Vanguard Flagship - downgraded to "Team of Advisers"

[Amethyst]

Not that we ever used the "personal representative," who in any event couldn't help us with our non-VG investments, which are the most troublesome for us due to tax issues - but it seems that Flagship is not quite Flagship any more:


"You'll soon interact with us differently

We want to make you aware of a change to how you'll interact with Flagship Services®. Within the next few weeks, you'll have direct access to a team of Flagship representatives rather than working exclusively with your assigned representative.

Your team of reps is ready to help you meet your needs
You'll still receive the same level of service you've come to expect from our reps—who are trained to handle the unique needs of high-net-worth investors like you.

If at any time you'd like to have an assigned representative again, please let us know.

In addition, there will be no changes to your other Flagship® benefits."

 

[gerntz]

How much do they charge for using either?

 

[W2R]

How weird!

My "assigned representative" apparently got promoted or quit or something, because I was switched to another one just a few weeks ago. And now this. I should pay more attention to their e-mails, I suppose.

I have never contacted my "assigned representative" for anything, although she occasionally touched bases to let me know she was available if I wanted help. gerntz, I think they have always been free for Flagship members, although I haven't actually tried one to find out.

 

[Whisper66]

Interesting. I haven't gotten that email yet. Have used my flagship rep several times in the past year and was quite happy with his help. He really was mainly a contact point to get me to a specialist who answered my questions.

Most services are free for flagship level. See link below for details.

https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/benefits/at-a-glance


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[MBAustin]

Also haven't been notified of this yet. I call our rep a couple of times a year for various things and he's always excellent to work with. He's been our rep for probably 10 years now. I sort of like seeing his name all the time when I log in, but in reality a team would work just as well for us.

 

[GrayHare]

Weak reps make the firm look bad, and good ones are tough to find. The few that are quality get bumped up to handle the largest accounts. Now the remaining clients can't get stuck with a weak rep, instead they'll receive "group average" service.

 

[MichaelB]

My Flagship rep wrote a week ago that she was taking a new position in Vanguard and I would be assigned a new rep, but no date was given. That's all I've heard so far.

When I need to call Vanguard I talk with the first rep available and have dealt with the assigned Flagship rep only once, on a matter that required multiple contacts over many weeks. A specific rep is not something we have a real need for.

 

[Bestwifeever]

It looks like in the OP's quote that if you want a particular rep assigned to you, all you have to do is ask. In the eight years since DH rolled his 401k to a Vanguard IRA, he has spoken to his Flagship rep exactly zero times (a rep did not handle the roll over). So we don't need an assigned rep, who was changed out three or four times, and I am sure will be able get any help we might need from the team.

 

[MRG]

I'm not Flagship with VGI, maybe later. Sounds like this optional change fits very well into Vanguard's "Swiss Army" approach to client overflow and DR situations.

I wouldn't care if my dedicated Fidelity guy was unavailable and someone else filled in. Heck if I'm sick I'll see another doc at the same practice.

 

[N02L84ER]

Haven't received this email. My rep changed in March/April when my rep went on maternity leave. I have only communicated via email with my assigned reps.

 

[Amethyst]

Interesting observation. The rep assigned to us would have fit in the "weak" category. His descriptive blurb was heavy on his church activities, not necessarily something to inspire confidence in his skills in the "Mammon" area.

Weak reps make the firm look bad, and good ones are tough to find. The few that are quality get bumped up to handle the largest accounts. Now the remaining clients can't get stuck with a weak rep, instead they'll receive "group average" service.

 

[GrayHare]

Years ago I was forced from a great rep to a poor one. Wow, did my impression of the firm change.

 

[harley]

I went through 4 or 5 assigned reps over the years without ever actually speaking to one of them. Whenever (rarely) I called in my rep was busy so I just went to the available pool. So it makes no difference to me at all.

 

[Texas Proud]

When I finally got to this level I got a rep... he called me to talk about what I needed... well, nothing really... but he would call about once a year to make sure everything was OK...

A couple of years ago I got a new one... I do not remember him (had to look it up to make sure it was a him) calling me at all...


BUT, when I have needed any kind of info my rep was never available... talked to someone else who handled my minor request easily... so I really do not care if I have a 'team'.... heck, teams might be better service....

 

[Another Reader]

Don't have this problem at Fidelity...I can call and get an immediate response from staff and an in-person appointment with the assigned person if needed.

 

[samclem]

I always thought the "personal rep" was a gimmick. A "team" will do just as well for us. It sounds like anyone that still wants a by-name person can still get one, but it also sounds like most of us really don't care. We just want somebody competent.

 

[grasshopper]

Rant on, To Vanguard, The notice that my settlement account changed is unacceptable. I received a generic email confirmation of your account profile update on August 02, 2016. It seems like I get one every so often and usually has no important information, just alerting me to a change. Except this time if I didn't transfer some money into a new account(Federal MM) I would be bouncing some ACH and bill pay payments. An account rep told me that this was a quiet transaction. Well I think that Vanguard should have shouted it out. My flagship rep really should have given me a courtesy call to advise me of this change. A 30+ year customer of Vanguard but I am losing faith in your customer service.

I never would have seen this if I had not been to the billpay page.

 

[RunningBum]

I've usually been fine with the pool answering whatever question I had. I've called my rep 4 times for more specific things:


1) To help transfer an IRA to VG. He was the go between with a specialist, and probably anyone could do it, but it felt like I was well taken care of and the transfer went smoothly.


2) To have him explain how things worked tax form wise on a Roth recharacterization. I'm pretty sure I actually called 2 years in a row with the same question, and admitted it, and he explained it well both times and said it was no problem.


3) To straighten out a cost basis issue when the wrong shares were used. He worked with the cost basis team to get it fixed, and said he'd follow up to see why it happened, but I never heard back. I mentioned it here in a thread.


4) To find out why there was a totally random (as far as I could tell) address for me in some correspondence. I'm not sure how I even got it; must've been on an inner page. Disconcerting, for sure, worse if someone was trying to get hold of my account since I never got a notice of address change. He said he'd look into that, but I never heard back. I think I started a thread for this as well.


I went through 3 or 4 reps, and all seemed competent, at least the ones I dealt with.


So I'm fine with the change, as long as someone takes ownership of any issues or questions I have and nothing gets dropped.

 

[donheff]

I always thought the "personal rep" was a gimmick. A "team" will do just as well for us. It sounds like anyone that still wants a by-name person can still get one, but it also sounds like most of us really don't care. We just want somebody competent.

+1. My reps have been fine the few times I talked to them but I always switched over to the next available agent when the rep was busy and never could tell the difference. My guess is a team just means you get pushed to the head of the queue which is fine by me.