Trader C - Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. There is no excuse for treating customers in this manner. It's amazing how quickly companies respond when their shortcomings are brought into the public forum.
What TraderC failed to mention is that two weeks ago he was sent an email indicating that his rating was being disputed, and that he needed to respond to the email I sent him in order for me to verify that his rating was legitimate. (Sidenote - this happens all the time. Brokers often dispute very negative ratings in order to ensure that the people are actual customers, a not competitors, bashers etc. If the person who posted the negative rating registered with a bogus email address or doesn't respond to the email I send them within 24 hours, then the rating is removed. ) Anyway, he never responded within the 24 hour period, so I removed the rating. Ten days later I finally get an email from him. According to him, he was out of town that whole time which is why he never responded. Since it's obvious that TraderC's rating is legit, he is going to send his review to me and I'm going to post it again since he technically posted the original version before the minimum post requirement was put into place.
It is correct that I failed to respond within 24 hours after posting the rating initially. However, not only was I out of town, I was also worried about not being able to get my money back if TS decides to take it out on me. So I decided to wait and see if they would finally correct the situation. After I returned from my trip 10 days later, I could no longer take the broken promises and lies of the company. I still had not received the money they owed me. Hence I chose to go public with my story. I hope others won't have to go through the same crap with this company again!
Geez... Frankly, if I noticed a broker or vendor overcharged me $100, and promised to take care of it, I'd check back maybe around the time of my next statement to be sure it had actually been taken care of. If it hadn't been, I might give a call, wait and see, and so on - but to bombard a company with constant calling, attack them publically, and so on, and so on... Life's too short. Obviously, the TS people should have dealt with whatever the real issue was immediately - if only to avoid explosions of outrage like TraderC's. And I thought that it was previously supposed to be overcharging on commissions - something which I never could understand (like, you wouldn't notice on trade 1?). As I said before, in responding to TraderC's negative broker review, my own experience with TradeStation has been completely different. Customer service, including stray account-related bookkeeping, has been courteous, polite, and efficient. Action on whatever items (broken trades, fee waivers, etc. - no overcharging) has been virtually instantaneous. If TraderC's review is restored, I hope my response to it (in my own broker review) is also restored. Apologies to the the board for extending this discussion still further - but felt I had to put in my $.02.
Geez. Wait 30 days? My next statement period? Then maybe call if not fixed? Companies with poor customer service would love that attitude. A profit is a profit and a dollar is a dollar. mktman
Thanks for lecturing me on how I should conduct my own business. I have waited 4 weeks for TS to correct the situation, after getting a rude hang up from their customer service manager, after nothing was done with my April statement, and after another 10-day wait. My account was opened in early April. I had no idea how the company will treat me. What I experienced was crap. How can I trust a broker that gives me nothing but lies? If they weren't going to credit me the data fee for another 4-6 weeks, then please don't tell me that I will be credited tomorrow, or next week, or at end of the month. I will just close my account and trade elsewhere. If I let go on this $100 data fee, how many more overcharges should I forgive? I have no patience with dishonest business. Finally, TS responded to me only after I posted here. That tells you how they would treat their average customers.
Thanks for your post. This kind of information is very good to know. I've found that when people review brokers, they almost never compare/review the transaction reporting features and limitations. My brokers are currently Ameritrade, CyberCorp, and IB, and there is wide variation in the transaction and other reports. CyberCorp's Clearing Firm Penson does a great job, and IB and Ameritrade are adequate. TraderC> What really bugged me about using TS to trade was TraderC> that I couldn't get the exact amount of transaction on TraderC> each trade until I receive the statement at the end of TraderC> the month. I had no way of knowing how much TraderC> commission I was paying each day from their software TraderC> and web site. They made P/L and tax tracking a pain in TraderC> the neck. Same thing with the data fees, unless I halt TraderC> trading in my account. Fleance
TraderC - thanks for posting your experience with this. as to the post requirement - it makes good sense in all fairness to put a check in the system to discourage someone creating a bunch of fake screen names just to bash a particular broker. I would probably recommend raising the requirement to make that even more difficult...
TraderC may have gotten confused while using an earlier "build" of the platform, under a prior pricing structure, or he may have encountered an unhelpful customer service rep., or his judgment may be clouded by his emotional reaction to the events he's described (including the 1-month period during which he had to endure separation from his $100). Whatever the explanation, his experience does not in any crucial respect, square with mine, though I will grant that some aspects of transaction data (specifically relating to tax preparation) were inferior to CyberTrader or other brokers I've used, but, in the end, the data were all available (and downloadable), and didn't really require too much work to turn into an adequate gain/loss statement. Otherwise, under the current set-up, all critical information is instantly available and continuously updated, either on-line or through the platform - commission charges appear immediately, and, under the per-share pricing structure, are extremely simple to calculate. In this respect, TS is a lot better than CyberTrader Pro was (at least when I using it) - on Cyber, you'd have to wait 'til later to figure out your P&L post-fees/commissions. Finally, possible inadequacy in service or product offering does not equate with dishonesty. Nor do broken promises, unless it can be shown that the intention was to deceive. Last, even if some individuals were guilty on all counts, I do not believe that some new client plotzing over a data fee and not receiving immediate satisfaction from whoever he dealt with justifies tarring an entire brokerage with the brush of "dishonesty." Anyway, because I find the heading of this thread prejudicial, manipulative, somewhat offensive, and quite possibly itself "dishonest," and because further I consider the event that apparently inspired TraderC to begin it to be trivial, I'll refrain from posting here any further.