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Non-Tech : Complaints About Schwab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Greg Jung who wrote (175)	3/15/2000 3:51:00 AM
From: Jorj X Mckie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 196

Greg, From my previous message. None of those things are part of my problem and there were a number of people that experienced the same problems at the same time, so I know that it is Schwab. If there are multiple people experiencing the same problem at the same time, it probably isn't my computer. I can point you to these people as they are on SI. I am not talking response time, I am talking about Schwab's system denying me the ability to place trades despite the fact that I can get quotes. My connection to my local area network is 100baseT that is connected directly to the NAP (Network Access Point) via an OC3. It is the same NAP that Schwab is connected to. My problem is not my computer, nor my local area network nor the wide area network connection to the internet, it is Schwab's unreliable system (and it ain't their network either, since most of the time even when I am having problems, I can navigate around their site. I am not trying to resolve the problem anymore, I am doing what the thread header says; complaining.

To: Greg Jung who wrote (175)	3/15/2000 4:04:00 AM
From: Mark Z	Respond to of 196

Greg - As an example, last autumn right after they put up the new interface, there were some problems specifically related to the use of IE. I spent a lot of time w/tech support letting them use me to 'test' yet all the time they would not admit any problem on their end. There were several notes in the other Schwab thread on SI (I think its just called 'eSchwab') and the tech managers - I was fortunate enough to get past reps - while not directly admitting any problem on their end were certainly behaving as if they were well aware the problem was indeed theirs. I changed nothing on my computer (didn't reinstall IE) and voila! all of a sudden everything worked fine...and the complaints stopped appearing on SI. Yet through it all, Schwab could not see fit to directly admit that they could possibly have had a problem on their end. Its just part of their electronic brokerage culture. They're incredibly vain and the closest they'll come to admitting anything is to point a finger at a vendor - a vendor that they chose (quotes, clear bugs in the research portion of the website, etc.). Prior to the advent of electronic brokerage, Schwab's customer service was superior and, for the most part, the brokers still provide service a cut above (the brokers can't help it if management has decided to let the brokers:client ratio decline leading to lengthier hold times on the phone). But the EB's service levels just don't match historical Schwab standards and the impression they give is that they just don't care to improve. And at that I wouldn't mind it but I can't justify paying Schwab's high commissions for an 'its no better anywhere else' attitude.