EFXGroup are a joke

Evenin' all,

That time of year again when I need to find a new broker and a poll is inevitable. :cheesy:

I have tried them all, from SB companies to ECN's. I've tried the NDD's and the SB's. The US brokers and the Russian brokers and still, I cannot find anything or anyone that constitutes a fair, and reliable spot FX broker.

I thought I had with EFX but after numerous problems over the last 6 months I have put down to no-one being perfect, I thought I should stay with them as they are an ECN, a NDD, all is fair and transparent... How wrong was I! If anyone here trades with EFX they'll have discovered over the last 6 months they stopped opening with the market and join in a few hours into the markets open. Now, much to my disgust and anger, I have discovered, even when they do open later than every other broker going, you have to give them another 10 hours to 'connect' to all their banks so, for anyone who is actually trying to trade the market, don't expect to do anything past say 5pm UK time Friday or, before lunchtime Monday as you won't get anywhere. I can't remember how many times this has caused problems.

I won't go into their over-the-top costs as their is plenty on here about that too, but needless to say, for all their hype about being a wonderful, ECN, NDD, transparant broker with no deal desk so you don't get screwed by the broker, its all a waste of bloody time as, at least with an SB company, you may get slipped a bit but at least you get filled.

I don't want to sound like a newbie trying to get filled to the pip at NFP and those of you who know me will know that's not the case, but believe me when I say, DO NOT trade with EFX unless your an amateur or long term trader as you can discount 24hours from your trading week off the bat for a start, and no deal desk does not mean a thing. Bucket shops bloody everywhere....

So that leaves me with the question;

Who should a retail trader use to trade FX with? I don't want much from my broker..

Open when the market does and fills when they are open
Competitive spreads
Reliable with consistency even after 6-12-18 months
Liquidity
Reasonable costs
Regulated with all the necessaries
Offers the kiwi/usd
NOT US broker - a nice English one would be good

Surely all this isn't too much too ask?

I am seriously tempted at the moment to start a hedge fund just so I can go through FXmarketplace with CME/Reuters as it seems the only honest place left in this world of bucketshops.

Cheers

wasp

wasp said:

Evenin' all,

That time of year again when I need to find a new broker and a poll is inevitable. :cheesy:

I have tried them all, from SB companies to ECN's. I've tried the NDD's and the SB's. The US brokers and the Russian brokers and still, I cannot find anything or anyone that constitutes a fair, and reliable spot FX broker.

I thought I had with EFX but after numerous problems over the last 6 months I have put down to no-one being perfect, I thought I should stay with them as they are an ECN, a NDD, all is fair and transparent... How wrong was I! If anyone here trades with EFX they'll have discovered over the last 6 months they stopped opening with the market and join in a few hours into the markets open. Now, much to my disgust and anger, I have discovered, even when they do open later than every other broker going, you have to give them another 10 hours to 'connect' to all their banks so, for anyone who is actually trying to trade the market, don't expect to do anything past say 5pm UK time Friday or, before lunchtime Monday as you won't get anywhere. I can't remember how many times this has caused problems.

I won't go into their over-the-top costs as their is plenty on here about that too, but needless to say, for all their hype about being a wonderful, ECN, NDD, transparant broker with no deal desk so you don't get screwed by the broker, its all a waste of bloody time as, at least with an SB company, you may get slipped a bit but at least you get filled.

I don't want to sound like a newbie trying to get filled to the pip at NFP and those of you who know me will know that's not the case, but believe me when I say, DO NOT trade with EFX unless your an amateur or long term trader as you can discount 24hours from your trading week off the bat for a start, and no deal desk does not mean a thing. Bucket shops bloody everywhere....

So that leaves me with the question;

Who should a retail trader use to trade FX with? I don't want much from my broker..


[*]Open when the market does and fills when they are open
[*]Competitive spreads
[*]Reliable with consistency even after 6-12-18 months
[*]Liquidity
[*]Reasonable costs
[*]Regulated with all the necessaries
[*]Offers the kiwi/usd
[*]NOT US broker - a nice English one would be good

Surely all this isn't too much too ask?

