I called IB about 5-6 times, the wait was never over 10 mins, not a big deal to me. From my extremely small sample size the male customer service reps were also much more knowledgeable and efficient than the females.
For dealyed issues like margin questions etc. you can also send them e-mail and they might answer back or have a rep. call you back...........preventing the irritation of waiting on the phone.
I don't feel that I should have to bend over backwards and such to suit their lack of service. Sure, I could save a little money,,,but is it worth it... just my opinion. already in calling Etrade and Ameritrade they were way better on customer service
Yes, etrade will answer quickly, but with often incorrect info and an awful trading platform. You may wait longer for IB, but they have a much higher level of trading expertise. That's my experience with many years at both companies.
On hold for 15 min. is the norm with IB. I once called IB and was put on hold for 45 min. and when I finally got somebody who came on the line, he was a total noob and knew nothing at all and had to put me on hold further to ask his colleague and then when he came back he told me that he needed to transfer the call to their margin department but because he had to wait on the line to formally transfer my call to the margin department, he told me I have already asked too many questions and I need to hang up so he wouldn't have to wait on the line. So I asked him "what am I supposed to do? My question is still not answered and I need to find out now because it's regarding a trade that's happening now??!!" Totally useless idiots who have no clue what's going on and have no sense of urgency and really don't give a s*** that you have money on the line that they are supposed to care because they are in that they ! I don't know where IB finds these people. I find you get better answers when you open a ticket in the Message Centre and DON'T use "General Inquiry" as the subject category. Try to create the ticket with as specific as the category as you can so the ticket can hopefully be answered by people who are more knowledgeable and not by those idiots who just give you copy & paste answers from the KB. And if you REALLY have to talk to somebody, you need to talk to their Margin department. I find that department's got the only people that knows what they are talking about. Don't waste your time with the other phone noobs. If you are really looking to change brokers, I would recommend TD Ameritrade. Their platform TOS is AMAZING and you can trade all kinds of products with them. Their margin and commissions is quite decent and their customer service is not too bad; overall they were quite helpful the few times that I called them. IB with all its hidden fees added on doesn't really have the lowest trading fees anymore.
TD's preferred customer line is very good. The phone is answered promptly by competent, well-informed reps. However their public / small-account line is subject to hold times similar to any other broker's.
i have a recommendation - relax just recently u indicated that the method is not there yet, so what a heck does brokerage matter also etrade, ameritrade are not for traders they are for general public, answering service may be good but wait until the real movement on market starts - u will be executed at the worst possible price in the worst possible moment.... but as i said before for now, without the working method you are the general public so do not concern yourself with the brokers
I like Lightspeed for stocks, options and futures. There is always going to be someone who advertises for less, so chat with brokerages and depending on volume and account size, they will work with you on commissions. It is just I can use phone and get a hold of someone in few rings. And baby, time is money especially when both your main and backups freeze up, and be good to always keep 2nd/3rd broker, just in case. https://www.lightspeed.com/pricing/commission/ And you can chat with Robert Morse on the forum as he works for them.
To OP: Please consider us for your futures trading. We have a simple onboarding process, and once you decide what the best trading software for you, we make best efforts to educate you via videos about the functionalities of the platform. We find that is the best way to create an informed trader, and that is our ultimate goal.