 |
Insightful stock market charts at |
 |
|
Insightful stock market charts at |
|
Here you can read a sampling of comments from fellow Dogs of the Dow investors regarding TD Ameritrade. For our list of the best low commission online brokers, take a look at our Top Dog Brokers page. And, as always, if you have experience with a deep discount broker, simply fill out our Top Dog Brokers Form and let us all know what you think.
TD Ameritrade - "June 2009 I bought a hundred shares of Skyworth Digital Hld at 11 cents a share. A few weeks later it was at 14 cents and I decided to buy a thousand shares. So I put in the order to buy 1000 at l3 cents. After a few days, the price dropped to 13 so I assumed my buy would take place but after a few days, nothing happened. I call TD Ameritrade and asked one of the associates why my buy didn't go through. He had no answer, so I assumed I had to wait for a seller. Then the stock jumped to 24 cents so I called again. This rep said the first rep should have checked it out that it was too late for him to do anything about it. Now the stock has jumped to 40 cents. What would have put me some $300 plus ahead. Not a lot of money? It is for an 82 year old retiree. Can anyone help?"
TD Ameritrade - "I am suprised with all the negative feedback with TD Ameritrade. I think the trading platform is good, not great. They have an awesome promo rate of 30 free trades. I had an issue with a 10:1 stock split, called customer service and they fixed it immediately and with a good attitude. Not sure if the problem is the broker or the trader in these circumstances but I have never had a bad experience with them. NOTE: I am not affiliated with TD Ameritrade in anyway other than that of a customer."
TD Ameritrade - "TD Ameritrade has serious issues with their trading platform. I have had the most amazing issues such as buying from one account, but having the orders placed to another, orders placed outside the time limit they advertise, odd error messages, trading platforms locking up while daytrading. Half the time I get no response to my emails. The rest of the time they say it is my fault. I have sent screenshots to them illustrating the problems and even posted a video to Youtube clearly showing my problem. (It can be found in Youtube by ssearching for TDAmeritrade Problem). I emailed them the link a week ago. Nothing. This company chargees $20 a round trip for trades and I make about 4 a day. You would think that for $1600 a month, they might feel some responsibility to their customers."
TD Ameritrade - "I just got off the phone with a TD Ameritrade customer service supervisor and wow was he a jerk. I was calling to find out about opening a new account at TD Ameritrade. While filling out the application (at a local branch), I came across an alarming statement on the account agreement (i.e., “I agree to indemnify and hold harmless TD AMERITRADE (TDA and TD AMERITRADE Clearing, Inc. (TDAC) from any and all liability and claims for damages resulting from any action taken pursuant to this Agreement”-last sentence in #7. Individual Retirement Account Agreement). I then went home to review the entire document before signing it and found a very similar sentence in the last paragraph of this same section. I called to asked customer service what these sentences meant (it appears to say that I agree not hold TD Ameritrade responsible for any wrong doing related to my account). The first guy was somewhat helpful but he couldn’t explain what this sentence was saying. He passed me over to his supervisor. He answers the phone with an attitude and says, “…it is just saying that you agree to the conditions of the account…sign it or don’t, its your choice…” The same section also says that I “Having received and read the Custodial Agreement…” I then asked him where I find this form. His attitude gets worse and he says, “it’s out there somewhere…you should have received it from the agent at the branch…” I did not receive this document and I told him that this is no way to treat a perspective client… All I know is that I feel sorry for anyone that signs this document and later has a problem in there account because according to the account agreement you agree to indemnify (To protect against damage, loss, or injury) and hold harmless TD Ameritrade, TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. and TD Ameritrade Inc. from any and all liability and claims for damages resulting from any action taken pursuant (in accordance with) to this Agreement. And if the customer service supervisor treats a new (perspective) client this poorly, I can only imagine how he (they) would treat an existing account holder if they had a problem."
TD Ameritrade - "Now it has happend to me too. I been denied access 3 times in the last 20 days and have had to go through an hour and a half process every time to get back on line. I am going somewhere else!"
TD Ameritrade - "What is wrong with these guys? Can not trade through their web site for 2nd day in a row. Hangs in mid - trade! This is costing me a fortune! Don't use TD Ameritrade if you want to keep your $"
TD Ameritrade - "We inherited some money that was in a TD Ameritrade account. Nothing was liquidated first- everything was split as it was. Later TD Ameritrade said that bonds cannot be split from one another and it would be very difficult to find anyone to buy them and we would have to see what happens when they came due in 2039 (or some crazy time from now) BUT that TD Ameritrade had no idea what will happen to the bonds or if they would even worth something in 2039 bc they were split. They said the bonds should have never been split in the first place and even said they had never seen such a thing happen. I wrote many letters to TD Ameritrade/spent much time on the phone with them and higher up brokers and kept getting the same answer- that it should not have been split in the first place! My argument was that if it should not have been split that TD Ameritrade needed to investigate and rectify the mistake. Do not waste your money or time with this broker. TD Waterhouse let the split happen and then later said it should have never happened and never fixed it."
TD Ameritrade - "TD Ameritrade froze my account as soon as money was deposited in it. I sent a series of emails each met with the same reply...I had to call customer service. I waited on hold 45 minutes before I hung up. I am starting to think I've been swindled out of my money. Warning to all looking to invest online: stay away from TD Ameritrade!"
TD Ameritrade - "Unbelievable! While I had never ever bounced a check or had a deposit of any kind ever rejected for any reason, someone in their margin department noted on my account that I had a history of bounced checks. Then, one minute later that someone sold my largest position despite them being given the tracking number they twice requested for the check that was in-route priority mail that would cover not just the margin call, but the entire margin loan plus. All with their blessing as to method of payment and manner of delivery. How's that for nasty?"
