Here you can review a collection of TD Ameritrade reviews 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 exclusive list of Top Dog Brokers. And, as always, if you have experience with a deep discount broker, simply fill out our Top Dog Brokers Comment Form and let us all know what you think.
Glenn says
Pros: $0 for stock transactions. Quick service on any transactions, including distributions.
Steve says
Pros: I like their website on my desktop computer.
Cons: their website on my IPad is extremely poor.
David says
Pros: free commissions. Good screens for watchlists. Ease of use. Good app.
Steve says
Pros: ease of use.
Cons: being bought by Schwab; outside research seems to be weak.
Pat says
Pros: easy to use, free trades, great online site.
Cons: can’t think of any cons.
David says
Pros: low fees, decent accounting and history. Fair research.
Frank says
Pros: fast execution of trades. Lots of study material and stock data. Very good charting.
Cons: none.
Frank says
Pros: fast execution of trades. Lots of study material and stock data. Very good charting.
Cons: none.
John says
Pros: amount of info available & presentation.
Cons: some educational courses could use a little polishing.
Dennis says
Pros: loads of technicals.
Cons: none that I am aware of.
Jim says
Pros: ease of access. Low cost. Access to analysts. Excellent education and tools.
Gary says
Pros: no commission. Free training. Debit card. Money market account. The best platform that all the pros use.
Cons: none.
Wayne says
Pros: mobile, good trading platform. I have been there for years.
Sue says
Pros: helpful, articulate, very pro-investor.
Charles says
Pros: can talk with a live person 7/24, the commission is now zero, Ameritrade provides several free investment research sites.
Walter says
Thinkorswim platform both a pro and con. Very complicated, but can do a lot.
Jerome says
Pros: no issues, good customer service, good execution, no fees anymore.
Richard says
Pros: thinkorswim trade analysis, good fills.
Cons: weak mobile app.
Pat says
Pros: very simple to use, trades are reasonable, help available if I need it, easy online and phone access.
Cons: I personally haven’t found any cons (first with Scottrade & now Ameritrade for over 15 years)
lewis says
Pros: no commissions, good hello with discussions about purchases and choices, caring manager.
Mark says
Pros: TOS Platform.
Cons: none now with almost zero commissions.
kevin says
Pros: excellent service when I speak with a Rep.
Cons: Hard to reach at times.
Keith says
Pros: new commission free trades.
Cons: not open for trading before 6am CDT (7am EDT).
Patrick says
Pros: executes trades, inexpensive.
Cons: no local branches.
Peter says
Pros: excellent 24/7 phone support and tutorials.
Cons: the trading software is very comprehensive and extensive, but needs to be simplified for novice users.
Joseph says
Pros: nice charts and information.
Cons: sometimes they could be faster releasing the information.
James says
Pros: excellent to support my decisions. Access to analysts. Stock screeners. Good education.
Tom says
Pros: very good third party research, and excellent equity screeners.
Paul says
Pros: they are very responsive to your request for information. Training site is helpful.
Walter says
Fantastic interface, albeit with big learning curve.
Mark says
Pros: cheap. No mistakes. Usually have price improvement.
Cons: loosing local office in downsizing of footprint.
Flock says
One con is that they don’t offer real-time data, as I recall on the stock market. Instead they do for futures and indices. Or it’s “real time” which is actually on a 15 min delay.
Tanika Lilly says
Pros: great platform and layout. Cons: expensive, viewing your buying history for a particular stock is difficult. I really like how Fidelity allows you to click on the position and it lists the details, it is difficult to get tier 3 approval.
Dennis says
Pros–easy to research diff stock. Cons–their people stink–don’t resolve questions about fee’s. They take whatever the broker or bank tape feeds them–lazy on their part.
Tony says
Pro – Fast and easy. Con – hard to clear old positions.
Sam says
Pros are: Free trades for 60 to 90 days, website is easy to use, watch list has every option I need. Cons are: Ads show 90 days free trading, I only received 60 days. When I called my broker, he said he could give me 5 more trades which lasted about 5 days
9.99 per trade is about the most expensive I have seen .
James says
Good fills. Reasonable commissions. Helpful when needed.
Chris says
Ease of using site, including trades, look up of stocks, and wide range of investments offered.
Jack Guida says
Extended hours are great, I like Think or Swim platform. Lower commissions would be nice and I wish they would bring back Strategy Desk.
Santiago says
Pros: good tools, reliable and secure access. Cons: higher commissions than other brokers.
Gavin Kelley says
20-30% more per trade than other discount brokers, but the tools and data are amazing.
John says
Low commissions, good mobile site for ipad, research/news
Billy J Long says
I’ve been with them before they became Ameritrade. I like to pick and choose my own
stocks. They don’t try to sell or recommend anything unless I ask.They have great online tools that I use to pick my stocks and funds. I like the service. I don’t plan on changing to another online broker.
William says
Brokers commissions are fair and the range of products offerings is satisfactory. Research is second to none. Website is user friendly. Customer service is above average.
William says
It is easy to use, and reports trades in a timely manner. I have been a customer for over 20 years, since it was called TD Waterhouse.
J.D. Miller says
Best customer service. High trading costs when compared with Vanguard.
Sherrie says
I like working with TD Ameritrade because I get all the research I need to make my own
decisions. I’ve never had any problems with them.
