Actually, I'm sympathetic to Datek's attitude about customers calling.
I mean, it is very expensive to have humans answering manning the phones. They want to keep costs down, and that's understandable, and I support that - after all, the more they keep costs down, the cheaper it will be for us, customers.
As long as they take care of things online I don't see a problem. Of course you will still need *some* reps to answer the phone, as you can't take care of everything online
However, I agree that they should do more listening to customer suggestions. The order entry interface needs to be redesigned. I get around the problem by using a third party utility (daSlinger), but I'd much rather deal with a native solution. They really should give this some thought, because I suspect that streamlining order entry and confirmations will actually benefit THEM, by taking some load off their systems (not having to call up multiple pages), by increasing speed and precision of trading (and so increasing volume).
I wrote on this forum about the interface, and I even sent them e-mails with suggestions and examples of software. I also second the suggestion about putting the most recent activity in Daily Activity on top, and I mentioned this a few times. And my special wish - active confirmations, which pop up on your page by themselves... if you can write a java applet to have streaming quotes, this too should be feasible. Thus far I've seen no movement from Datek on any of these suggestions, but perhaps they need time - though I wonder if they even listen.
Meanwhile Etrade and other brokers are providing LII, and various other features - soon Datek may find itself left in the dust. Not that I would ever swith to Etrade, but if Datek wants to retain customers, and attract new ones, this is not the time to rest on laurels.
Datek, please listen to your customers - we are not enemies... this is a cooperative venture, and both sides can benefit. |
