They might have missed out on thousands of dollars in market investments, but some Robinhood customers’ last-minute holiday shopping just got a little easier.
The online brokerage is offering $75 Amazon gift cards as a mea culpa to some customers impacted by the significant outages its options trading services faced last Wednesday.
Some users were notified via email that as a result of an evaluation of their account by data scientists and senior members of Robinhood’s brokerage operations team they would be issued an Amazon gift card “as a gesture of goodwill and appreciation of your continued faith in Robinhood.”
But the trading app, which closed its latest $363 million funding round in May that valued the company at $5.6 billion, wasn’t as forthcoming with its generosity to all those impacted by the outage.
At least one user said the company initially denied a request for compensation, explaining that “occasional service interruptions are an inherent risk of electronic trading across any platform, we aren’t allowed to offer compensation for any perceived gains or losses.”
However, after following up with Robinhood, the company offered the customer a $75 Amazon gift card “as a token of our sincere regret,” but again insisted it could not provide compensation for any perceived gains or losses.
Only after a third email from the user did Robinhood relent, he said, agreeing to credit the user’s account with $350.
A thread on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets included an email from Robinhood crediting a user’s account $450. The user said no ticket was submitted during the outage and the account credit came "out of the blue".
Business Insider was not able to individually verify claims, but another five users on the subreddit's thread and a Facebook group established for those impacted by the outage claimed to have been offered Amazon gift cards from Robinhood. Five other users alleged to have had their accounts credited anywhere from $200 to $450.
A spokesman for Robinhood couldn't be reached for comment.
It’s been a tough week for Robinhood, which came under fire shortly after announcing plans to offer checking and savings accounts with no fees and an industry-high 3% interest rate. The SIPC, which protects cash in brokerage accounts, said it was not notified of Robinhood’s plans prior to the announcement and would not insure the accounts.
Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev told Business Insider in October his goal is to grow his company to be the Amazon of personal finance.
