It’s easy to lose perspective during a frustrating time like this.  I have some open options positions and I can hardly get information about them, and if I wanted to trade them I would have to do so via phone.  I suspect if I attempted to do so I would face long wait time on the phone.

Their technology is fantastic, or at least it has been for two years.  We’ve now had these two incidents of outages of a day or longer in the last month.  I hope the top folks at LPL are taking these problems very seriously.  I’m not completely satisfied with the comments made by our tech people, and I’d like to know what they’re doing to build redundancy and safeguards into our system to prevent this from happening again.

I need a drink!  The Psychologist said my daughter is doing well but the dad needs to take up a hobby--anybody got a church key?  All this and a wholeseller just walked in--may their soul rest in peace!

I am suprised LPL did not have a back up plan.  The liability has to be huge!

LPL is hanging there neck out here and I would not be suprised if they get sued!

This e-money is no more then a profit center for them at $300 month   

Our office is so pissed! But we only manage about 140ml so we don't have much say at LPL.   

[quote=joedabrkr]It's easy to lose perspective during a frustrating time like this.  I have some open options positions and I can hardly get information about them, and if I wanted to trade them I would have to do so via phone.  I suspect if I attempted to do so I would face long wait time on the phone.

Their technology is fantastic, or at least it has been for two years.  We've now had these two incidents of outages of a day or longer in the last month.  I hope the top folks at LPL are taking these problems very seriously.  I'm not completely satisfied with the comments made by our tech people, and I'd like to know what they're doing to build redundancy and safeguards into our system to prevent this from happening again.
[/quote]

How often did that happen at PaineWebber?

Actually today was a great day to not be trying to trade.  At about 2:45 the Dow was up 100+, fifteen minutes later it was down about 30, by 4 it was up 150.

I was using limit orders and missed covering a slew of naked calls on the downswing.

Still ahead of the power curve, but not as far ahead as I was at about 3 o'clock.

I have a gas barbecue. I realized when I first set up the barbecue that with only one cannister I risked embarassment should I run out of gas at some point. I resolved the issue by purchasing another tank.

When I was with Jones they had a backup site. I guess LPL doesn't. Three days without systems is total incompetence. Heads should roll for this stupidity.

[quote=DAtoo]

[quote=joedabrkr]It’s easy to lose perspective during a frustrating time like this.  I have some open options positions and I can hardly get information about them, and if I wanted to trade them I would have to do so via phone.  I suspect if I attempted to do so I would face long wait time on the phone.

Their technology is fantastic, or at least it has been for two years.  We’ve now had these two incidents of outages of a day or longer in the last month.  I hope the top folks at LPL are taking these problems very seriously.  I’m not completely satisfied with the comments made by our tech people, and I’d like to know what they’re doing to build redundancy and safeguards into our system to prevent this from happening again.
[/quote]

How often did that happen at PaineWebber?

Actually today was a great day to not be trying to trade.  At about 2:45 the Dow was up 100+, fifteen minutes later it was down about 30, by 4 it was up 150.

I was using limit orders and missed covering a slew of naked calls on the downswing.

Still ahead of the power curve, but not as far ahead as I was at about 3 o'clock.

[quote=joedabrkr]

Actually, smart ass, it did happen.

In 2001 we were dark for an entire week because a pissed off former employee dropped a trojan horse virus into our system.

Our branch had limited functionality back after a week.  We were one of the lucky ones because larger branches were fixed first.

So while this is upsetting, it doesn't compare to the worst outing I experienced at one of your beloved wirehouses.

Welcome back Devil's Advocate.  I hope they ban you again soon.  What did you do to earn your banishment this time?

[/quote]

I'll ask Bob Benmoshe if that was even possible.  I can't imagine that PaineWebber did not have a redundant system, located in another city, ready to turn on at a moment's notice.

I think you're lying Joeboy--want to fess up before I ask Bob?

[quote=DAtoo]

[quote=joedabrkr]

Actually, smart ass, it did happen.

In 2001 we were dark for an entire week because a pissed off former employee dropped a trojan horse virus into our system.

Our branch had limited functionality back after a week.  We were one of the lucky ones because larger branches were fixed first.

So while this is upsetting, it doesn’t compare to the worst outing I experienced at one of your beloved wirehouses.

Welcome back Devil’s Advocate.  I hope they ban you again soon.  What did you do to earn your banishment this time?

[/quote]

I'll ask Bob Benmoshe if that was even possible.  I can't imagine that PaineWebber did not have a redundant system, located in another city, ready to turn on at a moment's notice.

I think you're lying Joeboy--want to fess up before I ask Bob?

[quote=Greenbacks]

This e-money is no more then a profit center for them at $300 month   

A profit center?  Have you ever signed up for emoney outside of LPL?  It costs about $1200 to set up and then $300/year PER CLIENT.  A buddy of mine was using emoney and it was costing him $42,000/year (approximately).  Financial Planning was a huge part of his practice and he used it for a ton of clients.  I'd say this one cost them money.

[/quote]

On the bright side this may slow down growth for LPL. I know I will not be giving good referals to them.

I am also disapointed in the deferred comp plan they plan they maybe  rolling out. Why just offer it to 500,000 and up? If I make $300,000 I can afford to contribute to one  What the X&*crap do they care if I contribute to one for?  

LPL is starting to look like a wirehouse it only cares for big producers 

[quote=Greenbacks]

On the bright side this may slow down growth for LPL. I know I will not be giving good referals to them.

