Nothing's changed since I dumped them Dec 01. It was always my fault, always my computer's fault, reboot the system (like I can just shut down everything during the trading day), empty out the cache, yabba-dabba-do. DATEK/AMTD SUCKS. Thank God I found IB that's all I have to say.
Ameritrade/Datek is the AOL of Brokers. You pay a lot more for a pretty interface and below average fill speed. The only viable thing would be if you always traded several thousand shares at a time, which would be cheaper than a per/share brokerage. However, there are at least a dozen similar brokerages that cost less .. RJT, Etrade, Brown, Scotttrade, etc.
Cgjung, I couldn't agree with you more. Datek is one hell of a ride if you attempt to day trade, AND their customer service is atrocious. Example 1: My Command Center window is fix, they cannot fix it, but blame it on me and/or my computer of course. One of their tech support guys made me change some 10-15 settings on my computer, but none of those changes made any difference. The window is still broken and they just do not care. Example 2: When I day trade I have to flip between the order window, daily activity window, and kepp losing time costing me big bucks, but they do not care. Example 3: They also overcharged me by giving me some 15 separate slow/inferior/bad orders on 5 separate days for many large blocks of shares for a stock that trades on the AMEX. Example 4: I asked for credits for these overcharges, but it is the same story: Datek is giving me the runaround and blaming it on me, too. If I send e-mail, Datek sends me no response except a form letter. If I use Answerbox to write them to complain, oh no, it is your fault, you should've called. If I call, oh, no; not the right time; you should've called when the market was active. When I call when the markets are active, then oh, no, not the right time; we're just too busy now.
My recommendation - forget Ameritrade/Datek....I've had accounts with them for years, and this week I finally closed them..enough of their nonsense!!!!
What is other better alternative? I use Ameritrade (old Datek) for penny stocks. The interface is not as good as real Tick but it is cheaper. What I do not like is I can not buy Profund mutual funds & the regular Ameritrade clients can. Like the USPIX but can not buy
What REALLY gets to me is a combination of a pretty interface, slow/bad/inferior fills, and slow/stupid/low IQ/atrocious customer "service".
What pissed me off was the webpage-based forms. Click Buy and get this "Website found . . . waiting for reply. . . ." The best thing to come out of the Datek/AMTD merger? No more Ed Nicole commercials 3x every 5 minutes.
I used to have another broker (Firstrade) who was even worse than Datek, but you know what? Firstrade is still in business, and seem to have lots of customers. I find it amazing that there are investors -- and lots of them! -- who will put up with just about everything.