eTrade Review

Buyer beware when doing any business with eTrade. At one time, e-Trade appeared to be an up and coming, reputable company. Over the past few years, their sneaky fees, hidden charges and poor customer service have forced me to close all of my accounts with them. Cute commercials, but don't be fooled into doing business with these folks. You'll be sorry.

I have traded stocks with Etrade for over 11 years. Not problem at all. Even Overseas service is good. I do not understand about those having problems to get the money back, since Etrade financial once you open an Account, they allow to have a Credit Card, as well as a checking Book, to use funds from the Investment Account.Site is https://us.etrade.com/e/t/home

I refer to the US branch of E*Trade. It is possibly a scam, or have top-notch scammers working with them. Over 4 years, I've phoned, faxed, emailed, to try to get my stock account closed and a check (cheque) mailed. They promise, promise, promise, but no check after 4 years!! So I've given up as it was only a couple of thousand dollars. (They ought to be classified as a SCAM, but I avoided classification as a Scam because I can't be bothered with these shysters again at US E*Trade, and Canada E*Trade is no better. Be warned.

Charge way too much commission on stocks/options trading and their forex spreads are, well.... let's just say... your not gonna profit.

Bad customer service too.

I used these guys for stock trading and also for some forex. Their staff is rude and not helpful. Every person I spoke to gave me a different answer and finally I just gave up. I really would never trade with these guys ever again.

I think there are mixed reviews here, because people are reviewing two different companies. Etrade (US) and etrade (UK - spreadbetting). I use etrade for spreadbetting and its great. Platform is stable and the interface is easy to understand. Spreads are very competitive if you trade currencies and indices. I would like to see better spreads for the stocks, especially US stocks.

Very slow execution during fast moving market periods. Customer service is good when you can get hold of them, no answer during fast plays and market moving announcments.

I do agree with the comment about slow execution, although this doesn't actually affect my own trading style because it is not so time critical. However, if speed is important to you then take heed and go elsewhere, BUT I find no substance in any of the other comments. I have also previously spreadtraded Stocks and Indices using CMC, IG, Finspreads, City Index and Worldspreads. I moved to ETrade about 3 months ago because I started trading Forex and it offered good spreads, good range of currency pairs, good page design and ease of use (only one grumble amazingly you can't view your open price and stop at the same time amazingly, so you have to flick between two tabs, although this is not the end of the world).

I do find it better than any of the other previous companies I've tried, and whilst I have still to become proficient enough to say that I can consistently make more than I lose, this is down to my own errors in trading, not any "conspiracy" by Etrade - at least not to my knowledge. I'd be more than happy to consider another broker if that proved to be the case of course; but on the strength of what I've read about other brokers there isn't one which offers perfection. Please let me know if there is, I'll be happy to give them a try. It would be interesting to hear from other ETrade users to get a better picture.

I sent tried to open an account with money orders. Application clearly states "send check or money order." Account was opened, but funds weren't posted to the account. I called every other day for 2 weeks to find out that they changed their policy and no longer accept money orders...this, despite it clearly being stated on their application that they do. Etrade has been holding on to my money for what is approaching 4 weeks. They claimed to have mailed the money orders back to me last week, but US Mail doesn't take this long. Also, after 2 weeks of opening the account, I get a package from them. Naturally I'm thinking it's checks, or a debit card, some physical evidence of an account right? No, these idiots send me a welcome letter and brochures like I'm some tire kicker looking for a broker. When their stock finally does decide to move, it will be to the downside. I hate this company.

Don't bother currency trading with them as all their orders go through the dealers. So everyone is on manual execution from day 1 and subject to requotes during fast moving markets. Easy to verify as it takes more than 2 seconds for each trade to be processed. They are the same company (or white label) as Capital Markets and MDS Spreads so avoid all 3....