Fair warning regarding CMEG lack of customer service

[dmiles 19]

I'm not able to trade today, and have no idea when I will be able to resume trading, due to lack of support from CMEG.

Maybe they have more business than they are able to support, but on those occasions when I have needed support, I have had to wait for days to get any type of response at all.

I will be forced to use other options, which I did not want to have to use. Just wanted to provide information to those in this group who may be trying to decide on a broker. CMEG is great, until you need customer service. If there is an issue, my experience has been that you will be forced to wait several days, just for a response.

[Abiel 474]

I have heard that is is difficult to get email responses from them, some members reported that calling them  is better.

Good luck with this.

[dmiles 19]

6 minutes ago, Abiel said:

I have heard that is is difficult to get email responses from them, some members reported that calling them  is better.

Good luck with this.

Thank you for your reply, but I was on hold with them for 2 hours this morning, with no reply. Left a message. I'm seeing reports in the chat of another trader getting his orders rejected. If they are still in business, I think BBT should reconsider supporting them, or at least provide a caveat that if there is a problem, do not expect an acceptable level of customer service. 

Edited November 1, 2019 by dmiles

[dmiles 19]

Finally got through to someone on the phone, after trying for 2 days. Interesting that I got a response from one of the great BBT admins here, before I was able to get anyone on the phone at CMEG.

I don't want to go into details, but suffice to say, this is 100% an issue with CMEG which they had 2 weeks to correct, and completely failed. The worst part is, had they simply sent an email letting me know that they were not going to be able to do what they said they would do, then I could have at least had some warning, but they were unable to send even just one email in two weeks.

I now know that if I ever have an issue while in a trade, I am completely on my own, with no support whatsoever. The users of this group need to have this information.

I am not an unreasonable person, I fully realize mistakes are made, we're all only human. But when it is too much to ask for a company to send one email letting their clients know that they are not going to be able to follow through with a commitment, that is completely unacceptable.

Edited November 1, 2019 by dmiles

[Brendon 146]

Hi dmiles, I know exactly what you are going through. To be fully transparent I used CMEG for about 1 year exactly and before that SureTrader and various other full service brokers.

My experience was mixed, CMEG did have some of their broker rule changes and auto account wind up liquidation changes without informing their clients by email beforehand. Basically, they were changing their rules on the fly without giving notice and that 'messed' up some of my trades. I was holding some positions overnight during that time. I have had issues where trades got rejected for no reason and tried calling. CMEG is exactly what you said, when it works, it works fine, but when there are issues, getting a response can been difficult.

When they first started back around Feb 2018 I dealt with their clients services directly and they were EXTREMELY helpful in answering all my questions. I did have success with wiring money in and out of CMEG within their time-frame but requesting statements was received with some dislike on their end. They only had a few dozen accounts at the time and I have no idea how much they have grown now but it could be an under-staffing issue. 

I have an IB account also now as a domestic broker is more reliable and their customer service is superb. Frankly, if you are just starting out, the PDT rule is probably for the best, and having unlimited day trades with a very small account offshore can be risky to account blowup. It was for me and I have learned to be better for it. 

And yes I agree, a confirmation email on all requests NEEDS to be sent to clients, that is unacceptable service on their end. 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Brendon

[dmiles 19]

1 minute ago, Brendon said:

Hi dmiles, I know exactly what you are going through. To be fully transparent I used CMEG for about 1 year exactly and before that SureTrader and various other full service brokers.

My experience was mixed, CMEG did have some of their broker rule changes and auto account wind up liquidation changes without informing their clients by email beforehand. Basically, they were changing their rules on the fly without giving notice and that 'messed' up some of my trades. I was holding some positions overnight during that time. I have had issues where trades got rejected for no reason and tried calling. CMEG is exactly what you said, when it works, it works fine, but when there are issues, getting a response can been difficult.

When they first started back around Feb 2018 I dealt with their clients services directly and they were EXTREMELY helpful in answering all my questions. I did have success with wiring money in and out of CMEG within their time-frame but requesting statements was received with some dislike on their end. They only had a few dozen accounts at the time and I have no idea how much they have grown now but it could be an under-staffing issue. 

