Author Topic: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint  (Read 1796 times)

TorontoGirl

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Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« on: March 01, 2019, 09:00:55 PM »
Hey guys,

I called TD DI to take advantage of a promo for free trades which ends today (March 1st). I had called two weeks ago and an agent was supposed to have someone call back a few days ago to help me open an account. And, no one called.

Today, I call in again, remembering that it's the last day. The pre-qualifying agent asked some authentication questions and put me to another person who was in charge of opening accounts. He says 'By the way, you already have a TD DI account but with no funds in it. Just have the other agent transfer you back to me and I'll close this one. I'm going to fill a form so that you can take advantage of your free trades. This whole process will take about 30 mins, do you have the time?'

Next agent: 'You need to open the account by March 1st, but we're just doing an application. It takes 2-3 business days for your account to be open, and you'll lose on the promo because by the time it's open it'll be past deadline'

I wasn't happy, obviously, as no one told me. His response: 'The previous guy and I anticipated that you'd give us push-back'. Oh-kay. I told him that I also work for the bank and that they should've set expectations. The free trades were nothing but credits for trades placed between certain times. I asked him for an escalation procedure, and he told me that he'd put me through to a manager with the added 'He's going to tell you the exact same thing' and 'The fact that you work for the bank isn't going to help you in any way'. He's not wrong, but I'm annoyed at his attitude like I'm supposed to somehow know all about their internal process even though it's nowhere on their public site.

Anyway.

There's a promo for Scotia that hasn't expired with almost the same perks and I'm going to look into that.
I will put a complaint against TD and the agents (who I can figure out through an internal social media page) and trading is regulated by IIROC. I don't think that it'll help.

I went through the fine print with the manager and though it states that I need to open a qualifying account by March 1st, 2019, I pointed out to him that nowhere does it state that it takes 2-5 business days for it to happen and he conceded. I can't be the only person who didn't know about this.

And, another agent told me that there were a lot of 'sassy customers' who could've been the reason why the previous agent was totally rude to me--though he doesn't excuse this behavior (right...).

Thoughts?
« Last Edit: March 01, 2019, 09:04:06 PM by TorontoGirl »

Indexer

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2019, 02:34:35 PM »
And, another agent told me that there were a lot of 'sassy customers' who could've been the reason why the previous agent was totally rude to me--though he doesn't excuse this behavior (right...).

Thoughts?

I bet there are a whole bunch of sassy customers, as everyone else opening an account that day went through the same thing you did. If they know it takes days to open an account they should either disclosed that on the site so people know to really open them by Feb 25th, or they should have built into their promo that anyone who 'starts' opening an account by March 1st gets the promo.

Side note, customer service 101, why are they describing other customers as 'sassy'?

I don't have any insight on the promo. It was worded very poorly. It does sound like everyone at TD needs some basic customer service training.  They should have owned up to the promo being worded poorly, told you they were passing along all feedback to the marketing team, and apologize that they can't honor the promotion if the account is open after March 1st. Better yet, they should just honor the promo, but the front line people don't have control over that.

daverobev

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2019, 06:06:37 AM »
Unless you get preferential rates with TD, why not try Questrade or one of the other discount brokers? Free to buy ETFs with Questrade.

CheezM

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2019, 06:29:36 AM »
Or Robinhood?

Chase gives you 100 free trades with You Invest as well.  If you keep $250k in all accounts (including investments) with Chase, then you get free trades, period.

daverobev

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2019, 06:42:25 AM »
Or Robinhood?

Chase gives you 100 free trades with You Invest as well.  If you keep $250k in all accounts (including investments) with Chase, then you get free trades, period.

Wrong country, friend.

CheezM

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2019, 06:48:40 AM »
Or Robinhood?

Chase gives you 100 free trades with You Invest as well.  If you keep $250k in all accounts (including investments) with Chase, then you get free trades, period.

Wrong country, friend.

Didn't catch that.  Whoops! We have TD here, too.

Freedomin5

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2019, 07:26:13 AM »
I thought they were initially trying to do you a favor. This promo is supposed to be for NEW TD DI customers, but you actually already have an existing account (granted, you seemed to have never used it). I’m sorry that it all turned into a frustrating experience, but I guess you win some and you lose some.

I wanted to take advantage of the promo too, but I already have a TD DI account.

It sounds like you’ve found an alternative. I would just pursue the Scotia deal if I were you. Or go with Questrade.

TorontoGirl

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2019, 07:36:41 AM »
Hey, I just want to give you guys updates.

I re-read my initial post and it seemed like I was going to complain about the agents regarding my unhappiness with the promo. LOL, no.

I was frustrated that the promo wasn't clear, and then I was annoyed with the agents' attitude. The second agent who was supposed to open my account responded with 'Well, I'm telling you now' with a scoffing tone when I pointed out that neither the promo-page nor the pre-qualifying agent who transferred me to him mentioned the delay. He also informed me that he had told the previous agent that he expected me to give 'pushback' (his own words)--why was he even telling me this?

Anyway, regarding the promo, I got an email message from his manager, the one who looked at the fine print along with me, and told me that the marketing dept decided to extend the promo until end of March. Great! I went to a branch yesterday and put in an application, and my TD DI acct should be open by the end of the week.

I think I might try TD for the duration of the promo with which I have till July 1st to make trades. I'll close the account and open one on Questrade later. Being staff gives me some advantages. If I were to go to Scotia, I'd have to open an bank acct with them and put some money on the acct, whereas with TD I could take out all my money from my existing staff acct, making the balance to go to zero (I won't but I have the option) and not incur charges. Also, TD is reputed to have a better training platform for newcomers and I'm planning on taking full advantage of that.

TorontoGirl

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Re: Free Trades promo at bank: A complaint
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2019, 07:44:08 AM »
I thought they were initially trying to do you a favor. This promo is supposed to be for NEW TD DI customers, but you actually already have an existing account (granted, you seemed to have never used it). I’m sorry that it all turned into a frustrating experience, but I guess you win some and you lose some.

I wanted to take advantage of the promo too, but I already have a TD DI account.

It sounds like you’ve found an alternative. I would just pursue the Scotia deal if I were you. Or go with Questrade.

I never opened a TD DI account before, so when I found out that it was already opened, I freaked out as I had never given consent. I know that TD had taken some heat a year or two ago from the media when some staff admitted to opening accounts or signing people up for things they never agreed to. So, when I went to the branch and spoke to another person regarding opening an account, I asked for an investigation into the previous account. Turns out that a former employee put in a request (which I never knew about) for which I had to provide docs and IDs (which I never sent in since I wasn't aware) and my account was sitting in limbo and never fully opened. I also never incurred any charges that I would have otherwise paid had the account was open and inactive.

This whole experience was so strange but I hope that my trading and investing future is bright.