Complaintsfortastytrade, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hi They tried to send me a statement through my email and it did not go through (their technical issues, not mine as i am still getting their other emails) and they charged me for $4.99 for the paper statement without notifying me. I called them twice and they ensured me that they would not sell any of my securities as they would credit back $4.99and guess what they sold a share of my Amazon stock without my consent. The customer service obviously does not know what they are doing. Stay away from tastytrade. Thank you ****

  Business response

  03/21/2024

  Hello, 

  Applicable regulatory rules require the delivery of periodic account statements to customers. By default, customers of tastytrade are enrolled in electronic delivery of certain account documents. In the event there are failed deliveries of such emails to a customer's email address on record, the customer's delivery preference for these account documents automatically changes to physical delivery. The enrollment of your account in paper statement delivery was not the result of a technical bug, but rather the result of facilitating timely and successful delivery of these documents after failed electronic delivery. The fees associated with these paper statements can be found on the Commissions and Fees page of the tastytrade website. 

  The sending tastytrade email address used depends on the type of email communication, which may be the reason why you receive certain emails from tastytrade without issue, while other emails are not delivered as expected due to your email client or mailbox settings. tastytrade's *********** has a resource to assist customers who experience this issue, and it provides the list of senders that need to be allowed to deliver to the email address associated with your account. We encourage you to review this resource to ensure your email address can receive required account documents going forward. The tastytrade *********** can be found at: ***************************************************

   Our current records reflect that your account was granted a one-time courtesy credit for the $5 fee that was charged and your statement delivery preferences currently reflect electronic delivery.  We apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced as a result of the paper statement delivery, and we sincerely hope the information provided here has clarified why this occurred. 

  Customer response

  03/21/2024

   
  Complaint: 21427586
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  1) why am i getting certain emails and not all from Tastytrade? They need to fix it and not charging the customer/me as its obviously their technical issue

  2) I called twice and the customer service ensured me that they would not sold my stocks as the request was submitted. Did they communicate clearly about the issue with each other and not giving me the wrong information? I expect Tastytrade to give me back 1 share of Amazon stock that they sold without my consent

  Now I don't feel safe keeping my stocks at Tastytrade anymore because they could sell any of my stocks at anytime without letting me know

   

  Thanks

  Hong

   

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Hong ****

  Business response

  03/26/2024

  Hello,
  
  As was expressed in our previous response, the delivery of electronic periodic statements for your account is facilitated using an email address that is different from the general support inbox.  While there was no lapse in service for our email delivery, your email client or mailbox settings *** have prevented the delivery of these statements which was recognized by the delivery system and led to your required enrollment in paper statement delivery.  While our records indicate that your tastytrade statement delivery settings are currently set to electronic delivery, to prevent this from happening in the future we recommend that you review the help center article that was referenced in the last response to ensure that your email can accept delivery of these statements.
  
  While we do apologize for any miscommunication that *** have occurred in connection with the liquidation of your share of Amazon, the liquidation was the result of a fee which is disclosed on our publicly facing website and you were notified via email about the ** call which resulted from the fee being charged.  During your call to tastytrade on March 13, 2024, you indicated that you wanted to be credited for the $5 fee that was charged to your account so you would have the ability to repurchase a share of Amazon. The $5 courtesy cash credit was processed on the same day as the liquidation on March 13, 2024, and, upon review of your account, you used the cash credit to purchase two securities. Based on the resolution you discussed with tastytrade during your call on March 13, 2024, the $5 cash credit to your account should have resolved the subject matter of your complaint.

  Customer response

  03/27/2024

   
  Complaint: 21427586
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1) what Tastytrade stated is not true as I did receive the online statement for Feb. See attached picture. That means there was NOTHING wrong with receiving mails on my end.  Why charged, sold my stock, and blame me when it was an issue on their email/server system? Has Tastytrade fixed it?

   

  2) the $5 is not courtesy because it was error from Tastytrade. See above.

  Hong

   

   

   

   

   

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Hong ****

• Initial Complaint

  03/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made initial contact Feb 21 requesting to change my phone number on my account. I sent emails and made phone calls without any resolution. I have been getting the run-around for well over a week. To this day, they have not updated the phone number on my account and I cannot change it myself on the website. I was originally told it would take only a few minutes to do, and it's now March 8th. Pathetic. Every time I make contact I end up with a different person and they tell me different things - e.g. one says I don't need a code, another says I do. I never seem to be in contact with the actual person who performs the update. The last phone call I made, I provided my personal info again, and was told I had nothing further to do, and that a note would be sent to the compliance team to make the update. That was days ago, the update was never performed. The nonsense continues to this day.

