Dear fellow traders, I am reaching out to this forum in hopes of finding some advice on a recent issue I encountered with my broker. I had cancelled some working orders before the market opened, yet I received filled notifications when the market opened. I immediately submitted a screenshot to my broker and demanded an explanation for this discrepancy. However, the response I received from my broker was unsatisfactory. They simply stated that they were unsure why their platform proceeded with the orders that I had cancelled. Furthermore, they indicated that they would not be doing any rectification on the trade orders error. I am quite puzzled and concerned about this situation. How could my cancelled orders still get filled? I have provided evidence to my broker, but it seems like they are not taking any responsibility for their platform's error. Finding a solution is crucial for all traders to safeguard our portfolios against brokers. I aim to connect with this community to seek shared experiences, advice, and suggestions on navigating this situation. Though feeling frustrated and disheartened, I maintain hope that our collective efforts will lead us to a resolution. Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Was it crypto trading or some other exotics, or was it a listed ticker? Is the broker maybe a new one?
I guess I only have two questions, what time est did your cancel you order. Did your trading software confirm your cancel? It is possible your software disconnected from their server and the cancel was not sent or confirmed.
The OP is one of those posts that is so short of details that there are a 1000 legitimate reasons the order didn’t cancel and we have to take his word that he was screwed.
One of the things you will find if you read the unconscionably long fine print on these brokerage agreements is a very long list of things that they are "not responsible for". While some of that list is reasonable, lots of other listed items may feel pretty unfair. At the end of the day you need to figure out specifically why this happened (see Robert's post above), then tiptoe forward lightly with future orders until you are confident in the platform. If it's not functioning to your satisfaction, I feel like your only material course of action is to use another broker.
It is quite possible that your order was filled pre-market if you are approved for pre-market and after-market trading. A lot of times, it will say that they would make efforts to cancel your order but, remember that once, you click on the submit order button, your order will be put on the order queue. Once, in the order queue, you might not be able to cancel if it executes your order before the cancel order you placed. Maybe, a good idea to ask your broker to restrict your account from pre-market and after-market trading. Also, review your orders before you hit the submit button.
I too often place option orders pre-market to be executed at market open. But while the market still is closed I can modify them, also cancel, and it gets immediately done; I always make screenshots after any such orders, modifications, cancels etc. If I had experienced such a bug like the OP describes then I too would be "not very amused", to say the least... In OPs case maybe it's a routing related issue: if it gets sent to the destination marketplace, then maybe one loses control and gains control again only after the market opens... IMO still a broker issue...
Did you happened to make a copy or a screenshot of your canceled order at the time? If not, go into your platform and see if there's a record of the cancellation. These days, most platforms keep a timestamped record. If your broker still would not correct the mistake, I would suggest you file a claim with FINRA as well as your state regulator (provided you live in the US). However, if the damage is not substantial, I would just skip the hassle and move on. Just be sure not to repeat the same problem in the future by checking over your orders and documenting everything.