Is Zecco A Scam or Legitimate?
Summary:
Anytime I hear free I immediately think “scam.” Let’s be honest, the person offering up something for free is looking for some sort of benefit and unless I can find out what the benefit is (especially if I’m giving them all the information they need to steal my identity), I’m going to assume the benefit for them is to steal my identity.
So, is Zecco legitimate or a scam? I let time do the testing because most people are savvy enough to sniff out a scam relatively soon, especially if you let mainstream media do the vetting. Right now, they appear legitimate and that’s because they’re actually a division of Equinox Securities, Inc. According to the NASD Broker Check, Equinox Securities (CRD# 135398, SEC# 8-66916) registered as a corporation in California on 01/21/2005 and is located in Ontario, CA. It’s currently not suspended by any regulator and has not yet had any Arbitration Awards, Disciplinary and/or Regulatory Events. I downloaded the full Equinox Securities report and you can see Zecco Trading listed on page 4.
So, the NASD knows about them but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re 100% legit, brokers with fraudulent intentions can register - they just can’t have committed fraud yet. That’s where the second line in their little fine print comes into play, they are a member of SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation), an organization created by Congress in 1970. What do they do?
When a brokerage firm is closed due to bankruptcy or other financial difficulties and customer assets are missing, SIPC steps in as quickly as possible and, within certain limits, works to return customers’ cash, stock and other securities. Without SIPC, investors at financially troubled brokerage firms might lose their securities or money forever or wait for years while their assets are tied up in court.
Now, just because they say they’re in the SIPC doesn’t make it so, but I was able to confirm it through SIPC’s member check. Equinox Securities Inc. located at 2084 E Francis Street, Ontario CA 91761, an address that matches the NASD information. It’s a Cold Fusion script so I couldn’t link directly to the results but they’re in there.
Again, is participation in this program a guarantee it’s not fraudulent? Of course not, but that’s a lot of hoops to jump through if you’re a scam. So, after a brief bit of research, Zecco passed the extensive sniff test for me but to be honest, all the talk of their abysmal customer service makes me think you get what you paid for. Trades are cheap, why not go with a firm that has some credibility in the marketplace? I, for one, am going with TradeKing, twice named Smart Money’s #1 Discount Brokerage of the Year 2006 & 2007 (they removed the discount category after 2007), where trades are only $4.95. Smart Money put Zecco dead last in customer service.
I think customer service in a brokerage is crucial. If I have a problem, I don’t want to wait on hold.
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Tags: Broker, Investing, SIPC, Zecco
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There are 72 comments, add your thoughts now!
I have had an account with Zecco for 2 months. I have made many free trades and have transferred money between my Etrade account and Zecco numerous times without any issues. Telephone service is very slow but the internet site is adequate. Overall I would recommend Zecco.
Zecco may not be a scam, but I’m sure their goal is not to just offer free stock trading indevinaitely.
For now, they claim that ad revenue is coverring their expenses. This may be true. However, if they get a large market share over the next few years, I bet they will begin charging something. Maybe soemthing small like $1 a trade.
Even so, its a great deal.
I agree with Gary that their telephone service can be very slow. I’ve experienced both ranges… from immediate service, to hold times of up to 30 mins.
And they don’t only claim that ad revenue covers their expenses, they also say that they make money on margin interest.
I also suspect that they make a fair bit of profit on your money sitting with them, but outside of any investments. By default, this money makes only 1% interest. You have to send in an additional form to have the money swept into a 4.x% money market… but I’m sure there are a lot of ppl who don’t do this, giving Zecco an additional money-making opportunity.
They will make interest on money sitting in accounts, margin interest, and advertising. I believe their intention is to have a lower cost of acquiring customers vs. the competition by offering the free commissions–places like E*Trade and the other discount brokers advertise a lot, and therefore pay a lot (I saw one estimate of E*Trade paying about $6 per trade) to acquire their customers. There’s plenty of PR value to offering free trades–for example, this post.
If you’re a really high volume trader, they do start charging after a certain number per day or per month, so they don’t get killed with trading expenses.
It doesn’t seem like a scam to me–it may or may not work in the long term as a business model, but it certainly seems like it *could* be viable, and I’m guessing if they went out of business, someone like E*Trade would be more than happy to buy their customer accounts.
I am going to keep an eye on your posts about Zecco. I would love to try it. The no minimum balance puts it in my range…
I just xfered my Scottrade account over to Zecco. Scottrade called me to offer me 20 free trades to reconsider. Considering Zecco’s interface is actually better than Scottrades, I would say the ST is feeling the heat already.
