A brokerage firm from New York was calling me several times a week badmouthing my current broker-dealer and telling me they could do much better. I was frustrated with the broker I had, so I switched firms.
I told the new broker I didn’t want to invest in anything really risky – just moderate risk investments – nothing crazy. The new firm said they didn’t offer online access (I later found out they did) so I couldn’t track what was going on, but I started getting 8-10 trade confirmations in the mail everyday. In about a month, I lost my entire $30,000 investment.
Whenever I see a number from New York on my phone, I don’t answer it. I have brokers calling me all the time. By chance, I did answer the phone when a rep from Cold Spring Advisory called to tell me about their services. I told him about my situation, and he said it sounded like I had a good case.
Cold Spring was really helpful in getting my account documents from the firm and explaining the case preparation and arbitration process. They did the free analysis and got back to me quickly. They said I had a strong case for excessive trading and churning for commissions. They put me in touch with an attorney who did an impressive job writing up the complaint and winning the case. I got 100% of my money back.
Everything went according to plan and when I learned of the judgment, I felt a sense of redemption. For once the system worked for the small guys – most of the time we get squished. Cold Spring’s process was streamlined and the people at the firm and the attorney’s firm were really helpful.
Cold Spring Advisory provides an avenue for smaller investors to file a claim and get satisfaction. It’s definitely worthwhile for someone to at least look into how and why they lost their money.