TD Ameritrade - "Customer service is the worst I've experienced from any private or public organization in my life. Simply tried to change the ownership on an account and now going on the 2nd month of repeated requests for additional information. For example, they keep asking if the account should be a margin account. In the last week I've gotten 2 phone calls and one letter asking this again and again. They also have the horrible practice of asking for one item, and than a week later asking for another, then something else later. And this was an account that was simply being changed from a Uniform Gift account to a joint ownership account with the same names. Good thing my son had other funds to pay expenses with. Otherwise the process to change ownership that began in June is still not complete with College expenses now due in August."
TD Ameritrade - "Like numerous other people that have been clients of TD Ameritrade, I am extremely disappointed with the service and regret that I did not changed to a new broker after Datek was purchased by TD Ameritrade. I am routinely told by TD Ameritrade that I have to reconfigure personnel settings in order to receive stock data although I have already checked the settings many times over many months and have the proper configuration. I informed TD Ameritrade that I was no longer intending to check the configuration since this is not contributing to the lack of stock data. Now I have been told that TD Ameritrade cannot provide assistance since I refuse to once again check the personnel settings. So I am now critcized by TD Ameritrade for not working with them in order to get stock data. The lack of data only occurs during the early morning and late afternoon. This would occur for the entire day if I had the wrong personnel settings, but TD Ameritrade is not worried about common sense and facts but rather profits; although from the price of TD Ameritrade for the last several years I am guessing the customer base for their services, or lack of, is not improving. Typically free trades are offered by TD Ameritrade to promote more trading on a system that is substandard and is managed by personnel that are lacking either the ability or decency to acknowledge the lack of stock data being provided. This is obviously intended to get clients to trade more rather than focus on the lack of services and likely will cost clients far more money than the value of the free trades. In summary, this is a business that is not worried about providing the services that are advertised; TD Ameritrade only intends to increase the amount of trades by their clients. Whether the trades are profitable or not is no more a focus of TD Ameritrade than providing stock data."
TD Ameritrade - "I am having a major dispute with TDAmeritrade re: a transaction which I believe was improper. It cost me a great deal of money. Please suggest remedies. Thank you."
TD Ameritrade - "I am so thankful that I found this site. Although it will do absolutely nothing to replace the lost capital TD Ameritrade's extensive problems have cost me, I do now know that I'm not the only one this crap is happening to (like they repeatedly insist upon)"
TD Ameritrade - "Agree that the TD Waterhouse / Ameritrade merger has resulted in a net reduction in quality and service. The website has improved and with more features, which is a plus. However, the new monthly statement is terrible -- practically indecipherable: a grab-bag of double-entries, 'journal' entries, and other unprocessed data that appears to be intended for CPAs or auditors rather than real people (and I'm an engineer, so I'm accustom to looking at loads of raw data). Too bad, as the old TD Waterhouse statement was much better. In addition, the Quicken data download has similar problems with a bunch of double-entries, missing data and worthless descriptions. Again, it used to work with Waterhouse, why did Ameritrade break it? Finally -- and this probably doesn't affect many people -- I regularly have money deposited to my account via international bank wire from overseas. No problem with Waterhouse, but soon after Ameritrade took over, I stopped getting paid! I spent about an hour on the phone trying to figure out what happened, and the Ameritrade phone rep. gave me a BS excuse that, due to U.S. 'anti-terror' law, they were prohibited from accepting international bank wires. What? I told him that, if that was true, they better be contacting the FBI, because TD Waterhouse (now TD Ameritrade) regularly accepted international bank wires and I have the records to prove it. He then replied that this policy could not be changed and that was that. Useless. I'm actively looking for a new broker, which is unfortunate, because I had no problems with TD Waterhouse before the merger."
TD Ameritrade - "Absolutely pathetic service, long hold times and then the customer service quite lacking with frequently being told that they are new or in training and noone to help them.... I have to call 3 or 4 times before can get things done, no exageration here. TD ameritrade is the worse brokerage company ever and my investment advisor who they approve has refused to provide me with any statements, TD also has refused to provide me with any tax reporting information or statements and since I have closed my account not allowed me to login to obtain them, just got off the phone to ask about 1099 reporting and the person didn't know what a 1099 was. I am with Schwab again and will never leave them, customer service there is platinum."
TD Ameritrade - "I was also charged $75 by TD Ameritrade to transfer funds to another brokerage. Who would agree to pay this when they are comfortable just writing a check for the value of the account? At a minimum this is unethical because the service is not nearly worth the amount charged, and they depend upon people being unaware of the charge in advance. I was not informed of the charge at the time of the transaction and given the option to decline it and just write the check. Also, when I called TD Ameritrade about this, the manager on duty consciously decided that they would rather incur any bad publicity about this practice than refund my $75. I have to wonder about the total revenue generated for TD Ameritrade $75 at a time considering the number of people who transfer accounts to another brokerage. Apparently the money is good enough that they don’t care what people think of their business practice."
