[Red_Bandit]

Hi, i'm new to the investing world so please go easy on me

I just recently opened a TD Waterhouse account online at the end of October and on November 12 I took a $10,000 cheque to the TD Waterhouse bank on Bloor St. to deposit. I do all my banking with PC Financial and after a few days my money appeared in my TD Waterhouse trading account and this was reflected on my PC Financial statements. When I tried to buy some stocks for the first time on November 19th I received an error message telling me that this trade can not go through and to contact TD Waterhouse. After calling TD Waterhouse they said that there is a halt on my account and that I can not do anything until PC Financial confirms that I am their client. I already sent in my signed application form with a clear photocopy of my passport in which the TD waterhouse reps said they have received but now after 2 days of calling TD to see whats going on they tell me they have faxed a request to PC Financial for them to confirm I am their client. They told me to get the fax number of the banker I deal with but I never deal with any bankers as my pay is direct deposit and I just use ATMs to deposit cheques and withdraw money and I use online to pay any bills.

Have any of you had this problem? how long is this suppose to take? I am getting frustrated as this seems like it is taking way longer than it should.


thank you

 

[mario 1]

I know it takes some time for the cheque to clear, I would wait a
few more days.
I am also with PC, when I applied for an account with CIBC they wanted
a contact at PC, my guess is they don't know who to get a hold of.
I will be depositing a cheque myself soon , hope it goes well.
I would just be patient.

 

[humble_pie]

little glitches like this do happen in discountland. After all, it's not gluskin sheff.

patience will win here. Perhaps part of the delay is that pc financial operates as subsidiary of cibc, takes longer for a cheque to clear.

one thing that could help is to take note of whom you speak to at td, scribble down their name & date, ask if he or she would follow the problem, that way you don't have to re-invent the wheel each time you contact the big green.

very best of luck to you.

 

[CanadianCapitalist]

I used to write cheques drawn on my RBC bank account, deposit it to my TD Waterhouse account and have it shown up in 1-2 business days. It could well be that the source of trouble is on PC Financial's part. Try calling PC Financial to figure out how to sort it out.

 

[leslie]

I think they are within their rights to wait even a few WEEKS, not days. Yes the cheque will 'clear' in a day or two, but that does not mean it cannot be declared NSF later (few weeks).

A lot of the scams out there rely on this public misperception. They give people a check and ask for one from the sucker in exchange. The sucker waits a few days for the cheque to 'clear' and only finds out two weeks later than it was NSF.

 

[yupislyr]

I'm in this situation too.

It has nothing to do with the cheque clearing like some of the responders appear to think. You could be funding the account from somewhere else entirely, it doesn't matter.

I too have no problem funding my TDW account from PCF. The money is in there just fine, I just can't perform any trades either. It has to do with PCF being unresponsive to TDW's requests to verify a banking relationship. I assume it has to do with federal anti-money laundering laws.

Your options are:

- try and find someone in PCF to actually get back to TDW and verify your banking relationship with them.
- tell TDW to use a different bank account as your primary account and hopefully they will be more responsive in verifying your banking relationship.
- go to a TDW or TD branch and have them fill out a MANUAL "change to" form for your account. You will be basically filling out the same form you used to open the account except this time the branch rep will be assisting you and then sending it in on your behalf.

I opted for the last option just this past Friday so hopefully I should be good to go soon.

 

[humble_pie]

it was special for you, cc

seriously if delay is not due to some exceptional screwup, it's probably caused by the fact that pc fin cheques take an extra day or 2 to clear, pc fin like credit unions etc is not among the big 6 chartered banks.

 

[Red_Bandit]

I am still waiting for my account to be "activated". TD Waterhouse says they have sent documents to PC Financial but are waiting for them to fax the documents back and have said they have sent out a "rush" on my issue 3 times now and that PC Financial is slow to respond.

PC Financial's customer service department had no idea what I was talking about when I said that TD Waterhouse is faxing documents over to them and they said if my cheque cleared and it has my signatures and my banking information than everything should be ready to go.

I'm getting extremely frustrated with the situation as TD Waterhouse said that even after they send back the documents that it can still take another week for my account to be fully activated. I have no debt, I make all my credit card/bill payments on time and I have more than enough money in my accounts to cover the $10,000.00 so I really do not understand why it is taking so long.

 

[Sampson]

I have experienced delays with PC Financial, they hold cheques longer than anyone else, and since there is no teller you can deal with, you can't have them 'push' the transaction through as I have been able to do with RBC.

That's part of dealing with PC Financial, you got to plan ahead and wait.

