"Is it very costly to train the customer service to be courteous to their customers?" They seem to have solved the courtesy problem. The next problem to solve is the lack of knowledge in customer service.
LOL. You can't even get this right. First, I don't keep complaining about "IB adding charting features that bloat TWS." Next, I love to hear about peoples complaints. You really have to be a 1 in 100 special case to invite my scorn - congratuations The reason IB have responded on data quality is that they recognize useful suggestions (and its not clear to me that I really lead to that, they might well have been going to fix it anyway.) The reason their customer service people treated you like an idiot was .... .... well I don't want to say for risk of offending someone sensitive (lol). IB's service, as pointed out above, is like Brown's service used to be - for experienced skilled traders who don't need lots of hand holding. Think about it
most of those questions about stability, margin and account protection could have been answered if you would do a little research.
First, did you laugh when you read my post? At least smile? Ok, oK. To your question above. The answer is yes! LOL. No I'm serious. Yes. What if you didn't want a certain type of customer? Example: I went to this posh club in NY once. At the door, the bouncer (6'5 275lbs) put his hand on my chest perventing me from entering. All he said was "no jeans" in a monotone impersonal voice. He didn't even look me in the face when he said it. Never mind that they cost $400 a pair and I was wearing an Armani Jacket. Of course I was indignant afterwards. All embarrassed and what not. But I was the type of clientele the club owners didn't want. I never went back, but I never made the mistake of wearing jeans other than to bars. So training them to be courteous (not saying that they are not mind you because I've had nothing but good experiences with IB cust in the courtesy dept.) wastes time. Being courteous to those who are wasting their time costs money. (not saying that you are but they might have interpreted you as being so for that particular instance.) Nevermind the 80's axiom that the customer is always right. In trading, more often than not, the customer is always wrong. And he rarely takes responsibility for his actions or lack thereof. Like Kiwi said (which I think I said first, neener neener neener) Brown co elitist attitude was a source of contention to those investors who lied on the app that they were experienced. IB's slogan, "the professional's choice." Not that diff from Brown co's. Just less effrontery.
I disagree. You better treat the customer like he is always right if you want to keep your customers. It's not that the customer is always right, but what is important is the perception of the customer (conveyed by the company) that he is always right.
Not in this business. Unless you're looking to fleece the customer. Pros really don't care about courtesy mostly because they don't put themselves in the position to warrant nor elicit a discourteous response. And think about this. What economic sense does it make for IB, who's low commission structure dictates that they go after either large accounts or high volume accounts, to treat all customers as equals? None. But the thing is, they actually do. If even the $2000 account holder acts like a professional, they WILL get professional service from IB. If the large account holder acts like a bloody noob, they will most likely get treated like a noob. Why? Well because that large account holder, if something goes wrong, and he acts like a noob (i.e. fails to take responsilibity for his/her trading), is sure to bring arbitration. Namely because he can afford to. So IB wouldn't want him either. So in a way they save money by not wasting time (which is usually interpreted as being discourteous) with certain clients and are not worried in the least if they (the disgruntled customer) takes their business elsewhere. It's really simple actually. If you want superior customer service, you pay for it. I.E. a full service broker. I went in thinking... "Hmm... IB's rates are so low, they're practically giving executions away. Well, I rarely if ever need customer service. I'm a self-starting do it yourself trader. And hey! Their setup allows me to be just that. If I ever have a problem or a question, their comprehensive website appears to address everything. Question about an order type? Look here, I can test it out using their paper trader. This is great. Think I'll sign up." Well, one day I did have a problem. So what did I do? First I researched it in order to determine that it couldn't be something I did. Then I phoned and left a trouble ticket with IB. 2 days later amidst a round of surprisingly courteous and professional correspondence, problem solved. And yes, IB admitted it was a fault on their end. I know, courtesy is subjective. One man's courteous response can be another man's insult. But some of you guys want IB to kiss your proverbial bums. As if you'll make or break IB if they don't. Oh and not for nothing Mr. Scott, but recall that you were wrong about an issue and IB was right from start to finish. And because of your approach, another poster caught unwarranted flak when he posted an issue. You just wore IB out. Made them sick of the irresponsible noobs. LOL. Just kidding. Not about you being wrong though. IB's doing just fine, what with their 3 billion and counting in customer assets...