TD Ameritrade - "TD Ameritrade's online service has become one sick puppy. Over the past week they have have been numerous system shut downs ranging from 10 to 30 minutes. The current shut down started 20 minutes ago and there are no signs of life. Their Command Center charts have, over the past few days, become a mess. Charts plotted using the Hours Time Period nolonger have correct vertical scaling. Stock prices are squeezed into the chart's top 10%. Prices shown on the left side of the charts use a weired numbering system. The following table from a VMW price chart shows what I mean:
97.9245 ------------
96.4967 ------------
95.0689 ------------
93.2133 ------------
TD Ameritrade's support group was not much help. The only thing they had to offer was to suggest that I need a JAVA upgrade. The bottom line is that TD Ameritrade has little or no quality control and poor human engineering. "
TD Ameritrade - "I have been an investor for over 35 years and TD Ameritrade provides extremely poor service.I sent them several letters and made numerous telephone complaints about an ingoing and ultimately outgoing transfer problem and they made a series of mistakes and gave conflicting explanations. I finally had to file two formal NASD complaints to correct the problem. If you experience a problem-don't expect TD Ameritrade to correct it. They definitely provide the worst service in the industry."
TD Ameritrade - "TD Ameritrade's online service has become one sick puppy. Over the past week they have have been numerous system shut downs ranging from 10 to 30 minutes. The current shut down started 20 minutes ago and there are no signs of life. Their Command Center charts have, over the past few days, become a mess. Charts plotted using the Hours Time Period nolonger have correct vertical scaling. Stock prices are squeezed into the chart's top 10%. Prices shown on the left side of the charts use a weired numbering system. The following table from a VMW price chart shows what I mean:
97.9245 ------------
96.4967 ------------
95.0689 ------------
93.2133 ------------
TD Ameritrade's support group was not much help. The only thing they had to offer was to suggest that I need a JAVA upgrade. The bottom line is that TD Ameritrade has little or no quality control and poor human engineering. "
TD Ameritrade - "I don't know what you guys are complaining about. Yeah, TD Ameritrade $2 more than some brokers, but they have a slew of resources and utilties that make my trade decisions a snap. I have been with them for 7 years and the only complaint I have with them was resolved with the merger (charging $15 a month for maintenance every 3 months)"
TD Ameritrade - "2 hrs on hold for customer service. I transferred all funds out and then they charged me $75 to do it. anyone is half a brain should dump these guys."
TD Ameritrade - "Last week, I attempted to change a Buy to Cover order but had the order repeatly rejected. By the time that I was able to get the order changed, the price had risen, and the order was never filled. Later, I received an e-mail from TD Ameritrade entitled "Account Alert: Order canceled in error" which demonstrats that TD AMERITRADE was at fault. The company would not make good on executing the order."
TD Ameritrade - "Where do we begin with a company that has Customer no-service! I am repeatedly logged out of the site during the middle of the day while trying to make trades. Most recently when I complained to Customer Service about being logged out after 5 (yes five) minutes they said I should increase my time out. They didn't even bother to check my account where they could have seen my timeout is set for 55 minutes. I have received at least one phony margin call, and almost four months later they still can't get one of my account transfers done. I am an active trader making approx ~150 - 200 trades per month but still I don't think they'll care when I leave. One last item. If you trade options don't transfer your IRA accounts to TD because they won't let you spread trade either debit or credit trades. Additionally their customer no-service department doesn't understand options in the least bit. In short...find another broker or switch."
TD Ameritrade - "After over two weeks, TD Ameritrade hasn't opened my account nor deposited my account-opening check. I got a phone message to call new-accounts, but after THREE return calls, all I get is voicemail. Screw TDAmeritrade; I've put a stop-payment on my check and will never deal with these clowns. If their attitude is to ignore you when you're becoming a new customer, how will they treat you later? No thanks, TDA; I'm going with Zecco."
TD Ameritrade - "The merger with TD Waterhouse is a disaster! I've dealt with TDW for years. Now I'm moving ALL accounts out. They promised a higher money market rate, but the form sat somewhere for a month until I asked about my interest. Instead of giving the past month to me, since it was their fault for not processing the form, they offered a couple of free trades! Whoohooo!!! That's just one of a string of screw-ups lately. The local manager's response - "We know we're going to lose accounts...See ya!" They advised me to "write the CEO", like that would make a difference. Yeah...sure. I'm 1000% anti-TD Ameritrade Waterhouse Dominion whatever."
TD Ameritrade - "I've been an Ameritrade customer for almost 10 years with few problems. I have 6 accounts with them now with all of the roths and rollovers for me and my wife. Fee schedule mostly got better after the merger, but $40 is pretty steep for mutual funds if you don't buy off their free list. Biggest complaint is very long hold times (20 minutes) since absorbing TD Waterhouse customer support. Also some bugs in the website but customer support has been apologetic and helpful to fix it."
TD Ameritrade - "Online systems are totally screwed. They repeatedly mis-post transactions, sweep cash from Money Market back into the wrong account and generate phony margin calls. Customer service folks are very nice and polite, but they cannot fix the problem. My account gets locked out for 24+ hours until it all falls out. I lose money on positions because I cannot trade, and the phone trade wait time is 30+ minutes. They admit having system problems, but I don't give a damn. I've been in systems 30+ years and know untested systems when I see them. Excuses mean nothing to me when I cannot access my accounts. I will give them 7.0 more days, then I am quitting TD Ameritrade and going elsewhere."
TD Ameritrade - "Excruciating. Requested ACH at 5:00 a.m. Next day, no deposit. Rep at the time explained it didn't make "their (wire transfer department) cut-off time." So, I thought should I have called at 4:00 a.m. instead? Day two, am taking time off in the morning to see that the ACH is deposited. The assurances were varied (spoke to three reps on day 2, could no longer be transferred to wire department with the inquiry unless I had a new request): "it will definitely be there," "just wait a couple hours," "the person down there [name] says it will be a couple hours from now--up to 2 hours," "I'll make sure it will get through," and "Yes! You're certainly welcome to call back in a couple of hours to follow up on this." Gee, thanks. Whatever it takes to get me off the phone. Then: "will there be anything else I can help you with today? Thank you for calling TD Ameritrade."