I have an IB account also now as a domestic broker is more reliable and their customer service is superb. Frankly, if you are just starting out, the PDT rule is probably for the best, and having unlimited day trades with a very small account offshore can be risky to account blowup. It was for me and I have learned to be better for it. 

Thanks for your informative reply. I find it extremely interesting that being forced into sim today I had what would have been my best day ever since using real money. I had to make some changes because my sim account is not set up like my real account, so I had to watch fewer stocks, and I killed it with the choices I made. This could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

I would like to go with IB, but I would need to pull out at least 30K out of an IRA, (and even then only really have a 5K account) and pay taxes on that, while my wife and I are still working. Ouch.

I'm using the strategy of small account, small risk, small shares. But I'm starting to see your point of the danger of account blowup. I have days where my patience is tested, and it gets harder to stay in control at those times.

I think the issues that CMEG is having right now is probably due to their growth. That's not my concern, as there is nothing that I can do about that. My issue is now that I know that if I have an issue while in a trade, even having their number stored in my phone is useless. Continuing with them after knowing this seems almost irresponsible, except that I know that I can set a max loss in DAS, which I most certainly do.

[dmiles 19]

I emailed them a link to this forum post. I finally heard back from someone, maybe will be fixed this afternoon, maybe Monday. They tried to use the excuse that they couldn't fulfill their commitment because I used my account yesterday. Of course, no one told me ahead of time not to do that. They said a link and new log on information would be sent at the end of trading yesterday, which never happened.

The users of this forum also need to be alerted to the fact that when my initial email was sent when I activated my account, they mistakenly sent me another users log on information. I immediately deleted the email and let them know right away what they had done, but only received a reply thanking for my continued interest in CMEG. I suspect that this was neither the first, or last time that something like this has happened.

Honestly, I'm ready to just stop trading completely. Will be giving it a lot of consideration this weekend.

[Brendon 146]

Welp the most important thing in trading is keeping a cool head. Don't get flustered, act as a machine doing commands and IF/THEN statements. Problem solve what's holding you back, if CMEG causes a distraction and throws off your trading use a different broker. And thank you for making us aware of your situation! 

[dmiles 19]

18 hours ago, Brendon said:

Welp the most important thing in trading is keeping a cool head. Don't get flustered, act as a machine doing commands and IF/THEN statements. Problem solve what's holding you back, if CMEG causes a distraction and throws off your trading use a different broker. And thank you for making us aware of your situation! 

Yes, I got so frustrated that I actually considered retiring from trading completely. This learning curve is hard enough without having to deal with PDT, and offshore brokers with zero customer service. I'm looking at it differently now. I'm actually lucky that I wasn't in the middle of a trade problem that could have wiped out my account when I discovered that no matter what, I'm on my own. I'm convinced that they have more business than they can handle, so I will be helping them by closing my account. It's sad, because things are great with CMEG, until they are not. Then it is as bad as it gets. 

I'm sure that I will still be unable to trade on Monday, because they are refusing to do 5 minutes worth of work, and it boggles my mind.

I discussed it with my wife, and we decided that we are going to close the CMEG account, take the tax hit, and open a real account with IB. Calling them first thing Monday morning. Will keep everyone updated on how long it takes to get my money back from CMEG. Right now, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they continue to ignore me, and I never get it back. Not sure what recourse I would have, should they decide to go that route.

Please, everyone....If you are trading with a CMEG account, be sure to enable max loss in DAS. If a problem occurs and your account gets blown up, it's over.

[Justin 262]

On 11/1/2019 at 8:33 AM, dmiles said:

I don't want to go into details, but suffice to say, this is 100% an issue with CMEG which they had 2 weeks to correct, and completely failed.

No offence @dmiles, but without you explaing what went wrong, this post helps nobody here.

Ok, they can have bad customer support sometimes... But you're talking about something that could have potentially blown up your account. Bad customer service won't deter people from using the service. Explaining your situation will.

[dmiles 19]

7 hours ago, Justin said:

No offence @dmiles, but without you explaing what went wrong, this post helps nobody here.

Ok, they can have bad customer support sometimes... But you're talking about something that could have potentially blown up your account. Bad customer service won't deter people from using the service. Explaining your situation will.

Good morning @Justin, thank you for your reply.

