Terra Nova-MB is Unbearable. Be very afraid.

Discussion in 'Retail Brokers' started by Icewest, Mar 30, 2003.

  1. Icewest

    Icewest

    I've had an account with Terra Nova since early 2000 and their service is completely useless nowadays. At any one point, their order server, trader server, their L2 display or their charts won't function properly. They don't usually inform users of a problem until it's already existed for 20-25 minutes and their alerts usually look like this: "Charts not loading, no ETA on return."

    And recently, sometimes it takes 30-60 seconds for an order to go live, or to change or cancel an order, if I'm able to change an order or cancel it at all. My quotes frequently go haywire, with the inside big higher than the inside offer and I frequently get filled when I’m nowhere near the inside quote. This problem just gets worse during high volume periods or when there's a frantic selloff or rally and I can't get into or out of a position.


    I trade mainly the SPY, DIA and a select group of semi-conductors. My trading screen is very slimmed-down, a few charts, a L2 window and a Market Minder with only a few stocks and indices in it. I've used the same layout for a long time, I’ve been at the same address with the same type of Internet connection since mid-November 2002 and I haven't changed anything, so what is causing these new problems? Their explanation for my delays and for my orders not being changeable or cancelable are always the same, a connection problem on my end.

    I’m looking around right now for a new broker and Tradestation appears to be getting good reviews. I’ll contact them and also a few traders on RealMoney.com to see what brokerage they’re using.

    It’s pretty sad to see a good broker go downhill like this.
     
  2. Your first post on this board is bashing a vendor?

    How do we know you're not the competition?

    Readers of this thread should take this into consideration.
     
  3. speedy

    speedy

    Typical response...
     
  4. What is that supposed to mean?
     
  5. nkhoi

    nkhoi

    I could re-create your layout in qchart and see if they load normal and report its status in real time.
     
  6. Icewest

    Icewest

    Richtrader,

    Technically, you don't know whether I'm the competition or not. But this website has a rule that I can't rate a vendor until I have a minimum of 30 posts. Now, I've been a client of Terra Nova since early 2000 and have been with them through numerous upgrades of their trading software. That should count for more towards my ability to accurately rate a vendor than whether I have 30 posts on this website.

    And on that note, this website is a valuable tool and gave me the information I needed to follow up on contacting a different vendor, but how many people logged on to this website for the same reason I did (to see if a different vendor offered better service) and couldn't post their opinions or real-life experiences because they didn't have a minimum of 30 posts under their belt? Elite Trader could be much more helpful to people in that position if they were allowed to rate a vendor, positively or negatively, without having been a long-term member of this website beforehand.

    And I'm just curious, Richtrader: If I had logged on and my first post would have been nothing but praise and accolades for Terra Nova-MB, would you have warned readers that I might have been a Terra Nova employee? Or because I was praising a vendor, would you have let my post go unchallenged?

    All in all, I accomplished what I wanted to when I came to this website. I contacted a different vendor this morning, and after hearing what problems I'm having with Terra Nova, the guarantee I was quoted if I wasn't satisfied with their service were: 30-day satisfaction guaranteed or a full refund of my first month's data, along with a refund of my last 10 commissions.

    But I don't want to raise any questions about my affiliations or my bias, so I won't name the vendor. But I think I'm definitely on the right track.
     
  7. Icewest

    Icewest

    Nkhoi,

    Thanks, but I think I'm on the right track with this new vendor. And most of these problems are just recently with Terra Nova, which leads me to believe there's been a change on their end, since nothing has changed from my end.
     
  8. The answer to this is yes, I would've warned readers, and no, praise or vitriol does not change my response.

    You, unfortunately, paid the price with your post of the many others who come here with less good intention than you apparently have.

    Good luck, and I hope you remain and make contributions to the forum here.
     
  9. Icewest

    Icewest

    Richtrader,

    Thanks for the well wishes. I think I will do some digging and see what all Elite Trader has to it.
     
  10. He might, but I definitely would.
     
    #10     Mar 31, 2003