TD Ameritrade - "I recently experienced an issue with TD Ameritrade that will most certainly force me to close my account. I have held my account with TD Waterhouse for over 10 years with no issues until this most recent event. In fact I often referred others to my branch in Las Vegas if they were looking for a broker. Never again! In October 06 I walked into the branch and handed the representative my registered share deposit certificate. The broker assured me that although the stocks were in UK share certificates I would see it posted on my account within 10 days. I also told him at that time I wanted to sell the certificates within two weeks and I was assured it would be no problem. Well let’s just say it is now Feb 07 and still nothing. In fact I had to follow up with call center representatives over 14 times, visited the branch twice and never got a single contact from the so called branch manager. The call center reps were very nice despite only offering me 15 free trades as compensation for not resolving my problem. Not much of a trade off as I lost over 1000 GBP because I could not sell my shares. The kicker… they started down the path of excuse after excuse. Let me see if I can run down just a few. First I apparently gave them the wrong company address for the transfer despite the fact that the broker completed the forms on my behalf and I never touched it. Second set of excuses focused around the whole “since we merged” excuse and blamed the back office process. Third and my favorite…..they could not find my certificates because I never gave them any my transfer request to begin with. Surprising, I seem to have walked out of the office with a copy they provided. I am glad that I insisted on getting a copy of all the paperwork. Well, their incompetence and ridiculous responses to every query I had will forced me to being the formal complaint process and consult my attorney. I am interested in knowing if anyone else out there has experienced the same type (stock execution etc) problem without resolve."
TD Ameritrade - "Huh, no transfer-out fees? Moving my small Roth account cost me a $25.- "Transfer Fee" plus $25.- for closing the account. What a rip-off! They'll also stiff you for involuntary conversions and option assignments, big time!"
TD Ameritrade - "I used to like Ameritrade for their fees, but found some drawbacks:
1. They claim that you can access all your accounts with one click but if you have a RLT and IRA's it isn't so as they don't go by the SSN.
2. They claim low fees but stiff you in many ways. Two outrageous ones are In- voluntary Conversions and Option Assignments,both of which will cost you dearly. I am in the process of moving on."
TD Ameritrade - "Please send me an e-mail if you suffered a PAIM short position due to TD Ameritrade's failure to restrict shares due to the 90% buyback. I'm going to arbitration."
TD Ameritrade - "Please send me an e-mail if you suffered a PAIM short position due to TD Ameritrade's failure to restrict shares due to the 90% buyback. I'm going to arbitration."
TD Ameritrade - "Once I was a customer of Datek Elite and Ameritrade Apex. Then there was the merger of Ameritrade and TD Waterhouse. On the positive side, at TD Ameritrade Apex, there were instant improvements, like the $1.00 cheaper commission charges on equities. However, on the negative side, almost instantly, many-many new problems have emerged.
Number 1: Trading is worse. In contrast to Datek or Ameritrade, the accuracy of fills is worse. Customers no longer get any "price improvements". In contrast to Datek or Ameritrade, TD Ameritrade no longer gives you a better deal, even if they could and should. What do they do with the extra money? Do they pocket it? Ideally, positive and negative slippage should even out on the long run, but, with TD Ameritrade, execution is never better! Why not? In contrast to Datek or Ameritrade, when TD Ameritrade overcharges, they always blame the overcharge on one of the stock exchanges.
Number 2: Customer service is worse. In contrast to Datek and Ameritrade, customer service is now performed by snotty reps. They're a bunch of unfriendly, unreasonable, and unlikable loudmouths who want to sound like the ultimate authorities on everything. They're also tough as nail. For example, they lie to you, and lie in a steady voice, and tell you that, for example, today INTC opened at $21.45, when you know for a fact that INTC opened at $21.35. And then they use that inflated $21.45 figure to justify why they overcharged you (10 cents * 2,000 shares =) $200.00. Then, of course, you're unhappy and ask for a supervisor. And the supervisor is ever snuttier and even more unreasonable! The supervisor is also a loudmouth who sounds like the greatest authority on the open price of INTC. He's also tough as nail, and unfriendly as hell. In contrast to Datek and Ameritrade, he no longer admits to any mistakes! In contrast to Datek or Ameritrade, he no longer makes any adjustments! In contrast to Datek and Ameritrade, TD Ameritrade supervisors blame everything on one of the stock exchanges.
Number 3: Web site is worse. In contrast to Datek and Ameritrade, TD Ameritrade keeps spending untold amounts of monies to redesign and re-decorate their one and only web site. Does it make any difference that I don't like any major changes, and other TD Ameritrade customers don't like any major changes? The answer is no, it makes no difference! Why? Because TD Ameritrade doesn't listen to customers! If you consider this intense and ongoing web site redesign activity at TD Amertrade, why is it that TD Ameritrade still hasn't been able to get rid of an oversize order panel that keeps blocking about 60% of your view on every TD Ameritrade web page you visit? I'm talking about a huge panel -- the size of a business size envelope -- that's firmly attached to every TD Ameritrade web page that you want to view. What an annoyance! What a nuisance! Theoretically, you can get rid of it, temporarily, but it also keeps reappearing. You have to realize that TD Ameritrade is like a 500 pound gorilla. They do whatever they want to do with your money. And when it comes to your money, they have their interest in mind, not yours! -- I suggest you find a smaller broker, or a better broker! "
TD Ameritrade - "On the whole, their customer service is horrible. My mother and I went through an agonizing process getting them to transfer my father's accounts after he died. They literally don't know their business. You ask them to do something, they say it will take three to five business days, nothing happens, and when you call to find out what's happening you get a new person on the phone and you're back to square one. I actually had one of their representatives tell me that they would send letters testamentary (those are the documents issued by the court that are supposed to go to them). A week or so later, a letter arrived addressed to my father explaining that they don't issue letters testamentary. They're like the Keystone cops."
