On July 5, 2024 (last Friday evening) at 20:30, when the US non-farm payroll data was released, the platform ATFX skipped my preset short order set at 2364 and executed it at the lowest price of 2348 after sliding down by 1600 points. This rapid rise in gold prices directly caused my account to blow up, resulting in a loss of $26,950. Moreover, it's strange that there was no response from the platform during the first 4 seconds after the data release. My preset short order was executed only after 4 seconds at 20:30:05 (I have uploaded images as proof, which are screenshots from the MT4 trading log), while other platforms showed normal fluctuations and trades. Those four crucial seconds were extremely important. This is outrageous! Additionally, when I placed my preset short order for 50 standard lots of gold, I also set a stop loss of $236. The risk was controllable, but since it was filled at the lowest point due to direct slippage of 1600 points, this stop-loss setting became useless.
Moreover, I had placed my preset short order a few minutes before the big data release. The execution speed should have prioritized both price and time; therefore, this situation is highly unreasonable and abnormal! Therefore, I immediately emailed them to file a complaint as soon as the issue arose. However, after waiting two days, their email response disagreed with compensating me for this loss, and they found various reasons to shirk responsibility. They attributed all slippage to normal market volatility—which I cannot accept given such exaggerated slippage—and even used price data from several smaller platforms that favored them to prove their lack of responsibility.
In response to their unreasonable explanations, I refuted each point logically and based on evidence in my replies below:
(1) I have also consulted other platforms, and you have also chosen to compare data that favors your platform. During this period, there were a large number of trades on other platforms. Moreover, the platforms you mentioned also showed that there were trading prices ranging from 2366 to 2361 between 20:30:01 and 20:30:03. There is a big problem during this period. And you executed the trade around 20:30:05, which is a major incident. Moreover, my trade was a preset short position, placed in advance. In terms of execution, it should follow the principle of not only prioritizing price but also time.
(2) When the major data was released, there was a gap in various major platforms, but there were prices (ranging from 2366 to 3261) and trading volume in the first 4 seconds after the data was released. However, your platform was extreme and had no response in the first 4 seconds. It was not until the 5th second that my trade was executed at 2348 after a slippage of 1600 points. This is a major incident. If it were a small platform, I could still understand, but aren't you claiming to be the 4th largest platform in terms of global trading volume? Furthermore, if I didn't trust you and if you weren't a stable major platform, would I choose your platform for trading? The platforms you selected for comparison are all small platforms (because the data favors you), but these platforms also had trading prices during this period (as mentioned above). So, your argument is even more untenable and unreasonable. You are pretending not to understand, but in fact, you are a major platform, and you should have advantages over small platforms in terms of hardware facilities and responsiveness. You should not have more slippage than small platforms. Slipping 1600 points is too much. In addition, you should also compare it with some major platforms. For example, take a look at the data from JASDAQ during that period. If you compare, you will find that in the first 4 seconds, there were trading prices and volume (between 2366 and 2361).
(3) Regarding the reason you described in your email reply yesterday morning: "It can be seen that the selling price at that time jumped from 2365.37 to 2348.70, and there was no opening price set by you at 2364.00. The price after the jump has already exceeded your opening price, so the order will be triggered and executed at this price of 2348.70." This is what you replied; take a look at it. Is it reasonable or professional? From this statement, it can be seen that, from the beginning, you didn't intend to handle it properly. You just found various reasons. As I mentioned earlier, you continue to handle it in this way, which can only define you as a fraudulent and black platform. You should understand that I set a preset short position at 2364, and I placed the order a few minutes before the release of the data. It was a short position. You said the data started to drop from 2365.37 (in fact, many platforms had trading data at 2366), and it passed through my 2364. You can see it by looking at larger and more stable platforms. There were several different price data points during this period, and the worst was a trading price of 2350.70. How could you execute the trade at the lowest price? It's extreme. As I mentioned earlier, your platform is considered large, so how can you give customers the worst execution price? This is a problem in itself! Don't find excuses that are not convincing anymore. They won't work!
(4) You have always advertised yourselves as a major and stable platform, so you should have the responsibility of a major platform. When encountering problems, don't just look for excuses and shift the blame. If it's wrong, it's wrong. You should take responsibility. This is what a major platform should do. Moreover, there are so many facts and evidence in front of you. What else is there to argue about? You don't take any responsibility. When compared, your emergency handling is really poor and irresponsible!
I don't know if you carefully looked at the two screenshots in my first email. The log shows that you executed my preset short position at the lowest price of 2348 at 20:30:05, with a slippage of 1600 points. Look, you didn't do anything in the first four seconds. What is the concept of 4 seconds at such a critical moment? Do you know? 4 seconds have passed, and it's a major incident. Just this point alone proves that you are wrong! At that time, I was staring at the screen. Your system didn't respond in the first few seconds, but the account system of my other platform had price fluctuations. You didn't move, and my trade was a preset short position. The trading data was transmitted to your server a few minutes ago. It should have had the advantage of time priority. You should think about whether it is reasonable or not. So, don't waste our time arguing back and forth. My demand is to compensate for the loss of this trade. You should know that if you executed the trade a little faster, I would have made a profit (the system problem itself belongs to your problem because you are responsible for the customers). Originally, there were prices that could be executed during this period. If you didn't match the trade quickly, it's your problem. If there was no price data during this period, then it's not your fault. But the fact proves that there was price data, and it was caused by your various reasons that resulted in this loss, which we as customers cannot accept. Now, I am at a loss, and I have to spend time and energy communicating with you here. How would you feel if you were in my shoes? So, as I mentioned earlier, I can let go of other trades that should have made a profit, but you must compensate for the loss of this trade!
If you continue to handle it in this way, I will expose it directly and report it to the Anti-Fraud Center. I have explained it in such detail, so don't pretend not to see it and continue to find reasons that you think are right. Take a look at it yourself. You have also found several data platforms that favor you. Regardless of the situation, there was price data during this period, and your platform had no trading response in the first 4 seconds. This is a major incident, do you understand? It's really frustrating. I just want an acceptable resolution. The loss of this trade must be compensated. You should report it to your superiors first and consider the subsequent impact on yourselves.
This detailed description above is what I sent in response after receiving two irresponsible emails from them—please review it! My demand is for ATFX to compensate me for the lost $26,950 by crediting it back into my trading account number 693079770 on their platform.
Thank you very much for your help; please assist me urgently in addressing this serious issue with ATFX (customer service emails are cs.gm@atfx.com and cs.uk@atfx.com—these two emails belong to different departments within the same company; I usually contact the first one).