Comments on: Adieu to Questrade http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/ Helping you invest and prosper Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:51:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Newbie Trader http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-964268 Newbie Trader Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:32:52 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-964268 Is there any good trade brokers who do right by their clients? I am certainly staying away from TD... I want start making some money, not just make them money. Questrade seems like the best bang for the buck... anybody have problems liquifying funds from a QT account for personal use? Is there any good trade brokers who do right by their clients?
I am certainly staying away from TD… I want start making some money, not just make them money.

Questrade seems like the best bang for the buck…
anybody have problems liquifying funds from a QT account for personal use?

]]> By: questrade sucks http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-804982 questrade sucks Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:51:43 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-804982 questrade did me alright for about a year. Then I decided to transfer my stocks and cash over from another brokerage. What a nightmare! I have been trying to do this since Feb. and still have not completed the full transfer. They transferred my canadian stock and cash but no US. Then they transferred the US cash and no stock. Then one US stock and left the rest! It is hard to explain or image this going on for so long and someone not taking care of it. I have contacted them over 20 times and they are all useless. Loads of hidden fees to which they hide from you in another secret area that you have to go into to see these hidden fees. questrade did me alright for about a year. Then I decided to transfer my stocks and cash over from another brokerage. What a nightmare! I have been trying to do this since Feb. and still have not completed the full transfer. They transferred my canadian stock and cash but no US. Then they transferred the US cash and no stock. Then one US stock and left the rest! It is hard to explain or image this going on for so long and someone not taking care of it. I have contacted them over 20 times and they are all useless. Loads of hidden fees to which they hide from you in another secret area that you have to go into to see these hidden fees.

]]> By: Joe http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-424374 Joe Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:10:09 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-424374 TD is a load of crap. Their commissions on stocks below $2 are criminal. Plus they automatically convert your US share sales from US$ back to Cdn$ at their crappy exchange rate. It's absurd. IMO... Interactive Brokers is the best for active trading accounts. (they don't offer rsp or tfsa) Questrade is the best for TFSA and RSP accounts. Also for mutual funds (they rebate the trailer fee to you!!) Transferring money to either takes about 4 or 5 business days. Not a big deal. But if you're an idiot or a baby who needs help staff to hold your hand as you trade, neither is a great option for you. IB's customer service is very poor while Questrade's mediocre. TD is a load of crap. Their commissions on stocks below $2 are criminal. Plus they automatically convert your US share sales from US$ back to Cdn$ at their crappy exchange rate. It’s absurd.

IMO…

Interactive Brokers is the best for active trading accounts. (they don’t offer rsp or tfsa)

Questrade is the best for TFSA and RSP accounts. Also for mutual funds (they rebate the trailer fee to you!!)

Transferring money to either takes about 4 or 5 business days. Not a big deal.

But if you’re an idiot or a baby who needs help staff to hold your hand as you trade, neither is a great option for you. IB’s customer service is very poor while Questrade’s mediocre.

]]> By: Andi http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-228995 Andi Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:17:19 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-228995 I agree - the helpdesk is not very helpful and you might be forced to hang up and call again until you trip over a knowledgeable one. The interface sometimes has issues, they still haven't centralized everything under the same umbrella.... But there are very good things with Questrade vs iTrade, Waterhouse etc. If you have less than 25K the later ones charge you 100$/year to manage the account. Also, if one invests in US funds, those get converted back and forth and 1% fee is lost every time. Let's say one has only CAD in their account and purchases 5000$-worth of US equities, in USD. They will be charged with Questrade 0.5% fee for changing the money to USD BUT, it will stay in USD until you request or force the system (those are the only funds available) to change it back. With the others: 1% to convert CAD to USD, you sell the US equities, the money gets converted automatically into CAD - another 1% and so on and so forth... Depending on your investing mobility this could add up to big bucks. Not a big supporter of Questrade but not a big fan of big-banks either (worked for a US one and I witnessed first hand the waste that makes them charge commisions so high). I agree – the helpdesk is not very helpful and you might be forced to hang up and call again until you trip over a knowledgeable one. The interface sometimes has issues, they still haven’t centralized everything under the same umbrella…. But there are very good things with Questrade vs iTrade, Waterhouse etc. If you have less than 25K the later ones charge you 100$/year to manage the account. Also, if one invests in US funds, those get converted back and forth and 1% fee is lost every time. Let’s say one has only CAD in their account and purchases 5000$-worth of US equities, in USD. They will be charged with Questrade 0.5% fee for changing the money to USD BUT, it will stay in USD until you request or force the system (those are the only funds available) to change it back. With the others: 1% to convert CAD to USD, you sell the US equities, the money gets converted automatically into CAD – another 1% and so on and so forth… Depending on your investing mobility this could add up to big bucks.
Not a big supporter of Questrade but not a big fan of big-banks either (worked for a US one and I witnessed first hand the waste that makes them charge commisions so high).