TD Ameritrade - "I would advise UK investors to steer clear. They settled my dealing and then re-purchased the shares without informing me giving a negative balance. The clerks I believe have no in depth knowledge of trading conditions -if they had they wouldn't allow me to bank a cheque and then claim back a re-purchase."
TD Ameritrade - "Ameritrade recently combined w/ TD and have gotten rid of their quarterly maint. fee, it's wonderful. Web site trades are cheaper... it's just great! And their client services is superb. No issues, all of my friends and family have joined the ban-wagon!"
TD Ameritrade - "Tom Coburn has nailed it on the spot. The streamer only has up to 36 slots, it freezes and crashes. But worst and most dangerous of all it shows bad data, like previous day's data. In the most critical moment, the streamer fails me. With execution, I too felt like the spread was being exploited against me and forget about those quick executions, sometimes my orders doesn't not appear on the market for a while and I know that because I watch it on different platforms as well. ETrade is a lot better, although a little more expensive."
TD Ameritrade - "I was ditched by a stock broker TD Ameritrade in one of the stock PAIM (Peral Asian Mining Ind Inc). I purchased PAIM stock long back through TD Ameritrade. PAIM management issued a statement to all stock brokers , that 90% of the stock should be send back to the company and will issued 5 years CD for the surrendered stock. The mandatory date is June 15. I sold my stock on June 19 through TD Ameritrade. In July 6th TD Ameritrade has put short sale on our account and threatened me, they are going to liquidate my account, if I don't buy the sold stock immediately from the market to surrender the stock to the company. I made so many calls to find out the details, also left a message to Customer service to call me back. I did not get any response. After 2 days I started calling them , I did not get positive response from Customer support or their Manager. In addition to that, they are talking all nonsense. When PAIM management issued a note all brokers to surrender 90% stock to the company by June 15. All the stock brokers have surrendered the stock by June 15, How can TD Ameritrade sell my stock on June 19. To cover up their mistake TD Ameritrade is threatening investors to buy the stock from open market 10 times price to cover up. I spent so much money from my pocket to purchase the stock to surrender to the TD Ameritrade for TD Ameritrade mistake. Their Customer support is using kind of nonsense language. Also, when I told them, I will complain to NASD authorities, they told me that don't care. I tried to contact all the top people and sent e-mail for justice, I did not get get any response. If any body is in same situation, please come forward, we will go to Stock exchange authority. Be careful with TD Ameritrade, they don't care about the investors."
TD Ameritrade - "Once was a customer of TD Waterhouse. This is where the snotty reps come from. Switched to Ameritrade. Happy until the merger. Back to the snotty reps."
Ameritrade - "I opened an account in Nov and closed by April because of mistakes in transfers across accounts that led to losses in interest; lower fees than ETrade, for example, but climbing and their service is just as bad. I didn't trust them for long-term business and I have the same conclusion for ETrade (other problems there!). My advice is to use brokers with better service where you pay higher trade fees but simpler and clearer and lower fees on banking."
Ameritrade - "I've had several real bad experiences with Ameritrade. They gave a hard time about opening an account, and accepting deposits, and trading, and resolving any issues. At $10.95+tax, their commissions are not bad, but what good does the $10.95+tax do when Ameritrade overcharges your account due to slippages that are up to 10 times greater than their commissions? Once Ameritrade notices you've got money, they will start overcharging! They will send your buy orders to MMs with the highest prices, and then send your sell orders to MMs with the lowest prices! And then when you complain, they blame it on the Exchange, or blame it on you! Then the Ameritrade rep will openly misrepresents material facts and figures, and then using their false figures, they consistently refuse to make adjustments. Ameritrade's customer service serves only Ameritrade, not their customers! They've got more excuses than a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar! They're hardheaded and tough! I mean aren't your investment accounts supposed to make you money? With Ameritrade there's an overcharge for something every week! I switched and went to Scottrade, which is not the best, but a lot better than Ameritrade! And don't forget about the attitude of the people at Ameritrade; I felt like I had to ask a favor or bothered them, every time I talked to them!"
Ameritrade - "Already have one account, a trust. Opened a second individual account and they couldn't verify my I.D. despite the same contact info. They managed to take the $3,000 deposit though, just couldn't activate the account or provide me any information as to why... since they didn't know who I was. Problem solved by calling in numerous times until I got someone with a brain and some gumption. However, I have had problems of one sort or another at every bank and broker ever used."
Ameritrade - "I had a terrible experience with this company. The minute you put your money with them, they eat your funds slowly one fee at a time. If you want to avoid the fees you can freeze your account, which I did. However, fees and charges kept coming. Calling them again was another empty promise."
Ameritrade - "They won't close my account. I have worthless securities. They say they will sell them without a fee if I call a broker. I called numerous times, they place the order but the securities never sell. I'm stuck. In the meantime they keep charging me inactivity fees."
