Jack-
Don't make up your mind just yet. Many online brokers have had difficulty with the enormous flood of people going online with their stock trading and I'd write it off to growing pains. You should read some of the complaints with Suretrade and/or WebStSecurities.
Datek is simply the best online broker there is for non-bulletin board (BB) stocks, and the number one reason is the representation of your order. If your order, inside the spread, cannot be instantly crossed with another Datek customer, Datek almost instantly routes it through the Island ECN and you instantly become the best bid or best ask market maker with ISLD as your representative. Don't discount the power of this ability. You won't find it elsewhere for the price, unless you want to become a full-time daytrader with thou$ands of dollars spent on Instinet trading systems, etc.
Also, while I can understand your specific problem, and have had similar ones of my own, consider that your username and password are the ONLY protection you have from someone accessing your account. For the sometimes frustrating process of getting an account going or a password changed, it's really ultimately in your best interest as a Datek client.
Hope this helps and hope your future experiences with Datek are good. For the record, I have several accounts with Datek, E*Trade, Suretrade, Web Street Securities and RJ Steichen.
dax |