Mitch Johnston says
Con: more expensive than Scottrade. Pro: better web-site & customer service than either Scottrade or Schwab. I like the research I am able to do on thier web-site. Robinhood is cheap, but way bare-bones basic, and has no IRAs.
Frank says
Transaction fees are high, but their research tools and education is very good – that comes at a cost.
Roger Lao says
Customer service is fine. Research is good. Year end tax info is fine. Commission rate acceptable. Occasional mistakes in execution and cumbersome to resolve.
Todd Bittner says
Pros are research tools and professional account help. Cons: price per trade.
William Fleming says
Pro: Good online information. Con: Not enough database filtering capability.
Del Wachsmann says
Low commissions, trading systems are powerful only con is tendency to regularly revamp trading sites requiring major learning curve.
David Lewandoski says
Seamless integration of linked accounts. No relationship between balances and positions basis and “Gainskeeper” basis.
Moses Padmore says
Brokerage fees are slightly higher compare to Fidelity or Scottstrade but the brokerage firm has multiple platforms such as Thinkorswim which provide education.
Curtis Cooper says
Website very easy to use and availability of customer inquiry with a real live person makes my ability to decide my next move easy.
John Cibula says
Pros: Free Charting. Cons: Not enough asset options to trade.
James Feeney says
Best of breed trading platforms and great customer service.
Steven Schneider says
I like the online trading platform. They offer educational videos, tutorials, etc.
Roger Lao says
Pro – it has enough information for my purposes, user friendly, easy to contact
them, fees are low. Con – i don’t utilize any of their platforms because I really don’t use any of them.
Peter Langenberg says
Pros: Everything is on-line and Instant, good follow-through. Cons: Poor reporting aspects to their site, information seems to be updated “End-of-Day”.
Jim says
Fees are reasonable, great investing platforms across all media. Education programs available for any level invester.
Samuel H. Robinson says
Fixed commission per trade, great research tools, website, & customer service.
David says
Pros: Office is 6 blocks away, charting software, Bond tools, Managed Accounts, 800 Number Customer Support, Best website (Easy to navigate, great reports, wonderful charting) Cons: None
Kevin Wilson says
Cons – fees for transactions, Pros – offers a lot of features for traders also has the think or swim application.
Charles Blacklock says
Good info, format, training but the cost per trade is too high and not market competitive.
Pete says
Web site is very user friendly. Providing good training. I have not found any cons yet, very new to this.
Dale Wilford says
Very good research. Fair fees, ease of option trades and speed.
Lawrence Easter says
Trading fee is not bad ($10), but others are cheaper. Could have better research tools, though I haven’t investigated all yet.
Gerry says
Brokers commissions: satified, fees: very satisfied, range of offerings: very satisfied, research: satisifed, website usability: very satisfied, mobile: satisfied, customer service: very satisfied.
Skip says
The research tool are excellent. The Watch list interface needs improving.
Paul says
Comment: commissions a bit high. Website excellent and fast.
Cindy says
I like their website. It is easy to navigate, trade, commissions are low, executions are
ok. If a mistake is made they are willing to negotiate, sometimes.
Jambi says
Pros: Explanation and training. Discussions of pertinent subjects. Ease of access. Cons: Updates have glitches which you the user may not know and then it could take a few attempts to eliminate them.
Harry Fech says
Fees could be lower. User-friendly website and easy to navigate.
Peter says
Pros. Easy screens for entering orders. Nice portfolio tools. Commissions are inline with other brokers. Consistently gets excellent to very good third party reviews. Cons. Dividend re-investment not so straight forward.
Lieb says
Pro- good execution got tight price. Con- not the most user friendly web site.
Donna Sabin says
Pros: Good research and trading tools and discounted commissions for active traders.
Morgan says
iphone app is just not where I would like it to be.
Bruce Denison says
Easy, in depth, smooth transactions, need to trade a bit to get good deal on fees.
Mr. Wood says
‘Nickel and dime’ fees. Freeking turds charged me for a stock split — like it cost them anything when that happens.
Jeff says
Service is great, platform is bad. I have multiple accounts and cant be logged on to both at the same time, orders don’t always execute and must be placed again, has cost me money to re-enter trade at a new price. Margin call error pop ups when I am not in a margin call. I think it is a clumsy interface, I can envision several improvements. Think or swim platform training suggests 6-8 weeks of training just to get use to it, I trade under pressure and don’t want something complicated, I’m looking for something better.
Geore Gibson says
Good trade execution and reliable web site. Could be more competitive on fees.
Steven Schneider says
Great website, education, trading platform, customer service.
Dale Wilford says
All pros: Price, service and tools.
Joe says
Their fees are too high. I occasionally get bought or sold far from the market.
Lucy says
Their new mobile app is awful. Otherwise I am satisfied.
Rosarius Leonardi says
TD Ameritrade is fast, reliable and helpful. I have been an online client for over 10 years.
John says
Trade executions are done very fast and efficiently.