  Business response

  03/14/2024

  Hello,

  For security purposes, requests to update certain information related to an account require verification before the request can be processed and the associated information if officially updated accordingly. Since your initial request to update your phone number, tastytrade's Technical Support and other related teams have worked diligently to be responsive to your requests and provide you with instructions about the verification process required in order to update your phone number on record. Additionally, on several occasions, we proactively attempted to contact you to further assist and facilitate the change you requested. Our current records indicate that your phone number was successfully updated upon your successful completion of the verification process. We apologize that you found this process to be inconvenient, but we sincerely hope this has provided meaningful context for the purpose behind it. 

• Initial Complaint

  01/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had requested a number of times of status update of a simple transfer out request. banking team ** just simple does not want to help and keep telling me to go back to my destination firm. I have consulted multiple times with my original firm and they even sent the shipping label that used for the orignal documents to go to Apex. ** still wasn't willing to even check with Apex. this is really bad.Account ********

  Business response

  01/17/2024

  Hello,

  We apologize that you have experienced a delay with your **** transfer. However, an outgoing **** transfer is initiated by the receiving financial institution, not the delivering financial institution. This is the very reason tastytrade could not provide you with an update on the status of your outgoing **** transfer beyond the fact that we had not yet received a request from the financial institution you requested to transfer your account to. ******************** did provide prompt replies to your inquiries regarding the status, informing you that we had not received the **** transfer request, and kindly reminding you that you would need to inquire about the status of the request with your receiving financial institution since they are the firm initiating the request. tastytrade's Banking Team has been responsive to you, and has taken additional measures to escalate your request in an effort to obtain additional information, if available, regarding your outgoing **** transfer. We can assure that we have been diligently working on your **** request.

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Details of the Problem:Introduction:Your Name: ******* Issue with: Tastytrade, Inc.Nature of the Problem: Excessive fees and lack of transparency Description of the Incident:Date of Incident: 10/20/2023 Initial Deposit: I deposited $2,000 into my account for trading purposes.Trading Activity: I incurred a loss of $1,167 from trading activities.Issue Discovered: Upon reviewing my account, I noticed that the remaining balance was significantly lower than expected. The brokerage firm claimed that the rest ($800) went to fees and commissions.Concerns About Fees and Transparency:Unexpected Fees: The fees amounted to nearly 70% of my deposited funds, which was unexpected and seems highly irregular.Difficulty in Finding Fee Information: The breakdown of fees and commissions was not easily accessible. It was buried in the transaction history and not immediately obvious. This lack of transparency is concerning.Lack of Clarity in Platforms: The fees and commissions are not displayed in the desktop app or on the site where deposits or withdrawals are made. They are only visible from the web-based trading platform, and even there, it requires effort to find them.Attempts at Resolution:Communication with Support: I have been in touch with the support team, including agents named **** and *****. While they guided me to the transaction history and provided explanations, they informed me that they are unable to reduce the commission rate or credit my account for these fees.Seeking a Fair Resolution: I had hoped for some form of adjustment or credit, given the unexpected nature of these charges and the difficulty in finding and understanding the fee breakdown.Desired Outcome:I am seeking a fair resolution to this issue, which includes a credit or adjustment for the unexpected fees charged to my account.Additionally, I would like the brokerage firm to improve the transparency of their fee structure, making it easily accessible and understandable for all users.

  Business response

  11/14/2023

  tastytrade posts its commissions prominently on its 'Pricing' page, one of the main navigation menu items on the tastytrade website. Additionally, the tastytrade lists its commissions, along with a complete list of all trading, account, and banking fees on its 'Commissions & Fees' page which is the next subhead drop-down menu item under 'Pricing' from the main navigation item on the tastytrade website. Furthermore, associated commissions for each trade are displayed to customers in the 'Confirm and Send' order ticket before the customer places a trade. In the customer's complaint, the customer stated that ******************** claimed $800 went towards commissions for trades placed by the customer in their account year-to-date. However, tastytrade reviewed the correspondence between the customer and a representative of the Firm, and at no point did tastytrade state that $800 of the customer's $2,000 deposit was attributed to commissions year-to-date. The screenshot the customer included in his correspondence with the tastytrade representative showed a year-to-date total commission amount of $476.70. tastytrade has reviewed this commission total as of today, November 14, 2023, and can confirm the amount in commissions paid year-to-date has not changed and remains at $476.70.  