Yeah - I didn’t know about the money market sweep until I had been with zecco for about 6 months. Luckily, one of my favorite PF bloggers let me know about it! Before, I worked hard not to keep any cash with them, missing opportunities to buy on dips. Now, I have a decent sum waiting in their money market for the big dip I just *know* is coming! Even if I have to wait awhile, the 4.x% is helping me pscyhologically a lot.
I’ve read that these zero-commission brokerages can play games with the execution, where you’re not getting true market value. I have no idea if it’s true or not, but I’m just mentioning this possibility.
It doesn’t have to be fraudulent to be a scam: Active trading is the scam. Study after study has shown that over time it yields lower returns because most people cannot consistently pick individual stocks and they cannot consistently time the market. Buy in and stay in, which means choose a brokerage other than Zecco.
Just because trades are free doesn’t mean you must trade all the time, you can use Zecco and just buy and hold. The buying is just cheaper.
I’ve tried to open an account from outside USA.
They have lost 5 times my pdf file and one time my documents sent by Express AirMail.
Everytime they say that the documents are ok and they will open the account within 2 or 3 days, but after one month still nothing, all the document lost.
I think Zecco is not a serious company. Really messy. No one able to follow your application form and to solve a problem.
One day to answer your online question, everytime an another consummer representative take your question and say the same automatic answer….
Very disapointing.
To Jim:
Re: Zecco Trading.
Dear Jim:
I have read your comment regarding the Zecco trading, and do agree with you that one must not trade all of the time; however, this type of station would be for a very active trader, as a scalper, who utilizes charts and graphs in a micro trading setting, profits on the smaller moves, and egressing when necessary; therefore, limiting potential downslides. The buy and hold philosophy is a dramatic extreme alternative, hence, one would consider opening an account with a more established broker of whom could advise you regarding what you are holding.
I am thanking you for your input and bidding you well with your trading.
Ed.
Dear Tinyhands:
Ok, I am working to see your point of view
regarding a fraud and a scam. You had mentioned
that active trading is the scam.
Question:
Without being pious and off topic, would the
Bible be a scam if many had read it, but failed
to heed and apply the message?
Would the active trading be a scam if one had
no trading plan or system, or be emotionally
inadequate for such, as to maybe, ironically,
HOLDING on to positions that are declining?
Who’s fault would this be? Speaking from
experience, it is obvious that it would not
be the Bible or the active trading. It would be –
Yes, you’ve guessed it, and I know that you
are right.
I am thanking you for your imput and am
bidding you well with your trading.
Ed.
To Dean.
Re: Execution.
Friend:
There is always more risk if one is
utilizing a market order to exit from
a declining stock, since, many are
viewing the same chart and level II,
especially the market makers and
institutions, and may not wish to
buy the above at that particular time,
hence, the inevitable seemingly poor
execution.
A limit order is a good alternative;
however, one may have to chase
downward.
The best execution will be obtained
when one is selling in the midst of
an uptrend, before the sentiment of
the stock changes to a downslide.
I am thanking you for the opportunity
to respond to your statement and am wishing
you well in your trading.
Ed.
Zecco certainly is not a scam. Having said that, however, IT ROYALLY SUCKS. ASP.net sucks as well, especially the Microsoft .net variety. Zecco’s entire concept sucks. You don’t go for a broker just because you want to save a few bucks in commissions. If a couple of bucks shaving is what you are after, you don’t really need an investment account. You simply cannot afford it, let’s be honest here. Zecco’s platform sucks, customer service sucks, currently technology sucks, it’s unreliable, Firefox browser works only sporadically on their site, even IE works sporadically on their site. Zecco goes out of their way to hide their sweeps form for the newbies who doesn’t know any better to look for it since it is not a default setting and that choice is not even mentioned when signing up for an account. Customer service is totally non-existent. They also only work banker’s hours Monday-Friday. Zecco sucks people. Free trades is their main sell? It will only attract poor newbie traders with fantasies dancing in their heads and really dumb inexperienced traders. Pay your commissions at other finer and bigger online brokerages ranked highly by Barrons and Forbes instead! You do get what you pay for and you are squabbling over saving couple of bucks on commissions at most? Come on people.
Hmmm…Jon, do you perchance happen to either work for E*Trade and/or own E*Trade stock?
Joe (a satisfied E*Trade customer)
Not true at all. Zecco’s site is fine and I have never had problems using Firefox browser. My trades all work fine and customer service via email was ok too.
I’ve had an account with Zecco now for a month. For my needs, it’s great. Heck, with my style (Dogs of the DOW), I can’t imagine doing 40 trades in a month. I use Firefox only, and have never had a problem. I know about the sweeps form right off, as I read all the documents.
So why should I be using another broker?
Can’t think of a reason.
Can’t believe someone is seriously suggesting that I should be paying commissions, as if paying someone commissions is my duty.
