Last month, I wrote about my consternation over what to do with a bit of cash I had set aside for a future tax liability. I ultimately decided that this presented a good opportunity for me to set up a self-directed RRSP, something I had been planning on doing for some time. I rolled in my tax savings with a bit more cash to make it worthwhile and set out to get things rolling.
Prior to this, almost all my direct investing had been in non-registered accounts with TD Waterhouse and E-Trade, and my registered savings were through funds such as the TD e-Series. While I have been pleased with these brokers (especially TD), I was looking forward to giving Questrade a try. With trades as low as $4.95, low minimum balances, and no fee for RSPs it seemed to be a good fit for my self-directed RRSP. The review of discount Canadian brokerages at Million Dollar Journey further solidified Questrade as my broker of choice for my new account.
Step 1: The Paperwork
The first step in opening my Questrade account was completing the online application process. However, I’m using the term “online” loosely- you provide the information in a series of questions and forms on the Questrade website and submit it electronically, but you are still required to print off certain forms and provide a paper copy of your ID before your account can be opened. I have no idea why Questrade uses this type of a system; it’s unnecessary, cumbersome, and adds an additional delay in getting your account up and running. With that having been said, completing the forms was straightforward and only took about 15 minutes, beginning to end. When you apply, you set your username and password to access myQuestrade, kind of like a common area for all your Questrading needs.
Once the forms were submitted electronically, I realized my first mistake- I had not included a referrer ID on my application. As Questrade currently has a promotion where a referrer gets $100 in trades for a referral and the new client also gets $50 in trades, I wanted to make sure this ID was properly recorded. However, unlike many affiliate programs where the referrer information is embedded in the link, Questrade requires that you manually enter the referrer ID on your application. I tried to go back and modify my application, but no dice. Aw, crap.
Rather than give up, I gave the Questrade Live Help option a try. Their system works extremely well- a chat window opened, and within a short period of time I was chatting with a live customer service rep who fixed my problem and added the referrer link to my application. Each chat session also includes a unique ID for your records, so if things don’t resolve as they should you can reference the exact chat where it was discussed. If every online service had a Live Help system as effective as Questrade’s, the internet would be a much happier place.
With that problem fixed, I signed my forms, copied my ID, and dropped it in an Xpresspost envelop destined for Questrade, and Canada Post showed the documents as delivered on Friday, Sept. 19. The myQuestrade site has a nifty little tab called “New Account Document Status” which shows which items have been received and which are still outstanding and the Questrade site showed receipt on Monday, Sept. 22. So far, so good.
Step 2: The Money
On Sept. 20, I initiated a funds transfer from my Scotia Bank account to Questrade. Questrade was listed as a payee on the Scotia Bank system, so the transfer was as easy as making a bill payment.
And then I waited… and waited… and waited some more. To check the status of my funds, I had to use the Account History option in myQuestrade, which required registration with a site called Penson and a second username and password combo. I was checking this site constantly, anxiously waiting for my funds to appear, but to no avail. I have made hundreds of electronic funds transfers with Scotia Bank over the past couple of years, and can’t recall any taking any longer than 2-3 days to go through. By Thursday, Sept. 25, I was starting to worry- it had been 4 business days and no sign of my money. Just as I was getting ready to hop a flight to Nigeria to talk to those Questrade people in person, the account status indicated that my money had arrived. Time to start trading… right?
Not quite. I tried to log in to the trading platform, but no luck. I once again dialed up the good ol’ Live Help and was told that even though my money had been received, my account had not yet been activated. Not to worry, though- I was told I would receive an email with my login info for my trading platform within 24 hours. But nothing came on Friday, and nothing came on Monday. Or Tuesday, or Wednesday. On Thursday, Oct. 2, I gave Live Help another try. This time, I was told that my money hadn’t yet been received.
WTF?!?
Cursing under my breath like a hobo coming down from a Lysol high and typing with considerably more force than my keyboard was designed to handle, I pointed out that the online account status system was showing money received on Sept. 25, and that the Questrade CSR I spoke with previously had confirmed that money had been received and my account just needed to be activated.
I repeat, W, pray tell, TF?