Kathy Richmond says
We are closing our accounts at TDA because for more than the past year TDA is not accurate in the gains and losses our accounts have. We are told it is because we have ‘penny stocks’ and they are inaccurate and we are aware of our software problem and working on it. Well after more than 18 months my accounts position pages are still not accurate on a daily basis. How can I manage my investments? For example, in the past 4 weeks alone-using their daily reported gains and losses and account balances we show a $7000 gain that they don’t give us credit for. That makes an error rate of 12.5%. We were told by the presidents office advisor of TDA that we should check the quotes for each stock (we have 70+ stocks) to verify what it actually did. Bullarchy! Moving to Fidelity were my IRA’s are and there it is always accurate even with penny stocks.
Michael Suermann says
Like to keep fees to a minimum, easy navigation and willingness to speak with client if necessary.
James Petersen says
Excellent service 24/7. Quick to respond to needs and very reasonable pricing on orders both in and out.
Good notes re: analysts ideas and opinions. Most employees are quite knowledgeable.
David P. Press says
Pros: research tools, low transaction commissions.
D. James says
Ease of use, rapid transaction, reasonable cost of transaction.
Awadhesh Gupta says
Good service but higher transactions fee compared to Fidelity and Charles Schwab.
Andrew says
Fair price for a trade, easy to navigate the web site, good support data.
Mary L. Grabski says
I love T.D.Ameritrade! Trades are only $9, and staff is always available, helpful, and prompt with answers and advice. Great website too.
Chandrakant Shah says
Fees higher than some on line brokers.
Thomas says
Dysfunctional trade platform, confusing broker info, lying about free trades.
Mark Borowsky says
Fees are a little high.
Rubidoux Rockfish says
Pros: Very versatile on platforms: computer, mobile, etc; very informative, yet simple; let’s you know all fees upfront; information-mouse-hover-abilities are invaluable; Cons: I will let you know at a later date.
Gordon Brown says
Cons: option prices to high. Pros: good service and backroom.
Ann O'Malley says
Good mobile app for iPad – good customer service. Think or Swim is great.
Erik says
I tried to exchange one mutual fund for another online but they froze 5% of my balance. When I inquired, the rep emailed me that it’s related to a ‘margin call’ which is total nonsense. It’s a cash transaction and has nothing to do with margin! They said it could be done if I called their 800 number and did it through a broker. I’ve exchanged funds online several times with Fidelity and never had a problem. I think the rep made up a BS answer so I’m closing my TDA account and merging it into my Fidelity account.
Richard Stockett says
Their platforms, research, and customer service are ‘First Class.’ Their Fees for interest on margin dollars verses cash interest paid is obscene.
Kevin Mahar says
This never gave any advise whatsoever even when they knew a stock had lost all value.
Kenneth Orr says
Margin interest is too high.
Ron Flowers says
Easy and inexpensive trading. Just when you get used to there latest change in the site, they change it again.
Jeffrey Weber says
Cons – commissions a little high. Pros – great service, great research capabilities, able to call with questions.
Eric Johnson says
Think or Swim platform is simply the best.
Janice O'Malley says
Pros: Commissions, accessibility, research and accounting.
Gerald Hirsch says
Leaves me alone unless i ask for help.
James Elmore says
Great software but a little expensive.
Paul Perlman says
Pros: Inexpensive. Good website. Wide variety of available investments.
Dusty Dawg says
Like the TOS website. Commissions a little pricey.
Ed Duley says
Pros: Great web page, investools, think swim models, local and new York assistance always available.
Dale Howard says
They refund asset transfer out fees from other brokers. They offer the commission free ETFs, in which I want to invest (esp Vanguard).
Jeff Weber says
Fees a little high, excellent service.
Thien Ta says
Transaction fee could be lower to be competitive. Broker has adequate analysis tools.
Noah Shah says
Pro: easy to trade. Con: poor tax reporting.
William Snodgrass says
The newest update to TD forces the page to reduce in size to accomodate the new ‘my dock’ feature that forces my 17″ screen to shrink the main page info so you can’t load as many columns on your balance and positions page. The old page was much better. I hate the new format and wonder why they did it. This gives no new info or benifit.
James Feeney says
Pros: good platform and good support. Cons: high fees.
William Kopka says
Pros: quick, easy access. Cons: shallow performance data.
Paul Weller says
Great Information and great execution.
Evan Jungbluth says
Seem very efficient and helpful, fees reasonable, research adequate, range complete, customer service very good.
Mark Hetzer says
Reasonable fees, great website.
Andrew Hood says
Good analysis and easy to navigate.
C W says
Good customer support and trade execution, I have no reason to change brokers.
C H says
I’d like to thank TD America for forcing me to close my account with them in Sep 2002 after 6 years of use. Because of this, I had to find another broker to hold my assets, so I opened an account at Firstrade, then IB. Both are pretty good, especially commissions are much lower.
Randy Rowan says
Cons: Relative high trading fees compared to some other brokers. Pros: Think or Swim may be the best of the available platforms.
Ruth Cotter says
I would like lower per/trade fees. Otherwise, they’re ok.
Dave Himber says
Fast transactions but no perks like free trades for long standing customers.
Antonio Doria says
Pros: Execution. Cons: Record keeping.
Mel Moniz says
They constantly change their platform and now have nothing I like.
Walter Shiner says
Great learning tools but transactions are expensive.
Edward Michael Finck says
Pros: Easy to use, cheap. Cons: Inadequate research, would be nice to include charts with macd, 50 and 200d ma, and total gain/loss daily for each stock.
Mary L. Grabski says
Very helpful whenever I want any help. $9 trades.