Zecco will make out just fine. If anything, that should tell you how much other brokerages are really making . . .
Like all the “serious” traders have mentioned; Zecco sucks and Zecco is only for non-serious amateur traders arguing over couple of bucks here and there. People praising Zecco are not making serious income from their trades. I can guarantee you that much. Just being OK and saving couple of bucks is not GOOD ENOUGH for serious traders. Yes, Zecco sucks horribly! Stay the hell away from it and don’t listen to these amateur traders throwing accolades around.
Wow. Could you have anything less substantial to say? Just attacks based on emotional opinion - rather than actual facts to conteract what their own customers are saying.
here are my experience of zecco from 1 to 10, 5 being the average:
trade cost : 10 (costs nothing)
trade execution : 7 (better then scottrade)
overall web site experience : 4 (especially admin part is a solid 2)
customer support : 3…4 (sometimes rude folks over the phone)
ACH transfer : 6 (pretty fast 2-3 days)
OVERALL , I still think it is worth it.
I’ve been waiting for that dip also…..finally here!
Does Zecco answer emails to customer support? I still don’t know anything about an account that I’m trying to open……
DECCO TRADING: Check out Better Business Bureau
THAT’s ZECCO !!!
Zecco sucks big time, its been about two months and I was not able to execute a single trade. They didnt question a thing when I transferred money to Zecco, after realizing that I have gotten into a shitty thing i decided to pull back my money and they say I havent submitted documentation and crap and that I cant pull my money out. WTF ?
You people are too much. This comes from an old goat who has been ‘investing’ for over 50 years.
Fifty percent of floor traders go bankrupt each year. After 5 years - well, you figure it out. Do you really think you can beat a floor trader while you’re sitting in front of your computer in Peoria? Think about it a bit - about all the advantages he has that you don’t. I think a safe extrapolation is that at least 50% of day traders go broke each year, too.
You’re told to diversify. In the limit, you’ll just be mimicking the S&P, so why not buy SPY in the first place and be done with it. That advice was invented by brokers to increase their commissions. Do you really think you can beat the S&P long term?
Then there’s technical trading. This assumes you can predict the future from the past. IMHO, that’s akin to reading tea leaves and cows’ entrails. If any of those systems really worked (and I’ve tried several of them), the inventor would be in the process of amassing all the world’s wealth, and he sure as hell wouldn’t tell you or me about it in a book. I don’t have a crystal ball, and neither do you or anyone else - especially those used-car salemen you see on the box.
So, let’s say you make ten trades a month - 120 per year. Times ten bucks at those other brokers. That’s 1200 bucks saved, and it’s more than enough to finance a jim-dandy night with a first class doxie in most any city in the world.
In the end, if a company’s earnings go up, the probability is high that its stock will go up. The opposite is true, too. Conclusion? Earnings determine price - not 73 5/8 day moving averages or cow entrails.
We’re at a bottom? I saw panic and some fear, but no hopelessness. Thus, I’m leaving room in my thinking for more downside. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to buy. Average down! You buy at bottoms or on the way down, and you sell at tops or on the way up - if you want to ‘make money’.
My bigotted opinions only. When you get to be 80, I suspect you’ll share them.
Earl,
All that said (of which I agree with the last part about when to buy and sell) and partially agree with the earlier part about Day trader’s losing money (I agree that you can’t beat the floor traders but I don’t think you need to .. there are so many poor day traders out there that I just try to beat them) …. What are you buying now? Financials, maybe. What about Bear Stearns?
Thanks
Dan
Dan:
I’m a firm believer in the square-root rule, so I tend to stay away from that high-priced stuff. I picked up a few banks, a few foreign ETFs, and a few BDCs. Stuff that was being thrown away. In spite of today’s new high, I fear the carnage is far from over. These bursted bubbles all terminate in bankruptcy court, and although some number like 60 mortgage companies are already there, I suspect some of the big boys lie ahead. We just flooded the world with hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of mostly worthless (or worth less) paper, so somebody is holding the bag and eventually will have to ‘fess up’ and pay the piper.
Back to Zecco; I see they changed the rules of their game today. I doubt if most people make more than ten trades per month, especially if they’re working with $2500 capital or trying for long term capital gains, so maybe it’s no big deal. However, Zecco’s prices for trading options are kind of high. A couple of the other guys are beginning to look more attractive.
Earl
Earl, you are right on, active trading doesn’t get you there like simple accumilation will. Broknowrchlatr was right, they couldn’t offer free trades indefinitely. Their commissions are now about the same as Trade King. Zecco used to have ten free trades a day, now it is ten per month. Trade King has lower margin rates.
Their website claims on the fee page that they don’t have introductory fees, but at the bottom it says they can change the fees with ten days notice.