  tastytrade would like to take this opportunity to reiterate what was previously communicated to the customer during the above-referenced correspondence; tastytrade is adamant about making information, such as commissions and fees, regarding its services as transparent as possible and hopes this response has addressed the customer's concerns. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I applied for an account on ******************** Provided all the information they requested My account was rejected. No reason was provided.I called support. They said they can't provide a reason for the rejection.I have accounts 4 biggest brokerages

  Business response

  09/21/2023

  The Firm reviewed the Applicant's information as part of its account opening procedures, and the application returned an exception that required manual review and intervention, followed by further review and consideration from the Firm's compliance team. The Firm followed its risk-based procedures for reviewing the exception related to the Applicant's identifying information, as required of broker-dealers, and the Firm determined that the criteria to reject an application as per the Firm's risk-based procedures had been met. The Customer Agreement that the Applicant signed at the time they submitted their account application addresses that the Firm reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to not open a customer account, allow an open account to engage in transactions, or maintain an open account if the Firm has a reasonable basis for determining that doing so would present potential risk to the Firm. 

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was rejected opening a new account. No reason.I gave all my information, SSN, address. I'm resident at ************* but not citizen. I pay my taxes and I have a stable job.Is there any kind of discrimination against that? I don't understand why I was rejected. is it because I'm resident and no Citizen?.

  Business response

  11/16/2022

  The Firm reviewed the Applicant's information as part of its account opening procedures, and the application returned several exceptions that require manual review and intervention, followed by further review and consideration from the Firm's compliance team. The Firm followed its risk-based procedures for reviewing the exceptions related to the Applicant's identifying information, as required of broker-dealers, and the Firm determined that the criteria to reject an application as outlined in said procedures had been met. The Customer Agreement that the Applicant signed at the time they submitted their account application addresses that the Firm reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to not open a customer account, allow an open account to engage in transactions, or maintain an open account if the Firm has a reasonable basis for determining that doing so would present potential risk to the Firm. 

   

  Customer response

  11/17/2022

   
  Complaint: 18376759
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Your Firm can ask me for any  information (Taxes, Address , bills payed in that address) that I'll provide. I called 3 times asking to submit more information if it's convenient but you just shot me down. 

  Anyway, thank you for your answer.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ************************* *******

• Initial Complaint

  05/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I sold a weekly Put Vertical option trade on Monday May 16 2022 with a May 20 2022 expiration. It was withTesla 650 strike price. Tesla closed at 663, 13 dollars over the strike price which makes it a winning trade however Tastyworks *************** team decided to close my trade early at a ***** dollar lost +/-. I have my own *************** Team and never asked for tastyworks to manage my account. There actions was counterproductive to my system costing me a lost. As a result I reached out to them and there response was Unfortunately, the risk management process is not an exact science, it's more of an art so we cannot guarantee how much time will be able to give you. If you click I'M MONITORING' this does not mean that we will not take any action. It does mean that we will give you as much time as possible to manage the trades yourself. Typically you will have roughly ***** minutes prior to close to close/roll the positions as needed. The busier we are, the earlier we may need to close those at risk positions out. We manage this risk by running a report before expiration that identifies accounts that could potentially find themselves in a situation where they're taking on a debit balance multiple times the amount of their net liquidity. So the greater the risk of your position is in relation to your Net Liq, the earlier we will look to close your position out This is not an acceptable lost especially when its a winning trade. I need some financial compensation for there actions. Again its there *************** team that went against my system costing me a lost, not my actions at all. Also they closed my trade approximately 1hr before end of day. A lot can happen with 1hr, I have 5 years experience trading I know. Can you please help me resolve this issue? Now Tastyworks is threatening to terminate my account if I dont sign there Characteristics And Risks Of Standardized Options document. As a result Im blocked from accessing my account.

  Business response

  05/31/2022

  Account records evidence that the spread in TSLA was opened on 05/16/2022. On 05/20/2022 at 2:02PM CT tastyworks' Margin & *************** covered the customer's position. As previously communicated, due to expiration, account presented risk of being assigned ***** shares representing a total value of $975,000 in required capital while the account only had $5,000 in total value.  Although a short option position may expire out-of-the-money ("OTM") based on the closing price, after-hours price action can turn an OTM short option into an in-the-money ("ITM") option.  The risk comes from the long options expiring by the time the customer knows whether or not the short options are assigned at which point the defined-risk spread no longer becomes defined-risk.  
  