The CSR checked again and confirmed money was indeed in hand, and I would be receiving my login info shortly. But apparently “shortly” doesn’t mean same day, or even next day. On Monday, Oct. 6, I Live Helped myself again. The CSR was helpful enough and told me he would put a rush on my account login details (as if I hadn’t heard that before). Thankfully, he must have done something because a little later that day I received an email from Questrade indicating that I would be receiving my login details… within 48 hours.
And receive I did, they very next day. In case you’re keeping track, this is the third user/pass combination related to my account- one for myQuestrade, another for the Account History service, and the third (and most elusive) for the actual trading platform. For a guy who has trouble remembering his own phone number, this was getting a little mesmerizing. Nonetheless, I was finally up and running! Unfortunately, it was almost 2 weeks from the date Questrade received my money, time that I could have spent losing money in a rapidly crashing market. In an odd twist, Questrade’s delay in getting me started actually saved me about $1,600, based on the declines in the portfolio I had planned to buy. Thanks, guys! J
Step 3: Profit???
So, with my account set up and money to burn, it was time to get trading. There is a range of trading platforms available with Questrade, some at an additional cost, some free. I just guessed and picked the Questrader Web Beta system and got started right away. The platform is quite sleek and intuitive and provides access to your portfolio information and market data. You can even customize the scrolling ticker across the top to show whatever quotes you want. Neato.
If you’re familiar with online trading this platform is a dream, but if not you’ll probably find the online guides and FAQs lacking. For example, there isn’t a convenient help to explain what a limit price or stop price is, or how a market order differs from a limit order, so if you’re unfamiliar with trading it might be a little daunting. It’s also difficult to look up symbols, so you might need to use another source to get that kind of info. My first couple of trades went off without a hitch.
As I was planning on purchasing several dividend yielding stocks, I wanted to make sure that my dividends would be automatically reinvested. While Questrade offers a dividend reinvestment program (DRIP), you need to fill out an additional form to set this up. Once again, this isn’t done online- you need to print it out, sign it, and mail it off like some sort of 18th century postal dandy. The form is still sitting on my desk- if I make two trips to the post office in a month, I might as well become a retiree and start wearing socks and sandals.
The only major inconvenience to report is that prior to entering the Questrader platform, I need to complete and agree to the Agreement for Market Display Services every time. This agreement is partially populated for me, but I still need to check boxes in three places indicating that I’ve read the agreement and enter my occupation, employer, title, and job description prior to entering the site. Every. Single. Time. It’s annoying as hell, and will probably drive me absolutely insane at some point. If you see a guy running around naked ranting about Market Display Services, you know what’s up. At least they don’t ask me to print it off and sign it every time I want to check my portfolio.
Despite these minor flaws, the buy and sell process is straightforward and the trading platform does what it should do without any hassle. You’ve got access to information you need and the support it surprisingly good given the low commissions. Monitoring my account has been easy, and my first few trades have been smooth as buttah. Finally, everything’s coming up MGL!
Step 4: Whine on the Internet
Questrade isn’t perfect, but few things (other than steaks and Subarus) are. Despite a rocky start, I’m generally pleased with Questrade thus far and remain convinced that it offers one of the best options for small, independent investors. The fees are significantly lower than many competitors, the trading platform is easy to use, and the customer support is solid. If you can deal with a few minor quirks, Questrade offers an excellent product.
In case you didn’t get through my prolonged rambling about my Questrade experience, here are the highlights:
The Good
- The cheapest trades available ($4.95 a trade)
- Easy to set-up self directed RRSP accounts
- Excellent Live Help system
The Not So Good
- A two week delay between funding my account and finally being able to trade
- Too many unnecessary paper forms- welcome to 2001, Questrade
- Too many separate passwords to remember
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{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been with Quest Trade for about a year now and have found them excellent to deal with. It seems like all the reviews are polarized, either people love them or hate them. Put me in the love category.
I’m surprised that you stuck with them after all those delays- more than a week and I would have been on the first bus to ETrade. It worked out well that the market was dropping, but what if the delay had cost you money (if prices were rising or you wanted to go short)? You may not be as content. Thanks for the entertaining review, though.
