Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Not coming back

I got a letter today from Charles Piermarini, president and CEO of Harrisdirect, a stock brokerage with whom I had an account for four years.
It was, of course, a form letter intended to lure me back into the fold with glowing statements like, "To help earn back your business, we have made significant changes in our pricing structure to ensure that you get the most value for your money," and offering me 20 free online equity trades and a $75 account credit when I transfer $10,000 or more in assets.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have bothered to open the envelope. I'm not sure why I did. But the first line - "It has come to my attention that you have closed your account with Harrisdirect..." - annoyed me so much, I sent the following letter to Mr. Piermarini:


Dear Mr. Piermarini,
I received your letter today asserting “that you have closed your account with Harrisdirect and I would like to do everything in my power to persuade you to come back.”
The fact is, Mr. Piermarini, I did not close my account with your firm.
Without consulting me, Harrisdirect arbitrarily closed my account and confiscated my 10 shares of Cirrus Logic.
Let me explain further.
I bought the stock on Oct. 11, 2000 when it was valued at $40.375 a share. That is to say, I invested $403.75 in Cirrus Logic.
Like many stocks, Cirrus Logic was hit hard by the post 9/11 market slump and I watched as my stock plummeted in value. Recognizing that the only way to lose money in the stock market is to sell short, I determined to hang onto my stock until it regained value or until the company went out of business.
Harrisdirect apparently took a different view. Citing account maintenance fees and without warning, Harrisdirect terminated my account and, in my view, stole my 10 shares of Cirrus Logic on Oct. 13, 2004.
Whether I would ever have recouped my $403.75 investment remains to be seen, but that opportunity was denied me by Harrisdirect.
Will I come back to Harrisdirect? I think not.
Will I use whatever influence I have to dissuade investors from doing business with Harrisdirect? You may be sure.

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