I am seriously tempted at the moment to start a hedge fund just so I can go through FXmarketplace with CME/Reuters as it seems the only honest place left in this world of bucketshops.

Cheers

wasp

Click to expand...

I think, you answered everything yourself :whistling

You have tried them all? So, whou could help you?
And to be honest, if you are big enough, yes, do it and start your own fund!
Wishing you the best! If you should decide to trade index futures, with pleasure I try to help you
Regards Carlos

oanda, , HOTSPOT...?

My vote would be for my broker - Alpari

Regulated by the FSA and are only 35 miles from where I live, so a nice local one for me.

Have heard many things about Oanda not filling during news releases or giving high spreads, Alpari is yet to do either of those to me. If they did, I know the FSA would be on them!

Bob

cheers bobtuf, I have been tempted by Alpari before and not actually used them however tempted. Its nice to hear something good about them and I don't trade the news so not a problem there anyhow.

thanks

wasp

Anyone else use Alpari? I'm not finding much in the way of complaints in reviews online but some more good opinions would be nice!

bobtuf said:

My vote would be for my broker - Alpari

Regulated by the FSA and are only 35 miles from where I live, so a nice local one for me.

Have heard many things about Oanda not filling during news releases or giving high spreads, Alpari is yet to do either of those to me. If they did, I know the FSA would be on them!

Bob

Click to expand...

The FSA cannot do anything about wide spreads and fill problems surely?

FXSCALPER2 said:

The FSA cannot do anything about wide spreads and fill problems surely?

Click to expand...

To be honest, that was what I would have thought, but someone I speak to there often said, "yes, sure, if there is a lot of activity in the markets, then yes you can expect slightly higher spreads, but if we start making the spread size ridiculous and also not filling peoples positions, then we a) won't have any clients, and b) people will complain to the FSA, who then just might walk through the door, and we cannot afford to take any of those risks".

I hope what the guy said was true; he seemed genuine enough when he said it, and when I have spoken to him before he has always been very straight with me.

However, who knows whether the FSA would actually do something? Maybe if that had MANY complaints?! Let’s hope Alpari stay as honest as they have been this past year.

Bob

Wasp, Where are you?

wasp said:

Evenin' all,

That time of year again when I need to find a new broker and a poll is inevitable. :cheesy:

I have tried them all, from SB companies to ECN's. I've tried the NDD's and the SB's. The US brokers and the Russian brokers and still, I cannot find anything or anyone that constitutes a fair, and reliable spot FX broker.

I thought I had with EFX but after numerous problems over the last 6 months I have put down to no-one being perfect, I thought I should stay with them as they are an ECN, a NDD, all is fair and transparent... How wrong was I! If anyone here trades with EFX they'll have discovered over the last 6 months they stopped opening with the market and join in a few hours into the markets open. Now, much to my disgust and anger, I have discovered, even when they do open later than every other broker going, you have to give them another 10 hours to 'connect' to all their banks so, for anyone who is actually trying to trade the market, don't expect to do anything past say 5pm UK time Friday or, before lunchtime Monday as you won't get anywhere. I can't remember how many times this has caused problems.

I won't go into their over-the-top costs as their is plenty on here about that too, but needless to say, for all their hype about being a wonderful, ECN, NDD, transparant broker with no deal desk so you don't get screwed by the broker, its all a waste of bloody time as, at least with an SB company, you may get slipped a bit but at least you get filled.

I don't want to sound like a newbie trying to get filled to the pip at NFP and those of you who know me will know that's not the case, but believe me when I say, DO NOT trade with EFX unless your an amateur or long term trader as you can discount 24hours from your trading week off the bat for a start, and no deal desk does not mean a thing. Bucket shops bloody everywhere....

So that leaves me with the question;

Who should a retail trader use to trade FX with? I don't want much from my broker..

Open when the market does and fills when they are open
Competitive spreads
Reliable with consistency even after 6-12-18 months
Liquidity
Reasonable costs
Regulated with all the necessaries
Offers the kiwi/usd
NOT US broker - a nice English one would be good

Surely all this isn't too much too ask?