@Davenet - It really does seem like Questrade is a polarizing force!
@Blazer75 - Thanks for commenting. You’re quite right that if the delay had cost me money I probably would have been much less forgiving.
The paper forms are required because they need an actual signature. You should know that, MGL :).
Poliblogger, there’s nothing magical about original signatures. Electronic “signatures” and agreements are generally as enforceable as paper copies. Maybe Questrade invests heavily in courier services and paper companies?
pretty much sums up my experience with them.
I find it annoying that i can’t use 1 account for all activities. I find the platform somewhat lacking (i called to figure out what all the 3 letter words meant?).
The transfers and setup were a little slow, but happened.
Most annoying on my list is signing into several accounts and not knowing that “.mx” is required for CND options trading (or forgetting).
One final note: I found it interesting that the company they use for ‘financial services’ is doing ok in this market. It’s getting hammered too, but earnings are coming in better than expected. Did i mention that the company makes more when money when interest rates are rising…
DH
One thing that wasn’t mentioned in the review is that Questrade allows you to hold USD in your RRSP, and they charge fairly low exchange fees (50 pips on my account).
Hey there,
If you’re planning on purchasing more stocks in the near future, be thankful that you haven’t gotten around to mailing in your DRIP form.
I was superkeen and included that with my initial account application paperwork. A few months later I noticed that my dividends hadn’t been re-invested.
After several conflicting LiveHelp sessions, the various support agents eventually agree that the checkbox for ‘All Eligible Securities in my account’ *really* means ‘All Eligible Securities that are in my account when the DRIP form is received by Questrade’.
Thanks to all for the great reviews on Questrade……….I just noticed my portfolio (transferred in kind) has left my previous provider…Hopefully it won’t take as long to actually begin trading.
Has anyone tried the Elite package? I am about to embark in regular day trading for the next year (110 trades p/m) and would love some feedback on which package really works best.
Also, any comments on the charting software and screening tools? Need real time 15 minute charts (Bollingers & MA/MACD or RSI) and really want a good alert and screening package…..something like Telechart but not as $$$
Thanks in advance!
Newdaytrader
I am old customer with Questrade with multiple account. I agree with MGL that it is time consuming and fristrating in setting up account and transfering funds with Questrade, but once that part is done then it is very easy trading through them. MGL, you shldn’t be agreeing the market agreemwnt EVERY TIME, it should be one time deal only, as it is like that with me.
NewDayTrader -
You can try quotetracker, it is free and you can customize charts and screen, best software ever for any trader FREE.
Thanks abc, Will Do!
I just opened an account with Questrade and had a remarkably similar experience! In total, 2 weeks from application/funds transfer until I was trading, including two variously frustrating live help sessions. Don’t be under the impression that MGL’s experience is an exception…
I had a similar experience setting up an account, but had a horrible time trying to add the ability to trade options a few months later.
Questrade user for almost 1 year and as well find the multiple sites very unfriendly, but you can’t beat the low cost trading fees!
Very helpful comments…I’m still waiting for the emailed passwords. It seems it takes a ‘live chat’ contact to move from each step. I’ve been playing around on the demo site but have no experience whatsoever and have almost scared myself into giving up on the idea of ‘buying’ and ’selling’ stocks since most of what I have either ‘bought’ or ’sold’ shows up as rejected with no explanation (i’m sure I’m doing lots of things wrong, but it would be helpful if a ‘demo’ site explained what it was. Can anyone tell me where I can get some easy instructions on how to use the buy/sell options with the platform? Thanks.
Update for those waiting for their Questrade TFSA to open.
I’m on week 3 of waiting. Just spoke with customer service via live help, and asked when I can expect to have everything finished.
Their response - quote - : “I cannot say”
I’m of a different mind about Questrade. I’ve had tens of $Ks in cash laying in my Questrade margin account for months, as I’ve been prudently staying away from holding much in the way of stock shares lately. Finally, I got around this week to checking on my cash and how much interest Questrade is paying me on all that idle cash. Their page says I’m getting paid “CAD rate - 2.5%” on balances up to $49,999, as long as I have a $10K minimum. But they don’t define “CAD rate”. Instead they offer a link to the Bank of Canada site’s home page, and you’re left to go searching… I never did find the “CAD rate” there. I found the Prime business rate, 3%, and thought maybe that was it. But a Questrade LivePerson chat rep. later told me no, CAD rate referred to the overnight bank rate. She said she believed it was currently 2%, which means I’m getting paid 0% interest on my cash! She confirmed that yes, I’m geting paid 05 “currently”. Outrageous enough, but what’s worse is they don’t come out and straighforwardly tell you this on their site.
