IB Support

This morning I had a premarket problem with my account balances and I called IB to report the problem. In the past when you had such a problem, you were automatically patched through to the Swiss office and they would take care of it (or would let you know that it was at least being worked on). I was appalled to find that the policy has apparently changed. No longer does IB patch you directly through, but you instead are directed to dial the international number yourself. I realize and appreciate that IB tries to keep expenses down to benefit its customers through its low commissions, but this change is a HUGE STEP BACK in service. As long as the markets are open, and that includes premarket, IB has the obligation to provide customer support.

THIS CHANGE IS A HUGE STEP BACK IN CUSTOMER SERVICE WHICH I DID NOT THINK COULD GET ANY WORSE. (I was wrong....it just did)

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Others have pointed out the key issue - that IB's order desk is no better off than the individual trader, because they use the same system. The only time they are better off is during network outages that affect the Internet, but not their VPN.

The real solution is for them to get the trading-venue-supplied software/hardware installed at their trade desk (i.e. Instinet terminal, REDI+, Nasdaq Workstation II, etc.). For the extra $30 per order that they charge, it seems like a reasonable expense. It would also allow them to better investigate order-routing problems by being able to see what the ECN/exchange actually sees on their systems instead of having to call them. Many other brokers have this.
 
I was trading this morning and canceled a buy order.
The status turned pink for "Cancel Pending",
then it stayed there without changing to red.

Here is a screenshot of my chat with support.

I called on the phone and the support guy said there
was a problem with SuperSoes and that they are
working on it. It's been almost 2 hours and it's still stuck.

So the problem is what should I do. Leave the order
alone and risk getting a long position tomorrow without
knowing it. Or short the stock and hedge myself in
case I do get it. Problem is that I don't know if I'll
get it or not.

Like telling me that it might be stuck all day is going to help me. :)
 

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jsmith

Does your order stay on the screen with purple in the status column? I have the same problem today. If so, I believe you can just change your quantity to 0.
 
Yes, the color stays purple.
Normally, it should turn red and then the row will be gone.
The quantity already says 0.
I just hope they don't tell me tomorrow that I actually
bought 1000 shares of the stock.
 
I don't know what everyone is talking about when they say that "for the commissions and the platform" that IB is a great deal....

Yeah their commissions are great... in fact they are the best available...to my knowledge.

On the other hand... their platform is not great. It is improving, but it's not great. The only thing that I do like about it is that they are giving us the chance to program it to our own liking...via Active X etc.

They don't even have real-time charting! For Gosh sakes, and charting is an essential part of trading. Many brokers have it in at least some form....

The bad thing is that if they did add charting it wouldn't be adequate because their quotes aren't adequate.... I mean come on, it's impossible to get a realistic perspective of the activity in the marketplace through the use of only one second updates. The only indicator that you have for activity is that the updates happen a bit more frequently (now every one second rather than 1.5-2...)

And let's not even start to talk about how many times I have cancelled an order only to find out later (when I wasn't expecting it) that I had a position in the underlying security... This has occurred frequently even after I received the cancellation confirmation by the order status going to "red."

I am happy with IB in many ways...don't misjudge me here. However, please don't keep talking like IB has a great trading platform. They don't. .... Unless of course you want to build your own... which is still your own platform and not IB's...
 
Originally posted by StockApprentice
I don't know what everyone is talking about when they say that "for the commissions and the platform" that IB is a great deal....

Yeah their commissions are great... in fact they are the best available...to my knowledge.

On the other hand... their platform is not great. It is improving, but it's not great. The only thing that I do like about it is that they are giving us the chance to program it to our own liking...via Active X etc.

They don't even have real-time charting! For Gosh sakes, and charting is an essential part of trading. Many brokers have it in at least some form....

The bad thing is that if they did add charting it wouldn't be adequate because their quotes aren't adequate.... I mean come on, it's impossible to get a realistic perspective of the activity in the marketplace through the use of only one second updates. The only indicator that you have for activity is that the updates happen a bit more frequently (now every one second rather than 1.5-2...)

And let's not even start to talk about how many times I have cancelled an order only to find out later (when I wasn't expecting it) that I had a position in the underlying security... This has occurred frequently even after I received the cancellation confirmation by the order status going to "red."

I am happy with IB in many ways...don't misjudge me here. However, please don't keep talking like IB has a great trading platform. They don't. .... Unless of course you want to build your own... which is still your own platform and not IB's...
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It's a trading platform NOT a charting platform. You couldn't pay me to use the crappy charting that comes with most broker provided platforms.
 
I agree with Cdntrader.

Just as long as IB has cheap commissions and fast execution,
it fits my needs perfectly. I rely on other charting services to
get my market data. I don't even think IB should have Level II.
 
I think IB's TWS is by far the best trading platform I have used. The feature where you can have an unlimited number of one line drop-down order lines on an unlimited number of securities at one time is outstanding.

As for charting: I for sure would not want IB to be the provider of all things as the users would not all want the same thing and yet they would all be paying for what they did not want. If you want great charting, pay $250 per month for RealTick 3. I would like to see IB make arrangements with Townsend Analytics to allow IB customers to get ReadTick 3 at a better price.

Catoosa
 
Originally posted by Catoosa
As for charting: I for sure would not want IB to be the provider of all things as the users would not all want the same thing and yet they would all be paying for what they did not want. If you want great charting, pay $250 per month for RealTick 3. I would like to see IB make arrangements with Townsend Analytics to allow IB customers to get ReadTick 3 at a better price.
More...

I agree completely. I don't want to pay extra for some charting application that I wouldn't use. I have written my own charting app that connects to RealTick's servers (which now thanks to IB's new trade API's, I can now place orders from directly). I would love to see IB reach an agreement with RealTick to provide a cheaper way to access the RealTick data feed, while at the same time would not cause extra fees for the folks that don't want the service.
 
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