did you quit…or were you fired??

I quit.

You probably have a stronger case than others.  I imagine they still have some leg to stand on.  I would say you can get a lower settlement than avg.  Prob around 10-20%.  But go for broke, maybe you can get out of it all. 

I am leaning towards writing the response letter myself stating the reasons why the claim is false.  Then, if that doesn't work hiring an attorney.

Should I just go ahead and hire an Attorney and stop trying to be cheap?

And if hire an Attorney, WHAT TYPE OF ATTORNEY WOULD HANDLE A SITUATION LIKE THIS?

Is the series 7 not a prereq for the 65 or 66??

Prereq?  To my knowledge it's not like college courses.

My 7 and 63 are not being maintained nor are they being picked up by my Ind. Advisory Firm.  That would make me think that there are no prereqs.

yes…googled…you cannot have a 63, 65, or 66 without the 7

sorry…the 7 is the prerequisit for the 66 only…so you should have a good case

I would simple call them and tell them your no longer with a B/D, but thanks for the nice letter.

I would call them, but I would NOT put anything in writing without talking

to an attorney first (unless you are not overly concerned about paying the

reimbursement). I have just heard of things like this back-firing too

many times. For a few thousand bucks (or maybe less?), you could

probably do better than going it alone. Just my opinion. Look for

securities industry attorney. Your new firm should have some resources

for you (at least names of attorneys).

My current firm is a small one, and want to distance themself from this situation.  Their corporate Attorney gave a recommendation for the St. Louis area (where I am), so I have contacted them and I believe I will have them write a letter for me instead of me trying to write it myself.

Anyone have any recommendations for lawyers in the STL area that have experience in this area?

Get an attorney...period

Crazy was your EJ experience worth it or do you wish you went somewhere else or indy first?

crazy–would a person owe anything after 36 months -instead of 30 -under any circumstances?

I wish I would have been with a different firm.  Edward Jones was a JOKE!  First off training was horrible.  They don't teach you how to valuate stocks or anything about the economy, they tell you to sell stocks that people know like JNJ, GE.  Great wisdom there.  Training was more about door knocking and follow-up phone calls more than anything else. 

Edward Jones loves to find people without industry experience so that they can brainwash them to think their archaic way of investing is the best for all clients.

You receive most of your training from veteran IR's once you are out in the field.  When I first started I admired certain vets for their accomplishments until you here certain words out of their mouth which make you not respect them anymore.  Like "I only sell bonds that pay ME 2%", or those that 1035 exchange the same people into a new Annuity every seven years.  Not to mention many other situations. 

They just were not the firm I thought they were!

Crazydog,

I second your opinion.  The training is not good, they teach you to be a clone salesman without any real investing knowledge.  I got hammered by field supervision for going outside the box, offering some funds not on the preferred list.  They kept insisting that is was an aggressive category investment, until I walked them through joneslink and it came up as growth and income on their own system.  I did not even get an acknowledgement of their mistake.

newnew,

at 36 month, you will receive a nonsolicate letter.  If you goto another firm, they would most likely put your 7 in limbo for 30 days.  But you should not owe anything for the training

i can tell you with a high degree of certainty that 2 things are true:

1) you are correct in assuming that your case is different.

2) you will ultimately win the case

3) be prepared though...Jones sitll may try to go after you via NASD arbitration.

my (very wise) advice to you is to not go the "cease and desist letter" route.  pick up the phone and call that collections attorney.  explain your situation.  this is one where you will get more (pay nothing) with honey than with bazookas (cease and desist).  PM me if you'd like.

[quote=CrazyDog]

I was an IR at Edward Jones for about 30 months.  Shortly after leaving to work for an Independent Advisor I received a letter from a Law Firm (Collection Agency) stating that I owe $18,750 for training costs Jones occured when I first started.

MY SITUATION IS DIFFERENT THAN THE NORM SO PLEASE READ BEFORE STATING OPINION. 

The paragraph states that you owe EJ if you maintain your securities license and keep registered with NASD and NYSE AND work for an entity within the industry.

Well, I am not maintaining my Series 7 or 63 license that I maintained while at Edward Jones.  Because my new firm is an Independent Advisor and NOT a broker/dealer I had to achieve my 65 and they will not maintain my 7 and/or 63.

BECAUSE OF THIS (OR ANY OTHER REASON YOU CAN THINK OF) AM I TRULY LIABLE FOR THE TRAINING COSTS?

Thanks!

[/quote]

Wow!  Am I convinced not to ever enter this career field.  Didn't you also do some WORK for them?  Did they fully disclose this to you?

Why would you have quit if you had known you would owe so much?

So they expect you to put more years in before you can marry the pretty daughter?   EJ is rated high from what I've read; but if they rip off their employees like this: I'm surprised anyone would want to do business with them let alone work for them! Ouch.

Seems like some of posters who mention they are attorneys could give you a little free advice here:  probably hire an attorney is right.