TradeStation - A risk to your business

Status
Not open for further replies.
I think you are right about their record. I called their FX trading desk a couple weeks ago and the guy on the desk in a surprised voice said "oh, an old account number" - I'd only been there just over a year! I will post a review once I am able to, ET requires I have 30 posts first...

MK
 
I agree with you tradestation is the worst broker out there. They have good tools, but thats it. They censor any complaints, and usually reply to you in very short sentences that don't solve your problem. After they will tell you to call them to discuss the problem, where after 5 to 10 min of holding they tell you what you want is not possible, and to live with it. They just wont say that online since most people would get a bad impression of them.
 
Quote from jebara:

I agree with you tradestation is the worst broker out there. They have good tools, but thats it. They censor any complaints, and usually reply to you in very short sentences that don't solve your problem. After they will tell you to call them to discuss the problem, where after 5 to 10 min of holding they tell you what you want is not possible, and to live with it. They just wont say that online since most people would get a bad impression of them.
More...

My example of why TS is a poor broker is their fairly recent outage of their trade server.

A brief summary of this travesty:

1. the server failed; ie, you could not make any trades!
2. checking their "network status" page showed "All Green" as it always does.
3. the support line was not available; you could not even get to the point where it tells they value you as a customer and there is a 20 minute wait.
4. calls to the brokerage desk were fruitless and all I got was a busy signal.
5. about 45 minutes or maybe a little less the server was again working.

The cause, and this is to me the most unbelievable part:

The power failed to the server (not unusual) and the BACKUP power also failed. Apparently, the never bothered to test the backup system.

If you want them as your broker, please read these comments again (not just mine but everyone who has posted.)

DS
 
Quote from mktman:

If I recall few years back IB also had trade server nightmares.

TS not alone in this and other issues.
More...

I agree, they all from time to time have troubles. But, I bet IB had tested the back up power supply to make sure it worked when needed.
 
Plenty of instances where backups fail.
Not too long ago the communications center for Chicago went down.
They went to backup.
Failed.
Unique set of circumstances caused each to fail.
Now they have a backup to the backup.

100% reliability doesnt exist with anything.

I can remember reading posts here years ago when IB was in its infancy.
Constant complaints.
Never ending.
As the years have gone by they have learned and progressed.
BUT its taken time.

As for TS Ive been with them long time.
Are they perfect?
No.
Can they be better?
Yes.
Just like any other broker including IB.
Remember they were predominantely a software company only and just within the few years implemented the brokerage side of business. They are going through lot of the business pains that IB went through a few years ago.
Is it frustrating?
Yes.
What's the answer?
Time.
Just like with IB.

I would venture to say if you were with IB back then you would have been posting here about them.

btw Im always looking for better trading vehicles. But consolidation has closed alot of options.
 
Barron's ranked TS number 1 for two years. Now IB is ranked number 1, why is that?

IB is a huge broker if you look at size rankings. Why isn't TS even close? I bet its their platform fee, too much for most people, seems like a nice platform though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top