In fact, someone glancing at the page might easily mistake the minus sign for a hyphen and conclude Questrade is actually paying them a generous 2.5% interest , much more than their bank savings account does - encouraging themn to keep as much cash with Questrade as possible! In reality, Questrade’s happy to hold large amounts of your cash, but refuses to pay a cent in interest on it!
I suspect Questrade is deliberately misleading people, trying to keep as many clients as possible ignorant of the fact they are getting ripped off, and receiving an unjustifiable 0% interest paid on their hard earned cash.
The rep I spoke with claimed rates change all the time, so they can’t post the specific rate! Yeah, right. They can update the value of my account balances daily, but not their interest rates? Sure.
By contrast, my other broker, Interactive Brokers, not only pays me interest on my cash ( 0.5%), but posts the figure plainly as 0.5% , as well as showing how they derive it: It’s the current LIBOR bank rate minus 0.5%. IB says the LIBOR is currently 1%. I suspect the “overnight bank rate” the Questrade rep. mentioned and LIBOR are one and the same. I also think she was guessingb (incorrectly) that that bank rate was 2%.
I’ve also come to despise Questrade and all other Canadian brokers and the TSX for the comparatively sky high commission fees charged on Canadian listed stocks, and usually on US listeds too.
When I buy US listeds via Interactive Brokers (a US Broker with a Canadian branch) , I typically pay a mere $1 US per trade! IB’s fees are higher on low priced stocks, as it’s based on the number of shares, but I can buy $10,000 US worth of a $35/share stock for $1!
I now like to daytrade, which entails multiple round-trip trades per day, and at $1 a pop commissions, daytrading US stocks via IB is very feasible. It is NOT feasible to daytrade TSX stocks though , because at $5, $10, $20 per buy or sell trade, the commissions mount up fast, and will soon wipe out any profits!
The TSX and Canadian brokers continue to gouge and insult customers by continuing charging high fees, and by paying 0% interest on your cash while obscuring this ugly fact.
Questrade is also less than candid about the extra “exchange fees” that apply
above their advertised $4.95 or $9.95. You only get the base rate if you “add liquidity”. Whenever you oplace a market order, or place a limit order but hit the current bid or ask price, you are removing liquidity, and you get penalized for doing so by being charged “exchange fees”.
Only if you place a bid lower than the current “best bid” or place an ask price higher than the current “best offer” price do you avoid these extra fees.
Again, sneaky Questrade is not very up front in their ads or on their site about this stuff. I had to go to another broker’s site to find an explanation of removing and adding liquidity. But check your trading slips, and you’ll see lots of those extra fees, unless you know about them and place your orders in such a way as to avoid them.
Online stock transactions are not much more complicated technologically than are ABM bank machine transactions. There’s no reason why commission fees need to be more than $1 per trade. Anything more is indefensible gouging of customers by greedy exchanges and brokers.
oops…typo…in my last post I typed:
“She (the Questrade rep) confirmed that yes, I’m geting paid 05 ‘currently’ “, SHOULD read:
“She confirmed that yes, I’m getting paid 0% …”, lest anyone be left thinking maybe Questrade does pay some interest. They pay zilch, and try to keep customers from realizing it!
I’ve been with Questrade for about 1.5 years now and never had any problems. Sure the Webtrader may have not executed one transaction request some time last year but that was just that one time and it was very brief (about 5 mins). I was a little pissed at the time but came to realzie that things like that happen from time to time.
I remember using a coupon code when signing up that gave me $50 in free trades which for me meant the world so that i wouldnt stress out too much since a lot of my early trades were being done for free.
