Hi Steve,
I have a Scottrade account and deal with these issues though no bid/ask is a new one on me. I do get the message to call my broker when I try to execute a buy order sometimes.
I just call them up and place the order. The price is still $7.00 (plus for shares valued $1 and under they add 1/2 of 1% of the full value of the trade. $5 per $1000.

Their list of questionable stocks is a little arbitrary imo.
I had to call them to buy NTRO but they let JNIP go through no problem.
NTRO is doing great things and everyone thinks of JNIP as a pump n dump, go figure.

When you go to sell a stock you own it is straight-forward online.
Scottrade is a minor pain in some ways but the prices make it worthwhile to me. They are good enough unless you want to short a penny stock, they won't allow you to short anything less than $5 initial price.

I had an account with Interactive Brokers and discovered huge hidden fees.
ThinkorSwim has big upcharges on large orders. $50 for orders over 1M shares.

It adds up quick. I don't like having to make a few ticks just to break even.
Scottrade does the trick for me. One tick and I'm in the black.