Fun with Schwab:
Message 13118048
Here is a sample string of emails from the 2/18 outage at Schwab:
I wrote:
The reliability of your system is really becoming an issue.
Schwab's Response:
>>Thank you for your e-mail.
>>
>>We understand your concerns regarding the difficulty you experienced accessing
our automated trading functions on Friday, February 18, 2000.
>>
>>A system issue arose that temporarily affected our Web and automated trading
products. We closely monitor the performance on our automated channels, and when
this difficulty occurred, we switched to our alternate system in order to allow
continued access to trading functions.
>>
>>At Schwab we realize the ease, convenience, cost savings and opportunities that
Web trading affords our customers. We are committed to providing a seamless
customer experience through all of our trading channels and take all difficulties
very seriously.
>>
>>Whenever you experience any problem placing an order electronically, we
always encourage you to call us at 1-800-435-4000, or visit one of our branches.
>>
>>We appreciate the time you have taken to share your feedback with us, and we
regret any frustration or inconvenience that this difficulty may have caused you.
>>
>>If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact
us. Thank you for using Schwab's Electronic Brokerage Services.
My Response:
>This doesn't really address the reliability issue. I assure you that your alternate system
wasn't available to me and I can point you to a bunch of other people that experienced
the same problems (It was the topic of the day on the Silicon Investor chat site).
Additionally, I did try to call, but could not get through to a representative. I was not hurt
by the system difficulties, but I could see where I could have been.
>
>Most importantly, I wouldn't be writing this if it was the first, or even the second
occurance of these difficulties.
>
>In the telecom world, they have a level of reliability called "five 9s". This means that the
service is up 99.999% of the time. For Schwab's long term success, I suspect that this
will be a major selling point. You might want to forward this thought to your systems
guys/gals.
>
>BTW: I was also disappointed that there was no official announcement as to what
caused the difficulties as well as what was being done to ensure that it didn't happen
again. Maybe I am alone in my criticism, but I would think that Schwab wouldn't want
their customers to have a reason to start looking elsewhere.
Schwab's Response:
>Thank you for your e-mail and taking the time for providing this feedback. Your
comments are also passed to our electronic service delivery department for review
and action. Again, we regret any frustration or inconvenience that this recent
occurrence may have caused you.
>
>If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for using Schwab's Electronic Brokerage Services.
My Response:
Somehow your response does not instill any confidence in me that you have identified
the problems that Schwab has been having and nor does it indicate that Schwab is
actually doing anything about it.
My original statement:
>>The reliability of your system is really becoming an issue.
still stands.
And now the lack of responsiveness to the issue is also becoming an issue. The fact that
I received canned email responses to my emails does not constitute "responsiveness".
There was no indication in your replies that indicates that my emails were even read.
---------------------------------------------------
After this email I receive a phone call saying that I wouldn't get any more information
than what I received in the emails and that I was perfectly welcome to research other
online brokers since they were positive that I wouldn't find better reliability.
This may be true, but I might be able to find an OLB that understands what customer
service is.. |
