Hello Fellow ChartWatchers!
We get lots of great feedback from our users and I review much of it. Over the years, certain patterns emerge from the messages we get. Whenever possible we try to update our website to make things as easy to use as possible, but there are limits to what we can do. Here's a list (in no particular order) of ten things that our customer support team wants everyone to know:
1.) We aren't for commodity traders -
Sorry, you'll need to go elsewhere for real-time, intraday commodity charts. The commodity indexes that we have are End-of-Day only and are intended to give stock traders a sense of what the various commodity markets are doing.
2.) Sorry, but it's probably your browser -
It there is a sitewide problem that lots of people are seeing, we'll post a message about it on the home page and the support page and then we'll post a message about it in our Support Blog. Our Facebook and Twitter pages will also have information about it. If you don't see messages like that, then our website is probably working fine and you need to check your browser settings and/or internet connection. Unfortunately, there are tons of things that can go wrong and prevent people from accessing our website - we only have control over our servers. The rest of out of our control. We'd fix it if we could, but sometimes we can't.
3.) Don't forget to use your Loyalty coupon when renewing your account -
If you've been a member for more than a year, you have a loyalty coupon that you can use to save money when you renew BUT you have to enter it when placing your renewal order. We can't apply your loyalty coupon retroactively. If you forget, you'll have to wait until the next time you want to renew.
4.) Take advantage of our Specials -
Even if your account doesn't expire for a couple of months, consider placing a renewal order whenever we are running a special. You don't need to wait until your expire. We'll just add the additional time on to the end of your current time. We do not pre-announce our specials but historically they have happened in the spring and around the end of the year.
5.) The Market Message area is now open to ALL members -
Anyone who has an active StockCharts membership can access the Market Message area of the website. John Murphy and Arthur Hill write articles every day there than can help you make better investing decisions. Be sure to click the "Market Message" tab at least once every day.
6.) Renewing month-to-month is expensive in the long run -
Our monthly subscriptions are the most affordable ones we offer - in the short term. If you like our service, consider renewing for 6 or 12 months instead. You'll save a considerable amount of money over then month-to-month approach.
7.) Know the limitations of BATS real-time data -
BATS data might lag behind the NYSE/Nasdaq real-time data that our ExtraRT members get for thinly traded stocks. If you are day trading smaller, low volume stocks, you should probably upgrade to ExtraRT.
8.) Learning to write scans takes practice -
Lots of practice. And time. In the long run, it is totally worth it. But many people write us looking for the quick fix. Sorry, we can't learn how to write scans for you. The good news is that is it isn't hard if you just take some time and practice.
9.) We are a terrible source for historical trade data -
If you are looking to see what price you paid 2 years ago when you bought a particular stock, don't use us. In order to keep our technical indicators as accurate as possible, we adjust (i.e. change) our historic price data whenever there's a split, dividend or distribution. The best place to find out what you paid for a particular stock on some date in the past is your broker.
10.) Our Facebook page is great! -
The best way to stay on top of everything that is happening at StockCharts.com is to "Like" our Facebook page and visit it often. We have over 70,000 subscribers to this newsletter and only 1950 "Likes" - we really want to get that number higher so everyone stays as informed as possible.
- Chip
