This is very disturbing news. I am an IB customer and I've been criticizing the software platform for some time now. IB has great fees and a broad range of products and markets to trade and I have no idea why they cripple themselves with such a second rate trading application. The only software application that I've used that I liked is CyberTrader. I've got about 20 charts open each with about 3 tabs and 7 different types of scanners running all in their application and it never misses a beat. Fairly small footprint and utilizes few resources (imagine doing that with the Java based TWS, lol). CyberTrader might have great programmers but their business model sucks. You have to open a separate account for Equities and futures, dumb. Anyway, with TWS I've experienced windows missing controls or erratic behavior (mostly GUI based) on a regular basis. They need to drop Java and make a lean mean C++ version for PCs. By the end of the trading day my computer is so sluggish I'm not surprised their software has major bugs like this. I hope IB owns up to this problem and either provides a good explanation or refunds your money. My friends and I are following this closely and have no problems with leaving IB. One solution we have is to go small, basically not have much money deposited with any one firm. So we're thinking of joining a prop firm and putting up a small amount $2K-$5k and get large buying power 20:1 so that if there is a technical mistake or error then we'll only lose a small amount and the firm will eat the rest.
As with any problem in any service situation, it is always better to escalate. The audience who appleauds about "suing" are misinformed because all disputes go to arbitration first and this takes months or more. And it totally misses the point which is to correct any problem. As long time users of our system can attest, we do the right thing even if it sometimes it takes longer than it should and sometimes needs to get the right person's attention (which it now has). What you [Zzzapp] should do next is to write to csmgmt@interactivebrokers.com and provide any information not already included in the initial post. Your account number is critical. Ticket numbers and trade details (dates, times, etc) will be useful (it saves me from having to go hunting around to get up to speed). We will address this. The serious members of E-T know that we will find out what really happened and, if it is our error, we will fix it.
LOL. When I said, "matching all the variables as closely as possible," it was kind of implied to test it out at a lower qty, perhaps 1 contract. AZD
first of all, if you are not joking...I am very sorry this happened...I truly desire the best outcome for you in this...what about going to NBC Dateline to be exposed...the "fleecing of America" series...or to to Cnbc for a story or the Wall Street Journal...or your local news affiliate...seriously...what about the NFA or SEC...bring the big boys in if you believe you have been wronged...can you not talk to anyone there?...physically visit them "Face to face"?..I wish the best for you in this situation...
he can do it with 66 cars but just offset within 30 sec. which obvioulsy wont cost him 50K. The reason it cost him 50K because of the movement after thr fed meeting.
IBj, I stated in some of my following posts that "I would still prefer to settle this with IB directly". Settling this via court/arbitration is the last option for me. But as you can see, I was patient for 5 weeks and got nowhere. I'm with IB for couple years and some people even opened an account with IB because of my recommendation. I was generating over $1000 commissions per week in September until the incident and my commissions were growing substantially. Ironically, this is going to be a first time for me I'm going to pay some "inactivity/data" fee because I didn't place a single trade in October at IB. I sent email to the address you specified.
It's impossible to list all the possible anamolies... That can happen with TWS... When doing high volume trading over an open internet connection. I only do about 3,000,000 shares/month... And my trading is very fragmented... averaging under 1000 shares/trade... And I'm VERY market neutral... So is VERY low risk... and VERY profitable... Because the max loss on any single trade is <<<< $1,000 for me. But I CANNOT IMAGINE any serious firm... Doing 100+ contract futures trades... Or any strategy where a 5 or 6 figure loss is possible... And running this through TWS... And being jerked around by IB Customer Service... Every time there's an issue. It is NOT possible to get a correct/straight answer from IB... And I'm talking about the higher level "Institutional Desk". You will just get passed around from person to person... And each person will give you a bunch of speculation... The goal being to tire you out... and get rid of you. And I have studied the TWS logs files... And auto-read then with my API automated-systems... And I doubt that the TWS log files... Would be of ANY use whatsoever, by design... If it comes down to a dispute. The TWS "expanded audit trail"... For an execution... Does not even tell you the TIME/DATE THE ORDER WAS ENTERED... ** A critical piece of information is left out **. Any firm capitalized at 7 figures and up... Or doing high risk, fast market trading... Would routinely develop a custom platform... Or use a professional grade platform from Thomson or Reuters. There is a MILLION MILES OF DISTANCE... Between professional trading firms... And retail people trying to survive with free software and data.