Robert Burge says
Very responsive to my requests.
D Teel says
Think of Swim, a product of TD Ameritrade offers some great insight on option status and company profiles in an easy to access format.
Mary Orear says
Everything has been fine as long as Ameritrade came out ahead. But now with my small account finally exceeding what I’ve paid in fees and market losses by picking stocks that are doing well, I’m being penalized. Their Risk Management always finds a way to take when my stocks go down and take again when they go up. Day before yesterday I actually made a decent amount but was credited 55 cents. Oddly enough, when I lost 50 the day before, they took 50, and the day after I made 1.50 and I received 1.50. But I will never accept how I am not being given what I’m finally making above what I put in plus fees. They always find the right words to explain why they can’t give me my little but potentially percentagewise large gains.
Robert Johnston says
TD Ameritrade is head and shoulders above any other online brokers out there. Their individualized attention to you and not their fees, plus the available research capabilities make them #1.
Len Udes says
Low rates, good research and reliable.
Diane Moats says
A lot cheaper than our long time broker, who we still do business with as we know him
and trust him.
Dave says
TDA/Think-or-Swim makes it almost impossible to track fees while you’re trading (if you like to be an active day trader). You can show a profit of $500- $700 … and easily loose money. Between the poor fills, long time to get a fill, rejected (market) orders it can me more than a little frustrating. Probably about the worst thing about their platform is that fact that you’re trading deaf … except for fills … you cannot set audio alerts and so your entire focus has to on the screen at all times … which is a total pain in the a$$.
Dave Newport says
Fast, accurate, inexpensive
Bill Coslow says
Pros: they have local brick and mortar office, software works well. Cons: none so far but it’s only been 12 years.
Joe says
In today’s market, I find them to be a little overpriced.
Art Williams says
Costs ok — research could be better.
Greg Billingsley says
User-friendly interface, but per-trade fees should be lower.
Horacio Grosso says
Low cost of trade , pros — Too slow, cons
George Gibson says
Overall I like TD Ameritrade but it seems like they are trying to convince me to become an options trader. The only options I need are buy, sell or hold.
Dennis Kauser says
Occasional cumbersome procedures for simple things.
Todd Hartwig says
High fees and no interest in customer issues. Try to leave their brokerage and they will f**k you over anyway they can, as they did for me – costing over $10,000.
Fred Allen says
Quick and easy. Lots of info available.
Greg Billingsley says
Good platform, good customer service but relatively high fee for trades.
Virgil says
I like my current fee rate. I would like the Cash Balance/Money Market transitions to be more timely.
Darrin Sawyer says
My former Morgan Stanley advisors were liars and incompetent – everything is better at TD Ameritrade.
Linda says
Over many years, I have had no complaints! Otherwise, I would change brokerage firms.
Ruth O'Keefe says
Great customer service.
Henry says
Cons….high Margin rates.
John says
Pro: easy to use. Con: none
Dave Taylor says
Fees to high.
Richard Leon says
Easy to use interface.
John Quigley says
Con: Ted the question and answer bot on the home page. Like the MS bot it can drive you crazy. Pros: Easy to place orders, great tools for research, low commissions. I also like the clear display of positions and cash on hand. There are also learning opportunities and webinars.
Allen McCorstin says
Excellent customer service. Good fee structure. Lots of versatility on the site, especially trading tools and research opportunities.
Ulrich Krach says
After being an Ameritrade customer for more than 10 years, I was informed that I was no longer acceptable as a client (due to being a resident of either Switzerland or Dubai, apparently). I got 2 different email responses saying that 1) my account would be liquidated and 2) no, my account would not be liquidated but I could sell only, not buy. I asked for clarification and was told both answers were correct (??). I sent emails saying I was transferring my account and not to sell my positions. As a result of TD Ameritrade reneging on the trade, a USD 4600 loss was incurred on Friday, which is now up to USD 26,000 (growing daily). I am blocked out of the account and TD Ameritrade ignores me and the account. I have called long distance probably 20 times and get nothing but evasions.
Cristi McCaffrey-Jackson says
Fees are steep and the actual orders are really not getting placed as they should be. As if the computer is getting overloaded with orders and information. Even noticing the graphs are not updating like they used to.
Derick Lyle says
I have just been screwed by TD Ameritrade. They have completely liquidated my account, because it’s a foreign address holding. They claim to have sent a notification in writing, but no e-mail, no message using their own message centre. My advice – take your business elsewhere, fast.
Alan Frost says
Some excellent analytics and good commissions. There are some things i would like to customize that I can’t. Back testing tools need work.
Tom Kopacz says
Commissions are average, I have been with them for 18 years. They have been very helpful when help was needed. The site is easy to navigate with a lot of information. I do not use a lot of their research.
L. Carr says
Easy access to all the pertinent information that I need or want instantly.
Rodger Hardy says
Excellent website / research tools.
Rob Grant says
Broker recently changed trading platform to Sink or Swim. Bought out Quotetracker software and then stopped supporting it.
Rodger Hardy says
Best graphics and stock screens.
Lee Joye says
Great brokerage fee structure is positive — research tools somewhat limited to the uneducated user.
Martha Fluor says
Have been with TD Ameritrade forever – since Jack White days – love their service, pricing, etc. Their new trading platform is robust!
