Complain about a product or service

Scottrade

James of Auburn, NH November 1, 2009

It took about two weeks, but Scottrade resolved the issue with the trade as described. Credited for the difference in the closing price/value of XAU October 180 put option on day of expiration.

Jim of Auburn, NH October 17, 2009

I placed an option sell order at the market price on the expiration date of 10-16-09 at 3pm. The option was 'in the money' by over 4 (400). It did not execute for 20 minutes, so I called the local Scottrade branch. There was heavy phone traffic so I was re-routed to the Main Office in St. Louis. I spoke with a rep there about the trade and was told that the XAU exchange was having 'technical' problems and their trade system was down. He instructed me to leave the order open, so that it would expire that day and be settled on Saturday (which is when options settle) based on the price of the index at closing.

At that time the options were valued approx 3.20 (320 each). The XAU ended the day at 176.50 -- so the options were worth 3.50 each, or 350. I checked the account at closing, and the options were sold at 1. I later was told they sold at 3:56pm, 4 minutes before the end of the trading day. When I called the local branch I was told there was nothing they could do. I asked to speak with someone about the trade, then called the main office. They made me wait several hours and finally said there was nothing they could do.

They told me to file a complaint with their Compliance department. Their email says it may take 7 to 10 days for review. The first rep I spoke with should have canceled the live order; when it did 'transact,' it traded 2.5 points below the index price at 3:56, nowhere near a fair price. Instead of solving the issue, they make snap judgments and put people on hold and send them to another department. Then they misquote you back from your phone calls that were taped, escalating the issue. Please be advised: some of their statements may not be accurate. It was a small error: the first broker should have canceled the open hanging market order, or instructed me to do so. He told me to leave it open so it would settle the next day. So, caveat emptor.

Alan of Hyrum, UT October 13, 2009

Scottrade sold me bonds, but fails to act as a normal broker. They cannot offer my bonds for sale on the open market, only to select market-makers (at a steep premium over market prices). One of my bonds is undergoing a reorganization. Scottrade refuses to process my ballot, claiming that there is no such offer, even though I have received the official SEC-registered ballot and there is an immediate deadline. Scottrade allows no customer contact except through the local branch office, which refuses to provide information or even to discuss the issues with bond holdings.

David of Plano, TX October 2, 2009

When I opened this account over 2 years ago Scottrade hit me with 2 different fees. One was to get my monthly statement! The other was for something called ScottradeELITE. I quickly saw what was happening (They were scamming me out of 17 a month!!) and called the Madison Wisconsin branch to cease both optional items and they said no problem. I have been actively trading and never saw another statement until recently, when my wife was looking around on the site and ran across one.

Guess what? For over 2 years they have been charging me 15 a month for ScottradeElite even though I only opened it one time the first week I had the account. My reaction was to ask for all of my money back (15 x 24 months or more = 360. They wrote back saying I could have 3 free trades!

I asked how I could sever my relationship with them and they said I would have to sell all of my stocks (that is all I have in the account) before I could close my IRA account. (Schwab said that is absolutely not true). 360 lost for NO PRODUCT due to a person at the Madison Wisconsin office not doing his job and the customer service people online being butt heads.

Chet of Las Vegas, NV September 17, 2009

In August of this year, I sold 28 January 2010 calls on a J P Morgan stock based on information provided by Scottstrade's software program. The software program posts profit or loss values to assist the trader in making decisions on whether to close an option position. Scottstrade made an adjustment to my JPM call report that made a trade in the option look profitable. For some reason, unknown to me, they eliminated my cost basis that made a sell to close my position look like a profit. Not realizing that they had changed my cost basis, I traded the options in anticipation of a profit because their software program showed a trade to be profitable. Mr. Bach said that it was my mistake to rely on the posting in their program that showed a profit and that the disclaimer on their software program releases them from any liability. This may be legally correct but it is ethically reprehensible.

carrie of washington , DC August 28, 2009

I have several complaints against Scottrade 1- my buy and sell orders have taken a long time to execute even though the limit price was hit several times 2- I have set limit sales that have sold tiered at differing prices from what I set

3- I use the scottraderelite program. I hit a limit sale on AIG. The sale went market costing alot of money. Having happened once before. I would keep multiple transaction windows open. I did what the branch manager said to do- call him ASAP for him to correct. I called him immediately. He said he could do nothing stating his computer said their techs said I clicked market. I have since discovered phantom transaction windows are open because of their program design.

4- I bought a stock they list at a 52 week high of 72. I bought the stock in the 80's and 90's. SCOTTRADE says there is nothing wrong with their system. I want to hear from others who hit limit with a sale that went at market. I want to hear from others who hit market for a sale that went limit. My branch manager told me, days before the SEC adressed flash trading, Scottrade adresses trades in order of their determined priority. My trades could take up to upwards of 15 minutes to transact. Scottrade is not adressing how the 52 week high of a stock I transacted through them was 30 plus less than the purchase price.

William of Arlignton, VA May 3, 2009

I trade stock options and use the Scottrader Elite program. Within the first few minutues I wanted to sell my Apple Computer options at the bid price, however the order didn't execute. The options plattform I was using was quoting bogus bids so I called the technical support people where they monitor their servers etc. and they had the same bogus bid quote.

They showed me an alternate way of how to get a real-time option bid but that was after I had lost a large portion of my initial investment.

I've also had problems with they're servers cutting off, restarting again, then freezing up. I've noticed also the data transfer rate (in kbps)to be extremely slow at times to the point of freezing up. I call them about it and it usually is resolved but not every time. I've noticed again that from the options platform, quotes come in real slow at the opening bell and especially when the trade is in my favor and by the time I want to sell the option the time delay has cut into my potential profit.

Banks of Vernon, AL April 20, 2009

Banks of Vernon AL (04/20/09)
Tried to open an account but apparently the staff there are the dont cvare attitude kings and after nearlly 4 weeks still cant get an account. dont expect them to return a call aor offer any help, they are rude and cocky.

Nick of Herndon, VA January 27, 2009

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