This is the first time that I have dealt with IB. My experience so for is that it is the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life. Not just with a broker but with any company. Is this typical?
Depends. Depends on who you get. It is like night and day. One will be almost intuitive about your problem and insure it is fixed to your satisfaction. And an other may treat you like you are the dumbest unknowledgable scum they have ever had to deal with and it's all your fault they don't even know what you are talking about. Then, I just hang up and dial again and get one of the good ones and problem solved just like that.
Lack of work ethic on the part of the company employees is to blame. The workers don't give a shit about the company, so don't give a shit about their job, so don't give a shit about you, the customer. Tell them to eat shit and take your business elsewhere.
Not completely, no. They can do better. As a mostly-enthusiastic user of IB, myself, even I have to admit that customer service certainly isn't their forte. They don't like or expect to do much/any customer hand-holding, and certainly the attitude of some of their staff gives an appearance of "not really caring at all". My own general perception is that they're gradually improving, over the years, and certainly trying to. Their more senior people clearly know that their reputation for customer service isn't exactly "stellar". I'd guess from what you say that you've been unlucky and caught them at their very worst. They are, actually, a good brokerage, overall - but I appreciate that it clearly doesn't feel that way, to you, at the moment. And I don't blame you. (I agree with Java's post above, too.)
Actually I find them excellent these days : quick to rely and they spend the time to resolve the problem. Did you use live chat?
It's pretty crazy that you'd have to recommend someone become a professional with all the effort and additional cost that entails simply to get decent customer service from IB. Not to mention impractical since you can't just take the Series 7, you have to have a place to park it, and your costs at IB go up, and heck by the time you did all that you could have just switched to one of about 50 better brokers! To the OP, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Do a search here on the phrase "interactive brokers" and fully read just the first dozen threads before you waste any more of your time and effort on them.
I joined IB in Dec last year only three months ago. It has been an unmitigated disaster. I was assured they would accept all fifteen of the securities in my portfolio which they confirmed were registered in their database. When it came to settlement they rejected three securities. It is impossible to speak to a human being at IB. Their support team appears to be in India and the country home support phone number just never answers! I finally decided last month to close the account. It took over a month to move my securities to an alternative broker in Europe and their Treasury dept tell me that IB flatly refused to provide any contact names, email addresses or phone numbers to enable settlement to take place. Everything is electronic at IB. They are the most arrogant unprofessional company I’ve ever had to deal with. There is zero human customer support. I still have cash balances at IB. Two weeks ago I tried to transfer them to my new broker in Europe. The funds arrived at the receiving bank within two days but there was a minor detail that required clarification. The receiving bank sent three messages via SWIFT requesting confirmation from IB. All three messages were totally ignored by IB. Two weeks later IB cancelled the payment and then lied by sending me a notification stating it was the receiving bank that had rejected the payment. The funds are back in my account now at IB MINUS fees of course! I have numerous tickets open including a formal complaint which no one ever bothers to answer. I have lodged a formal complaint with the external regulator and am considering litigation in the courts. As a retired CPA I have never encountered anything like this in the fifty years of my working life. I've lived and worked in many countries throughout the world. IB have driven me to the edge of reason over the last three months. If I ever do manage to move my cash (GBP 6,000) and close the account I never want anything to do with this appalling organisation again!