I will try to find it on the web and post it here for those of you who prolly want to try it out with free trades and see how the whole experience goes. I think that would prolly be the easiest way for people to make up their mind on whether Questrade is good or bad…
I will write back soon if i find the coupon online…
Ok, i finally found the coupon. You get $50 in free trades.
Enter Coupon Code: 50DollarFreeTrades
or use this direct link and just signup to get your free $50:
http://www.questrade.com?refid=50DollarFreeTrades
If you’ve ever wanted to find out if Questrade is right for you then here’s your chance. Nothing to lose.
~Anna
Anna, you MUST make sure to input the coupon code: 50DollarFreeTrades even if you click that link you gave.
You ONLY get the $50 when you input the code in the “Promotional Code” input box when you sign up.
So for those signing up make sure to type in the coupon code: 50DollarFreeTrades and not solely rely on the direct link.
Thanks Anna for finding and sharing that offer code! It’s a great find!
are there extra fees if i buy stocks on nasdaq, or is it just 5-10$? is there a currency exchange fee, also?
BEWARE OF QUESTRADE’S SHADY ACCOUNTING
PRACTICES
I have had the single worst experience of my entire life with Questrade over the last few days, as I write this MY ACCOUNT IS MISSING $923.45 or 35% of my entire account balance & life savings after 3 CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF ACCOUNT IMBALANCES. I am actively spreading the word of my ordeal through any medium I can until the problem is fixed I have gotten a letter to the editor posted in the Kingston Whig-Standard and am awaiting publication of my letters to the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail. My uncle is one of the webmasters at Craig’s List so I should have a leg up in informing as many people as possible.
I have personally traded stocks, options and funds for 7 years and ETF’s, FOREX and bonds for 5, so I consider myself informed about the online broker business. I am not a wealthy person but I enjoy investing in a ‘hands on’ fashion. I had an account with E*Trade for 6 years with no problems. A few months ago I left them for Questrade because of the cheaper commissions and their favorable consumer ratings.
Up until the morning of March 5, 2009 I had a very good experience with Questrade, I even got my account set up in only 4 business days, which was very impressive!
*Note all figures include commissions and exchange rates at the time of the transaction. Also, I have a TaxFreeSavings account, which means no margin account, no loans, no borrowing, no overdrafts. I can do transactions up to my current cash balance, any more money and it will reject the order because of insufficient funds. I can prove all claims/ figures through screen shots of history and physical account activity forms mailed to me after every day that I traded. With that in mind……
The night of March 4, 2009 at 4:05PM I bought 23 shares of FAZ (an ETF) @ $79.80 USD=$1,840.44 USD (total after trade commission) x 1.27(the exchange rate at the time)=$2337.36 CAD worth of stock in my account + $54.72 CAD in cash left in my account=$2392.08 CAD is my total account balance.
The morning of March 5, 2009 at 9:33AM I sold the same 23 shares of FAZ I carried over from the day before @ $86.86USD=$1992.81 USD (after trade commission) x 1.2785(the rate at the time)=$2547.81 CAD + $54.72 CAD (cash left in account since night before)=$2602.53 CAD total cash in account now. But there was actually $2232.04 CAD showing in my account balance when I checked it after the trade like I always do. That means my account was $370.49 CAD… just like that.
I’m not going to go in to greater detail but the same thing happened the next two days as well taking $165.04 CAD on the morning of March 6,2009 and then again for $396.96 on the morning of March 9, 2009. I suspended my account at that point and stopped trading. They had taken $923.45 CAD by the end of it, or 35% of my life savings (I am still young and busy paying off student loans). I would’ve suspended it after the first day but they assured me it would be fixed and after the second day I was waiting for this manager to call me back, which he failed to do.