  The action taken by the Margin & *************** was appropriate and consistent with the terms established in the Customer Agreement which states in pertinent part that:
  
  
  *You acknowledge that tastyworks reserves the right, but is under no obligation to liquidate, exercise, or submit a Do Not Exercise request for your Account or on your behalf, without prior notice to you, in order to comply with the Firms policies, the Clearing Firms Policies, or those contained within Applicable Rules and Regulations.
  *You Acknowledge that if you own an option that is about to expire in the money, tastyworks may, in its sole discretion or in accordance with Applicable Rules and Regulations, and without prior notice to you, close out the option position.  However, tastyworks is under no obligation to buy, sell or exercise any options on your behalf. 
  *You authorize tastyworks, in its sole discretion, as it may deem necessary for the Firms protection, to take immediate action, without prior notice to you, by cancelling any outstanding order(s), closing out any Account position(s) of yours, in whole or in part, or to close out any commitment made on your behalf.

  Customer response

  06/01/2022

   
  Complaint: 17236870
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  This trade was a winning trade at market close and after hours. Also I never signed a form stating they have the right to close my trade. This form was presented to me after I made a complaint.
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  06/06/2022

  Hello ******************, 

   

  Please refer to provision 19(ix) of the attached tastyworks Customer Agreements that you signed on February 24, 2021 and March 5, 2022. the provision states, "You acknowledge that tastyworks reserves the right, but is under no obligation to liquidate, exercise, or submit a Do Not Exercise request for your Account or on your behalf, without prior notice to you, in order to comply with the Firms policies, the Clearing Firms policies, or those contained within Applicable Rules and Regulations."

   

  Thank you,

  Case

  Customer response

  06/15/2022

   
  Complaint: 17236870
  
  I am rejecting this response because:I never signed anything on March 5 2022. I was presented to me as I stated in my response but I never signed it. At this point this is fraud. Can I see this document that they claim I signed?
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Customer response

  06/22/2022

   
  Complaint: 17236870
  
  I am rejecting this response because:17236870
  
  I am rejecting this response because:I never signed anything on March 5 2022. I was presented to me as I stated in my response but I never signed it. At this point this is fraud. Can I see this document that they claim I signed?
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  06/23/2022

  Hello *******, 

   

  Please find attached the tastyworks Customer Agreement that you signed electronically on March 5, 2022. 

• Initial Complaint

  01/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I applied for a new account at Tastyworks as they are running a promotion. They requested additional information which was provided. Then they requested even more documentation, including color photos of SSN, all of which were provided. After providing 100% accurate information, the company accused me of fraud. The company strung me along for two weeks, receiving multiple personal forms of documentation, only to waste me time and personal information.If Tastyworks is going to provide promotions, they should not discriminate against particular individuals. It is a serious offense to be accused of fraud when one has provided 100% accurate information.

  Business response

  01/31/2022

  **************** did comply with tastyworks, In.c's (the "Firm") requests regarding needing additional documentation to proceed with its review of his account application. However, the request for additional documentation was due to the fact that there were several identification verification red flags on his application. The Firm reviewed the documentation in conjunction with the with the red flags on his account, and based on the procedures put in the place as required of  broker-dealers, the Firm made the risk-based decision to not proceed with processing ******************** application. This was not, by any means, a decision rooted in discriminatory rationale by any means. This decision was strictly the result of the Firm's risk-based broker-dealer procedures as required under applicable Customer Identification Program rules that the Firm must comply with. FINRA Rule **** requires firms to use reasonable diligence to know the essential facts of each of their customers. 

  Customer response

  02/03/2022

   
  Complaint: 16678865
  
  I am rejecting this response because:The firms statement that their due diligence turned up red flags is categorically false.  As explained to them, I moved address six months prior, and filed the request under my new address.  Not only did I provide my state issued drivers license which shows my new address, but also offered to provide any additional information necessary.  They can claim it is not discrimination, but the facts are such that I provided 100% accurate and legitimate information, and they have chosen to discriminate without cause under the guise of red flags.  If their "due diligence" is providing inaccurate red flags, they have a responsibility to look into why this is occurring opposing to accusing their customers of fraud, which is the route they chose.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  02/10/2022

  tastyworks understands the customer's frustration and does apologize that it was not able to accommodate their account application. However, the Firm does follow industry standards and practices expected of financial services firms and it is still its position that the decision to not do business with the consumer was not one based on discrimination by any stretch of the means, but was one based on internal review and risk assessment of the customer's information. Risk-based reviews and assessments is part of a universal Firm procedure, and not employed by the Firm on a discretionary basis.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