Ameritrade - "I am a day, swing, momentum, etc. trader. I have had many problems with the Ameritrade Streamer. It crashes, shows bad data, stops showing some data, etc. I have also had problems placing orders during peak hours like the first half hour of trading and last half hour of trading, it is like their system is overloaded or something. As on other submitter noted, I have also had problems with limited orders not getting placed and market orders always working against me like someone is working the spread pretty hard."
Ameritrade - "I set up a Roth IRA with Ameritrade in July and have had absolutely no problems with them (the cash was debited from my checking and ready to go in less than a week). I have not had to use their customer service so I can't weigh in on it, but this is a discount brokerage, so you get what you pay for. No fees on the IRA except trade commissions - my tip is to wait until you have >1K to buy with to minimize the fee impact. Probably better if you already have a sizeable IRA to work with, if you try to place share orders for less than 500 dollars, this is not the site for you. All in all, I'm happy with them."
Ameritrade - "Like the command center. Recently have problems with orders freezing and lost hundreds of $$. Ameritrade customer service is terrible now, imo. I get only denials and no apologies... Email a complaint and I get a quick generic response but try to respond and they pass you from one person to the next. Each email response is from a new person, and of course they don't seem to have a clue of what your original problem was. Do they do this on purpose? I may keep them but am looking for a another broker that charges less per trade."
Ameritrade - "I left Ameritrade because I was getting fee'd to death. This company maybe great for people who have lots of money but they were terrible for a little guy trying to get started!"
Ameritrade - "Does a good job for me with APEX service. Prefer the old site but will get used
to the new on when I have to."
Ameritrade - "I'm an old Datek customer (Ameritrade customer by default rather than choice). I hate the fact that Ameritrade upped the cost of mutual fund transaction to $17.99 from the $10.99 that I paid through Datek. However, having said that I've been fairly satisfied with everything else. One of my funds disappeared off one of the pages within my account for a few months and it took them literally 6 months to get it fixed. I knew the asset was still there because it showed on every other section of the website and my statement, but this technical glitch either showed their lack of competence or lack of care for several months. I'm considering switching to Brownco and moving all four of my retirement accounts into two (one pre and one post tax) accounts, but now that I've heard that E-trade is buying Brownco, I'm having 2nd thoughts. I'll likely wait to see how E-trade adjusts the commission costs before opening any account with Brownco. It sucks that these great smaller, customer friendly companies get swallowed up by the bigger firms that do not care about you and screw up a good thing. Overall, on a grading scale, I give Ameritrade a B and I give Fidelity a C- (primarily because of the $75 transaction fee on mutual funds). I had an E-trade account way back in the day and don't recall being particularly fond of them, but it was many years ago and things might be better now? Personally, I'm considering transferring everything to USAA who I have banked with for 13+ years and provides all the bank accounts for military personnel. They're a great bank and I've been thrilled with the level of service my wife and I have received from them, however, they do charge a minimal $40 transaction fee for mutual funds, which kind of disappoints and sickens me, but other than that, I trust them more than any other broker or bank and that could be worth the cost when my assets grow to possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars as I near retirement. My $ .02 worth."
Ameritrade - "Not happy about $15 quarterly fee but they worked with me to keep me vs. transferring to other broker. At least they made efforts to keep me (unlike E-Trade). Now I know what I need to do to avoid fee--minimum monthly balance or # of trades in 6-month period. Happy they have no transfer out fee."
Ameritrade - "I've been with Ameritrade for years. As a discount broker, I don't expect hand holding and do my own research. With a margin account it doesn't matter how long they "hold" my cash, never had any problems there. It sure beats the so-called "full" brokers that didn't do a thing to justify their fees. The only thing I don't like is that the cash isn't "swept" into a money market account."
Ameritrade - "Client Service problems usually stem from Ameritrade's habit of constantly changing how they want calls handled. In an average week 8-10 memos will go out that implement new rules and changes in call handling."
Ameritrade - "Serious doubt about the market order. Don't place any market order with
Ameritrade. Always try for limit order."
Ameritrade - "For the small investor, this company will eat up all of your funds, open margins and sell stocks to keep a cash account. Then when you want to close the account, good luck. This company is a shark and you are a wounded fish! They are hoping for your inaction to eventually absorb all of your stocks!"
Ameritrade - "I've had great nothing but great experiences with Ameritrade. My trades are relatively simple - I'm not a day trader, but I do like to buy and sell often."
Ameritrade - "I've been with them for over a year. Setup with my checking account was simple. It took less than a week. Once I verified everything I can move funds into and out of my Ameritrade account via ACH into my checking within 3 days. They have changed recently - their limit orders are for the day the order is placed only. If placed in extended time it executes for the next day. They used to allow limit orders up to 1 month. I miss that feature. Now I have to keep track on a daily basis. This has made me a better trader, but I liked being lazy."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade is the worst thing to happen to Datek. The inactivity fees are bogus!"
Ameritrade & Scottrade - "Do not sign on with Ameritrade.(Read all of the terrible reviews of the company on this site!) I have held an account with Ameritrade since 1999 and over the years have noticed a steady decline in the quality of the customer service. I have most recently been disgusted by the poor "know it all, straight out of college, frat boy attitude" of the reps who have been taking my calls. I happen to be an APEX member which supposedly grants you the highest level of service. However, my most recent dealings have been awful. One snot nosed punk, when asked for a supervisor, stated,"Oh that's great. Fine, you don't want me to help you. That's great.". In a separate conversation, I called in to request information on their streaming quotes system. I had a young "lady" rep tell me, "Look, I just work hear. All the information you need is on the website. Everyone else can figure it out. You can too." I've worked to god damn long and hard to have to deal with little, wet behind the ears, babies at Ameritrade. I have made the switch to Scottrade and would never recommend anyone to AMERItrade, a true disgrace to America."
