Ameritrade has a duty to tell customers the facts not what they personally think. Intent does not matter, execution does. As a representative of a company if you do not know then you should say "I dont know, let me talk with someone who can answer the question, please wait..." and go and find the answer and return with correct and complete information for the customer.
Instead, both sides of the fence were played and people spoke out of both sides of their mouth.
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.