Like Dean said, with certain brokers you get poor execution that costs you. Throw in high margin rates, screwed up paperwork, bad customer service, and betraying their purpose (free commissions), the question is, which discount brokerage will you trust?
Zecco support is the most frustrating in the world. I have an individual account and it works fine–it’s automated. But I’m trying to get an IRA setup which requires a transfer and the customer support has been absolutely horrible. First, they do not receive faxes, although I’ve had them confirm receipt. Finally, I send the documents by USPS Priority Mail. They tell me an IRA rollover account is not what I need. I setup a regular Roth account–but the websoftware is clunky and I have to start over at page one several times and I guess the default is individual account. So I am not successful. I email when I finally do have setup an ROTH IRA account (although when i click on it, it logs me off). I email support. In order to help me, they say, they have to have a reference number. WTF ? What reference number? In no emails are there reference numbers. I really do not think customer support wants your business as it just means more work for them. They answer, but are not helpful.
Zecco cancels accounts over negative feedback over the recent pricing structure change. Zecco did it to me. Lets see how soon this gets edited.
Watch what you say to zecco. BEWARE of ZECCO.com for investing, trading, options and stocks. It took over 5 weeks for them to setup my account and it still has not been created correctly. I don’t even have any stocks to transfer in. When talking to customer service I need to start over every time which takes a lot longer if any problem needs more than one phone call to resolve. There have been reports from people that the setup process is not clear so if you fund your account after they say everything is a go and you have not turned in your government tax papers they will withhold a sizeable chunk of your money.
Recently they changed their policy where if you no longer meet the New minimum balance requirements you do not get free trades. Even though their whole business model is built on free trades you don’t get any. Now my account is halfway setup at this point and I log in and I receive the notice saying everything is changing the minimum requirements for account, and the amount of free trades, and that you must meet the $2500 minimum to be able to receive their now ten (down from 40) free trades a month. I have not even traded my first stock with this service and the terms are changing. On top of that there is a $50 transfer out fee (up from $0) that is imposed now. This seems like bait and switch to me.
Now they contact me because they don’t have the required information that was already sent to them when my account was setup the first time. I send back that I don’t have time to start this process over with and I do not feel confident more or less in the company anymore. I also let them know that I am not happy with their business model now affects me and how I have been treated as a customer since the start. Now I have heard people criticize the company on their site which is always deleted by the moderator’s but also on the internet. I felt that I would make my own decision as their site seemed informative and I thought I know what I was getting into. All I wanted was for them to understand they are pushing customers away and that it would be beneficial to grandfather the people in that have been with the company or just signed up before this was enacted. I was not notified of this change by email or us mail as they stated before it went into affect and I just wanted to use my account with their new restrictions if need be but not be shutout by the new minimum balance.
Now I have my major funds at another broker since I wanted to make sure this company was of the straight and narrow before I brought my whole account over to them (like a lot of people do). Now these people are shunned away which may lose them business.
Now I understand that they are a new company but they don’t need to close my account because I stated I didn’t think I what they were doing was fair to me and to others. Most business owners would like to hear the feedback before it costs them money from customers taking their business elsewhere.
Moral of the story is watch what you say to Zecco they may close your account if they don’t like what you say.
Zecco if you would like to contact me I would be more than happy to talk to you.
Thanks
well, i was skeptical too. i recently funded my account and within a week, received a letter that as of the new year, zecco will be charging for trades.
does anyone know of REAL free trading sites. i hate etrade. ameritrade is okay but those commissions add up. here i am on hold with etrade for over 20 minutes.
too bad zecco is as of the new year will be 10 free trades / month and then 4.50 per trade if your account is 2500 or above. below that is not free. 4.50 per trade. which is a decent deal but i echo what others have noted. lousy interface. while i hate etrade because of highly tricky marketing practices (read the fine print!) their interface is the best out of all of them.
While they may have passed all the regulatory hurdles to be considered legitmate, their “policy change” on October 1st 2007 of taking away what they once touted as “Not an introductory offer” has soured their reputation to thousands of once loyal users. I would strongly advise based on my experience with this company to avoid its use. When a business practices tactics such as these, you dont know what their next offer will be, what the next fee will be. In the end, you are risking any of your potential investment by the uncertainty of their business practices.
My recommendation for Zecco is a Strong AVOID!
STRONG STAY AWAY FROM ZECCO WARNING! Ive made several attempts to pull my money out of zecco and all i get is this message
This account is missing the paperwork. Penson can not process your request until all required documentation is received.
Required Paperwork CAG - R
Required Paperwork NAF - R
Do you want to proceed?
Then nothing happens. Looks like they are just going to keep my money. there is no number to call to talk to anyone. all emails ive sent to customerservice@zeccotrading.com have remained unanswered. for now people, i say YES! ZECCO IS A SCAM! STAY AWAY FROM ZECCO! If i get my money back, I will let you know.
