Comments on: Qtrade Review

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:49:23 +0000

I am far into the future and reading this as a part of a periodic Brokerage review.

Are you saying that QTrade DOES have the capability of Stop Losses on Options?

I asked them for a demo / trial / Papermoney account but they don’t have one.

By: shaymc

shaymc — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:43:16 +0000

Greetings, I’ve been a Qtrade client for about 10 years and have been delighted with the person to person customer service and the user friendliness of the website. I also had an account with Nesbitt Burns and was being charged an astronomical amount for each trade so I switched my entire account to Qtrade and have been pleased with the service. I’m probably and entry level investor – I make 5-10 trades a month. I have limited knowledge in playing the markets but I’m learning and I’m having way more success with Qtrade than I ever had with Nesbitt Burns. I read once – somewhere – that an Investment Advisor is someone who invests your money for you…..till it’s All Gone!
It’s really important that we take ownership of our money and also assume the responsibility for learning how to Manage it. I know I’ve got a Long way to go but I’m Reading More, Learning More, Asking More Questions, and using Internet Resources to try and learn the best way to protect our Savings.
Cheers,
Shaymc

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:24:44 +0000

I had a lot of problems with Qtrade as they made so many errors just in opening my account which took weeks and weeks of e-mails to fix. This brokerage is very expensive even if you qualify for the lower commission tier (which by the way, is not automatic, you have to “apply” for it). Otherwise, it’s almost $25 a trade including ECN fees. There is a charge for everything. Their exchange rates are atrocious.

For a brokerage that claims to provide US dollar RRSPs, they cannot (would not?) link US dollar bank chequing accounts to US dollar Qtrade accounts. Cash positions are NOT updated in real time. Their website uses endless menu trees. It’s hard to find things. I would prefer more tabs but I guess this is just a personal preference.

On the positive side, their e-mail responses are very quick. I haven’t tried their phone service yet. They even have an internal messaging system but they reply to the messages via e-mail. They also offer GIC’s but you could go to those very banks listed and get slightly higher rates directly so why would you buy through Qtrade? They pocket the difference, I suppose!

This brokerage is very small and not suitable for complicated trades. However, they do have CIPF coverage. My verdict: Just an “okay” brokerage. Does not live up to the hype. I will be moving soon. There is an extra charge ($50) in addition to the regular transfer charge ($125) plus GST if you move within a year.

By: Gerold

Gerold — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:04:38 +0000

I don’t know which Qtrade you’re referring to Francis but I’ve been with the Qtrade based in Vancouver for 5 years now after trying 3 other brokerages and the Qtrade you talk about isn’t the same one I deal with. Their trades are so fast my account is updated as soon as I place the trade. They have customizable charts, excellent customer sevice, always polite and very professional.

You sound like a whiny jerk, Francis and maybe they treat you like one and they’re probably glad to get rid of you.

By: Francis

Francis — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:10:45 +0000

I’ve been with Qtrade for about 1 year and I’ve had enough!!!!!!!! Do not use Qtrade there are much better brokers out there. I’ve dealt with 5 other brokerages and I must say that QTRADE is the worst one I’ve had.
Their system is slow and unreliable. I’ve experienced about 10 crashes while trading and it has cost me tons of money. When I submit a request it never gets filled because it takes them so long to process and by the time they do the price has usually run up from my limit order.

As for the system crashes I decided one day that they should at least refund me for one of my commissions because they even admitted that it was issues with their servers and they flat out refused. They said sorry there is nothing they could do.

Their customer service staff do answer quite quickly but are quite rude. For the amount of commissions i’ve paid them you would think that they would at lease refund me for one. Instead the staff member proceeded to lecture me that if our systems go down we provide a means for you to call us to place the trade. Total horse shit because as far as true traders know every sec counts.

The other thing i’d like to point out too is that they do not have a means for you to place stop losses on options. When I requested an enhancement request the staff member told me point blank I’ll take your request but don’t think that we will make changes to our system. The lack of this feature which by the way is available for equity trades caused me to lose almost $8000 in two months.

I’m done with qtrade and the two contenders that am looking at are questtrade and Disnat.

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME AND HARD EARNED MONEY WITH QTRADE.

By: John

John — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:03:50 +0000

I have been using Qtrade for a year or so now. I picked Qtrade mainly due to the good reviews I read, and positive experience when calling for info on setting up a new account. This is my frist dive into trading stocks myself, so I have nothing to compare it to. I have found the site itself very user friendly with a clean simple design – they have added morningstar research reports, which is nice. I have only had to call customer service 2-3 times, and have sent a few e-mails. Top notch! I was surprised the first time I called and someone answered on the first ring – no menu to navigate, and no waiting on hold. I thought I had dialed the wrong number! The was a stark contrast to calling ETRADE and getting a rep in the US (after navigating and waiting on hold), that couldn’t really answer my questions, and didn’t seem to really care.

I would recommend this site – I pay a bit more for a trade than with other sites, but I am paying for the peace of mind in knowing that I can call and talk to a knowledgeable and friendly rep who will help me quickly if I need assistance. I am also paying for the simple, clean website design, and new features such as morningstar reports (was previously subscribing to morningstar at a cost of $20 per month).

Two thumbs up for Qtrade.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:25:22 +0000

I have my TFSA, RRSP and a small CASH account with them. The application process was easy and took about 2 weeks to complete. The information and charts provided on thier website are second to none. Quarterly statements arrive like clockwork. Dividends are automatically posted with absolutely no effort on my part, and you can access just about anything that you need to find out about your accounts very easily. True trades are somewhat expensive at about $20 but considering what you get, it is worth every penny!

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By: Kenny Waldal

Kenny Waldal — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:01:03 +0000

Can you trade small cap (penny stocks) with Qtrade?