dannyinhouston 

@bobwest I mean no disrespect, but it seems like you are maybe "over moderating" certain threads?

Not even close, not even by a longshot. @bobwest is a pro. He shows you, everyday, what being good at your job looks like. . This post is upsetting because it seems to be becoming increasingly common for people to sit back and make facile assumptions about others judgement. Which is annoying when the claim is over the top unfair.

(Apologies for the derail, I wanted to say something, but to keep on topic I won't be responding further.)

dannyinhouston 

@bobwest I mean no disrespect, but it seems like you are maybe "over moderating" certain threads?

Salao 

Not even close, not even by a longshot. @bobwest is a pro. He shows you, everyday, what being good at your job looks like. .

Thanks, @Salao.

Just shows how it is possible for there to be different opinions on the same thing, which is what makes a horse race.

I appreciate it, though.

Bob.

dannyinhouston 

@bobwest I mean no disrespect, but it seems like you are maybe "over moderating" certain threads?

That's as it should be. Futures.io has very much become a major central hub for futures. There's tons of vendors in our industry, and there's tons of shady schemes out there too. To continue being a fair central hub they have to hold everyone to the highest standards. There's almost no choice but to be overly cautious.

I don't think bob takes any of it personally though. So there's not really any reason for us posters to worry about it. All you can do is go "meh" and move on.

so topsteptrader is refusing to payout because of a newly-implemented rule that was NOT applicable to you at the time you passed step 1 and 2?

they suddenly decided to retroactively apply this rule to prevent paying out, right?

um....hello? can't believe yall are being so complacent and patient with topstep. i understand for futures.io mods like bobwest, tst is a sponsor so they have to watch what they say but to the rest of yall, come on this is a straight up scam.

any US lawyer would be licking their chops if you presented him/her with this case; heck they'd represent you for free on a contingency basis b/c this is literally an automatic win.

unfortunately, topstep is banking on the fact that you won't sue them since you're located abroad in budapest, hungary.

btw, thank you so much for removing whatever benefit of the doubt did exist regarding Topsteptrader before this incident. you need to post this on elitetrader, reddit and twitter. make it trend and let the word get out.

one of these days, a US investor/trader is going to be scammed by TST just like you and Americans love to sue. it's our national pastime. when American citizens are scammed via futures, it will automatically fall under the jurisdiction of the CFTC, not to mention the USAO, and that's when the hammer will finally come down on these funding firms, which are still living in the wild west.

it's still a largely unregulated space b/c there aren't enough victims yet but it's only a matter of time. sorry about your experience.

canoekoh 

um....hello? can't believe yall are being so complacent and patient with topstep. i understand for futures.io mods like bobwest, tst is a sponsor so they have to watch what they say but to the rest of yall, come on this is a straight up scam.

Excuse me, but I do not have to watch what I say about a futures.io sponsor, or anyone else in the wide world.

I have to ensure that the rules of the forum are followed and that this forum stays a good place for traders to come and discuss trading. I have no other responsibility here.

Mike has never asked me to treat sponsors any differently from any other vendor, and I wouldn't anyway. I don't get paid for this and I don't care about anyone's money, and I try to treat everyone with normal business courtesy and nothing else.

Your comment is completely uncalled for in its assumption of cynicism and its attribution of motives to me so casually and so carelessly.

You have, of course, a right to your opinion, and I have a right to not like it, which is part of what this forum is about. Moderation only comes in if things get out of hand by the standards we have established. Otherwise, members are free to say what they want, which is also what this forum is about.

Bob.

bobwest 

That's the issue. At this point, I guess we await @Topstep. I hope that whoever they have monitoring the email "mention" notices that go out when they are tagged with an "@" here escalates the issue once they see the flood of mentions. If they do, I hope the whole thread gets read and some thinking is done about whether this is an issue they want to leave hanging this way. (This is still a Sunday, so there might be some time lag before a reply.) I trust there will be a conclusion soon and all can move on, however they think they should. Bob.

Almost a week later and no response from Topstep so far. Maybe they're not active here any longer...?

Howard Roark 

Almost a week later and no response from Topstep so far. Maybe they're not active here any longer...?

I was also wondering.

The profile tagged above shows its user's last activity here on July 15th (that's just over 5 weeks ago).

I'll declare my "locus standi" for commenting in the thread: I was planning to try a Topstep Combine, and am waiting to see whether and how this issue is resolved, first.

I'm really extremely surprised by this thread.

bobwest 

I absolutely agree, and if it hasn't been made clear so far, I think this is a matter @Topstep should take very seriously. A company only has their good name, ultimately, and if it is tarnished they have nothing. So far, it looks as though a rule change was made and applied retroactively to a situation that existed before the change, and that was not in violation of any rule at the time. @Topstep may have their reasons for the rule, and for applying it as they did, but it is troubling that they did it so far after the fact, at least according to the emails that have been furnished. Pretty much all the comments so far have reflected a concern about how it was applied after the rule change to a situation from before the change was made.

Absolutely right.

bobwest 

If the company concludes, on reflection, that this was a mistake, it would not be a terrible thing to say so. Everyone makes mistakes, and what you do about them is what matters. If they want to stand by it, they should explain why, in these particular circumstances, so that traders can understand and perhaps make informed decisions based on this. This is actually a big deal, @Topstep.

A very big deal, to this potential customer, anyway.

I'm impressed by how calmly TraderAnna is apparently taking this: I can't honestly pretend that I would manage the same, in the same circumstances.

On the basis of what I've seen so far, I certainly hope the outcome of this will be some kind of "strategic rethink" by Topstep. At the moment, unresolved as it is, it really does appear terribly off-putting.

I've posted in the past about my experience with Topstep - something I consider generally positive.

But, the retroactive application of new rules is just crazy.

It's pretty scary to think that tomorrow they can come up with a new rule and wipe me out of my account (I'm current in a Pro account).

In the 20 sec winners case, they could have done so many other things to handle it better. A warning, a future-facing rule, something.

I also wonder how many people were really sim abusing just to nab the $5k. At what point does that become so costly to Topstep that they'd risk a major blow to their reputation? Just feels like a really poorly-handled idea.

I will type a reply to mcjackson in my other thread in this same section of the forum as it may be considered off-topic...

Anna

Apparently, you were very good at micro-scalping. Find a strategy to win trades that last longer than 20 seconds for the other 50%. Just adapt to their new rules and go on. You'll pass the Combine again and start withdrawing in less than two months.

Once you withdraw 10K from TST open your own brokerage account. Trade for one year successfully and show the tack record to prop firms. Get their funding, decide where you want to live, and go trade from there.

Don't be surprised if you get back to the Combine again, you are becoming a pro trader... just don't give up.

All the best!

p.s. to all 'investigators' and moaners in this thread, if you have what it takes just do it. shut up and put up!