Linda says
Provides all the information I need.
C. H. says
I just got an email from TD Ameritrade saying that it will not provide services to certain foreign regions that include where I am living. I’ve been using this for quite a long time since the Ameritrade time, didn’t change to other brokers despite its higher commissions, but never expected that it has such inconsistent business policies. Very disappointed. And I have to take some time to search for a good broker to transfer the assets…
Dan Cleveland says
The big con I’m coming across is that TDAmeritrade will not let me short stocks consistently – sure I can short FB 60 days after the IPO (not sooner), but I cannot short MANU or CLWR… prime short candidates. I have margin and short privileges and a large cash balance. TD just says “stock not available for short sale”. Well, why not? I understand the shares have to be borrowed, but you woldn’t think it would be as difficult as it is.
Diego Schammas says
Good platform, fast response, easy transfer between accounts of different owners.
Al Pipo says
My beef is with the regulators. Why is this thievery and ripping off going on unabated. Who is supposed to regulate these clowns or is it clowns doing the regulating. So much for those clowns that continue to cry for smaller government.
Mark Twane says
I was on the phone with TD Waterhouse this morning regarding errors in the way their site was being displayed on my monitor. The technical advisor led me through a series of steps to ensure an error free user experience. The steps involved me lowering the security settings on my computer to the lowest setting possible, including adjusting the privacy setting to “Accept All Cookies From All Web Sites”. When I asked why these settings needed to be at their lowest, I was told, “lowering these settings are a standard procedure for us and have often solved any problems that our customers may have been experiencing.” Yeah, right, no shiat sherlock! TD Waterhouse was actually asking me to reduce the security of my computer to it’s absolute most unsecure level to make it easier to use their utmost secured site. I was transferred to the supervisor who supported reducing the security of my computer to it’s lowest setting. I wasn’t at all surprised to hear Donna (supervisor of Electronic Business Services) admit that she has never received formal education (nor does she have any knowledge) on general website and internet technology. After shaking my head in disbelief and expressing disapproval for her advise, she said it was only a suggestion and if I had any concerns that I should only reduce the security settings before logging onto their site and then change them back when I’m finished visiting. Good God, man! Are they for real? Reduce the security settings of my computer before logging into my bank/trading account? Based on their stupidity in this one issue alone I do not recommend TD Waterhouse to anyone. I’m looking for a better provider. TD you suck! Sincerely, MT
Dan Borch says
Very dangerous organisation! Placed a sell at a particular price. The market went 7 cents above this price. Did not get a fill. It shows not filled. There is a possibility it was filled at TD Waterhouse at this point they do not know. (this is not a joke !!!) If I place another sell order I might be short without knowing it! Talked to Ms Fedisha (21 02 2012 3:01 PM Montreal time) at TD Waterhouse she assured me someone will staigthen this out & call back. None called back. I called again noone knows what happened & the status of my order. Probably easier to deal with a bank in Greece than with TD Waterhouse! They make very dangerous mistakes. Stay away from them!
Mario Kearns says
I have had an account with TD for 6 years with absolutely no problems. Thousands of trades-also transferring funds into or out of account with no problems. I just can’t believe some of these reviews I am reading.
Patrick Devlin says
Overall I’m quite happy with them, but recently I made a purchase on eBay only to discover my credit card balance was at near $0. Frantically I sold $500 of shares on Ameritrade. Days crept by and after 5 days they have finally allowed the money to be transferred to my bank account (after their customary 2-3 day waiting period of course). However – if you don’t have this kind of problem, their extremely comprehensive and great trading system makes them a huge plus. 7.5/10
Andrew Townsend says
I agree with the postings I have read on this site. I deposited funds from my bank via ACH, and now my funds are frozen there. They won’t let me trade, they won’t send the money back, and they insist I provide proof from my bank that the funds were transferred. Is this a joke or what. They clearly have the funds in their account. They just don’t want me to use them. And, you can’t talk to anyone in person. The customer service number simply states that there are “difficulties” and to call back later. I’m pretty freaked out!
John Martin says
TD Ameritrade made a huge mistake on my account and completely refuses to return my money.
Bob Gordon says
I used TOS/TD Ameritrade & Options Xpress and they, and several others, are now discounting commissions through a new site that was started by Tom Sosnoff, the founder of TOS which was acquired by TD Ameritrade. I was able to get a $350.00 discount on my trades through my existing brokers!
Mike Mitchell says
Transferring money out of my account was rejected 3 separate times over the holidays and prior to them. These people are sleazy. I suggest everyone here re-acquaint themselves with FINRA/SIPC responsibilities and see just how screwed you are with wall street “banks” .. they’re ONLY “banks” when TARP money is being handed out.
Dale Sheppard says
TD Ameritrade may be good for trading but do not give these people large sums of money. They have burned me for tens of thousands of dollars. They only care about fees.
Jack Sunseri says
Option traders be careful TD Ameritrade removed my level-3 option approval and raised my margin calls to over ten million dollars, in an attempt to wipe me out. This is because I have been complaining and bitching about there accounting balance errors in my five accounts for a while. I can’t get my accounts ot balance most of the time. I talked to there margin dept. and a guy said they were having software problems. Now they are getting revenge because I told them last Thursday I was transferring my accounts out on September 1, 2011 they suddenly margin called me for over ten millions dollars on Friday September 2, 2011. I told them on Thrusday I was transferring out my accounts and reporting TD Ameritrade to the SEC and FINRA. They have my life savings tied up. They don’t give a dam about what they are doing to me. The corruption continues at TD Ameritrade until someone does something about it.
