I like IB and haven't had the problems that others have had, but to any prospective IB clients this is the situation (IMHO):
1) They WILL hold you to the "standard" electronic trading disclaimer: if you have problems like stuck quotes and "pink" order anomalies, etc, that costs you money - too f*ing bad. A trading error that the audit trail shows to be their fault, they will own up to it. Their phone service just won't handle any emergency situations you may have with the TWS, or at least, it will cost you $30 per trade. This is if you pay $10 a month in commish, or $10,000; it doesn't matter. So, word to the wise...
2) They have more than the average number of problems with their Trading Work Station because firstly, as far as I'm concerned, Java just won't get the job done in a reliable manner. And secondly, because they CONSTANTLY change and "upgrade" the fricken thing. I don't use 1/10 of the features it has and I think the added complexity is going to cause more unhappy campers and will hurt, more than benefit IB.
IB, please use some of the ad money you have been spending to pay for a few, just a few, knowledgeable CS phone help people. And tone down the 8-times-a-month TWS upgrades.
Regards,
C (still a happy IB user...for now)