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Non-Tech : Complaints About Schwab
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To: scaram(o)uche who wrote (9)8/28/1998 9:10:00 AM
From: cirrus  Read Replies (1) of 196
 
Fortunately, I took a planned day off yesterday and didn't need to access Schwab. It truly amazes me that an industry so dependent upon technology can't get its act together.

After one outage a few months ago I worked the phones and eventually wound up talking to a Schwab rep who sounded knowledgeable about technology. I asked him if Schwab had ample bandwidth reserves to handle higher traffic? Yes, and gave me some figures. What about a backup site to go to in case of disaster at its main data center? Of course. Well, I said, how about activating and using the backup site simultaneously with the main site during the couple of days a year when things get crazy? Uhh... its more complicated than flipping a switch.

What annoys me is how Schwab wastes bandwidth and server hits transmitting pretty graphics and other junk. During crisis periods the graphics ought to be dumped in favor of simple hypertext screens. Schwab should also temporarily disable non-essential functions not necessary to trading, such as new accounts, up to the minute account balances and other nice but not critical features.

A separate server should be set up for quotes. It wouldn't need to be secure - just a simple no graphics site for quotes.

Finally, if Schwab is as good as it claims to be, it should offer guarantees. Waive commissions when customers can't trade, or when Schwab can't deliver on time.
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