I am seriously tempted at the moment to start a hedge fund just so I can go through FXmarketplace with CME/Reuters as it seems the only honest place left in this world of bucketshops.

Cheers

wasp

Click to expand...

Hi Wasp.

I truly appreciate your comments. Sometimes hearing negative feedback is hard, but it is the most important type of feedback to hear...it's how you grow.

That being said, I have never heard this complaint before. I am not questioning your authenticity at all, however just curious as to why if you are trading live with EFX Group and have such a serious issue with the trading, you would never have called up to see what was wrong. Please please please, do not let issues go unresolved. We have people here 24hours/day for this reason. If you have an issue..call us and let us help you resolve it. Believe it or not, perhaps something is blocking your perms from connecting properly to our servers? Perhaps you are far overseas and have a bad internet connection. Perhaps many different things (some as simple as disabling one of your firewalls). If you have any serious issues when trading with a broker (and this goes for every trader out there), call up your firm, and ask them how to make it work properly. Chances are, there is something on your end that can easily be fixed.

At EFX Group, we are here 24 hours/day, and each of us is equipped with the know-how to fix these simple issues.

Furthermore, I am unsure as to what makes it seem as though we do not open with the markets. Our brokerage is open 24hours/day, and only takes a short break for server maintenance. Our hours are here:

Main Session:
Opens - Sunday @ 5:00pm EST
Closes - Friday @ 4:58pm EST

Trading Suspended:
Mon-Thurs 4:55pm to 5:15pm EST
Sun-Thurs 11:55pm to 12:15amEST

Aside from these suspended minutes, we are here and fully operational.

If anyone would like to speak to me directly or email me, I am here from 2am to 10am PST (4am-12pm EST).

As far as trading off-peak hours like wasp (don't expect to do anything past say 5pm UK time Friday or, before lunchtime Monday as you won't get anywhere), when you trade these hours, realize that when you trade when there are fewer people trading, liquidity is not the same. Imagine this. Noon time on Sunday at the local park, you try to join a quick football game (soccer). There are plenty of people in the park and it is very easy to get a match going. Now, imagine this: Tt is 30 minutes before closing time...the park is growing very very quiet, it's getting very dark; it's Tuesday night. The park is nearly empty, minus a few homeless guys and a few druggies and a few women walking their dogs. Getting that football match started now is not as easy is it? When there are fewer people there, expect trading to be harder, spreads to be wider, and waters choppier. That's how trading is. I assure you...just like the park, we are still open, we are fully operational...you are just not in as much company!

Good luck.

Andy

Hey Andy,

How come you are soooo expensive, anyway?

The case is....

wasp said:

Evenin' all,

That time of year again when I need to find a new broker and a poll is inevitable. :cheesy:

I have tried them all, from SB companies to ECN's. I've tried the NDD's and the SB's. The US brokers and the Russian brokers and still, I cannot find anything or anyone that constitutes a fair, and reliable spot FX broker.

I thought I had with EFX but after numerous problems over the last 6 months I have put down to no-one being perfect, I thought I should stay with them as they are an ECN, a NDD, all is fair and transparent... How wrong was I! If anyone here trades with EFX they'll have discovered over the last 6 months they stopped opening with the market and join in a few hours into the markets open. Now, much to my disgust and anger, I have discovered, even when they do open later than every other broker going, you have to give them another 10 hours to 'connect' to all their banks so, for anyone who is actually trying to trade the market, don't expect to do anything past say 5pm UK time Friday or, before lunchtime Monday as you won't get anywhere. I can't remember how many times this has caused problems.

I won't go into their over-the-top costs as their is plenty on here about that too, but needless to say, for all their hype about being a wonderful, ECN, NDD, transparant broker with no deal desk so you don't get screwed by the broker, its all a waste of bloody time as, at least with an SB company, you may get slipped a bit but at least you get filled.

