They Took My Two Cents, and Then Another Two
Written: Sep 24 '07
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Pros: Nicely organized account summary page.
Cons: It's a rip-off.
The Bottom Line: The site is well-organized and pleasant-looking but not worth it, considering the inactivity and withdrawal fees, and the suspicious level of difficulty in closing an account.
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| philipchu's Full Review: E*TRADE |
Years ago, when I was anxious to throw my money down the dot-com toilet like everyone else, I tried to join ETrade a couple of times, but got found the new-member signup too tedious. Instead, I made my bad investment decisions with DLJDirect, which later became HarrisDirect, then CSFBDirect, then ETrade!
And boy, was it worth the wait. With ETrade's quarterly inactivity fees, I could lose money without having to make any trades! When I decided to close my account, well there's no clear indication how to do that on the otherwise clear and well-organized web site, I called the number on my paper statement, and the rep kindly informed me that I would be charged a withdrawal fee. I got a check, and, for several months, a statement listing a $.04 balance. Perhaps it was a mistake, perhaps they want to keep as many subscribers as possible on the books (it's still a dot-com company, after all).
In any case, I called again and said the account was supposed to be closed. And, just to be sure, I asked "and you're going to send me the four-cent balance?" The rep's response - "Oh, you want that?" I just said yes instead of asking whether ETrade was a charity or so desperate they had to embezzle pennies off their customers, so she spent several minutes apparently processing the check request and finally said "well, the system's down so I can't give you a confirmation number, but I assure you the check will be sent out." That was about three months ago.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
philipchu
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Member: Phil Chu
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
writer of software and prose
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