I received my passwords today for my new account.
In the interest of be sure that fees are kept to a minimum I went online to try chatting to find out how to do this but no operators were avaiable and I was not going to wait for an email response.
So I picked up the phone and called.
5 mins 35 seconds from start to finish and the CSR had pulled up my account and linked my accounts so I will not have to change passwords or use two instances of the trading platform. I should be able to trade Monday...or at least by Tuesday.
I have heard others gripe about their customer service but I have yet to experience any real problem or hassle. My expectations are not that high, I will admit, but I pretty much get what I expect...and then some in most cases.
All in all, very helpful and in good time too.
Jeff.
Questrade, My direct access discount broker.
Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2009
TFTA, TFSA and Questrade
I applied for and have my new TFTA account and I am now just waiting for a password to start trading.
The process went smoothly except I tried faxing in my photo ID and it was too dark, I should have scanned and emailed it so I have about a two day delay that I caused.
I was able to use e-signatures to send everything in without having to mail paperwork, used a transfer from my margin trading account to initially fund the account and sent an EFT from my bank account to add some more capital to start with.
The only thing that I have not had cleared up for me is exactly how two trading accounts will work. I am sure that the trading platform handles multiple accounts, the manual states that it does but gives no details. I am sure it is just a tab selection to switch between the two so I am not really concerned about the functionality.
What I am not sure about is how to get the two onto the one platform...or how to switch the platform to TFTA exclusively. I just am trying not to incur any additional data fees or at least keep any potential data fees outside of the TFTA.
Having said that, my plan is to do no margin trading so I could just transfer the whole works. Being a discount broker I did not want to get too complicated with my setup so I will wait and see how it meshs...I have an email in to have this questions answered but I don't expect a quick answer. Right now they are up to their eyeballs in people inquiring about TFSA stuff. I see that their online help, which is usually very timely, is now running 20 people deep and 30 minutes or more behind the estimated handling time.
Don't be in a hurry if you are looking for answers from Questrade right now. Perhaps they underestimated the flurry of applications and questions that go with that.
The end run is that I expect that once I have my password and access to the TFTA I will have to call and have a CSR do some keypunching to get me set up the way that I want. I registered the account under the free platform package for now...I should have suspended my Pro package for January but I would have had to register the request in December and I would have lost my realtime feed to do any more testing... I need my feed.
All in all we shall see how this goes.
Jeff.
The process went smoothly except I tried faxing in my photo ID and it was too dark, I should have scanned and emailed it so I have about a two day delay that I caused.
I was able to use e-signatures to send everything in without having to mail paperwork, used a transfer from my margin trading account to initially fund the account and sent an EFT from my bank account to add some more capital to start with.
The only thing that I have not had cleared up for me is exactly how two trading accounts will work. I am sure that the trading platform handles multiple accounts, the manual states that it does but gives no details. I am sure it is just a tab selection to switch between the two so I am not really concerned about the functionality.
What I am not sure about is how to get the two onto the one platform...or how to switch the platform to TFTA exclusively. I just am trying not to incur any additional data fees or at least keep any potential data fees outside of the TFTA.
Having said that, my plan is to do no margin trading so I could just transfer the whole works. Being a discount broker I did not want to get too complicated with my setup so I will wait and see how it meshs...I have an email in to have this questions answered but I don't expect a quick answer. Right now they are up to their eyeballs in people inquiring about TFSA stuff. I see that their online help, which is usually very timely, is now running 20 people deep and 30 minutes or more behind the estimated handling time.
Don't be in a hurry if you are looking for answers from Questrade right now. Perhaps they underestimated the flurry of applications and questions that go with that.
The end run is that I expect that once I have my password and access to the TFTA I will have to call and have a CSR do some keypunching to get me set up the way that I want. I registered the account under the free platform package for now...I should have suspended my Pro package for January but I would have had to register the request in December and I would have lost my realtime feed to do any more testing... I need my feed.
All in all we shall see how this goes.
Jeff.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Questrade and customer service, my take.
First off, I am not affiliated in any way with Questrade other than I am client.
I have no experience with any of the other brokers at all so I have nothing to compare against. I see a lot of people asking about brokers and services and what to look for and what to watch out for so I thought I might clear up a few things with regards to my experience with Questrade.
