Online Brokerages with no low account activity fee

[navin2004]

I have been with Tradefreedom for sometime now.

But since they were brought over by Scotia bank, they have started charging all kinds of fee.

Low account activity fee of $25 each quarter, if you do not have atleast one trade each quarter, or a combined balance of $10k.

Trading Platform fee for desktop software of $32 each month. This used to free until recently and they did not even send a notice highlighting this fee. It was not until I got a statement that I saw this. So have asked them to remove this.

This trend will continue as it's now owned by a bank.

Are there any good online brokerages with low fees for trading and keeping the account open without much activity regularly.

[YYZFA]

I have been with Tradefreedom for sometime now.

But since they were brought over by Scotia bank, they have started charging all kinds of fee.

Low account activity fee of $25 each quarter, if you do not have atleast one trade each quarter, or a combined balance of $10k.

Trading Platform fee for desktop software of $32 each month. This used to free until recently and they did not even send a notice highlighting this fee. It was not until I got a statement that I saw this. So have asked them to remove this.

This trend will continue as it's now owned by a bank.

Are there any good online brokerages with low fees for trading and keeping the account open without much activity regularly.

Did you get them to remove the Trading Platform fee? I've been arguing so far unsuccessfully for them to do it for me. They say a notice of this fee was on my June statement. I want them to remove it anyway as a gesture of customer service, especially since I never used the platform. I merely downloaded it when was free.

They won't budge, and I'm about to switch brokerages on principle alone, even if I have to pay higher commission charges which will cost me more in the long run.

[moxy]

Might be wrong but I beleive Credential Direct doesn't charge low act fees.

[navin2004]

Did you get them to remove the Trading Platform fee? I've been arguing so far unsuccessfully for them to do it for me. They say a notice of this fee was on my June statement. I want them to remove it anyway as a gesture of customer service, especially since I never used the platform. I merely downloaded it when was free.

They won't budge, and I'm about to switch brokerages on principle alone, even if I have to pay higher commission charges which will cost me more in the long run.

I did not ask them for credit as he did not show any interest when I mentioned that you have changed since getting brought over by Scotia Bank.

Now that you mentioned, I checked the June statement and do see a note about changing platform fees, without actually mentioning the fee. I rarely read those notes and usually only looked at my current balances and activity to make sure everything was normal.

I used the platform quite a lot in July and Aug, but not anymore after suffering loses. They could have easily sent an alert from that saying fees are now being assessed for using the desktop software, instead of sneaking it in a statement, which does not jump out.

I am sick of the banks making these purchases of smaller companies one by one making even holding a brokerage account for some activity on and off expensive.

[mrwally]

Did you get them to remove the Trading Platform fee? I've been arguing so far unsuccessfully for them to do it for me. They say a notice of this fee was on my June statement. I want them to remove it anyway as a gesture of customer service, especially since I never used the platform. I merely downloaded it when was free.

They won't budge, and I'm about to switch brokerages on principle alone, even if I have to pay higher commission charges which will cost me more in the long run.

I asked them to remove that fee as well but they refused saying they sent a notice...who reads all the crap from them, they send useless emails all the time. I never even downloaded the platform so I was ticked right off. Between that and the low activity fee I'm thinking of jumping ship as well. It's just SUCH a hassle moving things...and does anyone know if there is going to be a stupid fee to close my accounts?

[brunes]

Why don't you switch to Questrade?

TradeFreedom and Questrade use the same back-end clearing house (or at least they used to before being bought by Scotia) and the same trading platform anyways.

[YYZFA]

I did not ask them for credit as he did not show any interest when I mentioned that you have changed since getting brought over by Scotia Bank.

Now that you mentioned, I checked the June statement and do see a note about changing platform fees, without actually mentioning the fee. I rarely read those notes and usually only looked at my current balances and activity to make sure everything was normal.

I used the platform quite a lot in July and Aug, but not anymore after suffering loses. They could have easily sent an alert from that saying fees are now being assessed for using the desktop software, instead of sneaking it in a statement, which does not jump out.

I am sick of the banks making these purchases of smaller companies one by one making even holding a brokerage account for some activity on and off expensive.

I asked them to remove that fee as well but they refused saying they sent a notice...who reads all the crap from them, they send useless emails all the time. I never even downloaded the platform so I was ticked right off. Between that and the low activity fee I'm thinking of jumping ship as well. It's just SUCH a hassle moving things...and does anyone know if there is going to be a stupid fee to close my accounts?

This is what I've been saying. I explained to them that I usually just check to make sure my portfolio is correct, and then I file the statements. I think most people do that. I told them I think it's a form of negative billing, and I think as a gesture of goodwill, they can remove the fee this one time and cancel the TF Edge Platform for me.

Oh well, I guess I won't escalate it any further. I'll just open up a new account somewhere else and end my relationship with TradeFreedom. I'm always annoyed when I add a position anyway, as they never calculate the new average cost of my stocks correctly.

I'll look into Questrade, as Brunes is suggesting. I'd just rather not go through the hassle of researching and opening accounts, but I refuse to remain a customer of TradeFreedom if they don't reverse this fee (one time).

[navin2004]

This is what I've been saying. I explained to them that I usually just check to make sure my portfolio is correct, and then I file the statements. I think most people do that. I told them I think it's a form of negative billing, and I think as a gesture of goodwill, they can remove the fee this one time and cancel the TF Edge Platform for me.

Oh well, I guess I won't escalate it any further. I'll just open up a new account somewhere else and end my relationship with TradeFreedom. I'm always annoyed when I add a position anyway, as they never calculate the new average cost of my stocks correctly.

I'll look into Questrade, as Brunes is suggesting. I'd just rather not go through the hassle of researching and opening accounts, but I refuse to remain a customer of TradeFreedom if they don't reverse this fee (one time).

The morons there say that since I told them to remove access to Desktop software on 9th Nov, I will still have to pay the fee for Nov as I needed to tell them before 31st Oct !!
They conveniently removed access right away without telling this until I asked them the next day, but I still pay for it till end of month.

Grrr.....I have signed up for a trial account of Questrade to see how there web-platform is. It will be $125 hit to move my account to them as I don't have the $25k in my Tradefreedom account to qualify for a rebate on that fee.

[YYZFA]

The morons there say that since I told them to remove access to Desktop software on 9th Nov, I will still have to pay the fee for Nov as I needed to tell them before 31st Oct !!
They conveniently removed access right away without telling this until I asked them the next day, but I still pay for it till end of month.

Grrr.....I have signed up for a trial account of Questrade to see how there web-platform is. It will be $125 hit to move my account to them as I don't have the $25k in my Tradefreedom account to qualify for a rebate on that fee.

Just leave them. That's what I am going to do. If they don't value your business then take it elsewhere. For me, I'm so annoyed that I'll even pay more to do my business with their competitors.