Investing

[troyw]

I've used Sharebuilder since 2006 and never had any issues.

Yeah, I am sure there are many people that have never had issues. My investing with Sharebuilder was going well until one day there was a problem...it was then that I realized the true nature of that company.

[DanielB]

Yeah, I am sure there are many people that have never had issues. My investing with Sharebuilder was going well until one day there was a problem...it was then that I realized the true nature of that company.

What kind of problem did you have? And how did they deal with it?

[troyw]

What kind of problem did you have? And how did they deal with it?

There was a a problem with their trading platform that resulted in the share price of a particular stock being incorrectly priced. At the time, I had a Stop Loss in place (the stock was declining) but the Stop Loss would not go through because the system was recording a problem. Sharebuilder never told me this and allowed my order to continue to be open for more than four hours, which resulted in even greater loss of capital.

Upon contacting customer service, I was told that they would look into the matter to see if anything could be done. Their response was that nothing could be done but they did offer me two free real time trades - ~$16.00 value. Their mistake cost me hundreds of dollars and I didn't feel that that offer was fair. Needless to say, that is all they would do and left me with no other option but to transfer my assets to Schwab.

[jpg7n16]

I use Fidelity and have never had any issues with it. I always thought the user interface was very simple, so I don't know what the poster above had issues with. Guess I've had a different experience

[DanielB]

There was a a problem with their trading platform that resulted in the share price of a particular stock being incorrectly priced. At the time, I had a Stop Loss in place (the stock was declining) but the Stop Loss would not go through because the system was recording a problem. Sharebuilder never told me this and allowed my order to continue to be open for more than four hours, which resulted in even greater loss of capital.

Upon contacting customer service, I was told that they would look into the matter to see if anything could be done. Their response was that nothing could be done but they did offer me two free real time trades - ~$16.00 value. Their mistake cost me hundreds of dollars and I didn't feel that that offer was fair. Needless to say, that is all they would do and left me with no other option but to transfer my assets to Schwab.

Ok, that does sound pretty bad. I'm sorry they did not work out a better offer for you. This definitely gives me something of which I need to be aware in the future.

[troyw]

Ok, that does sound pretty bad. I'm sorry they did not work out a better offer for you. This definitely gives me something of which I need to be aware in the future.

The only reason I went with Sharebuilder in the first place was b/c we have our savings with ING. I thought it would be nice to log in and see our investments and savings all on one screen. That part was nice but this last "incident" with Sharebuilder has pushed me away for good. I will keep my savings with ING, however.

[MrPolarZero]

In my case, I do use several different companies. I often look out for the ones that have a comprehensive plan for my investments.