The first criteria I had when I was looking to get started trading were low commissions, low balance requirements and easy direct access to the market.
A secondary consideration, actually it was hardly a consideration at the time, might have been customer support...I hesitate to call it customer service as I do not need service, just the odd question or clarification. Service is a value added thing to me. I was not looking for value, just troubleshooting if needed.
I set out to try everything and see how it worked, then ask questions as I needed along the way. I even have options setup in my account but have no desire to actually try them out now, no need.
I found the different browser and downloadable platforms easy enough to use, I liked the no additional fees, the free services with certain quantities of trades, reasonable numbers given the services rendered, generous margin allowance, online chat help.
I also like the CDN and US combined account. I have traded US stocks by mistake though, my bad, but the transactions were completely transparent as the account buying power is displayed in US and CDN funds at the same time...so i don't think there is an conversion fees.
I have had opportunity to place calls twice, both times I was answered in a reasonable timeframe and my questions answered well enough. I have used the online chat help often and, except for one case, received timely information as well. Email help is slow but there, I would call or chat first though as it takes days to get a response and they are pretty much regurgitating what is already on the site when the answer does come.
They offer no frills direct online trading. Executions are quick and slippage is minimal. Connections are mostly pretty solid. I have made mention of technical difficulties the odd time but I believe most of them have been ISP or internal LAN issues, mostly.
So, the bottom line, if you need coddling and advise, go elsewhere. If you are a "do it yourself" trader or want a clutter free experience, then give them a try. If you are a DRIPPer and are looking for a broker to get certificates through, try elsewhere as the certificate fee is very steep.
From the odd comments I have heard about other brokers I have been surprised at some of the fees levied and some of the commissions for what little service is actually provided, it's a jungle out there.
There is still this nagging VTO issue though...I am afraid that I have not taken the time to try it out or to call to see what is up, if anything. To be honest I could see them being dropped as the market is so volatile that I think they would be a liability to any new trader out there, I know they didn't do me any favours and I was not playing in this market action.
I have no experience with any of the other brokers at all so I have nothing to compare against. I see a lot of people asking about brokers and services and what to look for and what to watch out for so I thought I might clear up a few things with regards to my experience with Questrade.
The first criteria I had when I was looking to get started trading were low commissions, low balance requirements and easy direct access to the market.
A secondary consideration, actually it was hardly a consideration at the time, might have been customer support...I hesitate to call it customer service as I do not need service, just the odd question or clarification. Service is a value added thing to me. I was not looking for value, just troubleshooting if needed.
I set out to try everything and see how it worked, then ask questions as I needed along the way. I even have options setup in my account but have no desire to actually try them out now, no need.
I found the different browser and downloadable platforms easy enough to use, I liked the no additional fees, the free services with certain quantities of trades, reasonable numbers given the services rendered, generous margin allowance, online chat help.
I also like the CDN and US combined account. I have traded US stocks by mistake though, my bad, but the transactions were completely transparent as the account buying power is displayed in US and CDN funds at the same time...so i don't think there is an conversion fees.
I have had opportunity to place calls twice, both times I was answered in a reasonable timeframe and my questions answered well enough. I have used the online chat help often and, except for one case, received timely information as well. Email help is slow but there, I would call or chat first though as it takes days to get a response and they are pretty much regurgitating what is already on the site when the answer does come.
They offer no frills direct online trading. Executions are quick and slippage is minimal. Connections are mostly pretty solid. I have made mention of technical difficulties the odd time but I believe most of them have been ISP or internal LAN issues, mostly.
So, the bottom line, if you need coddling and advise, go elsewhere. If you are a "do it yourself" trader or want a clutter free experience, then give them a try. If you are a DRIPPer and are looking for a broker to get certificates through, try elsewhere as the certificate fee is very steep.
From the odd comments I have heard about other brokers I have been surprised at some of the fees levied and some of the commissions for what little service is actually provided, it's a jungle out there.
There is still this nagging VTO issue though...I am afraid that I have not taken the time to try it out or to call to see what is up, if anything. To be honest I could see them being dropped as the market is so volatile that I think they would be a liability to any new trader out there, I know they didn't do me any favours and I was not playing in this market action.
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