are not interested in EQ Unifys service, we nevertheless urge you to reach out to the stock transfer agent responsible for your shares, contact information for whom can be found on our correspondence, to initiate customer contact and remove the dormancy indicator from your account. We are not attempting to fool customers, our fees are earned in exchange for services provided to those who wish to engage them. As is fully disclosed on our correspondence, if you are not interested in using our services because you do not want to pay EQ Unifys fee, you may contact the stock transfer agent directly to make the required customer-initiated contact or update their records. Our correspondence provides you with the contact information of the stock transfer agent in order for you to do so.

• Review fromNick T

  Date: 12/28/2022

  This is probably the most crooked company I have ever worked with do not put your money here they will take it and claim that you were inactive on the account

  EQ Unify

  Date: 01/23/2023

  There is no service that we offer wherein we hold money for clients. EQ Unifys goal is to alert you to the fact that your account requires customer-initiated contact to prevent it from being delivered to the state as unclaimed property. At the same time, we are providing an opportunity to update your account, or sell your shares, as a convenience. This is completely voluntary and is provided merely as an option to prevent the account from again falling dormant, without you having to take additional action. EQ Unify receives no fee unless our services are authorized in writing by the account owner.

• Review fromGy J

  Date: 12/16/2022

  This business is an absolute scam. They send a letter with one name and the account is housed as another name - my spouse. Then they require the account number but they only give you the last 5. The whole business is a sham to charge people a convenience fee for shares that their own parent company holds in custody. This is an absolute disgrace and I am sure plenty of people are unknowingly paying absorbent fees for basic information. All you need is a statement and you can provide to your new or existing broker to transfer the shares. But this company makes it extremely difficult on purpose in order to charge huge fees on share transfers. This business practice is gross and should be regulated and outlawed.

  EQ Unify

  Date: 01/23/2023

  EQ Unify is a voluntary service designed to make the process of claiming shareholdings that are at risk of escheatment easier for the owner. We can assure you that the business is not a scam, and we employ great effort to ensure that all communications we send to shareowners are fully transparent. Accordingly, information regarding the steps necessary to update account information on your own, without incurring our fees, is provided in each piece of correspondence we send. Individuals who do not have or want a relationship with a broker may find it difficult to navigate the process of transferring shares on their own, and our offering seeks to assist them by providing a seamless process. Individuals not in need of our services do not need to use them, but are still provided a benefit if they were otherwise unaware of the at-risk status of their account.

• Review fromKathy S

  Date: 06/15/2022

  I was getting ********* dividends for my stocks in the mail. I received a letter from EQ Unify asking me to sign away 15% of my total to them to send me my funds. I never signed it and threw it away. Within a week I had a check for the funds minus 15%. I called 3 times and got the runaround from EQ Unify. If I was receiving my dividends in the mail, why did not I receive my entire funds in the mail, instead of EQ Unify stepping in and taking 15% without my permission? I called ********* and got no answers. I was told to send an email.

  EQ Unify

  Date: 07/06/2022

  You were contacted by EQ Unify because you were a shareholder of *************** On June 4, 2021, *************** was acquired by ******************* and ***************** As a result of the acquisition, you were required to surrender your original shares of ********** **** to receive $80.00 in cash for each share of ********* common stock you owned. You also ceased receiving dividends as of this date. Failure to exchange your shares of ********* per the terms of the companys acquisition could result in your cash entitlement being remitted to your state of residence in accordance with your states unclaimed property laws. EQ Unify provides notification to shareholders who have not responded to a companys prior communications regarding the surrender of shares subject to corporate acquisitions. Although EQ Unify charges a processing fee associated with our voluntary engagement to complete the mandatory cash redemption; it also provides information regarding your ability to reach out to the stock issuers transfer agent to complete the exchange on your own.Because you had not completed the exchange of your last year when notified by ********** transfer agent, ******** Shareowner Services, you were included in the shareholders to whom EQ Unifys additional correspondence was sent. The fact that our services are voluntary and will incur a fee is clearly stated in all correspondence from EQ Unify (Cover Letter and Authorization Form) with the disclosure made in multiple locations, in bold font, as we want to ensure that owners using the voluntary service understand the fees associated with the streamlined services. We strive to help individuals who truly need the assistance with handling corporate action events that can be confusing, complex and time consuming. Contrary to the assertion in your complaint, EQ Unify received your signed authorization form requesting our services on May 18, 2022. As discussed in your call to us of June 15, 2022, this was not your intention. We made every effort to address your concerns on that call and although we initially informed you that a review process was required before EQ Unify could implement the action items discussed on the call, such review was conducted that same business day and the plan implemented immediately thereafter.