[...] for Financial Prosperity presents Is Zecco A Scam or Legitimate? — Interesting. How does a company that offer free service stays in [...]
zecco is not offering everything free. They are just offering 10 free trades per month and there after $4.5 per trade. So they have source of income.
I am wondering if one could purchase a mutual fund through Zecco?
Can one purchase real time quotes and a trading platform through Zecco?
What services can an investor purchase from Zecco for a fee?
What research services can an investor purchase through Zecco?
Zecco will not be around for long. They say born on the fourth of July forty Free trades. Well then,I guess 30 free trades died in October 2007. The BBB rating on Zecco is F !
I signed up after it was 10 free/month and $4.50 thereafter. I think that’s a great deal since i am now with e-trade and the amounts i am now able to invest are small enough that $12.99 is just too high a percentage. I could have made some money in a fluctuation of citigroup just a few weeks ago, but it would have all been eaten up in commissions. I think Zecco still offers a great deal.
The problem I have with Zecco is that they don’t just accept documents online. I have to physically print them out and send them a hardcopy. One of the things I like about e-trade is that I hate paperwork. I haven’t even been able to fund my Zecco account, much less make trades. It doesn’t seem to be as user-friendly as e-trade.
Zecco will not survive..too much competition with better tools and service. You get what you pay for. They are a one trick pony and as the market downturn continues in 2008 thier only main source of revenue (margin balances) will disappear. They will then sell their accounts to the highest bidder.
I give them 10-18 months…max.
I am just starting out doing some trades and building positions. Zecco just seemed too dicey for me. I am suspicious of anything “free”.
After some research I decided to go with Sharebuilder.com. ACH transfer happened the next business day and since I am not trying to time the market, qualifying for the $4 trade cost works for my plans.
GOING BACK TO SHAREBUILDER
These guys are complete rip offs, I came to Zecco from Sharebuilder under the lure of free trades without any account balance of any kind. Now they switched to charging $4.50 per trade or 10 free trades with a $2500 account balance. Now that I have been trading through Zecco since last May they want to charge me. They recently margin called me for only fifty cents but still allowed the trade, whereas before they would have just said I did not have enough buying power. Seems to me that they are no better than any other online trade company by charging people. Sharebuilder only charges $4.00 per trade and I get flier miles, I would be crazy to stay. Here is a follow up email from Zecco dealing with the issue. Im going back to Sharebuilder greatful that Zecco finally showed their true colors. Good Luck to All and I will see you at Sharebuilder……
Dear Valued Customer,
Recent trading activity or market value adjustment in your Zecco Trading account has caused a Maintenance Margin Call that should be addressed and may require your prompt attention.
The margin call may be attributed to one of several issues occurring, including but not limited to, a drop in value in the securities held in your account which decreases the equity percentage of your account below required minimums; concentration in certain position(s) that require higher maintenance minimums; increased debit balances due to purchases and or interest debited against your account; and/or increased maintenance minimums on position(s) held in your account.
Please review your account and take the necessary steps to bring your account current. For additional information, including Due Date, please refer to the Margin Call Summary under the Account Records tab of your Zecco Trading Account. If the calls are not settled by due date you may be subject to liquidation at the broker assisted commission rate of $19.99 or account restriction depending on the type of call.
So people are saying that this site is for amateur traders and for inexperienced traders. You guys honestly think that you can make money in this market given the fact that this is probably one of the worst markets EVER? So what is the problem with the buy and hold strategy that was mentioned previously in this forum??? I agree that if the market is in stable condition, then this platform may not be sufficient for people who conduct trades on a daily basis. One of the advice that Jim Cramer gives is that this is NOT the time to be heroic and try to make money off the market. I agree with this - unless you have steep pockets like Warrent Buffett - this is prob not the time to make some short-term investments. I think this site has a sufficient platform for TODAY’s market.
I opened an account 3 months ago, but I can’t get the funding work so I decided to give up and use TD Amertirade instead. 2 days ago I got a letter from a law firm, suiting me owning Zecco 200 USD. And if I don’t pay my debt with in 4 weeks, it will goes to my credit history. I called Zecco to clarify this, but none of the customer representative can give me a good answer to explain why I own 200 to Zecco. So now I am forced to pay 200 for no reason. I didn’t even use Zecco to trade stock or anything, and now I am in 200 USD debt. I think this is one way that Zecco makes money ( since they declare they have 0 commission) by charing random account random fees for no reasons. I also find a lot of people posting on their blogs about how they can deposit money easily in to zecco but have a hard time or even can’t withdrawal it at all from Zecco. So if you are still using Zecco trading, you might want to be careful about taking your money out, since it won’t be easy.
