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Bob Bollini's Trip Through
Unresponsive E-Mail Hell
[The journey starts with Bob's simple and reasonable question. By the way, Bob is correct: The TD Waterhouse Web site clearly indicates Rydex as a no-transaction fee family.]
Yesterday I took a position in RYSIX, the
Rydex
Electronics
fund. Rydex
is listed on your site as a no-transaction
family, yet
my
account
"History"
shows a $24 fee added to the $**k position.
Would you
explain,
please?
[Is anyone paying attention? Apparently not. The Waterhouse Customer Service rep discovers the boilerplate key on his keyboard. The link he refers to is irrelevent.]
Thank you for your e-mail.
With regard to your recent inquiry, the Rydex
Electronics
Mutual Fund
in not
part of our No Transaction Fee Funds. When
purchasing
a
low-load or
load
fund, there is a sales charge imposed by the
fund
family which
is
stated as
a percentage of principal invested. These funds
may
also
include a
conditional sales charge upon redemption, which
is
charged on
a
decreasing
percentage scale depending upon the length of
time the
fund is
held.
Transaction fee mutual funds will be charged a
$24.00
fee for
each
transaction within the fund. For more
information on
the TD
Waterhouse
Mutual Fund Network, please visit the following
link:
http://www.tdwaterhouse.com/compare/index.html.
If you have any further questions, comments or
concerns,
please feel
free to
e-mail us again or to contact a TD Waterhouse
representative
at (800)
934-4448.
Thank you for choosing TD Waterhouse.
Eliseo R*******
Customer Service
[Bob's response is polite, but firm.]
I find your reply puzzling. I can find no
indication on
your
site that
RYSIX is
anything but one of the Rydex funds, listed in the
link
below as
no-transaction
funds. Unless you can link me to a warning on the
W'house
site
that
RYSIX, as
distinguished from the other Rydex funds, carries
a
transaction
cost, I
would
ask that you restore the fee to my account. I am
forwarding this
correspondence
to Rydex and to FundAlarm.
I plan today on taking a position in RYOIX. Does
this
fund carry
a
transaction
fee? Again, I find no mention of it on your site
to
distinguish
it from
the
other Rydex funds.
[Hey, that boilerplate key worked once. Let's try it again.]
Thank you for your e-mail.
The TD Waterhouse Mutual Fund Network allows you to
purchase
no-load,
low-load, and load funds from a selection of 9,000
mutual
funds. This
includes such fund families as Fidelity, Vanguard,
Janus, and
T.Rowe
Price,
with over 1,400 of these funds being No-Transaction-Fee
funds.
When purchasing a low-load or load fund, there is a
sales
charge
imposed by
the fund family which is stated as a percentage of
principal
invested.
These funds may also include a conditional sales charge
upon
redemption,
which is charged on a decreasing percentage scale
depending
upon the
length
of time the fund is held. Transaction fee mutual funds
will
be
charged a
$24.00 fee for each transaction within the fund. For
more
information on
the TD Waterhouse Mutual Fund Network, please visit the
"Compare our
Services" link on our home page at
http://tdwaterhouse.com
If you have any further questions, comments or concerns
please
feel
free to
e-mail us again or to contact a TD Waterhouse
representative
at (800)
934-4448.
Thank you for choosing TD Waterhouse
Heather B****
Customer Service
[Bob is getting a little exasperated.]
This is the same boilerplate I received in the last
message.
Please
address my
concerns directly: "Transaction fee mutual funds will be
charged
a $24
dollar
fee ..." Rydex funds are listed as no-transaction fees.
Your
boilerplate creates
the question; it does not answer it
[Bob still doesn't get an answer, but at least it's different boilerplate.]
Thank you for your e-mail.
Please note that Rydex Series Trust Electronics FD INV CL
(RYSIX)
does
require a transaction fee of $24. For more information on
the TD
Waterhouse Mutual Fund Network, please visit the "Compare Our
Services" link
on our homepage at http://www.tdwaterhouse.com.
If you have any further questions, comments or concerns,
please feel
free to
e-mail us again or to contact a TD Waterhouse representative
at (800)
934-4448.
Thank you for choosing TD Waterhouse.
David H****
Customer Service
[Bob keeps plugging away.]
Do you list Rydex funds as no-transaction on your site? If you
do, I
will expect
you to return the transaction fee to my account. If you make an
exception with
respect to RYSIX, link me to it.
[Love that boilerplate key!]
Thank you for your e-mail.
The TD Waterhouse Mutual Fund Network allows you to purchase no-load,
low-load and load funds from a selection of 9,000 mutual funds. This
includes such fund families as Fidelity, Vanguard, Janus and T.Rowe
Price
with over 1,400 of these funds being no-transaction-fee funds.
When purchasing a low-load or load fund, there is a sales charge
imposed by
the fund family which is stated as a percentage of principal
invested.
These funds may also include a conditional sales charge upon
redemption,
which is charged on a decreasing percentage scale depending upon the
length
of time the fund is held. Transaction fee mutual funds will be
charged a
$24.00 fee for each transaction within the fund. For more
information on
the TD Waterhouse Mutual Fund Network, please visit the following
link:
http://www.tdwaterhouse.com/compare/index.html.
If you have any further questions, comments or concerns, please feel
free to
e-mail us again or to contact a TD Waterhouse representative at (800)
934-4448.
Thank you for choosing TD Waterhouse.
Phil S*****
Customer Service
[Another reasonable request...]
Read and respond to my last message or pass it on to a supervisor.
[At last, someone actually reads something that Bob wrote. Unfortunately, the answer is still irrelevant. Where does the "Morningstar Fund Screen" come from? Bob has no idea.]
Thank you for your e-mail.
When purchasing an open-end mutual fund, it is important to consider the
charges associated with the fund. There are four types of open-end mutual
funds available through TD Waterhouse: load funds, low-load funds, no load
funds and no-load/no- transaction-fee funds.
Through the Morningstar Fund Screen both the Rydex Trust Biotechnology fund
(RYOIX), and the Rydex Trust Electronics Fund(RYSIX) are listed as
Transaction Fee Mutual funds which our firm does assess a $24 fee for.
Please note the full description of the Fee Status on the bottom of the
chart.
If you have any further questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to
e-mail us again or to contact a TD Waterhouse representative at (800)
934-4448.
Thank you for choosing TD Waterhouse.
David S*****
Customer Service
[That's where it stood for several days -- nowhere -- when Bob was rescued from e-mail hell by a telephone call. Let Bob describe it:]
Just got a call from John P**** from Customer Services who
happened to be looking over several accounts, and wondered if everything was alright with mine. Well, Mr. P*****, funny you should call, sez I: as a matter of fact ....
Well, Mr. Bollini, where do you see Rydex listed as no-transaction? Oh, the Welcome Page? Compare our Prices? Well, my stars, I do believe you're right, Mr. Bollini; and you know what? I'm going to credit your account with those transaction fees we took
from those buys. Anything else we can do for you today?
How did you happen to make the call, Mr.P*****? Oh, just random checking of the odd account and stuff like that there. Glad to be of service.