A salutory lesson in money management

Or; how I went from trying to give a broker my money to not wanting anything more to do with them this side of hell freezing over – all in the space of a couple of days!

It seemed I was unable to update my bank card with SunbirdFX without simultaneously paying funds into the account so I contacted SunbirdFX and after some rather unprofessional but bearable messing about I was asked by one Amir Brown to upload an image of the new card to SunbirdFX.

I’ve never been asked to do this before but on the basis I didn’t also provide the security code I decided to go ahead. In reality they wouldn’t be getting any more information than I would put into an online form to fund the account.

I attached the image as pdf file and sent it.

Suspicion started to set in a while later when I got the following email apparently from SunbirdFX

Anyone working for me that sent an email like that would be looking for a new job forthwith or maybe some training if they were a school leaver or had special needs - maybe.
(No SunbirdFX company signature or info, not addressed correctly to the customer, no help or advice about the issue, not even spell-checked.)

Anyhow, I am now engaged in the process although very suspicious of SunbirdFX so I continue;

I reply including a screen shot of delivery notification and other info to help them find the bank details I sent them a short while ago.

Next I get this and am now getting angry.

I start to send irritated but polite emails and get this one back.

After some quite caustic but not rude or abusive emails I get this one;

I have now removed all money from the relevant bank account via internet banking (it’s only one I use for paying online bills with anyway.) So I go through the process as requested and join ‘Amir Brown’ in chat and email.

A while later I get the next one,

Hurrah!! everything is fine and now I can get on with business, NO? oh dear.

(I have now decided to close the account as soon as the new card is in place to transfer the couple of hundred dollars to.)

Later I check my account page at SunbirdFX and find that the card is not updated at all. (I wasn’t surprised.)

This is all the shortened version, by now I have sent a dozen emails most have got no response at all.

I start to send irritated – but still polite – emails to every SunbirdFX email address I can find on their website.

It turns out that at least a couple of the published ones do not even exist.

[email protected] also doesn't appear to go anywhere.

These addresses were taken directly from the SunbirdFX website and are exactly as they published them on the SunbirdFX website.

I get no reply or acknowledgement from anyone.

Currently I have corresponded with

Amir Brown – who doesn’t appear to have a job title. Any suggestions? No; on second thoughts please don’t.

Saad Suleiman – Head of Media marketing SunbirdFX (his capitalisation) who has failed to even acknowledge my reply to this,

Is this person really Head of Media marketing or does it look strangely similar to other emails from SunbirdFX?

Most recently I seem to be in communication with one Brian Parker who is either Accounting Manager or Trading Expert, I’m not sure which. But he’s going on holiday tomorrow so we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to see.

My last one from him is really getting quite hilarious,

He’s very busy and spent half the day sending 2 emails, I wish my busy days were like that.

Still; he’s going on holiday tomorrow so he’ll feel better after that I’m sure.

When I started dealing with SunbirdFX they seemed every inch a ‘normal’ broker for beginners domestic trading. Ok, the level of communication was a bit sloppy but they were a new company and I was totally new in forex trading.

When I started out with SunbirdFX they seemed to be in the process of getting regulated by the appropriate authorities. I never even thought about it ‘til yesterday and it turns out they aren’t regulated at all, they’ve paid to belong to a Russian organisation called FMRRC which are not a regulator by any standard.

They are effectively unregulated.

I have traded this account with them for more than three years and my point here is that just because you’ve been with a company for a while doesn't mean that they are as good as they used to be, I think this is all part of forex money management, it’s not just the individual trades it’s the whole environment including keeping an eye on your broker.

Now, because I’m a contrary old sod and a couple of hundred dollars won’t break the bank and because I enjoy a stand up row – (except when I’m in the wrong). I thought I’d post this so you all can think about whether or not you should have a sneaky look at your own broker.

Feel free to post things like ‘My experience with SunbirdFX is that they are perfect in every respect’ - especially if you work for them.

(I also trade with two other brokers who’s communication is excellent, although I will ‘stress test’ them at some point I expect)

I shall leave you to draw your own conclusions about the nature of SunbirdFX as a worthy beneficiary of your trust and hard earned $.

Good trading Guys and Girls!!

And have a good Christmas (or other midwinter festival according to your tastes.)

I'll post here again if they ever do return my money but I'm not holding my breath.