Now you would think that in the face of this irrefutable evidence, and the fact that they admit a computer glitch took money through faulty a exchange of currency from a bunch of other people’s Tax Free Savings Accounts over these same days, that they would admit the error. Boy was I wrong, the real fight had just begun as I spent 2 hours and 06 mins. that day (have long distance phone bill to prove it) on the phone to 3 different people at customer service, trading desk, etc. They just tried to explain it away going down a checklist of things;didn’t add in trade commissions (even though the totals I used from webtrader history have them added in), exchange rate (which I took from the forex website), my miscalculations, etc. Each person would say they would “send a report to the back office and someone would follow up with me in the next few days. Guess what, not one of them did, I called again on Friday March 6, 2009 and asked to speak with a manger that didn’t call me back for 4 business days and when he did he brushed me off, even though they admitted “some money was taken from my account and put back”, $181.82 CAD on March 5, 2009. He refused to understand that I sold stock for this price and then my account balance said I had much less then what I sold the stock for, even though this is very simple concept. Robert Chandler is the name of the “manager” I spoke with. He at one point 30 mins. into the conversation said hold on for 5 mins. and pretended to have an audit done on my account, even though another manager told me audits take at least 3-5 business days. Apparently Rob is a superhuman adding computer… either that or a bald faced liar. I called him on the amazingly quick audit he was able to do and he hung up (I have a witness who was also listening to the call), after 45 mins. of denials. I spoke with him a few days later and said he couldn’t bully me into submission, that I wanted a real audit of my account. He told me a real audit is $75 an hour charged to my account. I asked if Questrade was found to be at fault, would the audit be free? He said no the audit would be around $500.00 in total and would not be refunded even if they found that Questrade took money from my account.
I then attempted to go higher then Rob by using this excellent comment post and contacting Emil Vojkollari and Nicholas Roussos who seem to help people on this blog solve problems with Questrade, and guess what? I have left 2 messages for Emil seeking assistance in the matter and 4 for Nicholas asking him for help as well and both HAVE YET TO RETURN ANY OF MY 6 MESSAGES. That is not client support, that is an abomination and I intend to make it my hobby for the next few months until every cent of my $923.45 CAD is returned to me with an apology of mass proportions. The ironic thing is that after my forensic auditor finishes his assessment I can take them to small claims court where if found guilty of taking money from me they would be on the hook for $1000’s to pay for my legal counsel (my dad, who charges $300/an hour) and $1000’s for their own legal counsel plus have to explain the verdict to the IIROC Canadian securities regulatory body and risk losing their retail broker license.
Sorry it took so long to read, but PLEASE, ANYONE WHO DOESN’T ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT WITH QUESTRADE…DON’T, ANYONE THAT HAS AN ACCOUNT ALREADY…CLOSE IT. THIS AGGRAVATION HAS GIVEN MY WIFE AND I WEEKS OF SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND UNTOLD STRESS. This recession has been hard enough on everyone let alone being taken for 35% of my families entire savings. Questrade are at best a terrible company with horrendous customer service and complaint response, and at worst criminal with gross misconduct on the part of ROBERT CHANDLER. You don’t hang up on someone or lie and say you are doing an “audit” that was magically finished in 10 mins. instead of the standard 3-5 days. The fact that neither Emil nor Nicholas has bothered to return my calls proves that the upper management is also not taking customer’s complaints seriously. It’s sad what this world is coming to sometimes, I hope between the huge ad on Craig’s list and the letter in the Whig-Standard, the letters hopefully in the Tor. Star, Tor. Sun and Globe & Mail: people will recognize the absolutely vile way they have handled me. I was only trying to get my family ahead using a discount broker to save fees, I didn’t deserve this, my wife didn’t deserve this and my 5 month old daughter certainly didn’t deserve this. Shame on you Questrade.
Zack’s tale leaves me feeling glad I have virtually ceased trading my Questrade account. I do daily daytrading of US stocks & ETFs including the popular trading vehicle FAZ (a BearX3 financials etf) that’s mentioned, but I do this at Interactive Brokers, NOT Questrade! I’d go quickly broke paying Questrade’s commission rates daytrading US (or Cdn.) stocks!
-His tale also calls to mind my worst ever experience with a financial institution, CIBC, when I attempted, years ago (before IB had a Cdn. branch), to open an account with a US brokerage, to take advantage of rock bottom commission rates unobtainable in Canada at the time. CIBC screwed up the wiring of funds, and ended up costing me about $4,500.00, due to exchange rate fluctuation between the time my wire should have gone through, and when a 2nd wire finally did go through. CIBC admitted their error, but only after 2 weeks was it resolved, and did I get my $4,500 reimbursed, and did I finally get my US brokerage account set-up! Meanwhile, I had many sleepless nights, and days of stress-elevated blood pressure! I must give some credit to CIBC for admitting their error though. Fortunately, they record all phone calls, which gave me proof I’d phoned in the correct wiring instructions to them, and it was their rep. who copied them down incorrectly. And they returned my money, even if the process seemed too slow. Hopefully Questrade will do the same.
should i go for interactive brokers or questrade? wahat is cheaper and faster, if i trade american stocks, but ive in canada
Great review!