I recently transfer my holdings out of Zecco. I got a very confusing mail (see below) saying that I am margin called, and before that, they sent me a sell out notice as well. But I wasn’t involved in any margin trading. Anyone knows why I am getting this call?
Dear Valued Customer,
Recent trading activity or market value adjustment in your Zecco Trading account has caused a Maintenance Margin Call that should be addressed and may require your prompt attention.
The margin call may be attributed to one of several issues occurring, including but not limited to, a drop in value in the securities held in your account which decreases the equity percentage of your account below required minimums; concentration in certain position(s) that require higher maintenance minimums; increased debit balances due to purchases and or interest debited against your account; and/or increased maintenance minimums on position(s) held in your account.
Please review your account and take the necessary steps to bring your account current. For additional information, including Due Date, please refer to the Margin Call Summary under the Account Records tab of your Zecco Trading Account. If the calls are not settled by due date you may be subject to liquidation at the broker assisted commission rate of $19.99 or account restriction depending on the type of call.
Please contact Customer Service at 909-657-6655 or reply to this email with your full name and reference number should you need further assistance.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.
Best Regards,
Zecco Trading
Margin Department
909-657-6655
Securities products and services offered through:
Zecco Trading, Inc.
2084 E Francis Street
Ontario, CA 91761
909-657-6655 Office
909-657-6638 Facsimile
Member FINRA SIPC
***********************************************************************
The information in this email may be confidential and/or privileged. This email is intended to be reviewed by only the individual or organization named above. If you are not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination or copying of this email and its attachments, if any, or the information contained herein is prohibited.
Authorized supervisors, compliance or internal audit personnel may review all e-mail. E-mail will be archived for at least three years and may be produced to regulatory agencies or others with a legal right to access such information. Zecco Trading, Inc. will not accept trade order instructions via e-mail.
If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender by return email and delete this email from your system. Thank you.
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I have used Zecco for a month. I would not recommand zecco for two reasons: one of them is that they have a terrible customer service; the other one is that on their contract, they basically state any mistake they make, they are not liable for it; therefore, it is all customers’ fault. The case I had to go through was that their IT department made a mistake and added a couple of transactions that have never occured but they didn’t inform me. In the end, because of their misleading information, my account lost about $50,000. Their Chief of Compliance said “that is damn too bad” after hearing this story. I also asked what they were liable for, and he said “that’s a very good question.” I have used other sites such as scottrade, and their service is much better. For those people out there who are willing to invest your money, and want some security behind it, never use Zecco Trading, Inc.
John,
You lost $50,000 dollars! I would file a lawsuit! If they did that to you, they probably are cheating others out of their money too. Maybe there are clients that have been screwed to file a class action lawsuit?
I agree customer service is terrible. They are disrespectful and dishonest. I was told that they would remove a margin call from my account by one supervisor and it was a flat out lie. I called back and told the manager it had not been removed. I gave him the name of the supervisor who said they would waive it for me, and he said she was mistaken. He admitted that it was possible, but would not permit it to happen. He was very rude and hung up on me.
My advice to you John is call a lawyer as soon as possible.
I would like to thank each one of you for your blog. I am a 25 yr. old that is NEW to investing and looking to diversify my portfolio by starting to buy multiple securities. I was turned onto zecco from a co-worker, but I must say that after these blogs I will consider another company. I guess my father was right about one thing in life “if something seems to good to be true it normally is.” I am wanting to know if any has any ideas on sites that offer exceptional customer service and research tools. I read Kiplinger and Morning Star like a kid watches cartoons. I have alot of mutual funds, but with our economy reaching a recession I am wanting to by securities now. Does anyone have any ideas on which companies I should look for. I know of T.D. Ameritrade & E-Trade and learned of sharebuilder from this websie. Also does anyone have any ideas on which books give new inveators alot of knowledge to this industry. I am also currently learning to read financial reports and am wanting some books that will teach this gret insight/tool.
Thanks again…. I know now that I will be paying more money for trades, BUT I also know that I will feel more confident with another company.
[...] they a scam? Not according to my research on whether Zecco was a scam but it pays for you to do your own due diligence if you are still [...]
Most of these comments are ridiculous; they sound like they mainly come from people who didn’t know what they were doing or how a margin call works. I’ve used Zecco for almost 8 months now and have had no problems. I’ve never had a long hold time, I’ve never been treated rudely on the phone by customer service, and never had strange things happen with my account or problems transferring money. Highly recommend it. I’ve saved over $900 in the past 8 months for how much I would have paid sharebuilder.com for the same trades.
