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Non-Tech : Web Street Securities (WEBS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mike Winn who wrote (323)	4/25/1998 5:47:00 PM
From: Carl van Rooyen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1339

Web Street Securities...Even though very happy with Datek, I still wanted OTC:BB trades as well as the ability to enter /64ths, about the only two things missing at Datek. I opened my account at Web Street this week, (still keeping Datek for most of my trading) and promptly had a very negative, and VERY expensive, experience. I put two buy orders in in the morning, one filled and the other didn't. Then I got some news and went to cancel the other buy. The system would NOT take my cancellation, and I called them immediately. They put me on hold, then someone in tech support finally responded with, "gee, I don't know...". Well, the problem was in their setup of my account, a clerical error, and it was finally corrected many hours later. They blamed it on, you guessed it, the Clearing House. BUT the order filled while I was stuck on the phone with them and the stock nosedives for a quick 40%, just as I expected based on the news I had received - in plenty of time to cancel. That sort of quick cancellation has never been a problem at Datek, that's for sure. I called Web St. and the response was "you should have spoken to a broker, not customer service...". Keep in mind they plainly admitted their responsibility for the glitch, and have emailed me acknowledging it as well. I have formally requested a credit for the unwanted transaction, and removal of the stock from my portfolio. I am waiting and will post absolutely EVERYWHERE if they refuse to compensate me for this very significant loss. I will also post positively if they do the right thing and credit me for their mistake. So far, they haven't even offered to knock off the commission, so I'm not exactly hopeful. I definitely do not recommend them to anyone at this point.

To: Mike Winn who wrote (323)	4/25/1998 9:04:00 PM
From: wlcnyc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1339

Mike, re your "I cannot believe you cannot even place a market order if the price var. is more than 50%." You'd BETTER BELIEVE before you get caught in such a situation! I have made several posts concerning the MANY limitations of Web Street. Bill

To: Mike Winn who wrote (323)	4/26/1998 5:53:00 PM
From: James	Respond to of 1339

Mike, You said: "I cannot believe if you cannot even place a market order if the price var. is more than 50%." You absolutely CANNOT place the order, even if it is a live market order. And as for the wait time to get through the broker, I don't know about others, but it took me about 15 min. Keep in mind though that I was transferred and put on hold twice. Why, I have no idea.

To: Mike Winn who wrote (323)	4/26/1998 7:23:00 PM
From: Mike	Respond to of 1339

>Last question, I just visited their web site. They ask to send a >check to US Clearing Corp. Is that the same clearing house used by >Discover Brokerage (Lombard)? If so then their execution is very >similar to Lombard (speed-wise and price-wise). Mike, US Clearing Corp is the same clearing house used by Lombard (now Discover Brokerage). I used to have an account with Lombard too. WebStreets executions are comparable if not better than Lombards. The biggest difference is the reporting of executions and orders entered. When I entered an order with Lombard, they wouldn't update their web site for 30 minutes or more. I couldn't tell if the order was entered, executed or rejected. Nothing. I would always call their brokers to find out the status of my order. Many times the order was executed and would not be reported until that evening. Because if this, I was unable to enter an order to sell (long) because the system did not know I had bought the stock. This is not the case with WebStreet. Their reporting, although a bit slow, is light years ahead of Lombard. Mike.