]]> By: Kaimono http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-212264 Kaimono Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:06:41 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-212264 Questrade was ranked one of the the worst online brokers in Canada. https://www.qtrade.ca/_pdfs/en/news/news_091103_GM_ranking.pdf Questrade was ranked one of the the worst online brokers in Canada.

https://www.qtrade.ca/_pdfs/en/news/news_091103_GM_ranking.pdf

]]> By: Kaimono http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-212263 Kaimono Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:04:45 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-212263 I was totally upset with Questrade.com. Their service was absolutely horrible. First, I submitted a request to transfer my asset from ING Sharebuilder to Questrade.com. I had been contacting Questrade all the time, and I waited for more than one month, and the Rep told me Ing Sharebuilder only allow to transfer in Cash. I DID NOT BELIEVE THAT CRAP. So I called ex-broker, and they replied in a official way that Questrade NEVER contacted them for the transfer. So I called Questrade again, and only to find out that REP THOUGHT ING does not allow transfer in kind but only in cash. What a stupid and ignorant employee of Questrade. Second, I planned to sell my shares at the end of 2009 and book the loss. I called Questrade and they told me as long as I trade before end of the year, the loss will be booked in 2009. However, when the trade summary for 2009 came, it did not include any trade after Dec 23rd. And I was very upset and I called questrade. Another Rep told me it is by settlement date. So I asked for recorded message, he told me because of the phone system update, they did not keep any previous recorded message. Another thing about Qeustrade ranked #1 by Globe and Mail, apparently there is another company called Qtrade.com claiming to be ranked # 1 by Globe and Mail for four straight years. It looks like Questrade can not provide the service, but they are capable of lying. Here is the link to the ranking: https://www.qtrade.ca/_pdfs/en/news/news_091103_GM_ranking.pdf Now I will definitely move to another broker. Since I have 50k in my account, I can still get low commission deal from IB or Scotia iTrade. I was totally upset with Questrade.com. Their service was absolutely horrible.

First, I submitted a request to transfer my asset from ING Sharebuilder to Questrade.com. I had been contacting Questrade all the time, and I waited for more than one month, and the Rep told me Ing Sharebuilder only allow to transfer in Cash. I DID NOT BELIEVE THAT CRAP. So I called ex-broker, and they replied in a official way that Questrade NEVER contacted them for the transfer. So I called Questrade again, and only to find out that REP THOUGHT ING does not allow transfer in kind but only in cash. What a stupid and ignorant employee of Questrade.

Second, I planned to sell my shares at the end of 2009 and book the loss. I called Questrade and they told me as long as I trade before end of the year, the loss will be booked in 2009. However, when the trade summary for 2009 came, it did not include any trade after Dec 23rd. And I was very upset and I called questrade. Another Rep told me it is by settlement date. So I asked for recorded message, he told me because of the phone system update, they did not keep any previous recorded message.

Another thing about Qeustrade ranked #1 by Globe and Mail, apparently there is another company called Qtrade.com claiming to be ranked # 1 by Globe and Mail for four straight years. It looks like Questrade can not provide the service, but they are capable of lying. Here is the link to the ranking:

https://www.qtrade.ca/_pdfs/en/news/news_091103_GM_ranking.pdf

Now I will definitely move to another broker. Since I have 50k in my account, I can still get low commission deal from IB or Scotia iTrade.

]]> By: Ilya http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-209142 Ilya Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:23:14 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-209142 I just had a horrible experience with Questrade. I had RRSP in so called USD account, which was suppose to save me on exchange rate, it was a very bad idea for me. Questrade charged me $20 per month for data feed and made several conversions from CAD/USD when I bought and sold stocks in USD. Since their interface and account view is so terrible, you can't really see these hidden charges right away. They show your USD account in Canadian dollars probably just to confuse you more and hide their extra fees and commissions. Anyway, stay away from this broker. THIS IS THE WORST BROKER YOU CAN FIND. I just had a horrible experience with Questrade. I had RRSP in so called USD account, which was suppose to save me on exchange rate, it was a very bad idea for me. Questrade charged me $20 per month for data feed and made several conversions from CAD/USD when I bought and sold stocks in USD. Since their interface and account view is so terrible, you can’t really see these hidden charges right away. They show your USD account in Canadian dollars probably just to confuse you more and hide their extra fees and commissions.

Anyway, stay away from this broker. THIS IS THE WORST BROKER YOU CAN FIND.

]]> By: davyo http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-100060 davyo Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:28:12 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-100060 way off topic but... Be careful with E*Trade. The parent corp was heavily involved in the subprime mess down south and were just bailed out of bankruptcy at the end of last year. The high yield optimiser and free trade promotions are a despirate move to keep investor cash. I don't hink the issue will go away any time soon. I am moving all my capital out of E*Trade to something more stable and secure. way off topic but…

Be careful with E*Trade. The parent corp was heavily involved in the subprime mess down south and were just bailed out of bankruptcy at the end of last year.

The high yield optimiser and free trade promotions are a despirate move to keep investor cash. I don’t hink the issue will go away any time soon. I am moving all my capital out of E*Trade to something more stable and secure.

]]> By: Check Your Withholding Tax http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-99699 Check Your Withholding Tax Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:00:31 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-99699 [...] it doesn’t pay to procrastinate. I wrote about how I was in the process of moving our investment accounts out of Questrade and though I had filled out the transfer forms, I’ve been neglecting to mail the forms to TD [...] [...] it doesn’t pay to procrastinate. I wrote about how I was in the process of moving our investment accounts out of Questrade and though I had filled out the transfer forms, I’ve been neglecting to mail the forms to TD [...]

]]> By: Gene http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/adieu-to-questrade/#comment-95192 Gene Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:18:55 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/10/31/adieu-to-questrade#comment-95192 I am in the process myself of switching my RSP from E*Trade to TD. Both offer swaps, which I like, but I want the ability to do wash trades, too. There's no real difference in commissions, so paying the fee to transfer the RSP stings a little, but it will pay for itself with the wash trades. Listen up, discount brokers: your clients want USD denominated RSP accounts! I am in the process myself of switching my RSP from E*Trade to TD. Both offer swaps, which I like, but I want the ability to do wash trades, too.

There’s no real difference in commissions, so paying the fee to transfer the RSP stings a little, but it will pay for itself with the wash trades. Listen up, discount brokers: your clients want USD denominated RSP accounts!

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