I don't want to sound like a newbie trying to get filled to the pip at NFP and those of you who know me will know that's not the case, but believe me when I say, DO NOT trade with EFX unless your an amateur or long term trader as you can discount 24hours from your trading week off the bat for a start, and no deal desk does not mean a thing. Bucket shops bloody everywhere....

So that leaves me with the question;

Who should a retail trader use to trade FX with? I don't want much from my broker..

Open when the market does and fills when they are open
Competitive spreads
Reliable with consistency even after 6-12-18 months
Liquidity
Reasonable costs
Regulated with all the necessaries
Offers the kiwi/usd
NOT US broker - a nice English one would be good

Surely all this isn't too much too ask?

I am seriously tempted at the moment to start a hedge fund just so I can go through FXmarketplace with CME/Reuters as it seems the only honest place left in this world of bucketshops.

Cheers

wasp

Click to expand...

Hi Wasp,

After looking further into your situation, it appears that you were trading during hours that EFX Group was closed for the New Years Holiday. We had sent out an email to all of our clients with specific hours that we would be closed, and it appears the times you had attempted trade were after those hours. Thus, you were unable to get out of even just a one lot.

While I stand by my previous statement that trading during illiquid times results in illiquid market conditions, you can imagine what trading during a closed session could result in!

I expect that we all (you included)can find this slightly humorous one day. In the future, however, please call me or anyone else at EFX Group directly if you have any issues or concerns or email before venting on the boards. We are here for you 24 hours/day.

I look forward to your future comments and particularly your response to this issue.

Good luck!

Andy Geller

FXSCALPER2 said:

Hey Andy,

How come you are soooo expensive, anyway?

Click to expand...

Especially as they are closed "HALF WEEK" :clap:

EFXandy said:

As far as trading off-peak hours like wasp (don't expect to do anything past say 5pm UK time Friday or, before lunchtime Monday as you won't get anywhere), when you trade these hours, realize that when you trade when there are fewer people trading, liquidity is not the same. Imagine this. Noon time on Sunday at the local park, you try to join a quick football game (soccer). There are plenty of people in the park and it is very easy to get a match going. Now, imagine this: Tt is 30 minutes before closing time...the park is growing very very quiet, it's getting very dark; it's Tuesday night. The park is nearly empty, minus a few homeless guys and a few druggies and a few women walking their dogs. Getting that football match started now is not as easy is it? When there are fewer people there, expect trading to be harder, spreads to be wider, and waters choppier. That's how trading is. I assure you...just like the park, we are still open, we are fully operational...you are just not in as much company!

Good luck.

Andy

Click to expand...

If you cannot offer a full service during the hours of your business you are open, then don't open. You wouldn't open a pub at lunchtime of there was no alcohol and the delivery wasn't due till the evening. After a while, those people who are trying to get a match going in the park are going to realise that its a pointless exercise half the time and then start using a different park altogether.

EFXandy said:

After looking further into your situation, it appears that you were trading during hours that EFX Group was closed for the New Years Holiday. We had sent out an email to all of our clients with specific hours that we would be closed, and it appears the times you had attempted trade were after those hours.

Click to expand...

There is a subtle difference on your platform when its out of hours and when you can trade or not. For a start, there are no prices, no LII, no green lights and your orders are rejected from the start. Strangely, when I tried to exit pre NYE and again after you had opened after new years day, all lights were green, there were prices on your platform and I could place orders, something that's impossible on a Sunday during your closed hours.

I have no time for this so will vote with my feet thanks and go to a brokers where they 'provide floodlights for the last hour before the park shuts' and puts a 'lock on the gate when the park is closed'.

wasp

benefit of the doubt....

wasp said:

If you cannot offer a full service during the hours of your business you are open, then don't open. You wouldn't open a pub at lunchtime of there was no alcohol and the delivery wasn't due till the evening. After a while, those people who are trying to get a match going in the park are going to realise that its a pointless exercise half the time and then start using a different park altogether.



There is a subtle difference on your platform when its out of hours and when you can trade or not. For a start, there are no prices, no LII, no green lights and your orders are rejected from the start. Strangely, when I tried to exit pre NYE and again after you had opened after new years day, all lights were green, there were prices on your platform and I could place orders, something that's impossible on a Sunday during your closed hours.

