Quote from Reaver:
From another thread
To OldTrader-
What was that shit you were taking last night about IB's customer service being there the handful of times you need them, provided you know how to read and aren't an idiot?
I can't remember, refresh my memory please.
It's kinda clear you didn't READ what I said. LOL! First of all, I said that many of the issues that people seem to have problems with and/or call customer service about are covered in the online user's manual and webinars. You have to read to use the online users manual. So let's not confuse that with any of your other statements.
IB was down today. Not sure what you want me to say. Did you want me to defend them? Sorry to disappoint you. No one likes it when their broker goes down, least of all me.
When the system goes down what exactly do you expect customer service to do?
But here's what I'm talking about. IB has let everyone know that things can happen. And therefore, they should take steps to protect themselves for that possibility (or perhaps I should say eventuality). So if you bothered to READ, and take it seriously, you might have done what I've done. I have two different internet connections, one cable, one DSL in case one of them goes down. I have two different computers in case something happens to one of my computers. I have a smartphone that I can access IB's Mobile Trader in the event that none of my internet connection works due to lets say power. And finally, I have a backup broker if I need to offset something.
Now, today, I did not happen to have a position on at the time. But if I had one, my first step would have been to call. I would have either gotten through from which I would have determined that the system was out. Or I might have gotten a busy signal. Either way, customer service was not going to be of any help at all. I would have had to use my backup account.
By the way, I think that most brokers will have a problem. Only a question of time. And by the way, as I understand it, TOS has had some problems. I say this not to defend IB, but simply to point out some of the realities of online trading.
Now, I remember several years back, probably before you were trading, when Globex went down. It was down most of the day, and into the night. That was a more serious problem than this. I did have a position that day, and it cost me something. I took protective steps after that.
Here's the bottomline. Customer service would not have done you any good given what happened at IB today. When the system is down, all the friendly howdy do's don't mean squat. You better have your own butt protected in one way or another. Some people didn't today. You can read their posts elsewhere on ET. But ask yourself this: Were they cautioned about the possibility of an event such as this? Is an event such as this possible at any broker? If the answer to these two questions are true, then why is the guy complaining? Because he failed to take any procautionary moves?
Now, let me point out one other factor that a guy who read the online information would have known. Stop limit orders on Globex are native to the exchange. So that anyone who had a position, and had placed a stop limit order, had an effective order in play when IB went down. If you placed a stop order, it is not native to Globex, and therefore would be held on IBs servers. Guess what? When IB went down, your order went with it. Again, all you had to do to know this was READ IBs website.
And this is what I'm talking about. You don't need customer service to read the information and to know more than most of the customer service guys know to start with. You might need to call them once in a while, but in my mind it's down the list of priorities.
Finally, if these problems were frequent I would leave IB. They aren't. I've been with them roughly 7 years, so I know something about that. But further, I've had many brokerage accounts over the last 40 years. There's always something to bitch about. I can remember when the phone went out, and there was no way to call the pit. LOL! So don't think there was something new and different that happened today.
OldTrader
