The Motley Fool Reviews 9,213

Double down on ideology over logic, pushes over bought markets and stocks. Quickly pushes buy ratings multiple times (14 times) for TTD at 80 or above without providing caution, hold or sale recommendations based on performance, stock now sits in the 20s, this has occurred with the magic recommendations of PayPal, and others, most are down over 50% from their last buy recommendation. Stay away from these group thinkers.

I rarely leave public reviews, but transparency matters.

In my case, The Motley Fool’s representative confirmed in writing that a refund had been issued. The exact wording was: “We have issued a one-time deep exception refund.”

Despite this written confirmation, no funds were received and no valid processor proof (ARN or transaction reference) has ever been provided.

This is particularly concerning because I am not disputing market performance or investment outcomes — this is strictly about a refund that was explicitly promised in writing.

Reading other reviews here, I notice a recurring theme:

Difficulty cancelling

Upselling after subscription

Refund issues

Lack of transparent communication

My concern is simple:
If a company confirms in writing that a refund was processed, there should be verifiable transaction proof. Without that, the situation becomes troubling.

I am still hopeful this will be resolved properly. However, if not, I will continue pursuing all available remedies.

Transparency and accountability should not require public escalation.

The number of "Forget GameStop..." articles over the past 5 years has been nothing short of ridiculous. It's as though they are sponsored by Ken Griffins' Citadel Securities. Oh wait, they are.

The reason they can tout such great numbers is they have a large clientele that follow the their recommendations that takes the stock prices up. My 3 year experience with them was absolutely awful. Bought their picks early and most were absolute duds. You’re better off going elsewhere for recommendations

Motley Fool is a complete scam. You realize that after you pay your yearly dues, you visit their website and discover their recommended stocks, like DDOG, U, and others, with heavy losses. They do not have even a single decent stock suggestion. Thus, it is a completely bogus and a financial scam. SEC should investigate and shut them down. I lost my money and got nothing in return.

Motley Fool makes it clear that the intended model is diversification, that you need to hold a portfolio of 15-25 stocks, and you need to hold that for a long time, like decades.

What they DO NOT tell you is that unless you get into their system at that scale, don't bother. No matter what they recommend, a few of them will hit big and most of what is left will lag or bomb. If you only hold five positions, the probability is that you are going to come out even AT BEST.

This is not adequately discussed, and there is something about it that feels like Amway. Really good news for a few people who can hold on to two dozen positions for years. It's not for the rest of us unless you're really lucky, and if you are buying individual stocks you already know you aren't.

I was taken for a fool but I’m glad I had the last laugh with the assistance of GlobalAidRecovery that helped me understand the web I was entangled in. I was able to show no hitch that I knew what was already going on which also helped the experts trace my funds and got me back most of what I thought was lost forever.

Bad recommendations and no easy way to cancel Subscription! How is this still legal today?

first email from fool is to ask for more money to subscibe to additional services, then every link on their website offers advice at extra cost that is not included in your package. summary THIS SITE WANTS TO HAVE YOUR PANTS DOWN.

"Venture capital style" recommendations whereby many of the stocks they suggest you buy underperform the market massively. A few winners capture all the upside and they market them aggressively: "If you bought Nvidia when we told you 10 years ago...". In truth many of their picks have lost a lot of money.

Also they aggressively try to upsell you more premium services and stock picks constantly.

I think this type of insight/investment style works for some people, but it's dangerous if you have no background in finance

I paid for the basic membership and thats basically what i got, Most of the information i received could easily be found on search engines, if i wanted to get ahead then more expensive add-ons were required, With basic subscription you get conflicting reviews ie 1, says buy Lloyds underpriced with a 43% upside potential, 2 days later, Lloyds shares lost 10% and still look overpriced with this type of information it makes it hard to make the right decision, however as i had never invested before there was some helpful data limited but still there thus a 2 star rating,

Service often not available and simply no comms when you contact them.
When the app is working, the constant stream of articles often contradict themselves e.g. one will recommend a stock and then one soon after the opposite. Might as well do your own research......

Bait. Oh, wait. Must upgrade. Oh you thought you were "in". Nope. Here's some crumbs. Please upgrade. Pay more now. Seriously? Reeling in the suckers.

Caveat: new customer, initial impression

Feeling: duped

Upside: maybe it doesn't completely suck?

I started with Motley Fool 6 years ago. Bought a range of stocks according to their advice and knew that I would have to hold the stocks for some years. Not a single stock they recommended has made money. The reverse. I have lost ALMOST everything they advised me to invest. In the first few years I thought "hey, they say investment is a long term game. I need hold these for at least 5 years before I know, right?" and stayed the course. Finishing up year 6 all of these stocks have lost so much value that they're not even worth selling. Some of the stock the Motley Fool recommend cost $500+ per share to start now are not even worth $50 a share after the better part of the decade. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE and do not throw your money away. I would have done better just investing in the S&P 500.

I've used these guys over the years and the reason I am giving them a bad rating is because of the aggressive marketing which is absolute BS. They love to go on and on about all these companies they predicted would succeed with no mention of their even more numerous dogs. then once they have you they just want to keep bombarding you with upgrades and try to make you feel like you are missing out and the next big thing. But wen you upgrade you feel like you've been given chopped liver and then they want you to upgrade again. What a waste of my time and money. If they were so great why do their funds suck? They can't even beat the market.

The stocks they recommend will lose you money. If you get their paid subscription you'll see their last 'sell' is 2023. I got the subscription service a few months ago and down 20%+ in their recommendations over all the ones they've recently recommended.

Avoid the subscription services. Dont want more people to lose money like I have.

They'll probably say about their positive results, but I'm talking from my own personal experience and the reality and truth is I have lost over 20% from their recommendations and they keep trying to flog more 'products' like 'hidden gems'. Why isn't that part of their extreme opportunities? Just another money making opportunity for them.

I’ve followed Fool/The Motley Fool recommendations for years, and the pattern has become impossible to ignore. Most picks surge briefly after publication due to subscriber buying pressure, not fundamentals — and then collapse shortly after.

This isn’t real investing; it’s hype-driven liquidity events where late retail buyers are left holding the bag. The recommendations consistently ignore valuation, macro conditions, timing, and risk management, which is reckless in today’s market.

What’s worse is that Fool bears zero accountability. They sell stories, not results. When stocks drop 30–60% within weeks or months, the response is always the same: “long-term thesis unchanged.” That’s not analysis — it’s an excuse.

Over the last 1–2 years especially, the majority of their picks have been disastrous, yet the marketing never changes. If a service produces repeated short-term losses for subscribers while continuing to profit from subscriptions, that’s a serious credibility problem.

At best, Fool is an idea blog disguised as investment advice. At worst, it systematically encourages retail investors to buy overhyped, overpriced stocks at the worst possible time. Either way, following these recommendations blindly is a costly mistake.

I had them years ago and they were Great! Now they are just Greedy!!!!
It's unfortunate

Motley Fool has some real research behind it. The articles are detailed, and you can tell smart people are doing the work. But as a subscriber, it didn’t feel like the value matched the promise. Not good enough to get more than 3 stars, sorry

They have totally missed the gold, precious metals and mining run up in thelast year. Not one recommendation! Major whiff!