I am also disapointed in the deferred comp plan they plan they maybe  rolling out. Why just offer it to 500,000 and up? If I make $300,000 I can afford to contribute to one  What the X&*crap do they care if I contribute to one for?  

LPL is starting to look like a wirehouse it only cares for big producers 

[/quote]

Oh no, where will Joeboy shuffle off to next?

When I was with Jones they had a backup site. I guess LPL doesn't. Three days without systems is total incompetence. Heads should roll for this stupidity.

I have been evaluating LPL as potential b/d - I see here some systems have been down over three days.

Is it fair to say that your business/access to client accounts has been down for three days? This is a serious charge.

This is something I will be asking about on the visit for sure. How have they been responding? A couple of posts seem to indicate that besides the problem, the response from LPL has not been great

As of this morning everything I have tried seems to be working.

Been a frustrating couple of days. (Just got back from the conference Tuesday.) My assistant tells me she had very little to go on Monday but the service center was helpful and accomodative. Unable to use the system for orders on Tues & Weds but was able to call them in and, of course, the usual phone order charge was waived. Calls for tech issues were handled courteously.

Client account info was largely available through Account View (while Branch Net was down) but I understand this was somewhat spotty as well.

My limited grasp of technology may render this incorrect, but I'm taking a stab at why this took so long to resolve and why no redundant system was available. LPL's system is web-based, so there are no mainframes to sign into. If the problem was in the software then no number of backup servers would solve the problem. Should they have simply restored all the servers to their settings on Friday? Perhaps, though I suspect not doing so was a tactical decision that people may be second-guessing right now.

Some of you may remember me from the last period of time I posted, which was in the range of a year ago and then some. At that time I was in a wirehouse environment after my regional firm was acquired. When the wirehouse in its infinite wisdom wanted me to move my practice an hour away from home and from my clients, I made the switch to the indy side via LPL not quite a year ago. The reason for this info and for this (admittedly lengthy) post is to highlight the difference between the response of LPL to the responses I saw over 25 years at wirehouses and various other bureaucratic environments.

In the typical corporate environment, taking responsibility is something that is quite rare. Covering one's behind, and the collective behind of the organization, is paramount. The response at LPL has been refreshingly honest. 'We know this hurts you- it's unacceptable- we are sorry- we will fix it- here's what's working, here's what isn't- these applications should run well, these will be slow- let us know where the problems are.' I don't see the usual excuses. I don't have a regional manager hacked off at me because I'm not parroting the company line to my branch.

The key difference- at the wirehouse and in other corporate environments I was an employee. My employer would never admit it screwed up and ultimately it didn't matter if I was happy or not (until I left.) At LPL, the company knows it is a vendor to me and that I am its customer. It HAS to admit it screwed up (and has done so.) And it knows it has to continually earn my business and earn back my confidence. So far they have taken the right steps to do that, and we will see what additional steps are taken and communication efforts made over the next several days.

unclesam

Our office is not a big producer about $700,000. We did send a E-mail to  Cassidy &  Dwyer   about the problems and the comments in investment news. They did respond back to us within a couple of hours. They did not say much in the E-mail but they did respond!

Today the system is up   But it is slow but still it is UP

Greenbacks,

Do you feel that LPL treats you differently based on office production? Is that something that has changed over the years, or more recent with all the growth? I am not looking for negative info just how the current LPL people feel the growth has changed the company or if they have had any change in philosphy. Recruiter will say how they are always focused on you, and they know where all their paychecks come from but people on the inside may or may not feel differently.

Glad you are back up

[quote=OldDog]

In the typical corporate environment, taking responsibility is something that is quite rare. Covering one’s behind, and the collective behind of the organization, is paramount. The response at LPL has been refreshingly honest. ‘We know this hurts you- it’s unacceptable- we are sorry- we will fix it- here’s what’s working, here’s what isn’t- these applications should run well, these will be slow- let us know where the problems are.’ I don’t see the usual excuses. I don’t have a regional manager hacked off at me because I’m not parroting the company line to my branch.

The key difference- at the wirehouse and in other corporate environments I was an employee. My employer would never admit it screwed up and ultimately it didn't matter if I was happy or not (until I left.) At LPL, the company knows it is a vendor to me and that I am its customer. It HAS to admit it screwed up (and has done so.) And it knows it has to continually earn my business and earn back my confidence. So far they have taken the right steps to do that, and we will see what additional steps are taken and communication efforts made over the next several days.

Well LPL management called our office.

We asked why they did not have a back up system in place? LPL told us they do! They did not implement it! We asked why? They said it takes 12 hours to do! What is wrong with 6pm to 6am?  So we sat for three days!

Bottom line we think it was going to be expensive for LPL to start it up so instead of them losing money the reps did! It also would not look good on the books for the IPO. Every dollar counts!

My other thought about the 500 reps they reached out to. We all have A,-D clients. But how many of us let our C & D clients know they are C& D clients like LPL told the other 9500 reps!

There was a third person on the line I cannot remember his name but our thought he was there to represent the Private equity firm. Another words an empty spot at LPL!      

Greenbacks-

They had a back up system but chose not to use it..... Wow what does that say.

Unf_________believable.

Greenbacks,

You ought to pick up your book and leave now!  You obviously don't have faith and/or trust in how LPL is being run and the direction in which they are heading so why put off the inevitable.  I don't say this to poke fun at you, it's just if you have such ill will toward them, you can't stay here.  They are suppose to be your strategic partner and if you feel as though you are insignificant, man don't hang around.  There are a lot of good firms out there that you can feel important at that will be more than happy to earn your business. 

And it is a different culture from just a couple yrs ago!