Problem www.avatrade.com

[greatvio]

Hello,

I have requested a withdrawal of 4918.57 euro on the 20th of March. They subtracted the amount from my trading account. 4 days later they added back the amount to the trading account without any explanation. In the statement it appeared "Deposit Canceled Withdrawal" (statement attached). I tried to reach my account manager but he was unreachable. In their online support they could not tell me what was happening and they were suggesting me to contact my account manager. Which I was obviously trying to do without success.

During this period of time I continued to trade on my account with the remaining money and continued to gain. So I requested for another withdrawal of 4944.63 euro in the same day when they put the first amount back in my account. So in that moment I had 2 withdrawal requests.

On the 26th of March I have received an email from them saying that my account is under investigation for "suspicious activity" without any explanation of what that means (email attached). I contacted my account manager, Mr. Shawn Koopman and their support chat for explanations but the only thing they were saying me was that operations department is investigating my account and they cannot provide me any details and that I have to wait.

Finally on the 1st of April I have received an email from them saying that the investigations finished and that my account is fine and that they will send me the money from both withdrawals within 1 business day (email attached).

As I was continuing to trade on the account, on the 3rd of April they have completely blocked my account closing all my opened positions. I tried to reach Mr. Koopman for an explanation but obviously I could not reach him and in their online support chat they announced me that my account has been blocked for "inconsistent trading activity" and I should withdraw all my money and close my account. They also mentioned that the 2 previous withdrawal requests have been sent and I should receive my money in my bank account in a few days (chat transcript attached).

I requested obviously all my money from the account. On the 4th of April, as I did not receive the first 2 withdrawals I contacted them again. They confirmed me again that the money has been sent (chat transcript attached).

On the 10th of April, as I still did not receive any money I contacted them again. The account manager was again unreachable so my only option was their online support. I had again a surprise. They told me again there were some delays but that the money from the 3 withdrawals have been sent on the on the 8th and the 9th of April (chat transcript attached).

On the 11th of April as the money didn't arrive yet in my bank account, I was really worried about this situation and contacted them to ask for a confirmation from the bank that they have really sent me the money. The guy told me he will send me the swift receipt in some hours(chat transcript attached). As I did not receive any bank receipt, I contacted online support again 2 times and in the end getting the answer that management did not approve yet the transfers (chat transcript attached). At that moment I was lost...

I have filled a case with Financial Services Ombudsman.

From that time there were no more news. The account manager is unreachable, the online support keeps telling me that I have to wait (chat transcript attached)

I have to mention that I was not trading during news. I am trading a grid system based on technical analysis support and resistance levels. Obviously I am not scalping.

My account manager is Mr Shawn Koopman and his official email is S.Koopman@avatrade.com

As the maximum number of attachments in FPA is limited to 5, I have attached 5 files.

 

[Pharaoh]

The attachment limit is 5 files per post, so if you reply, you can add 5 more.

I think you did make one major mistake. The moment any broker delays a withdrawal and says something about an investigation, close down all trades as quickly as possible and don't open another one until the withdrawal is successfully completed.

Please go ahead and send an email to every address you can find for AvaTrade. Invite them to come and join this discussion thread.

 

[greatvio]

Missing files

I attached the missing files.
the 14th of april: they declared they are still investigating. What is worring me is that their operator, Daniel, wrote me:
"there is no time limit to investigate". From what I ve read in the central bank of ireland website:
Central Bank of Ireland - Complaints Resolution

10.8
When a regulated entity receives an oral complaint, it must offer the consumer the opportunity to have this handled in accordance with the regulated entity’s complaints process.
As in their website the only email address for the compliance is cs@avatrade.com, I'm sending emails there but I NEVER got any reply from them, since 24 days.

Taking a look to the other points of that page, in my opinion they are missing completely this procedure.

No replies, no compliance procedure has been followed, investigation time illimited (actually more than 20 business days), the communications previously sent to me where not respected (they wrote me that my account was fine and they would have sent the money within 24 hours since the 1st of april)

I attached to this post also the email I sent to my account manager Mr. Koopman and to their official email address for the compliance.

 

[greatvio]

Yes, you are right. Thinking about it now, I had certainly to withdraw all my money immediately.
Even if, knowing what is happening now, I'm not sure I would have received them in any case.

I continued to trade in the good faith. They did their investigation and, as they wrote me that my account was fine, I had no doubt to continue trading.
I just thought it was a huge misunderstanding.

This is what I received:
<<
Dear Viorel,

I apologize for the delay, but I am happy to inform you that your account is fine and your withdrawal will be processed today or tomorrow.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,
Shawn Koopman
Senior Account Analyst
>>

I could not imagine that 24 hours later they would have start complaining again!

The attachment limit is 5 files per post, so if you reply, you can add 5 more.

I think you did make one major mistake. The moment any broker delays a withdrawal and says something about an investigation, close down all trades as quickly as possible and don't open another one until the withdrawal is successfully completed.

Please go ahead and send an email to every address you can find for AvaTrade. Invite them to come and join this discussion thread.

 

[Master Yoda]

Avatrade have a rep here, would you invite him to join the thread?

 

[greatvio]

I already sent an invitation to cs@avatrade.com and mr Koopman which is my manager, and I attached the email to my previous posts. Obviously no reply.
Maybe FPA could help me some how? what is the name of the rep? Actually I guess I already spoke to everybody, so I should be able to find him...

Avatrade have a rep here, would you invite him to join the thread?

 

[greatvio]

Today I spoke more than half an hour by phone with an operatore called Henry. He was the only one available, until now, trying to explain me what is happening.

Based on what he told me: "Avatrade approved the withdrawal but it is again "under investigation" from the regulator?!"
So, the summary, from his point of view is:
- Avatrade processed my withdrawal request and they are not in the position to do anything else, just wait.
- There is not any time limit to get the response. They can investigate all the time they want. Basically, in the meanwhile I could also die.

I called the Central bank of Ireland then, to know their opinion. They told me that if I received Avatrade communication where it is written that the investigation has been finished and I would have got my money, they are in fault.

Then, I called the Financial Ombudsman (they are the entity to protect individual investors) to notify them about my situation. They told me I have to wait 40 business days (practically 2 calendar month) from the day I did the compliance.

What it is unbelievable is the fact I've never got any reply from the broker to my official compliance. Also, they wrote me that they finished their investigation and now they claim they are still investigating and there are not any time limits.

 

[brosnet]

I' m getting a similar experience with AvaTrade. Stay away!!! THEY ARE NOT PAYING PROFITS!

I was trading similarly to you. Initially, everything was fine. the first 2 times I requested a withdrawal, they sent me the money.
Now, the 7th of april I sent another withdrawal request. the 8th of april they deducted the amount, and the 15th of april they have put back the amount!!!
2 days ago, I sent them another request to withdraw all of my money

I m sending regularly 1 email per day to the italian support assistenza@avatrade.it and to my account manager, to get explanations but they are not replying!

I attach the screenshot of my account.



What can we do in this case?

 

[greatvio]

Avatrade is still keeping my money

...Finally an official answer!
I attached it to this post.

they requested a certified copy of my documents via post.
That is another way to keep time, considering that I'm not the only one having this problem...

Who knows when I will see my money!!!!!

Suggestion to everybody: STAY AWAY FROM AVA, or you risk to don't get your money back!!!

 

[Pharaoh]

The docs.pdf file says you need to provide ID docs. Provide them and see what happens.