Ameritrade & Scottrade - "I could tell that Scottrade would do their best to hang onto your money when I signed up, but with rates that low I can't complain much. When I get my balance up I will probably switch to a different broker. (That will be a while) An appealing part of Ameritrade is that you can take your money out within 3 business days. Perhaps you should have put it into a bank account before taking it across water. Even then you would have had to wait for the check to come in the mail. All in all Scottrade is a bit behind the times but I've been happy with my limited experience with them."
Ameritrade - "Any slightly complicated transaction, like changing title to a trust, completely confounds the customer service (or lack thereof) department."
Ameritrade - "The online service is great, but the special offer I started with ran out before I got chance to use it - it took so long to set up the account. Two times now I've asked for a check to close my account. Both times nothing has turned up and when I call to complain they can't trace any requests. Make sure you always ask for a name when calling."
Ameritrade - "They suck. Play too many games. Will not let customers short stocks. Cheat customers on stock price. Will not let customer change price or cancel. I am reporting them to the sec."
Ameritrade - "I'm here by default - merger and I have found it confusing to get the info I want, and to keep up with all the changes they are making now. Am in the process of switching - takes 6 weeks."
Ameritrade - "I recently attempted to open an account with Ameritrade and was informed they could not verify my information - so I would have to proof who I am before I could activate my account. I find this astounding as I previously had an account with Datek that was later bought out by Ameritrade - so I have had a previous account with them already. How could they not verify my information? This alone sent me elsewhere."
Ameritrade & Scottrade - "No problems with Ameritrade at all. Trades almost instant. Datek took stock out of my account and it took a complaint to the SEC to get it back (that company is gone now). On one order they got me a price below the 'ask' price - a real pleasant surprise. Scottrade is good too, but limit orders cost $1 more (market orders $4 less). These seem to be the two lowest cost brokers. (Others have fees etc.)"
Ameritrade - "Easy to use site."
Ameritrade - "I tried to short couple of stocks during the past 6 months or so. But the orders were always canceled. I do have margin and short privilege. I just thought Ameritrade doesn't like you to short some stocks. Anyone with the same experience?"
Ameritrade - "NYSE, NASDAQ, etc. markets open 9:30AM EST. So, in reality, brokers on the west coast should be open at 6:30 AM to handle trades."
Ameritrade - "Don't be in a hurry to trade with Ameritrade. Not only does it take 15 days from start to finish (let me specify business days here) but the customer care is horrible. Money is taken out of your bank account and then 'held' for 5 business days once they have it in your trading account. Granted, this is for non-marginable stocks, but it is extremely frustrated."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade bought my broker firm, and I have experienced problems I never had with my previous broker. Ameritrade canceled orders, did not execute orders to cover short positions. Their service makes me feeling uncomfortable."
Ameritrade - "Co-opened an account with Sharebuilder and Ameritrade the same day. Sharebuilder went with no glitches. Ameritrade screwed up looking up my ssn and is holding my money hostage for 60 days. Cannot trade and Cannot get my money back unless I pay to get it."
Ameritrade - "Concerning the 15 free trades, I opened an IRA and did not get the 15 free trades. I called and asked 'Why?' They said they cannot give it to IRA customers because it would be like contributing to the IRA. The add says nothing about 'Except for IRAs!'"
Ameritrade - "Didn't tell you "not for IRAs"? Read the first paragraph. 'Open your new Individual (non-IRA) or Joint account with $1,000 or more before February 17, 2004, and receive commission-free Internet equity trades for 5 weeks (up to 25 trades).'"
Ameritrade - "I read all the ads and fell for the Ameritrade hype. Just found out that they want $40 for a stock certificate. What a rip off. I am closing out!"
Ameritrade - "Highly recommended."
Ameritrade - "They do allow transfers to and from your bank account. It's called cash in/out under the account services menu. They make a couple of small deposits to verify your account info is correct. The only problem I've had is they hold deposits for 5 business days before you can transfer it out again. I use it with B of A and GTE Credit union."
Ameritrade - "I found out about Freetrade (by Ameritrade) by word of mouth on a message board and gave it a try 4 months ago. It is fantastic. The trades are free and the margin rate is low. Because it's run by Ameritrade, I trust the company. The trading system is bare bones -- no stock ratings, no commentary, and no fancy real time trading system. But if you are able to do the research on your own, how can you go wrong with free trades? The site is at www.freetrade.com. I hope fellow 'dogs investors' can profit from this information like I have."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade ads said 15 commission free trades for opening a new account. In fact, I spoke with a live CSR when I opened my account and was told I would get all 15 free trades... Not 15 free trades the first month. I believe their ads stated 15 free trades... not up to 15 free trades and not 15 free trades the first month. I'm switching... The last thing I need is a dishonest online broker. I would not recommend Ameritrade."
Ameritrade - "Dollar for dollar, best value in the market. They never encourage (or discourage) 'churning'; they do not push either stocks or approaches. They just give information and services at a very reasonable price. What a novelty!"
Ameritrade - "Good broker, but when it comes to buying multiple issues of one stock it gets confusing when you decide to sell."
Ameritrade - "I would like more premium service at no additional cost."
Ameritrade - "I did receive some inaccurate information regarding the date that you had to own a stock in order to qualify for the dividend. This did cost me the quarterly dividend on stock in question."