The fact that you are able to pull one sentence out of the information I provided and are able to use that to alert me to the fact that it makes the warning I tired to provide useless, tells me I have not been clear enough in the point I'm trying to make. Ironically, the reason I left out those details was in the interest of clarity, but obviously I failed. My thought was that the specific details of my issue would be helpful to someone trying to resolve my issue, but what I'm trying to do here is provide folks with information that I wish I had when I was trying to decide on a broker.

You say "Bad customer service won't deter people from using the service." 

I should point out that I'm really not looking to deter people from using the service. I'm simply trying to provide information. However, from my point of view, bad customer service is exactly what is driving me to find a new broker. As I have said in the past, when things are working well with CMEG, it's great. But being ignored when there is an issue is unacceptable to me, given what is involved here. 

So, since I am still unable to trade, thanks to the fact that I'm continuing to be ignored by CMEG, I will try to synopsize;

1. On October 17, 2019, I sent an email to CMEG customer service, requesting they switch my account from Sterling Elite Pro, to DAS.

2. On October 18, 2019, I received this;

Your request to switch your account from the Traders Elite Pro Platform supported by Sterling to the version supported by DAS has been received. As per your request, your account will be switched to the DAS platform. 

Please note that due to processing requirements this switch can only occur at the end of this calendar month and you will be able to use the requested platform on the first trading day of the new month. You will have full use of the current platform until the switch is processed at the end of the month. Please also note if you have any open positions, these will have to be closed before the platform switch can occur.

 

An email confirmation will be sent on the last business day of this month advising of your new credentials and platform download link.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please call us at 833-445-9086 or send an email to [email protected]. 

Thanks for being our client  - have a great day!

Your team here at Capital Markets Elite Group LTD.

 

3. I did not receive the email as promised, and I had been warned that if I logged on to my account on November 1 or later with sterling, there would be a full charge of $150, plus the full charge for DAS, since there are no pro-rated charges.

 

4. When I was unable to trade on November 1, I called the support number, which I have stored in my phone. I put the phone on speaker, and after 2 hours, gave up, and left a message. An hour later, after not receiving a reply to my voice message, I tried again. After approximately 20 additional minutes on hold, a person finally answered. I explained my situation, and was assured I would receive the email with my new logon information that day, Friday, November 1. I later received an email stating that I would receive the email that day.

 

5. The promised email never arrived, and I am still waiting on November 4, 2019, and still unable to trade.

 

What if I were calling because I was in a trade, that I needed help with? What if I had lost power, or my internet connection? When everything works, CMEG is great! I'm just trying to warn folks to please, use max loss in DAS, and set it to close the position if max loss is hit. If you don't know how to do that, there is a video available in the education area of the website.

 

[Brendon 146]

I can also recommend having mobile DAS on your phone as backup to close any positions. It works well enough. 

[dmiles 19]

3 minutes ago, Brendon said:

I can also recommend having mobile DAS on your phone as backup to close any positions. It works well enough. 

Thanks Brendon, I will look in to that.

 

[Justin 262]

3 hours ago, Brendon said:

I can also recommend having mobile DAS on your phone as backup to close any positions. It works well enough. 

100% this. I actually had to use it today because of an internet issue.

And @dmiles this is definitely helpful information for people to have. Best pick DAS from the get go (especially in this trading community) because if you don't you'll probably have trouble switching. Also, even if you don't have trouble switching, having to wait until the end of the month is ridiculous.

 

[dmiles 19]

10 minutes ago, Justin said:

100% this. I actually had to use it today because of an internet issue.

And @dmiles this is definitely helpful information for people to have. Best pick DAS from the get go (especially in this trading community) because if you don't you'll probably have trouble switching. Also, even if you don't have trouble switching, having to wait until the end of the month is ridiculous.

 

I agree on all counts. I didn't know when I opened my account that I was being directed to download Sterling, or that I had to specify DAS. By the time I downloaded the platform and logged on, I was on the hook for the full $150, for the calendar month, no pro rated charges. The fact that they sent me someone else's logon info by mistake was troubling as well.

I did have to contact them again today, but the logon email with the link to download DAS did finally arrive. I opened an account with IB today, will probably only keep the CMEG until the end of the month, which will give me time to get my IB account up and running. 

I hope that there are users who will find this information useful. That was my intent with this post.