Well, being as unbiased as possible, I hate to say it, but Zecco does have its flaws being a new company. Lost paperworks, buying power not updating correctly, etc. But then again, their customer service are pretty decent. Sometimes I know things get a little hectic, but a huge portion of the time it’s the customers just don’t know what they are doing at all.
Does anyone else have a POSITIVE experience with WITHDRAWING money from Zecco Trading?
They have ads on CNBC and yet it seems they are making business with them almost impossible.
James is new to investing and wants advice on which online brokerages to consider. I began my online investing with Datek in 2000. Since then Datek merged with Ameritrade and Ameritrade merged with TD Waterhouse to make TD Ameritrade and through it all I never had a problem except for one bad e-mail instruction on moving a stock position between a trading account and an IRA, and in that case they apologized and gave me a free trade for my inconvenience. They have executed all my trades exactly as I wanted. I am not an active trader; I generally only make a few trades a year (though I fortunately stopped out of many positions during the meltdown of last August) and I avoid trades of less than $2000, thus keeping my cost under 1/2 of 1% per trade, at the $10/trade rate. I’m sure other brokerages in this price range have good service too. Hope this helps.
Zecco sucks!!! Don’t throw your money in dump.
Account managers are tampering account information causing me several K$ losses. Forcing me to pay margin interest without my will. Locked my accounts without informing me or without my permission. Then they charged me penalties.
I was probably one of the first 100 customers when Zecco opened to public. Initially I didn’t mind their disorganized website, poor execution prices & sloppy accounting practices. Because what to expect with 0$ commission? But lately I am getting very annoyed with accounting practices at Zecco. They are often changing execution details in history. For example if my stock wmt got executed at cetain price & sattling money is Y dollars, few days later they change Y to Y* without informing me.
Biggest problem which is causing me to finally close my account:
Zecco is notorious in cash transfers. I have been using same account for transfering cash, but every few months, zecco gets a reject on ACH for NO MISTAKE OF CUSTOMER, and they charge customers $25 each time. I discussed occurance of 3 such charges with Zecco but they are unwilling to refund the charges.
It happened 4th time, this time I asked them to investigate as I have been using same account for cash transfers for last 1 year with more than sufficient balance. The account manager was EXTREMELY RUDE to even accept their mistake. She accepted that ACH was erroneous but it was not Zecco’s fault so customer has to pay!!! And while investigating, she blocked all my accounts for closing positions only - means I can sell but I can’t buy anything.
It ticked me off real bad, why should customers pay for mistake of Zecco or ACH! I am filing FTC complaint as well. I have decided to take my account elsewhere. As usual account manager “DOESN’T CARE” about my $50K account. Account manager won’t refund $25 for THEIR mistake, but is OK to let me go….
If I were manager of the account manager who handled my account so poorly, I would have fired the lady right on spot. But I guess Zecco is readying itself for a fall.
Too much controversy for me to transfer my account which has been tempting. For now I’ll stay with Scottrade. When I first checked with BBB, Zecco was rated F; subsequent checking revealed they had been raised to a rating of CC. Thanks for the information, exchanges.
Reviews here are way too harsh on zecco.
Its 2008, the company improved its shortcomings, and still gives the best trading deal around.
No arrogance - straight up stock trades at 0 commission cost.
Give them a try. It doesn’t cost you anything. You qualify for a free book promotion if you’re referred by an active member.
I’ve held an account with zecco for over a year now and haven’t had any problems.
I mailed in my forms to open my account but never did set up an ACH relationship. I continue to mail checks in to fund my meager account. I’m young and I have no problems executing trades. I stick to stocks in zecco and buy mutual funds in my Roth w/scottrade. The trades are executed quickly and I have no complaints, free trades are great and I like how it keeps track of your position either positive or negative with $ and % shown. I would give it an overall positive rating.
I guess I’ll see when the time comes to withdraw my account how smooth the process goes. I’ll be sure to research what paperwork I must submit prior to closing though, which I don’t anticipate doing any time soon.
I am another dissatisfied customer. Company’s web site is crap! I like to trade often & I would give F grades to trade execution at Zecco. I have tried Wells fargo & free trades come with better professional treatment than Zecco. I have been hit several times by “hidden” fees at Zecco & paid large amount of trading fee when they reduced # of free trades this year. Customer service is too arrogant to help with hidden charges. My advice will be to read fine prints carefully. Because you don’t want to be surprised. What blew me off was that company started charging for sending paper statements. And I could never figure how to swich preferences on their web site. By default they set you up for paper statements, and then you’ll be hit very hard with charges for paper statements. Plus customer service is too arrogant to reverse ANY charges.
