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Mr. Merkley from BMI/DBC:
At the time I signed up, I was never informed that there was any other
option but a year lease. This was over a year ago, and of course I don't
have the conversations on tape, but my clear memory is that I had no choice
but to commit to the year, if I wanted the service at all. They sent me the
forms and I signed them. And I honestly believed at that point I would be
daytrading indefinitely into the future, so in my mind it was OK.
It would have been reasonable to charge me some kind of penalty or
cancellation fee when I wanted to switch back to delayed. Telling me I was
stuck paying $225/month for 8 months for the exact service you were charging
others $75/mo for, because I signed a piece of paper which was a REQUIREMENT
for me to receive the service at all, was not reasonable. Different
companies have different value systems, some value long-term customer
relations. BMI/DBC clearly values money in the bank now over satisfied
customers. Some would say this is not a wise choice in the long run.
At the moment I'm not looking for quotes, so what I'll do in the future is a
moot point. I really don't know anything about DTN, I haven't researched
them at all. FutureSource makes a point on their web site that they DON'T
"lock you in" to yearly agreements. I don't naively think other companies
will "let me out" of signed agreements, and I certainly learned a lesson
here. I just choose to give my business, when possible, to companies that
show some modicum of a customer-service ethic.
David Rosenthal
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SMerkley [mailto:SMerkley@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: Monday, June 01, 1998 8:59 AM
> To: 'davidr@xxxxxxxxxx'
> Subject: RE: DTN vs BMI et al
>
>
> i work for bmi/signal and am sorry this happened to you. but you
> may again
> be naive to think that if you sign an agreement that you will take the
> service for one year that dtn or futuresource will just say ok, we let you
> out. this will not happen. so what you have to make sure happens is,
> in the beginning, you sign up for a month to month agreement, and in this
> case you can switch back and forth from delayed to real time. a
> much better
> situation. if you have any questions or need help in the future,
> let me set
> you up in the kind of deal that will be the most beneficial for you.
> thanks, steve merkley.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David Rosenthal [SMTP:davidr@xxxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent: Monday, June 01, 1998 2:03 AM
> > To: RealTraders Discussion Group
> > Subject: RE: DTN vs BMI et al
> >
> >
> > Last April I got interested in daytrading, bought Tradestation
> and the BMI
> > delayed data feed for about $70/month. After a month I decided I was
> > ready
> > to trade and moved up to the real time for $225+ plus exchange fees.
> >
> > Four months later I came to my senses and realized that
> daytrading and my
> > daytime job were not compatible (what was I thinking...). So I
> blithely,
> > naively, called BMI to switch back to the delayed plan. The answer I
> > received, in only slightly nicer language, was "Screw you, sucker. You
> > signed a contract. You can cancel all your exchanges, but we'll still
> > charge you $225 a month for the delayed data for another 8 months. And
> > there's nothing you can do about it."
> >
> > Legally, they may be correct. However, needless to say, BMI has lost a
> > customer for life, even if they have the cleanest data available. When
> > and
> > if I need real-time data again I'll use either FutureSource or DTN.
>
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