I’ll keep these guys in mind.
Here is a $50 Questrade Coupon Code that never expires.
Enter Coupon Code: 50DollarFreeTrades
You Get: $50 cashback when opening a new account.
I found this coupon at the : Official Questrade Coupon Codes & Promotions Blog
Please, beware of Questrade!
Recently, I established with them TFSA account and send 5,000 CAD.
Next day after unsatisfactory conversation with customer service, I requested close account and send my money back to my bank account.
And I can’t get my money back!
They use customer’s money as free loan and make any excuse do not return money.
Save your time and money and RUN from this company. It is going to end badly.
Alan // May 19, 2009 at 11:07 am
I am taking Questrade to court to recoup my $11,000 loss in amargin call. They had my money to cover the margin but depts at Questrade were not conmmunicating well enough. Also I checked IIROC webpage, IIROC had a hearing about Margin issue on 4/28/2009. If anyone have same experience like me, Pls send me email(alanycui@yahoo.com).
I’d like to hear more about their incompetence. Maybe we have a class action case and share some information and experience. Thanks a lot.
Alan
Mike Madej, I don’t know your email. Pls send email to alanycui@yahoo.com. Thank you!
This is a very good piece even if it is old. For me i switched to Questrade about 3-months back and haven’t looked back. It’s a great site for newbies because it doesnt stress the hidden fees … For me i just buy and hold.
One great thing i did prior to opening an account was to check out the Questrade Coupons & Promotions Code website at
Click here for active and valid Questrade Coupons and Promotional Codes
I hope I can find some answers to my questions from this site, from any one of you
I would like to open an account to trade stocks/shares on the TSX. My trades are in the hundreds only, never go more then a thousand. Thats all I will be doing. Is Questrade for me? The commission seems pretty low for a small timer like me.
Any advice?
Questrade is the absolute worst Online Brokerage in Canada. Their web site is continually down, their client service is terrible, they don’t answer the phone.
There has to be a way to shut them down. You may save a couple bucks on a trade, but you will lose in the long term when you have 5000 shares go against you and you are unable to sell your position, or you have nice win, and you cannot sell because there server is down AGAIN.
Words cannot express what a discrace this company is.
I would ignore the comment above by Peter C. (Peter - you should try waiting 10-15 mins. before hanging up, if you still can’t get through, I’d contact customer service and express your frustration). For me, Questrade has been an amazing experience thus far. I have been with them for 3 months now and have called in numerous times and have been assisted after a short phone waiting period. The online chat system is also very useful if you have inquires about their software while trading.
I have to say, its been 6 weeks since I’ve personally walked into the questade office, handed them the forms, void cheque, ID, and have yet to begin trading! I’ve had over 30 email exchanges with them, 7 live chats, and 6 phone calls and apparently they can’t find my transfer of $3000 in-kind shares from Manulife (my broker who holds my employee shares). Questrade is an absolute nightmare, the customer service is crap, and as soon as the shares are available, I’m transferring them back to Manulife… Gawd awful company.
[jack 03.30.09 at 9:06 am ] asked:
should i go for interactive brokers or questrade? what is cheaper and faster, if i trade american stocks, but [l]ive in canada]
-My answer is: Go with I.B., no contest!
Especially if you are trading US stocks. I have accounts with both IB & Questrade, so can compare from some years of first hand experience with both brokerages. As a short term trader I trade nearly every day and by necessity focus on low commission US listed stocks, not high-priced Canadian ones.
