Their Website Needs Big Improvement
Written: Mar 15 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Cheap, convenient
Cons: Terrible website
|
|
|
| Rocketgirl's Full Review: Ameritrade |
I had been toying with the idea of opening an on-line account, when Ameritrade's Christmastime offer came up. Open an account for as little as $500 with free trades through the end of the year. Their regular minimum balance was $2,000, so I thought I would give it a try.
I had no trouble completing the on-line application and my temporary account number was established right away. The instructions were very clear on what to print out and what to send to Ameritrade and to what address. I appreciated the fact that the confirmation paper work is sent in two separate mailings, one with your account information, one with your PIN number. This is to help prevent theft of your account. The first fly in the ointment here was that it took nearly two weeks for all of this to happen. So by the time I finally get my PIN number in the second mailing it is about December 15. So much for taking advantage of free trades.
The biggest disappointment about Ameritrade is its website. First of all, it takes forever to get logged on. No this is not on account of my AOL browser. It's slow using Netscape Navigator and Neoplanet also.
It is definitely a website for people who have traded stocks before or are at least business-savvy. When filling out the application it asks do you want this type of account or that type of account or this or that? Huh? They do have an on-line glossary of terms, so I looked up some terms to try to discern what they were asking me. It was not of much help and in some cases left me more confused than before. The site assumes all its users are experienced, when, by its advertising, I get the opinion that the new trader is the audience they are seeking.
When I access my account information, it is not even displayed on the screen when I log in. I have to push additional buttons. But I can't get all of the information on the screen at any one time. I have to look at balances, then positions, etc., but can't get them displayed all at once. Then after I select the first button from the main window, and pull up, say, balances, all the buttons disappear from the main window and are now on the left side. I find this method of navigation very annoying.
Now I am not really a very serious investor; I am not checking my stocks multiple times per day to see how they are faring (besides my employer frowns on that sort of thing). But I do require just a little bit of information about a company that I might buy stock in. Ameritrade's website is woefully lacking in any real information. Even just asking it for a stock quote is so slow and you don't get much information. The "personal finance" section of AOL gives me a ton more information than Ameritrade does--everything from the latest IPOs, to the hot stocks, to the not hot stocks, to mutual funds. Basically all I use Ameritrade's website for is to perform the trade.
Someone else commented on the slow response to placing orders. I have experienced that as well. One time there was a delay of three days. If I WAS one of those really serious investors I might have been mad enough to cash out my account, depending on how much money I had lost. A couple of other times, I check my balances and it showed my order had not been placed (evident by the cash balance). I checked my transactions and it showed the order had been placed. Can't they get these things to match?
I don't even like the colors the website uses. Blue, orange, and yellow. Yuck!
In short, I am only giving Ameritrade as high a rating as I am due to the cheap price, convenience, and small balance allowed. I think they have a long way to go before I can give them a five star rating.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Rocketgirl
|
 in Books |
|
Member: Beth
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Reviews written: 398
Trusted by: 224 members
About Me:
So many books, so little time.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.