Pat Akut says
Ever since they merged with ThinkOrSwim, they have gone south. If you have lots of options in your account, it is very difficult to trade spreads without calling in. If you have stocks assigned due to short positions, they will liquidate your account extremely fast, at worst possible price. Instead of simple execution to bring your account to positive least damaging way, they sell low, and buy high. I have a feeling they collaborate with 3rd party.
Michael Handy says
We have used TD Ameritrade for ten years to custody our client accounts and are very happy with their service. We used Schwab for eight years before them and also happy with their service.
Brant Schumaker says
TD Ameritrade is a horrible company. My wife is trying to transfer her account away from them since they would not allow here to make changes without a ton of paperwork, mistakes on their part requiring more paperwork, etc.
Paul Jacobs says
Poor execution of trade today. Put in order at last trade price & it lied there for 5-10 minutes with no execution or change in price according to tape; then changed to lower last traded price & it was unexecuted for 15-20 minutes w/no change in traded price reported. Finally got half the order executed at lower price. Changed remaining half of order to market & TD Ameritrade’s software did not work & failed to take order by mobile site. Finally used full site which took order which cost me $$. Do not use TD Ameritrade – they would not make good the losses or apologize for the software failure on my trade, & delayed execution. Do not talk to their Resource Desk – it is a “complaint desk.” & will only give you double talk, refusing to address the problem. Will only give you other “managers” to talk to & numbers for SIPC & NASDAQ.
Xave Draper says
I bought 80 bonds this morning for what I thought was a great price. However, when I go to sell them some time later, I watch my account value plummet by $70K as they back out of the original purchase. Is that even legal? They cite some error on behalf of the dealer, and I am left with no recourse except to warn others — apparently you can’t count your chickens once they’ve hatched with TD Ameritrade
Charlotte says
I am so discusted with TD Ameritrade. Will never do business with them again. I sold 200 shares of a stock and wanted to have the proceeds sent by wire transfer to my bank. They said it would take 3 business days. I called on the 4th business day and they had not only, not sent the money, they had put a stop on it. I needed part of the money to pay bill. I have done business with Schwab and have never had a problem. They wire transfer immediately, no waiting for 3 business days and then cancelling the request. I talked to the supervisor and really let him have it, and asked him what he was going to do about it. His answer was that he would send it first thing tomorrow morning, that is the 5th business day. EEK!
Josh says
I am searching for a broker to start an account with I am glad I found these reviews before I put money in. Thanks for sharing your experiences. And Wow TD Ameritrade just sounds like a horrible place to do business.
Herbert Buchanan says
With 500 free trades and access to the pink sheet markets I was enthusiastic about trying TD Ameritrade. However as I started placing trades I soon found out that they in most instances completely failed to process my orders when they were profitable. Orders were canceled without my permission, never placed, or were partially filled. When provided with an opportunity to screw you they happily do exactly as there supposed to selling your stock and taking a substantial amount of profit with market orders. Even transferring money out of the account is next to impossible as they canceled my requests without trades pending or pending settlements several times without providing a simple explanation. This isn’t trading, it’s robery. Stay clear of this broker there selective scammers.
Jason Specht says
I have found multiple errors in their financial data for several stocks including EPS quarterly data. Their customer service just acknowledged there are mistakes and did not make me comfortable they would fix the mistakes. I have found mistakes since then and am now considering switching to SCOTTRADE. Anyone else suggest any brokers?
Robert says
Overall my experience is positive, however, their system will not allow automated designation of lots ot be sold (supposedly this will be fixed in January – years behind the competition.) When I want to designate a lot to sell I have to sell by phone. Recently, I found that the wrong lot was reported and was told it takes 11 business days to correct the problem! Unbelievable.
Laurent La Brie says
I had the same experience with these people. You sign that you agree to the Custodial Agreement, but they don’t give it to you until after you sign. Amazing level of corruption.
Matthew Maguire says
This is a follow-up to rescind my prior complaint. TD Ameritrade did finally contact me and made an effort to resolve my concerns.
David Nunn says
Like you, I have had (3) profitable trades backed out (but never an unprofitable one); been unable to decipher TD Ameritrade’s intentionally bewildering and conflicting data, reports and statements; and had trades that were not executed. My 41-page 1099 report showed $0 profit/loss while my 1099B showed a $215,000+ gain and my 2009 GainsKeeper showed a $600,000+ loss for the year. My accountant has been unable to do my taxes. Improper and likely unlawful activities are taking place and are part of TD Ameritrade’s business model.
Michael Johnson says
Lots of talk but no credibility. I have been over two weeks trying to get answers to questions before moving money to them and opening a qualified retirement account. I have been asking them to send me a document or email that tells what options strategies I can use in a qualified retirement account. They give me an answer on the phone but when I ask for it in writing prior to opening the account, they won’t do it. “Trust Me” doesn’t work!
