Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Dave Hanson who wrote (8568)	5/18/1998 4:48:00 PM
From: Dave Hanson	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 16892

Update #2: a satisfactory resolution to a mysterious trade. Just a few minutes ago, Tim Richter called me personally to try to resolve the matter. He had obviously read both my previous post and my follow-up private message to him before doing so. Here are the main elements of the discussion, with some comments at the end: (1) He looked into the particular trade further, and could find no evidence that the second cancellation had been entered. I am confident that he did this in good faith and with reasonable care. (2) He confirmed that the before-the-open execution was due to the fact that there was a match on ISLD. He indicated that he had never seen this happen before 9 am, or after 4:30 pm. I asked if cancelling an open order before 9 am should therefore ensure a cancellation for the day, and he indicated that it should. He also said he'd be updating the info on the web site to reflect how this is working. (3) Convinced that he was in no way trying to jerk me around, I mentioned that perhaps I had been mistaken, and had interpreted the cancelation confirm that appeared on the daily activity screen as referring to the second trade, when it was referring to the first order cancelation instead. He then mentioned that he suspected EXACTLY this, but hadn't wanted to push this idea straight out because (a) the facts weren't 100% clear and (b) he didn't want to offend me. (4) He offered to credit me for 10 free trades, to make up for "the bulk" of my losses. (Since this was a small trade--300 shares of BARR at 10 7/8, for a loss of $150 today before comissions--his characterization here is fair.) Given his view of what happened, which seemed reasonable to me given the data he had, I thought this was a fair offer on his part, and said I thought that this resolution would be satisfactory. (5) As far as proof of a cancellation or trade is concerned: a printout of the daily activity screen would be sufficient to get the trade reversed--it would make the matter a "no-brainer." He doesn't believe we should have to do this, but if we have reason for concern on a particlar trade, he would see why we'd wish to do it. I am still unsure just why this happened. While I may have made a mistake on the confirmation page, I still don't think so--I deliberately checked the screens twice, and know that there needs to be seperate cancellations for each order on the "daily activity" screen. But, stranger things have happened. Moreover, the fact that in some 50 trades with Datek I've never had similar problem (or any other execution related problem, for that matter) makes me suspect that perhaps I did goof here. In any case, I will be more careful next time. I will also make a point to do a printout or screen-save of any cancellation page where there might be a question. In general, I was very impressed. Tim was prompt, courteous, and gave every impression that he was genuinely interested in giving me a satisfactory explanation and resolution. It's clear he monitors this thread regularly, and appreciates constructive criticism. As for support and service more generally, he did mention that time-sentive matters would get priority. That is, because I was still long the BARR position in dispute, that might be handled before, eg, a dispute over execution price, where time isn't a factor. Also, the same pool of people handle trade disputes over the phone line as well as the trades@datek e-mail address. Even though I lost money on this matter and still don't know quite what happened, my overall view of Datek has improved. Tim and his staff are making a genuine effort to be responsive. If I recall anything else of relevance, I'll post it. Regards to all, Dave