It would be totally impractical to attempt daytrading or swing trading using Questrade, because Q’s commissions on US stocks are far too high compared to IB’s, easily 1,000%+ more! See my earlier posts comparing commission rates. Most of my IB trades cost me a mere $1, occasionally a bit more. I can buy $10K worth of a $35 US stock for one buck! Questrade will charge probably $10+ for the exact same trade. In my book, a 1,000%+ difference is client gouging, pure & simple.
It’s true Questrade can be a bit cheaper than IB when it comes to Canadian listed stocks. But it’s impractical to be a frequent trader of Canadian listed stocks because commissions remain too high and will quickly eat up any trading profits. Only rock bottom commissions such as I.B.’s $1 and up allow short term trading to be at all feasible. Therefore, although I’m Canadian, I trade almost exclusively US listeds and at I.B., not Questrade. I only buy and sell with Q. on those ultra-rare occasions I’m interested in a Canadian listed stock.
Another useful fact is there are hundreds of Canadian stocks that inter-list (or dual-list). These are stocks that list on US exchanges as well as on Canadian ones. Most Canadian blue chip stocks interlist. Many mid and small caps do too.
An example: Potash Corp trades on the TSX, but also trades in high volume on the NYSE under the symbol POT. POT closed at $111.64/share U.S. on Friday. At that share price I could buy $20,000+ US worth of POT shares through I.B. for a mere $1! Up to 200 shares of any US stock at IB costs just a $1 in commissions (e.g. 200sh X $111.64 =$22,328 US worth of POT shares). What would Q charge for 200 shares of Potash Corp., either TSX or the NYSE version? A heckuva lot more, at least 1K% more I’d guess! (Rhetorical question: Is this fair?)
Another IB bonus: Their TWS (Trader Work Station) advanced trading platform is similar to the one Q offers (TWS provides real time data on a whole long list of stocks of your choice simultaneously, plus real time charts of up to approx. 50 stocks of your choice simultaneously).But at IB the platform is FREE 0n US stocks, as long as you make a minimum of $10 worth of trades per month. I believe Q charges for theirs. It’s not free.
Also, IB has a Canadian branch: interactivebrokers.ca with the same low commissions as offered in the US!
Essentially, the entire Canadian brokerage biz remains a customer squeezing rip-off racket, imo, aided and abetted by powers that be in Canada. Thank goodness the genuinely competitive US brokerage system has been allowed a toe hold in Canada, and Canadians can now benefit from realistic brokerage fees, such as IB charges on US stocks at least!
I view it this way: In this electronic age, an online stock buy in a brokerage account is a financial transaction not much more complicated than an ABM cash machine transaction in a bank account. There is therefore no justification I can see for charging traders more than a dollar or two to buy or sell shares in a stock online with a mouse click. We know US brokers can make a respectable profit while charging as little as $1 in commission fees. For Canadian brokers/TSX to charge commission rates 1,000% or 2,000%+ higher is indefensible gouging, pure & simple. I suspect our Canadian regulatory bodies, gov’t bureaucrats, and politicians are largely to blame for being lap dogs to the financial industry, preventing real competition, while allowing Canadian exchanges & brokers to continue to overcharge at will.
Regarding agreement signatures, I ended (with lots of chats with customer services at QT) up using what tehy call a virtual signature instead of sending paperwork I believe. But then again, that was last year and I could not tell you how I did it. It was like fluke that I discovered this type of agreement.
Good luck !
Hands down the funniest and most insightful review I’ve found about questrade. I’m sure I laughed out loud at least 3 times while reading the review. thanks.
DO NOT GO WITH QUESTRADE. They will cost you money! They blatently ignore your requests, and then charge you extra fees, for correcting their mistakes. They are a bad company.
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I have used Questrade for a few years now. Not once has the server gone down. Not once has customer support disappointed. I am 100% satisfied. I even made a significant withdrawal from my account and I received my cheque within a few days.
I think most of the complaints on here are bogus. There is no way that they provide this much bad service when their track record with me has been without a problem.
Also when I opened my account all was done digitally. I did not have to print off any form for submission. As I recall I had to register for a digital signature account. I do believe I passed sensitive information to this service and it filtered through a collection agency to see if me was me.
There was a period of time (about 1 week I think) where I had to wait to be vetted but after that I was good to go. I use their service daily and I am 100% satisfied!