I have no time for this so will vote with my feet thanks and go to a brokers where they 'provide floodlights for the last hour before the park shuts' and puts a 'lock on the gate when the park is closed'.

wasp

Click to expand...

Wasp,

I always like to give my clients the benefit of the doubt and treat them with the proper respect they deserve. In my career, I have been more on your side (the trader's side) of the fence then the broker's. I have traded for almost 10 years (5 years on the trading floor and almost 5 now on the screen). I can most definitely empathize with most issues screen-traders go through. The worst would be when you have difficulty in a trade that had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with your trading method, and EVERYTHING to do with your broker.

When you had this issue, instead of first calling us to alert us of it, you posted a very negative message on here. I really wish you would have called us first.

Your original complaint was that you could not get out of even just a one lot of NZD/USD on our platform at odd hours. After doing the proper due diligence on our part, we discovered that you attempted to trade when our brokerage was closed. That reason alone is why you were unable to get your trade executed. We are very rarely closed, but when we are, there is only so much we can do for you. Were there other brokers who were opened when we chose to close? Perhaps. But we clearly stated our hours of operation during the NYE holiday.

In an email you sent directly to me, you promised you would recant your statement once we cleared this issue up. Instead, you ignored the real issue-that you tried to place a trade when our brokerage was closed-and changed your complaint to that of liquidity during regular trading hours. If I am not mistaken, you have never complained before about liquidity or the inability to get trades executed. Please remember that you tried to execute a trade when we were closed. That caused you tremendous frustration.... understandably.

I wish we could offer you the service you desire and deserve. I completely understand if you choose to take your business elsewhere, but I hope you do not.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to make you feel more comfortable with our brokerage. Trading is a very hard game. If you do not feel comfortable with your broker, successful trading is nearly impossible.

I wish you luck.

Andy Geller

Good luck.

Andy

I have heard bad things about alpari. They are a bucketshop consistently hunting for stops etc.. At least that is what you can see from their quotes and that is what's been discussed at length on russian forums many times.
Although it is indeed difficult to find a perfect spot FX broker and all of them are bucketshops for small traders without exceptions, many russians use/recommend FxClub. I kind of trust more to a broker who has his own software platform, which is regularly maintained/improved (so to guarantee that they value their reputation and long-term investments), who has many diverse clients and have a good feedback channel (like a forum). FxClub has it all. I don't know about kiwi/usd pair since I don't work through them. Working through them is little different (they have this nice "quotation on request" feature) but ...

EFXandy said:

Wasp,

I always like to give my clients the benefit of the doubt and treat them with the proper respect they deserve. In my career, I have been more on your side (the trader's side) of the fence then the broker's. I have traded for almost 10 years (5 years on the trading floor and almost 5 now on the screen). I can most definitely empathize with most issues screen-traders go through. The worst would be when you have difficulty in a trade that had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with your trading method, and EVERYTHING to do with your broker.

When you had this issue, instead of first calling us to alert us of it, you posted a very negative message on here. I really wish you would have called us first.

Click to expand...

When I first had the issue Andy, I emailed your customer service representatives, sent a message via live chat, spoke to one of your guys through the chat via the website, sent an email to Justin and yet another to the MBTF trading desk. It wasn't till over a day later that I posted anything here on T2W as a last resort in hope I would get some sort of response. More fool me for having a broker the other side of the world whom I won't call every time I have a problem.

EFXandy said:

Your original complaint was that you could not get out of even just a one lot of NZD/USD on our platform at odd hours. After doing the proper due diligence on our part, we discovered that you attempted to trade when our brokerage was closed. That reason alone is why you were unable to get your trade executed. We are very rarely closed, but when we are, there is only so much we can do for you. Were there other brokers who were opened when we chose to close? Perhaps. But we clearly stated our hours of operation during the NYE holiday.

Click to expand...