Ameritrade - "I have two complaints about Ameritrade. Neither are show stoppers but they keep Ameritrade from being truly top notch. 1 - They cancel orders frequently and I am never advised as to why. If I want to know, I have to call them. They need to automatically post the reason whenever a trade is cancelled. 2 - The interest on money market funds have to be absolutely the lowest anywhere. And when below 1000, there is none what-so-ever. I am not used to this."
Ameritrade - "Have always had excellent service, quick trade response, great for day trading. However, have noticed their increase in commissions is taking a bigger bite out of my profits. Also would like to be able to add to the account directly from my checking account without a transfer fee. Takes too long to fund the account with mail."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade has always executed my trades efficiently. They also have funds transfer ability so I can sends money from my checking account to them for trades. I am pleased with their services."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade is now a rip-off. I bought five thousand dollars of several stocks during the Florida election problem. It went straight to the bottom. I left some idle hundreds, thinking it would draw interest, while I waited on my stock to rise in value again. Well, Ameritrade nickel and dimed it to death for monthly fees. So I called them and guess what they said? "We are not a bank, we have to make money". So what is my point? Simply this: If you have idle money sitting, waiting while you anticipate your stocks rising again, don't count on it. I closed my account, at a loss, so as not to have more of a loss....if you follow my drift."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade did not sell a stock I had a stop loss on because it had been delisted. They could have at least e-mailed me. The alert service advertisers in my opinion in some instances are nothing more that pump and dump scam artists. Switched to Scottrade and am hoping for better results."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade continues to lag on developing a method for online transfer of funds from personal checking accounts to fund stock trades. Continues to rely on standard mail services which take days for delivery and posting. Although interest charges are low they could be eliminated with faster more reliable electronic funding similar to what credit card companies and other brokerage houses provide."
Ameritrade - "Lousy! Absolutely lousy! I'm pulling my account. To resolve a problem with Ameritrade, the process is to grill you until you feel like you've been through torture. Can you speak to a manager? No. Why not? Well, there's no reason -- they just answer a question by asking you yet another question. It's impossible to resolve any issues with Ameritrade. So why should I bother with them? It's pointless and I'm moving all of my portfolio to a brokerage who wants to cooperate with me!"
Ameritrade - "Top dog? Make like a greyhound and run... The other way!"
Ameritrade - "One of the top? I doubt it - they don't offer payroll deduct as did NDB - want to xfer your account to another brokerage firm be prepared to be dinged for $50. When I xferred my account to NDB the xfer out from the previous firm was free and was done through the DTC when I asked Ameritrade about xferring they were not even sure what the DTC was."
Ameritrade - "Just opened an account at Ameritrade, and found out that when I want to increase (deposit $ into) my account, they won't credit my account with the deposit for ten days! Sounds like the "old" days, when banks did the same with out-of-town state checks.... I'm researching further, but this may lead to my closing the account before I make my first trade!"
Ameritrade - "After a long stint trading with Ameritrade, I'm leaving. I trade a lot and they are costing me money now. Progressively worse execution times, random quotes, disappearing orders, orders I never placed charged to my account, web site freeze ups... if you trade a great deal, go elsewhere."
Ameritrade - "Deep discount broker. It truly is! Trades execute in seconds, and I get a confirming email. Good service. Friendly customer service. I love it!!!"
Ameritrade - "To this day I deeply regret doing business with Ameritrade. I read one of the comments posted on The Dogs of the Dow and my experience is the same, They are holding my money hostage. Not once, twice, but three times did I call to close my account and liquidate my funds and none of these times was this done by Ameritrade's reps. I would call time and time again just to find out that my request to close my account had been ignored. After what seemed like a thousand calls I finally got them to close it and send me a check. Unfortunately the delivery company they used lost it and now they are making me wait another 10 days to re-issue another check without any effort to expedite the process. Mind you this is a large sum of money and it's going to take at the least a month from the day I requested my funds for me to get it. That is if they don't screw me again."
Ameritrade - "My Ameritrade broker sold my stock ten days after I bought it outright for less than I paid and claimed they had to cover a debt I never had and left me broke. No notice whatever until I got this confirmed in the mail. I have the entire weekend to stew over this error on their part because they don't have capable representatives on duty. Hopefully, we'll resolve this soon but it's very unnerving to put your money in the hands of incompetence. I'd like to know if anyone has any ideas on retribution for my trouble."
Ameritrade & E*Trade - "I have accounts with Ameritrade, Quick & Reilly and E-Trade. I rate Ameritrade the best because of price and because they provide stockquest which is excellent for screening or evaluating stocks. The only disadvantage is that they only pay 2.75% on idle funds. E-Trade and Q&R use MM funds that pay almost twice as much."
Ameritrade - "Ameritrade has held my money hostage for almost 6 weeks. I mailed my application to them on 1/9/00 and they now tell me I can't trade OTC until 2/16/00. For a company that advertises 3-5 days to open accounts this is terrible. Their customer support was terrible with 25-35 minute phone waits and when I finally got through, I was told to be patient, "Life goes on". Never again will another dime of my hard earned money be spent on this discount brokerage. Think twice about signing up with this big company when your just a little guy."
Ameritrade - "They refuse to answer my simple question... Every day from five to fifteen of my positions are "rounded" down. Reducing my portfolio value from $.25 to most seen $1.70. Always rounded down. For forty one business days they have never rounded up. That is statistically not possible. I even had the US SEC Philadelphia PA write them and they will not answer. Ameritrade users please write the company and ask the question."| Insightful stock market charts at | Defining the world of investing | |
| |
 |