One of the first things I asked before I signed up as a new customer was- Does iTrade send a year end summary of security dispositions? The answer was yes. The truth has me reeling.

My mailed statements (which look mickey mouse) do not show adjusted book values in my non-registered accounts. I can understand this be the case for securities transferred in-kind from my old (soon to be new again) institution but I have since bought two new ones and guess what-no book value. At least not on my paper statements. Online they are stated except for the one security where the number on my screen does not match the number on my confirmation receipt. Is iTrade for real??!! Also, still waiting for a income summary for a trust company I own and were already half way through March.

In my first review I stated I would wait until my portfolio grows to the needed value to qualify for $9.99 trades at my old institution-RBC. Needless to say the transfer paperwork is currently in progress. iTrade is simply not worth the headache.

I keep thinking about iTrade’s commercial shown everywhere. The one where customers are throwing each other a ball then answering why they trade with iTrade. I see it as something different. The customers are actually employees and the ball is a hot potato representing your money.

BNS has really screwed up Etrade. I don’t know if they’re not funding it or what but customer service is in the toilet. The interface is terrible so we are forced to call in anything other than the simplest option orders. The guys answering the phones are either incompetent or pretend to be – very frustrating, when trying to place a simple option spread order. The web site goes down for hours at a time and entire option chains quotes mysteriously disappear permanently (anyone look up RUT lately?). Not to mention that fun weekend in December during which they changed a LONG call position to a SHORT position out of nowhere forcing me to deposit 20K to cover a margin call which should never have been issued in the first place.

Going forward my “core” holdings will be at RBC and I’m going to optionsxpress for option trades, at least you can enter orders directly without being forced to talk to rude, slow and sometimes stupid customer service reps. A sad end to a 10 year old Etrade account, oh well.

The transfer was done during the changeover debacle last Dec 09. It was only 2 weeks ago that missed dividends and trading fee rebates were credited. I must have placed a dozen calls to my personal account manager to get it sorted out. Eleven to many in my opinion. That being said, he saw it through which is the only reason I did not transfer back. If it were left to their general customer service, which I believe is utterly lacking, I would have taken my money and ran.

Compared to RBC, iTrade’s general web platform is very weak. I have subscribed to Globe Investor Gold for decision making. In addition, if you are a MAC user like me, you will quickly find their platform cannot fully support your computer. When I inquired about it, I was told institutions use PC’s so I should buy a laptop otherwise I’m SOL.

I’m also alarmed by what I’m reading about their currency exchange. At this point in my investing career I’m mostly building core positions in dividend paying stocks. I have a USD account but I question if utilizing the TSFA at iTrade for foreign equities is a good idea.

In summary I believe you get what you pay for. I definitely don’t have the peace of mind I had at RBC. I am much more diligent in keeping track of dividends owed and general record keeping at iTrade. Although I disagree with RBC’s play dough online poker site practice account marketing strategy, I will probably switch back once my positions grow to the $100k needed.

I called and yelled and they wouldn’t help , got 2 free trades.

I was in TNA for 30k, up 400.00 , went to put in my sell order, and the ticket said my account did not exist. 0.00 money in my account 250k gone.

I called yelling, market tanking ! and they said because we’re are in the process of switching over your account to a margin account……more yelling…get it sold over the phone, wanted to charge me a 45.00 fee, more yelling…no charge sir, sorry…. I want 100 free trades, no sir, I’ll give you 2 , hang up…..

no more itrade, switching again to someone else….

Holding my money for 1 week! thats too much. Also, I think there is a min. usage fee right?
I have been told that TOS is very good.

[...] E-Trade (Investment account) ($9.99 – $19.99/trade) Starting January 2009, E*TRADE Canada will be offering the new Tax-Free Savings Account, which was recently announced by the Government of Canada in the 2008 Federal Budget. [...]

My suspicion is that when Scotia took over, they did not acquire source code for online programming from E*Trade. Consequently they are now unable to make program upgrades or modifications.

My advice based on personal experience… STEER CLEAR OF iTRADE!!

I never had a problem with their service provider. Although I have more than 5k invested and did not use them as financial advisors. (called them up one time to correct a mistake in using cdn instead of from my usd account. It was fixed fast. Their system is accurate and pretty secure.)

I found lots of comments are ridiculous. You state one thing yet fail to provide the other thing you had find better and what exactly was wrong with it.

I checked the fee charge list on others if you can find it that is and found itrade to be competitive.