Troubles with Scottrade..

white17 · Apr 24, 2006

IB

dividend · Apr 24, 2006

the orders that disappear are actually either on the books or have been executed, but not confirmed, due to some technical glitch somewhere...

it is very annoying when it happens though, especially when you want to cancel but cant because although the limit order is on the servers' books, it won't appear on the java client, so you cant cancel... so you have to call the broker on the phone. the process can take 3-10 minutes... this can mean a serious loss sometimes.

also imo i think their 20 symbol quote limit is much much too restrictive...

scottrade is good because they have local branches and you can reach a broker in less than 1 minute usually... also their java client isnt too bad and they have some fundamental research from s&p that can also be useful.

for the active trader there are many restrictions and limitations...

Kastro_316 · Apr 24, 2006

So many people complain about ST, yet they still trade with them.

IB all the way!

-Kastro

cashmoney69 · Apr 25, 2006

I have one question. Why are you day trading with an online broker with 7 dollars in commissions r/t????...Scottrade is fine for non day traders imo.

- nathan

rateesquad · Apr 25, 2006

and ttas why i hate scottrade

Bitstream · Apr 25, 2006

op, u have registered here 2yrs ago'n'u still haven't got da drill 'bout who's da better broker here[?]
there have been countless complains bout scottrade'n'countless terrible reviews under brokers ratin'..same huge numbers of positive review for many other brokers, especially ib.

da choice is yours

Brothertruffle8 · Apr 25, 2006

I had performed a simple mutual fund exchange (all shares of a bull rydex fund to a bear rydex fund) and had this simple trade botched for 5 days! I had to call my local branch manager to get it fixed up.

Next, their streaming quotes sometimes go down several times a day. (their phone support team tells me its my Java, yet I tried running streaming quotes on different machines on different networks and, as an example, the streaming quotes almost always go down between 1 and 2 PM! )

Finally, their new site is even less intuitive than their old site, which I still use, and at this point, I'm bailing out of scottrade. Where am I going? Based on the postings here, perhaps Tradestation or Think or Swim.

But I'm open to suggestions from other traders. So, speak up!

nealvan · Apr 26, 2006

I had similar problem as motyeh.. I think it's because they changed their website and haven't worked out the bugs.. Usually I don't have the problem but their is a lag with getting fills with Scottrade but I'm still in the amature ranks and might go to IB if their as good as everyone says..

zdreg · Apr 26, 2006

Quote from motyeh:

Scottrade has lousy system reliability, with their website or active trader platforms down or unable to accept trade orders, or unable to execute submitted orders lately, more than 20 minutes a day on average. On occassion they've been down for much of the trading day. Even reaching a broker during those times has taken from 10 minutes to over 1/2 an hour. This has occured often, even during slow market days, and it has been very costly.

Even worse is their lousy order confirmation/notification/execution system. Often times when I have submitted either market and limit orders on their Elite Trader platform the orders just disappear into the "void". After pressing the "buy", "buy to cover", "sell", "sell short", "modify", or "cancel" buttons on the order entry screen, there is no response confirming order status - submission, or completion - nothing. I can reload my order entry, activity, balances, positions, executions and open orders screen all I want and still get no confirmation information. On several occassions I have had absolutely NO feedback on the status of my order for minutes or hours.

On one occassion after I had no confirmation of my order for over half and hour, I submitted my order a second time. Again, nothing showed up on my trading log so I called the office and they reported that I had not bought any stock, had no open orders, and there were no problems with their system. With their assurances that all was well, and thinking I had screwed up somehow, I resubmitted the order a third time, and again received no acknowledgement. After the third try I gave up. It wasn't until after the market had closed that my trade confirmations came in. All three of them. Completed.

On another occassion I tried to cover a large short position I had opened half an hour or so before, but couldn't get the order through because according to Scottrade I wasn't short the shares. I called the office, explained that my records showed I was short the shares, that their system said I wasn't, and therefore it wouldn't allow me to close the position. They said that I wasn't short the shares, and that I couldn't buy to close a position I didn't have. When I insisted I was short, but couldn't close the position - they suggested that even though I wasn't really short the shares, if it made me feel better I could certainly buy the shares long and see how things work out later. But of course, they couldn't be responsible should I go long the shares. They had the nerve to tell me I should "just be patient".

