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Non-Tech : Datek Brokerage $9.95 a trade -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Crabbe who wrote (5647)	10/28/1997 2:21:00 PM
From: Mighty_Mezz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16892

>>I had little problems with Datek<< You were one of the fortunate ones. Many of us got naught but "Server did not respond" messages, which is a big problem. Is Datek really as fast and reliable for you now as it was 6 months ago?

To: Crabbe who wrote (5647)	10/28/1997 2:22:00 PM
From: johnny weissman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Your ra-ra Datek is bullshit. Real tuff-guy, huh? Datek's not my mommy; oh. It's times like these when the true test of a service comes. When there's a blizzard, invariably Con-Ed defaults to its years of neglecting their wire-upkeep (tree trimming, etc) and people go for days without power--when they need it most. Likewise Datek. We've all lost money and when your means of getting back--at that very rare moment when a palpable, and perceivable (by the average shmuck) runaway market turn-around occurs--is incapable of handling its customers, we have a right to scream about it. The worst part about Datek--perhaps other can confirm--is their denial there's a problem. When I finallygot thru to tech "support" the guy said everything was working fine. He gave me 5 new addresses to try, and two were bogus and three wouldn't connect.

To: Crabbe who wrote (5647)	10/28/1997 2:29:00 PM
From: Jack Zahran	Respond to of 16892

Rodney, It looks like a lot of the Electronic systems were having problems, I'm refering to SOES, SNET, Island etc. This affects all brokers who rely on their computer systems to automatically route their orders: Big and Small and no matter what they are charging you. I believe the only ones who have successfully circumvented this problem are those who have access to pick and choose which MM, ECN or Public System they want to place their order on. The only vendors I know of that let you do this are those that give you Market Transparancy. Some of these new Day Trading brokers and ABWATLEY's Ultimate Trader advertise this. I wonder how they faired in this market? The ABWATLEY ultimate trader thread has no complaints on it.

To: Crabbe who wrote (5647)	10/28/1997 3:21:00 PM
From: Larry Voyles	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

I actually don't have a big problem with slow response. I have worked on overloaded mainframes long enough to learn patience. I have a problem with no response. I would have liked to participate in the inevitable rally today. I'm not "pissed", just disappointed. I tried every server repeatedly (orders + 2-6 & 8) with "connection refused" every time. I finally got a trivial order through at 11:00, more than 1/2 over where it was when I started trying to buy. I probably could have done better with the express server, but I generally like to see the quotes before I buy or sell. ;) Believe it or not, I'm not going to bitch and moan that much. I'm certainly not a Datek basher. I'm not trying to pull my money out and open an account elsewhere. They haven't done anything bad to me. Now, there are some MM's out there that have bent me over. At Datek, I've gotten a few instances of price improvement, very substantial improvement in one notable case. As I said in my previous post, when I buy cheap, I get cheap. For $9.99, I can't complain a whole lot, because I'm getting exactly what I paid for. When the system is accessible, which is usually 9:45-4:00, all of my orders have done exactly what I wanted, when I wanted. Most have executed inside of 10 seconds. If I wanted hand-holding and nose-wiping, I'd be down at the nicely-decorated, thickly-carpeted offices of Edward D. Jones asking the nice broker if they would do something with all this silly money I have lying around. Have I lost money? You betcha. Buckets. This "correction" ate me alive. Portfolio down almost 15% from a week ago. Is this in any way Datek's fault? No way. When I finally lost my nerve and decided to bail out, I was out within seconds, at the price of my choosing. I'm trying to quietly suggest that I would have liked to bottom-fish when the market started rising this morning. I wasn't able to do that and missed out on recouping a lot of what I lost during the nose dive. The point I was trying to make previously is that I would be willing to pay more for improved response and more services from Datek. I like Datek's philosophy. I like the on-line history and daily activity. I really like the up-to-date portfolio value. The free margin during the day is absolutely wonderful! The e-mail confirmations are coming in minutes now instead of hours. I like being able to see my order on ISLD. There's a lot to like about Datek, and I would like to see them polish some of the "rough edges" that they have. Actually, I want them to let me be first in line when they go IPO. That would certainly make up for all their past transgressions, real and imagined.