Need some advice on how to best proceed with poor quality of service from CFD firm

Hi,

A couple of months ago, I ended up depositing £3k in a CFD account managed by Galvan. Unfortunately, today, I have lost all my money and whilst I do appreciate that investing in CFD's clearly comes with an element of risk, I must say that I have found some of the investments to be rather odd indeed.

For example, prior to the debt ceiling being agreed, my broker was calling me up go long on shares when the markets were crashing. Overall, I do believe that CFD's can be a good worthwhile investment and that is why I choose a firm that has an advisory service ( that they charge good money for as well!), so am disappointed with the outcome.

Can someone please advise either on this forum or via PM on how I can make a complaint as do feel the quality of trades and lack of feedback from my broker during the period my account was open to be very concerning.

Regards Pari.

Hi Pari,
Welcome to T2W.

I suspect you're on a hiding to nothing in terms of getting your money back as, presumably, you signed some sort of contract in which there will be reams of small print saying that you could lose all your investment and, that if you do, Galvan won't accept responsibility under any circumstances.

As a strategy, buying markets that are crashing can be hugely profitable and it would be hard to say that Galvan (in this case) acted unprofessionally or irresponsibly by buying falling stocks. After all, Warren Buffet does exactly this - and no one is going to argue with him! I'm afraid to say, that rather than questioning Galvan's trading methodology, perhaps you'd do better to question your decision to hand over your money to them in the first place? I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but I suspect your best bet is to put it down to experience and move on. The one caveat would be if you agreed with them to cap any losses to a specific limit which they've subsequently breached. Then you might have a case against them.

Welcome to the high risk world of trading! If you want to learn to do this stuff for yourself so that, at the very least, you can have the satisfaction of losing your own money, take a gander at the first two links in my signature.
Tim.

PS. I forgot to say Pari, that in the trading / investing world, poor quality advice is the norm and, in the majority of cases, perfectly legal. An uncomfortable truth perhaps, but a truth all the same!

Thank you for the reply Timsk,

One thing that I have learnt (the hard way) is that the quality of so called professionals is actually not that good in most cases. My complaint regarding this company is that there were opportunities when some of the investments they did, actually made a good return but they did not advise to sell out, in the view that there could be a greater growth. Also, I agree that money can be made in the falling markets, but Galvan actually went long on the positions so, I was not in a position to benefit from them.

All in all, it is a bitter lesson to learn but do feel mislead by the sales pitch as well as the poor advise, considering that it was an advisory service that came at a good price.

Thanks again - reading the 'essentials of new to trading' as it appears to be a gold mine for all of us.

Pari.

Pari123 said:

. . . One thing that I have learnt (the hard way) is that the quality of so called professionals is actually not that good in most cases.

Click to expand...

Pari123 said:

All in all, it is a bitter lesson to learn but do feel mislead by the sales pitch as well as the poor advise, considering that it was an advisory service that came at a good price.

Click to expand...

Hi Pari,
I've quoted the two stand out comments in your post.

Regarding the first, all I can say is: ain't that the truth!

Regarding the second (note blue emphasis), you may (and I stress may) have grounds for complaint here if you can provide firm evidence to support your claims. Bogus sales pitches in the investment / trading world are hot potatoes at the moment following the miss selling of pension and banking products. You could lay out all the facts (and do your best to ensure that they are facts) here on T2W and get members to comment. However, if I were you, I wouldn't do that. At least, not yet. In the event that your gripe with Galvan turns legal, you need to demonstrate that you've been very fair and reasonable in your dealings with them. Throwing your toys out of the pram on a public forum doesn't fit the bill. (You've not done that yet - but if you engage the support of T2W members with further posts - then this is what Galvan will argue.) First steps first, put all your complaints to Galvan and get their response in writing. If you go down the proper channels and get nowhere, then submit your findings here and members will shower you in all kinds of advice about how best to proceed.

Please forgive the irony, especially coming from a member of T2W staff, but I'm afraid I can't vouch for the quality of advice that you may receive!


Good luck.
Tim.

Pari

I am sorry regarding your loss ...........but believe me thats a cheap lesson in the grand scheme of things .

It is fair to say that trusting "professionals" is a fairly hazardous path these days .......in my life to date it is fair to say if I had actually taken all the advice from professionals in the vocations of Medical , Legal , real estate and Trading .................I would have

lost out on about 10 years of my familes extended lives
I would have caved in to various threats and also not recovered money from Corporate Bullies
I would have allowed developers to scam me .......on numerous occasions and in many ways
I would have lost fortunes on many cr*p tips and systems

take responsibility for yourself in everything you do ..............professionals are sadly overated and deffinately overpaid....100% in most cases dealing with us mere mortals

N

write it off - you wont get it back ...........and learn to trade if you want to make money investing and trading

Really do appreciate the advise Timsk and NVP,

Yes it is a sorry state that we cannot trust pros to make money but then CFD trading does come with risks etc.

Currently in dialogue with Galvan regarding the way forward, so as advised will not post anything here.

Kind regards Pari.