Jim Gray says
I never had a problem with TD Ameritrade, I was going by a brother’s feelings and bad experiences, except for two things: I thought I was getting the going rate for money markets and calculated my projected interest as such, when I checked over six months later I had earned close to zero interest and I found an article covering this issue that brokers pocket the profits, that specifically small accounts don’t fare so well with the rate tier system, so I did what the article said I contacted the broker and I had to ask for the rate I should have had from the start, but I was still upset that my money languished there for little or nothing, and I told them later that they should be giving me the fees they charged me, to cover that issue and I haven’t heard from them. If they do respond belatedly, and they right a wrong, I will surely make a corrective statement here. These companies should make sure #1 priority that customers are treated fairly no matter what size their account is. The only other issue, I’m not sure about this one, is that they were charging me mandatory hefty fees for reverse splits and my feeling is that those companies should take care of their own business and not bilk investors. I am very happy with E-trade so far, they have been fair and honest and their website is plush with tools and information.
Jeff says
My experiences with and analysis of TD Ameritrade mirror yours. I have had numerous profitable trades backed out; consistently received inaccurate, misleading, and conflicting reports and data; have had reduced/no control over my account; been unable to execute trades; encountered lies, denials and abuse by their representatives and more.
Andy Land says
I have tried over 2 weeks to get funding from a bank to them and it was sent to a bank of Omaha not my account – cause the child reps give the wrong data. Then it was fixed and I had to enter the amount online they sent to my bank so they know I am a client. it won’t work and they won’t fix it I need to take two more weeks to fix their issue. They can’t answer simple trade emails on their think or swim and other products.
Erick McKitterick says
TD Ameritrade holds 3 accounts for me 2 IRA accounts and 1 individual account. During the “Flash Crash” of May 6th 2010, they Liquidated my account as part of protecting their interest causing a loss of more than 160K without allowing me to cover the call.
Jim Webb says
I have been with them for 2.5 yrs and they have problems, especially with order processing. Now think or swim has same problem. Be careful – this week has been terrible
Cassie Madden says
We have had serious problems with TD Ameritrade, changing orders, backing out of orders,selling at the wrong price…and the customer services is terrible, we have very little response to all of our emails and almost no help over numerous phone calls.
Walter Uncle says
I have over 20 years investment experience. Over the last 3 years I have traded with TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, E-trade and Scotttrade. Also, I have extensive experience with brokerage firms such as Morgan Stanley, UBS Painewebber, Solomon Smith and Barney, Brown Brothers Harriman and Citigold. I do not believe there are regulations in place to protect retirement plans, IRA’s or general savings. I believe “Wall Street” (a term used to describe the financial sector here and around the world) has become incredibly dishonest and unlawful. The SEC and FINRA are failing as such should be replaced by new agencies. My experience with online trading is the tail of two cities I have had great success with E-trade. Scotttrade also appears to perform well, however I do need more time to properly evaluate this company. As far as TD Ameritrade, you have no control over your account; I have had good trades backed out and I have not been able to execute certain trades. Their front page (Balance and Positions) is the weirdest thing I have ever used. They have a special rule that stymies the trader’s ability to navigate their investment and they refuse to fix their problems. E-trade gives you your gain and losses immediately. TD Ameritrade porn’s this data to a third party who TD disclaims they are not responsible for their data you receive. They are making incredible profits and myself and others feel their staff is ether demoralized or in denial. Schwab is worse than TD Ameritrade. This is my experience, I am not endorsing any trading house, however, please be careful with all online brokers.
Teri says
TD Ameritrade sucks big! I opened an account back in December ’09 and tried their ThinkorSwim and Investools. For beginning traders I have to say…Do Not Use…Their program is hard to navigate, their customer service is horrible, plus they don’t want to refund my money! I told them specifically I am just a beginner and don’t know anything about trading, crawl before walking, you know? Was told that their seminar would help me out but of course, all they did was spend 7-8 hours on a sales pitch for options which I have no clue about. When I signed up to get Investools, I was told by their guy that I would receive CDs in about a week. Again, nothing. When I contacted TD Ameritrade, was told they don’t send out CDs. So I pretty much passed the 30-day return grace period. My fault? Don’t think so. Have been contacting them for about three months now with nothing but apologies, but no refund. What a crock!
Mandy K says
I have openend a new TD Ameritrade account in 2008. It was opened as non-resident allien. From April, 2009 backup withholding started for every transaction. So 50% of my investment money was with hold and sent to IRS. Now, they are not helping in any way. I don’t have money to buy shares now. I don’t know.. what to do. Whom to complaint?
Judy Bollig says
I love the interactive and wonderful platform Think or Swim has. The $5 trading fee is GREAT.
Dave Austin says
They are the best. Very easy to use, they have all you need, their “Streamer” is great. Very good support(24/7) I have used several other brokers, none of them come close.
Budd Reth says
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?
Steven Giangrasso says
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.
Sean says
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.
John Egan says
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.
John Diamond says
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 $
Tony Vaida says
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!
Beth says
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.
Sonny says
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!
Dave Adams says
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?
Pat says
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.
Harold says
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.
Chris says
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.
Ron Miller says
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)
Alexander Von says
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.
Nick says
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.
Jeff says
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.
Carson says
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)
Urban Mullen says
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. 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.
Paganini says
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.
Bill Kling says
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.
Vitale says
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.
Bryan says
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.
Jim says
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.
Brian S. says
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.
