Can you elaborate on the need to call to reset your buying power? That’s one of the problems I’ve been having with Sogotrade. They have constant buying power quoting problems that require multiple phone calls with long hold times. And then they dare suggest that they’ll call you back with an answer – which they often don’t do. I was thinking of switching to OptionHouse. How often do you have a problem with this? Do they answer questions and solve problems quick?

The New Accounts Dept rejected an IRA beneficiary form for not having SSN for the beneficiaries. No problem, I had a new one witnessed and mailed to them the next day. Two days later, the Operations Dept, w/o any warning, email or phone call, emailed me that they were returning my IRA check. Even though I was in constant contact with their New Accounts Dept, and was told everything was fine, the Operations Dept obviously wasn’t in contact with the New Accounts Dept.

A classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing.

But I really suspect OptionsHouse did me huge favor by giving me a preview of their customer service.

I anticipate that I will most likely be leaving OH in the near future, due to their substandard customer service, and their attitude towards customer satisfaction. I felt like they couldn’t care less, and it is no surprise after reading that so many above customers have had unpleasant experiences with OH. I have only made a handful of trades with OH, but cannot say that the experience was pleasant.

I guess in the end, you get what you pay for; and with such low trading fees, they need to make money using any dirty tricks they can pull. BUYER BEWARE!!

I had similar concerns. Fortunately my Scottrade account remained open even after the transfer so I can still take advantage of their research reports. I suspect these companies leave transferred accounts open so that they can still count them as customers. Hopefully your Ameritrade account will do the same and you will have the best of both worlds.

OptionsHouse does have a covered call tool that is pretty neat. I don’t use it much personally because I don’t trade options for the sake of trading options. I am trying to boost my return on stocks I already own by writing covered calls. It might be a tool you’ll use regularly though.

The interface is extremely intuitive. Case in point, OptionsHouse doesn’t use options symbols. The switch to the new option system was seamless for me because OptionsHouse already use a more intuitive system.

I like the use of the virtual account. This is a nice feature for those like me who are new to options trading because I can place a planned order in my virtual account before placing it in my real account. This allows me to make sure I make the trade I think I am making without costly rookie mistakes.

Customer service was very helpful the few times I called when transferring my account.

The only negative I’ve found so far is that the research tools are very options specific and I do miss the S&P reports Scottrade provided. I’m just learning to use the options tools they offer and have watched a couple of the archived webinars they offer free of charge to explain how they work.