 

[mario 1]

I suggest you dump TD , unless you're happy with them.
I-trade will actually link any bank account (including PC) to your investor account making transferring money very simple. I can make money
transfers in one day, if it's under $5000 I can use that money instantly.
In my case they paid the termination fee for switching out of my old plan.
That was in the E-trade days, not sure if they will pay your termination fees
since your amount is low. The free 100 trades will make up for it, but that process will make you wait yet further .
I just opened a new account with CIBC (I kept I-trade as well).
I went down to deposit a cheque at the head office branch.
They said it had to be a certified cheque, they would not accept a normal cheque. I had to go to the actual investor services to deposit the cheque,
it was next door. These big banks are a joke, wonder how long I'll have to wait for clearance.

 

[mario 1]

Update, I deposited my PC cheque yesterday (thur) afternoon with
CIBC investors edge.
This morning it was in my account and when I put in a buy order it
was approved.
Maybe it's you
I noticed this morning that the money had been taken from my PC chequing account,
it may have something do with the relationship between PC and CIBC.

 

[Red_Bandit]

Update, I deposited my PC cheque yesterday (thur) afternoon with
CIBC investors edge.
This morning it was in my account and when I put in a buy order it
was approved.
Maybe it's you
I noticed this morning that the money had been taken from my PC chequing account,
it may have something do with the relationship between PC and CIBC.

I'm still waiting. My TD Waterhouse account has shown since November 13th that I have $10,000 sitting in the account and my PC Financial account also shows that my cheque has gone through.

 

[humble_pie]

the time has come the walrus said
to speak of many things
of shoes and ships and sealing wax
and ombudsmen and kings

imho the problem is not arising at the big green. Problem is pc financial.

here's what i'd do. Get the name & fax number (usually the machine nearest him/her) of one specific td agent. His team manager if he's reluctant. Get names/titles of exact documents that td requires from pc financial.

then email the ombudsman of pc financial and ask that all of this documentation be faxed within five (5) business days. This is short notice, but i'd mention that i'd been waiting and my funds had been held hostage for more than 2 weeks.

if after 5 days still no action, i'd then write to the ombudsman at the superintendant of financial institutions.

btw if pc financial website or customer service isn't able to give you the name & email address of their own ombudsman i believe the super of fin instit has a current list.

 

[mario 1]

contact our Customer Care Centre. If your concern is not resolved to your satisfaction by any of the above means, you can:
call us at 1-888-723-8881 and ask to be transferred or referred to a Customer Care Manager
write to the attention of our Customer Care Centre at the address indicated above
your right to an independent review. In addition to the course of action outlined above, as a Canadian banking customer, you also have the option of having an independent review to resolve your concern. If you feel that the Customer Care Centre has not addressed your concern to your satisfaction, you may contact the CIBC Ombudsman directly by:
phone: 1-800-308-6859 or 416-861-3313 (Toronto area)
fax: 1-800-308-6861 or 416-980-3754 (Toronto area)
e-mail: [email protected]
mail:
CIBC Ombudsman
P.O. Box 342, Commerce Court
Toronto, ON M5L 1G2

This is on the PC website, not sure if I can post this.
It is probably a good idea to contact them first by e-mail with the threat of
using the Ombudsman, worked for me.
btw. it's always better to contact them in writing.

 

[yupislyr]

I am still waiting for my account to be "activated". TD Waterhouse says they have sent documents to PC Financial but are waiting for them to fax the documents back and have said they have sent out a "rush" on my issue 3 times now and that PC Financial is slow to respond.

PC Financial's customer service department had no idea what I was talking about when I said that TD Waterhouse is faxing documents over to them and they said if my cheque cleared and it has my signatures and my banking information than everything should be ready to go.

I'm getting extremely frustrated with the situation as TD Waterhouse said that even after they send back the documents that it can still take another week for my account to be fully activated. I have no debt, I make all my credit card/bill payments on time and I have more than enough money in my accounts to cover the $10,000.00 so I really do not understand why it is taking so long.

Refer to my previous posts. I am going through the same problem but appear to be making headway.

There is no problem with cheques clearing. I've funded my TDW account from two different sources now and cleared fine and now that's where the money sits.

The problem is that TDW needs to verify your banking relationship with PCF since I assume you specified them as your primary banking account. Further, PCF says that they will not do any such verification with a 3rd party over the phone or via fax, etc. That's why TDW says they send documents to PCF and PCF doesn't respond, because it's their policy not to respond. PCF will however fashion a letter verifying you have an account with them and the details of said account for $16 (!!). I don't even know if TDW would accept this letter as proof anyway and I didn't pursue it.

Another problem compounding this is the same thing with most remote customer service nowadays, not everyone you get will actually know what they are talking about. It may take calling back and getting a different person to get satisfactory help.

Your best option is to go IN PERSON to a TD or TDW branch and have them fill out a "change to" form manually for your account.

The moral of the story appears to be that if you are going to sign up for TDW, if at all possible, do it in person. And if you are with PCF, ONLY in person.

 

[Red_Bandit]

looks like everything is up and running only 1 month after i opened my account.... thanks for the help guys!

 

[mario 1]

Glad to hear it.