Scottrade has told me I am responsible for the risk when I trade electronically. That there are flaws in the system. Their system may not be reliable, may not be accessible, my real time order, trading and transaction records may not be accurate. Even if their system inaccurately reports my positions and prevents me from trading that position because of their error I am responsible for any losses I may incur. I have lost many thousands of dollars on just a few trades from their screwups.

Well, this isn't just a bitch session, but I've paid over $5000 in commissions so far this year, and I've given up more than that on their screw-ups. In an account my size (small six figures) that hurts.

So, what are my chances of any sort of recovery on their screw-ups? They offered me 3 free trades, lol . Any help would be appreciated.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, what can I reasonably expect from a broker? I concur that I'm a complete idiot for staying with Scottrade so long, but I am moving to a different broker. To prevent this craziness from ever happening again, I need some guidelines on what I can reasonably expect from a broker, and I need some recommendations on what brokers fill that bill. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bruised but not beaten
More...

you have been registered for 2years. these are your 1st posts. in two years you couldn't make make a contribution to this board.
it makes one wonder what was going on and why you are deserving of assistance.

bluedemon77 · May 24, 2006

Quote from motyeh:

Scottrade has lousy system reliability, with their website or active trader platforms down or unable to accept trade orders, or unable to execute submitted orders lately, more than 20 minutes a day on average. On occassion they've been down for much of the trading day. Even reaching a broker during those times has taken from 10 minutes to over 1/2 an hour. This has occured often, even during slow market days, and it has been very costly.

Even worse is their lousy order confirmation/notification/execution system. Often times when I have submitted either market and limit orders on their Elite Trader platform the orders just disappear into the "void". After pressing the "buy", "buy to cover", "sell", "sell short", "modify", or "cancel" buttons on the order entry screen, there is no response confirming order status - submission, or completion - nothing. I can reload my order entry, activity, balances, positions, executions and open orders screen all I want and still get no confirmation information. On several occassions I have had absolutely NO feedback on the status of my order for minutes or hours.

On one occassion after I had no confirmation of my order for over half and hour, I submitted my order a second time. Again, nothing showed up on my trading log so I called the office and they reported that I had not bought any stock, had no open orders, and there were no problems with their system. With their assurances that all was well, and thinking I had screwed up somehow, I resubmitted the order a third time, and again received no acknowledgement. After the third try I gave up. It wasn't until after the market had closed that my trade confirmations came in. All three of them. Completed.

On another occassion I tried to cover a large short position I had opened half an hour or so before, but couldn't get the order through because according to Scottrade I wasn't short the shares. I called the office, explained that my records showed I was short the shares, that their system said I wasn't, and therefore it wouldn't allow me to close the position. They said that I wasn't short the shares, and that I couldn't buy to close a position I didn't have. When I insisted I was short, but couldn't close the position - they suggested that even though I wasn't really short the shares, if it made me feel better I could certainly buy the shares long and see how things work out later. But of course, they couldn't be responsible should I go long the shares. They had the nerve to tell me I should "just be patient".

Scottrade has told me I am responsible for the risk when I trade electronically. That there are flaws in the system. Their system may not be reliable, may not be accessible, my real time order, trading and transaction records may not be accurate. Even if their system inaccurately reports my positions and prevents me from trading that position because of their error I am responsible for any losses I may incur. I have lost many thousands of dollars on just a few trades from their screwups.

Well, this isn't just a bitch session, but I've paid over $5000 in commissions so far this year, and I've given up more than that on their screw-ups. In an account my size (small six figures) that hurts.

So, what are my chances of any sort of recovery on their screw-ups? They offered me 3 free trades, lol . Any help would be appreciated.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, what can I reasonably expect from a broker? I concur that I'm a complete idiot for staying with Scottrade so long, but I am moving to a different broker. To prevent this craziness from ever happening again, I need some guidelines on what I can reasonably expect from a broker, and I need some recommendations on what brokers fill that bill. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bruised but not beaten
More...

Scottrade has cost me hundreds of dollars in slow execution, extremely slow charts (their servers always seem to have problems). When you call to find out what their problem is, they don't seem too concerned about it. I closed my account yesterday. My advice is to steer clear of Scottrade.

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Troubles with Scottrade..

white17

dividend

Kastro_316

cashmoney69

rateesquad

Bitstream

Brothertruffle8

nealvan

zdreg

bluedemon77 Guest