I am looking for some first hand feedback on the quality of customer service, trade execution and hidden fees. Thanks
I've used TS for both equities and futures. Had very few issues over the years personally. It's rare the platform is down and I can't place orders, even in extreme market volatility. I've had no issues with hidden fees and anytime there was a fee charged, if there was an error or it was a mistake they refunded it. If you use a lot of charts (36+) at one time with more complex indicators or strategies, than sometimes you can have difficulty switching / changing a chart to a different symbol and may have to restart. That isn't an issue for the standard user though. That's my personal experience. With that said I know other long term traders who use tradestation as well and they are generally satisfied. They did however go through a string where they had issues with the newest platform related to coding, but they we're cycling through a lot of data, charts and doing more complex things that most standard users don't. So, overall my experience first hand and second hand has been decent to excellent, depending on what you're doing.
Thank you - have you ever had to deal with their corporate actions department regarding DWACs or anything else?
Personally I for sure have not. I know 3-4 other users who also have not for sure. The other 12-15 people that I know that use it, I do not know well enough if they have had any issues, but they have never mentioned. Overall though I would not rely on what I am saying regarding this, because I do not know a lot about this, nor can I confirm 100% if anyone else I know that uses TS has had this issue.
Fair enough - what about their margin fees? do all 15-20 of you pay sticker or has anyone negotiated a better rate?
Nope, no one I know has negotiated better fees. Although most of the traders I know have account sub 200k. Only one has accounts in the millions that would likely due enough volume to possibly get that. So, again apologize I can't give a more decisive answer, but personally I haven't seen it. The only decisive thing I can really say is in my experience it's a solid platform, that I've personally had very few issues with and customer service has always met at least my minimum standard. For your last two questions, it's probably best you try to find more information else where and/or wait for someone else to chime in here that uses TS.
What's going to be your account size to be thinking about trying to negotiate a better rate ? wrbtrader
I have been with them 4 months ,,,can't say much, but my experiance with them has been excellent. I can reach them easily, even these days that some people experiancing probelms with them, i chated with them 3 times in last 2 days