trouble with Oanda today

This chat just took place a few minutes ago between myself and Tricia:

info: Please wait for an agent to respond.
info: You are now chatting with 'Tricia'
Tricia: Thank you for choosing OANDA. How may I help you?
XXXXX: Hello?
Tricia: Hello how can I help you today?
XXXXX: OK. My acct # is 0000000. At 11:59PM last night 1,038.21 was deducted from my acct without authorization. This is transaction # 0000000. Why did this happen???
Tricia: let me look into it
Tricia: For your security, before I can continue I will have to ask you your security question.
XXXXX: OK
Tricia: what is your date of birth?
XXXXX: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tricia: Thank you
Tricia: For some reason, I cannot find the details of this transaction.
XXXXX: I'm looking right at it as we speak...
Tricia: Could you provide me some more details on this transaction?
XXXXX: 2012.01.27//11:59...Order #0000000...Balance Update -1,038.21
Tricia: MT4 platform actually update its balance regularly. This is done because how MT4 platform calculates interest and profit/loss is different from fxTrade platform.
XXXXX: That does not explain why it deducted this amount. Why did this happen???
XXXXX: This is about 8.5% of my winnings this month. Why does Oanda take back 8.5% of what I have won?
Tricia: Unfortunately I cannot look up the details on this ticket number 0000000, and I'm not able to know anything about it.
######

Anyone here had similar problems?
FxH

Always go by the transaction record within fxTrade.

Launch fxTrade and generate a full transaction report. Cross reference this to your own trading records. Filter out just the interest charges, do they add up to a large sum? Is there an adjustment for slit orders or partial close orders?

I wouldn't just assume they took money away.. There's a reason, work with them to find out where the difference comes from.

OK, by why wouldn't they have a record of one of their own orders, especially one that was only 9 hours old? I'm staring right at it as we're chatting, but the Oanda operator tells me she can't find any record of it. It doesn't matter what the nature of the order is. What matters is they can't find a record of it even though it was generated by their own system! This makes sense to you?

Interesting as well that none of the Oanda reps that post here at FF have replied to this thread.

It's not interesting, your thread is only 4 hours old. Oanda is based here in Toronto and it's currently Friday after work hours. Their front line chat support people aren't exactly accountants and the rest of the office is at happy hour kicking off the weekend. hehe...

But seriously speaking, this isn't an official Oanda support forum (they do have their own forums after all) and even so, a forum isn't where you should be pressing them for info. They have NO obligation to meet you on this 3rd party forum and if you're expecting them to answer you (or just give the grand you think you're missing) just because you went public about, that is rather delusional and assuming. *sadface*

Now, constructively speaking about your problem:

The system is automatic in how it syncs MT4 to fxTrade. It's just a bridge, and your balance will always be correct within fxTrade since MT4 doesn't have the means to calculate balance and position interest the way Oanda's system does.

I trade with Oanda, I use both MT4 and fxTrade to manage trades with them...

If you leave MT4 open for long periods of time, it can get a fair bit out of sync, and when it does a balance adjustment to catch up it will be in one bulk adjustment to cover many individual trade differences.

Once again, before assuming anything else, go to fxTrade and run a full transaction history. You'll see each of your trades and where the differences are found.. if nothing looks fishy in the full transaction history and the total balance matches, you're good to go (it was just the adjusting balance in MT4 that spooked you given your expectations on the account's return. Stick to referencing fxTrade for your account P/L.)

Yes, per the above, I think the accounting in MT4 and brokers' own platforms usually differs. The rule of thumb is usually to go by the latter as definitive, never MT4. Something to do with FIFO, I think--or so I read not so long ago in the MB thread:

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...40#post5252340

They have the same issue at MB with MT4. Can result in "surprising" account adjustments if one is relying on MT4 accounting.

I appreciate the informative replies. But it still doesn't account for the fact that they can't find a precisely given order number which was generated by their own systems.

Me: Here is Order Number 1234567.

Them: We can't find it anywhere.

Me: But I'm staring right at it as we speak.

Them: Sorry. We still have no record of it.

Sorry fellas, but I don't find this acceptable...

Order number in MT4 or fxTrade?

Do you see a theme starting here?

you mean you can earn 1000/8%=10,000$per month?
god...

He never said 'per' month, but even so why does his return matter at all?

You don't know risk undertook to get there, you don't know the drawdowns his account has seen, you don't know the volume he pushed to achieve that return, and for all you know his account balance might be large enough that ~$10k in profit is rather poor.

Hi!
Does this issue as been solved ?

Thanks

Mfinab

Yet they consistently post the highest trader profitability figures quarter after quarter. How do you explain that?

I have traded with oanda for 4 years, 5 figure account... The only issue I experienced was around 3 months ago with a java update. for 2 days fxtrade misbehave but no real problem since I always use SL/TP with my orders.

The execution is pretty fast, almost no slippage

Be careful with that, it isn't just retail accounts. When they first issued that rule, Oanda was counting accounts that earned interest. That data can be misleading.