Yes, this old fashioned broker is really just a sales guy. He is admitedly in it for commission. Is this case you are a step outside the market place and you are getting fleeced by a sales guy not an execution desk. Electronic trading is available (fast forward to the year 2006) so you do not have to worry about this desire to see them "buried and go to pure electronic trading." This is not meant to be a wise crack but... if you are waiting for your broker to call with news you have larger problems than execution quality. Ok it was a wise crack... sorry.
Rephrasing famous quote "Bad dancer always blames his balls": Bad trader always blames his broker. But to be fare to the brokers one must admit: they all are crap...