Are trading robots a beginner trap?

Expert advisors promise income while you sleep. The ones sold to beginners are usually curve-fitted to the past, and the honest ones require the same skill as manual trading plus programming.

Have you bought or built one?

• what it promised and what it did
• the moment you realised something was wrong
• your view on EAs for beginners now

The signals and bots guide covers the commercial side; this thread is for first-hand stories.