T. Young says
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.
Bruce Gavin says
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.
Geo B says
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.
Chuck says
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.
Helen Daniel says
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.
Helen Daniel says
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!
Mike Williams says
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!
Jarrett Owens says
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.
Jarrett Owens says
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.
David says
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.
Mark DeBellis says
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.
Ed says
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.
Cathleen F says
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!
Patricia Bertelli says
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.
KK Raj says
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.
A. F. Pereira says
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.
Gary Tlahacs says
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!
B Scully says
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.
Ted Kezensky says
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.
Tad Martinson says
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.
Stephen Marks says
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.
H B says
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.
Tom Coburn says
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.
John Bolton says
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!
Bret Bowman says
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.
Richard says
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.
Helen Daniel says
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.
Patrice Sauve says
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.
Former Ameritrade Employee says
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.
Amy King says
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.
Steve Gaston says
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!
Kripal Singh says
Serious doubt about the market order. Don’t place any market order with Ameritrade. Always try for limit order.
Eli says
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.
Dr. Brendon Chiou says
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.
Bob Wilson says
Any slightly complicated transaction, like changing title to a trust, completely confounds the customer service (or lack thereof) department.
Mark vonGermeten says
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.
Jim Boyd says
Ameritrade is the worst thing to happen to Datek. The inactivity fees are bogus!
Daniels M says
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.
C P says
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.
C Michels says
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.
Ruth Wiegers says
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.
Bob Jeffers says
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.)
Jane Alderman says
Easy to use site.
Mike the Stockbroker says
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.
XMan says
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?
Brian says
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.
Gin says
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.
Jodie Fudge says
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.
Patrick Lonie says
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!
Emma Petrovski says
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).’
Richard Terlizzi says
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!’
Tina says
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.
John says
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 http://www.freetrade.com. I hope fellow ‘dogs investors’ can profit from this information like I have.
Gene Sanford says
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.
Patricia Bertelli says
Highly recommended.
Edward Sanford says
I would like more premium service at no additional cost.
Andrew Burkhalter says
Good broker, but when it comes to buying multiple issues of one stock it gets confusing when you decide to sell.
Dennis Murray says
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!
Michael F. Maire says
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.
Ann Smith says
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.
Bud Sloan says
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.
Ben Merkel says
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.
J C says
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.
William Delany says
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.
J. Johnston says
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!
Williams says
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.
Michael Arb says
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.
Hubert F. Nelke says
Top dog? Make like a greyhound and run… The other way!
Don Jared says
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!
Craig Chris says
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.
A. Eversmann says
Deep discount broker. It truly is! Trades execute in seconds, and I get a confirming email. Good service. Friendly customer service. I love it!!!
Caceres says
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.
Kathy Carroll says
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.
James Brown says
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.
Brad Fiechtner says
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.
Bob Johnson says
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.
Joe Seventko says
Two criticisms: First is lack of confirmation of transactions, and the second is a long delay in crediting deposits to my brokerage account. Delays are so long that I’ve given up on Ameritrade if I’ve decided to purchase a stock and don’t have funds to cover the transaction. I’ll use Schwab instead.
James Brown says
They call it “rounding”. they take .45 cents to $2.54 each day from my account always rounding down. Never an “up” rounding in six months. All they answer is we are rounding. But rounding is bi-polar, their version is not. I spoke to a NASD rep and he never heard of such a thing. Can anyone explain this to me. Ameritrade can’t seem to help.
Nancy Aurite says
For a reason they could never explain, it took almost 2 weeks from the day they received my check to actually set up my account and allow me to trade. During heavy trading periods it is difficult to get a real time quote, but it seems to be improving. Their customer service rep’s and brokers are very helpful, courteous and informative. And the price is right.
Rick Beavers says
Great service – unbeatable price. Invest for the long haul and with the $8 fee that gives me more money to invest.
Rebecca Braithwaite says
I talked my recently formed investment club (10 over-50 women) into trying an online broker. Ameritrade’s customer service was so helpful in walking us through the forms we needed to fill out to open the account. We mailed a check on Monday and made our first trade on Wednesday. As treasurer of the club, I love doing business with Ameritrade.
Mark says
I receive confirmation of trades via email, but I am not a day trader. I am a “boring” buy and hold investor so split second confirmation is not important to me. Customer service has always been receptive, statements easy to use and their website is simple to navigate. The bottom line, a great online broker and all for $8!
Bernie Stepnowski says
I requested info packages from E-Trade and Ameritrade the same day. In two days I had Ameritrade’s package in hand. I waited almost two weeks for the E-Trade package before I gave up. I was up and trading on Ameritrade almost a month before the E-Trade package arrived. For the casual trader you can’t beat the $8 per market trade and $13 per limit trade. As for the glitz that E-Trade offers, look around the I-NET. It’s all there for the viewing and free too (including some free, nifty investor related software).
D. Kerr says
Most of the other services they provide are excellent. They have a reserve fund where your money earns interest every month. Check writing services. Real time quotes and some research tools that are quiet helpful. Other than the problem with trading on heavy days, Ameritrade is pretty good and offers some good services.
Joseph Seventko says
Good execution, but poor confirmation. Difficult to get through to them on high volume days, but this probably reflects growing pains with insufficient personnel. The $8 price is worth putting up with the problems.