I also have seen big troubles with transferring money in or out of Zecco. I have also paid my share of service charges for Zecco’s mistakes. I had painful 1 year experience with Zecco & I am finally saying good bye to them. I will rate Zecco lower than F. “Free” trades came at cost of service charges, crappy website & crappy trading experience for me. You choose what you want -
I strongly disagree with positive comments on this site except that Zecco offers free 10 trades per month. I could get 100 free at wells fargo which worked much better for me.
You guys are making me not want to work for this company. I have an interview scheduled with them to work as a financial servive rep.
(I used to be a HUGE fan of Zecco)
What I like about Zecco - 10 free trades.
What I dislike about Zecco - their website has lots of glitches/downfalls.
1) They have an automatic drop down menu of “BUY”. TDAmeritrade, and other brokerage allow the trader to select BUY or SELL, to make sure they’re making the correct choice. Automatic drop down menu of BUY will cause MISTAKES, especially if you’re in a rush to SELL. MAJOR DOWNFALL.
2) If you put in a bid to purchase stocks one day, and forget to CANCEL, that order will STAND til whenever, versus other sites where they only let the orders stand for that DAY. With Zecco, you can make another COSTLY mistake if you don’t know this, and your order can be ACCEPTED the next day.
3) Confusion with “Accepted”, “Executed” on their website. For the new traders, make sure you’re familiar with this. A way to confuse folks, if you ask me.
I agree with Mike T - I am ONE BIG dissatisfied customer with Zecco. There are LOTS of hidden costs because of the lack of user friendliness/sophistication/speed of the site.
And their customer service? HA! What a joke…
I have recently received a $2,000 maintenance call and my stocks were all paid for with no margin balance. Nothing but level one options. Covered calls is the only ones sold. Has anyone ever heard of that before?
The previous comment is referring to a ZECCO account of course.
that’s the most random thing ever, you MUST be leaving some information out LOL
[...] in customer service in their 2008 Smart Money Best Broker Survey and many of the comments on my Is Zecco A Scam? post seem to echo the experiences of Smart Money’s reviewers. If you read the comments, they range [...]
I love Zecco. Best broker I’ve ever had.
I’m a former Ameritrade user. I switched to Zecco and have been very satisfied with my decision. I’m a recognized as a pattern day trader and I average around 35 trades per month.
I’m really shocked at some of the comments here. I’m starting to believe that some of these comments were paid for by competing online brokerages, because I’ve only experienced ONE problem with Zecco since January 2008, and that problem was a small error in buying power that was quickly fixed after a phone call.
I’ve never had to wait over 5 minutes for customer support, and their cs guys are actually COMPETENT. I’ve always had my problem solved within minutes.
My father and I switched brokerages on the same day. He switched to E-Trade, and I switched to Zecco. My ACH deposit arrived in my account much faster. My father’s funds were put on hold by E-Trade for 10 days. My funds arrived in 3 days.
My ONLY complaint about Zecco is that short positions are not available for every stock I would like to short.
Mike T - Zecco sends you an e-mail notifying you to disable paper statements. They provide you instructions in the e-mail on how to disable paper statements as well.
Incompetent people like you are giving Zecco a bad rep. I’m sure some of these complaints are legitimate, but the majority of them are nonsense.
I’ve used Zecco for 12 months now. I have not paid Zecco a penny, because I only use my ten free trades per month. No hidden charges. The profits are mine to keep, no commission. I am always pleased with the execution prices of my trades - often better than the limits I’ve set. I got my brother and mother to open Zecco trading accounts. I would recommend it to anyone. Zecco rocks!
wow… I was just about to open an account with Zecco, but when I saw they wanted all the personal information, I decided to check out reviews and found this blog. I am probably the market’s biggest newbie on investing and am glad I read these comments. I don’t think most would make these comments - negative or positive - if there wasn’t some truth to each. Overall, I don’t think someone as green as myself should chance an experience with Zecco - especially if their customer service lacks as much as mentioned. Maybe everyone hasn’t had a bad experience with customer service, but enough to make me really leery.
Thanks. Will read more reviews and compare to reviews to other online companies. Not a big trader, but don’t want to get started on the wrong foot.
I got a very bad experience, I made a deposit through ACH and find my bank account has been closed. Their web site has no way to cancel the transaction and the phone are holding too long that I am able to talk to the customer serive after trading hour. There’s no way to cancel the deposit request and they charge $25 with magin calls on my account. Now I have to paid the interest on negative balance. That’s the first time I heard that no way to cancel the ACH transaction during business hours. Now I know “no free lunch”. I have confident that some day you lost your money and they have something coming up for it.
After realizing that I paid almost 225 for 5 trades over the phone with TD with brokerage seems interesting. I making about 50 trades a month now, but I am concerned about getting the best execution. Who offers the best execution anyway?
I am constantly adjusting limit orders and do not want a platform that sucks . Can anyone chime in?
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