As stated in the last post, there is a major difference in your platform when you are up and running and when you are closed. Whilst unfortunately, I do not record every minute of my trading activity, your platform was most definitely operational. If you were closed, I will hold my hands and admit my faults. It may have been close to it on NYE but it wasn't on NYD. I have already emailed Justin to say I will accept the benefit of the doubt, as I wasn't looking at my watch, I went by the fact the market was moving and your platform was up and running, so if I was trying to exit out of hours, then so be it. If I was, then how come the platform was running like a normal day, and not dead like it is on the weekends, where, you cannot place orders, see prices, balances or anything else.

EFXandy said:

In an email you sent directly to me, you promised you would recant your statement once we cleared this issue up. Instead, you ignored the real issue-that you tried to place a trade when our brokerage was closed-and changed your complaint to that of liquidity during regular trading hours. If I am not mistaken, you have never complained before about liquidity or the inability to get trades executed. Please remember that you tried to execute a trade when we were closed. That caused you tremendous frustration.... understandably.

Click to expand...

The issues go hand in hand Andy and I am not changing my complaint. I mentioned it in the first post too and decided to elaborate on the problem. I have never complained about if before no, because, no one is perfect so I let it lie whenever it caused a problem.

As I have already said, and told Justin via email... I may have traded in hours when you were closed NYE and NYD. Your platform was fully operational with plenty of activity which it never has when your closed, so, I shall take the benefit of the doubt for now and accept it may have been the case. I didn't look at my watch, but I was using all my other brokers at the time too, the market was moving, so I carried on regardless based on your platform giving no indication of closure. I will recount my position completely if you send me details of all the orders I tried to place NYE and NYD to show it was when you were closed, in the meantime, It seems I may have been trading out of hours due to a misleading platform information.

EFXandy said:

I wish we could offer you the service you desire and deserve. I completely understand if you choose to take your business elsewhere, but I hope you do not.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to make you feel more comfortable with our brokerage. Trading is a very hard game. If you do not feel comfortable with your broker, successful trading is nearly impossible.

I wish you luck.

Andy Geller

Good luck.

Andy

Click to expand...

egro1egro said:

I have heard bad things about alpari. They are a bucketshop consistently hunting for stops etc.. At least that is what you can see from their quotes and that is what's been discussed at length on russian forums many times.
Although it is indeed difficult to find a perfect spot FX broker and all of them are bucketshops for small traders without exceptions, many russians use/recommend FxClub. I kind of trust more to a broker who has his own software platform, which is regularly maintained/improved (so to guarantee that they value their reputation and long-term investments), who has many diverse clients and have a good feedback channel (like a forum). FxClub has it all. I don't know about kiwi/usd pair since I don't work through them. Working through them is little different (they have this nice "quotation on request" feature) but ...

Click to expand...

Cheers Egro, This is of course the big issue with dealing desks but I think that is just another issue with the likes of spot FX as unless your trading futures or the FXmarketspace with Reuters/CME, there can always be arguable discrepancies. Think its best just not to have all your eggs in one basket and be aware of the problems that can arise...

Wasp,

You could try the new Berkeley Futures Currenex platform. One should have around £10k to start however look out for the poor number of options regarding order placement (especially compared to EFX....oops!). These will be addressed, I believe.

Everyone I have spoken to is very helpful.

Just a thought! ( as Bluebottle would say! )

wasp said:

Anyone else use Alpari? I'm not finding much in the way of complaints in reviews online but some more good opinions would be nice!

Click to expand...

I have the MT4 demo, and have spoken to them extensively. Like SB's, around releases they say they can switch off auto-execution and go to dealer confirmation with requotes . So, all in all, i don't think they are likely to be better than an SB like CMC.
Oanda SOUND the best fx spot broker IMO, and their financing charges (overnight) work out a bit more competitive than alpari's, as oanda charge everyone by the second, not just roll-over clients.

I had a live account with EFX a few years ago and closed it after a week, they were truly hopeless.

I have a number of live accounts at the moment. I don't know your exact requiremnts Wasp but I like London Capital. Via them I use a number of different ECNs.