It also does not expect the program to be costly.
"We haven't set aside a large number," John Clendening, co-head of Schwab's retail brokerage, said when asked about the budget for the program.
Bing Waldert, a research director at Cerulli Associates, said he cannot imagine that many investors will bother filling out forms to get back a small fee, though he described the offer as unusual. "I can't decide if they're opening a can of worms or it's pure hype," he said. "It's probably a non-event."
The "accountability guarantee," according to Clendening, should open conversations with dissatisfied clients so that Schwab can provide more education or better service.
"It's a very expensive thing to have an unhappy customer," Charles Schwab said.