Losing faith in Vanguard

[Moemg]

Last week I got a message from Vanguard to call them regarding my RMD's .I had them set up to automatically happen on Jan.5 .I called and everything was fine until on Saturday I saw they took almost $20,000 more than the required amount . I called today and they admitted their mistake but it will take a week to fix . What is happening with Vanguard and what other companies do people use ?

 

[43210]

In my experience, all the alternatives are worse.

 

[GrayHare]

IMO Fidelity's web site interface is better. Representative quality varies a bunch at each place.

 

[sengsational]

Fidelity didn't accept a rollover check from my 401k fiduciary which had my Fidelity account number and my name, but didn't have my middle initial.

Now it's up to me to get the 401k company to reissue the check.

You can't get good help anymore.

 

[nwsteve]

IMO Fidelity's web site interface is better. Representative quality varies a bunch at each place.

+1 But our experience with both suggest the V workforce seems to have a higher percentage of "task monkeys" who religiously follow the V rule book in which there is "right" answer for any question. And by god, we will make sure your question will fit one of our rules.
I took care of our first RMD last week with Fido who now is increasingly is separating transaction from their advisors. I confirmed my in kind strategy with our PC Advisor who then put me on a short hold to get us up front in the que to execute the strategy we discussed. The specialist handled the details correctly and confirmed each element as we went. Done right the first time in a very expeditious manner.
Fido is now using a voice recognition system to ID callers so the "getting started" component moves quicker and feels much less intrusive.

 

[MRG]

Fidelity didn't accept a rollover check from my 401k fiduciary which had my Fidelity account number and my name, but didn't have my middle initial.

Now it's up to me to get the 401k company to reissue the check.

You can't get good help anymore.

At $15.00 an hour why would you expect more? Been in a back office? It might change all of our perspectives.

Ever been told to stay late and lose the money you need for food, by working overtime? Many people face that challenge. Been there, seen people walked out the door, cause they threw your check away.

 

[RobbieB]

You can, but you have to pay them.

 

[Pilot2013]

At $15.00 an hour why would you expect more? Been in a back office? It might change all of our perspectives.

Ever been told to stay late and lose the money you need for food, by working overtime? Many people face that challenge. Been there, seen people walked out the door, cause they threw your check away.

What?

 

[MRG]

What?

What? What?

The person you talked to may not always be the person who did the work.

If you do a simple inquiry, sure. Unless there's a marketing opportunity.

Initiate a death claim? That's a complex event, probably involving multiple specialists in the processing areas.

Some of these folks are specialists, not so many are well compensated.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Gotta say I was a little surprised when I heard all the ballyhoo about how some major financial institutions were issuing bonuses in the wake of the big tax cut ... and raising their minimum hourly wage to $15. Geez, a shelf stocker at Aldi makes $11 in my area. I suppose the bottom of the wage ladder could be limited to people starting out at emptying wastebaskets, but the cynic in me suspects that rung of the ladder is a little more crowded. Yeah, you get what you pay for.

 

[splitwdw]

Moemg, I switched from Vanguard to Fidelity in 2016 because of a few problems dealing with Vanguard's customer service reps. No callbacks and no email replies was a constant problem. Switched to Fidelity and my service rep has been great. She's handled all transactions for transfers/rollovers/diversifications between my Fidelity account and other institutions. So far have not had a problem. She knows I self direct my account and has never tried to sell me anything. She only calls me once a year as requested.

 

[Moemg]

Moemg, I switched from Vanguard to Fidelity in 2016 because of a few problems dealing with Vanguard's customer service reps. No callbacks and no email replies was a constant problem. Switched to Fidelity and my service rep has been great. She's handled all transactions for transfers/rollovers/diversifications between my Fidelity account and other institutions. So far have not had a problem. She knows I self direct my account and has never tried to sell me anything. She only calls me once a year as requested.

Thank you ,I will look into this .

 

[Helen]

I just moved the rest of our money from Vanguard to Fidelity. I got tired of Vanguard's cumbersome procedures and clunky website. I can find my way around Fidelity's website easily. I had Fido do all the paperwork for the transfer and they gave me $2,500 for moving the money over.

If Vanguard ever fixes its website and streamlines their procedures I will be back in a heartbeat.

 

[FrankiesGirl]

I have everything with Fido too, and really love the customer service and ease of use on their website. This is one of the only reasons I went to them instead of Vanguard; as long as I have my investments self-managed in their stable of index funds (which are the same if not a tiny bit cheaper than Vanguard) I see no downside to them at all.

Not knocking Vanguard, but I do think Fido uses some of that for-profit money to plow more into training and customer interfaces like their website and other tools to make things easier on the user. Since I'm not paying higher prices (no managed funds/etc) I still come out ahead.

I have enough assets invested where I get priority treatment whenever I call too.

 

[pb4uski]

Thank you ,I will look into this .

You probably know this but there is a Fidelity office on North Cattlemen Rd in the UTC Mall just south of University Parkway and Charles Schwab is kiddy-corner across from Fidelity.

 

[SecondCor521]

What? What?

The person you talked to may not always be the person who did the work.

If you do a simple inquiry, sure. Unless there's a marketing opportunity.

Initiate a death claim? That's a complex event, probably involving multiple specialists in the processing areas.

Some of these folks are specialists, not so many are well compensated.

I've used Vanguard and Fidelity both and can work with both of them. My accounts are at Vanguard.

When my Mom passed away about 18 months ago, I was expecting difficulty in working with Vanguard on the things that needed to be done. Vanguard surprised me by putting me in touch with their specialists in that area, and everything was done correctly, on time, and with no cumbersome hoops. Oh, and I think we were given a direct number to that area so we could just call them whenever we needed something.

I do agree that they can be a bit clunky at times. Last year I did a Roth conversion online but the recharacterization had to be on a paper form; it seems like that could be automated.

I stay with them because I'm happy enough with their service and I trust them to be competent. That's all I need.

 

[pb4uski]

.....Last year I did a Roth conversion online but the recharacterization had to be on a paper form; it seems like that could be automated.....

Totally agree that it should be automated, but no need for a paper form... I have done 3 recharacterizations over the last few years and all have been by phone.

 

[gayl]

I'm at Schwab so I just enter IRA withdrawals myself adjusting state & federal withholding as desired (covers cap gains in taxable acct). It's all done on the app

 

[bizlady]

DH just took a distribution at Fidelity, and did it online. But our "joint" checking account was rejected for ACH deposit and had to get the check mailed. Yuck.

 

[Free bird]

Growth always dilutes quality. Bogle said Vanguard is too big.

 

[MrLoco]

I think you can have issues with any brokerage house.

I would not want to go through the daunting task/paperwork/time on the computer/phone to switch EVERYTHING over from one brokerage house to another. Think about it. Trying to switch taxable accounts and moving "assets in kind." Having to set up new POA's/Agent Authorizations all over again and getting the documents notarized. Having to set up direct deposits with bank accounts again. HAving to roll over IRA's.

No thanks. It would have to be a major screw up or consistent screw ups for me to switch. Stuff happens.

 

[Moemg]

You probably know this but there is a Fidelity office on North Cattlemen Rd in the UTC Mall just south of University Parkway and Charles Schwab is kiddy-corner across from Fidelity.

Thanks I did not know this .

 

[Moemg]

No thanks. It would have to be a major screw up or consistent screw ups for me to switch. Stuff happens.

I consider taking an extra $20,000 from an account plus the $8,000 for taxes a major screw up and the fact that they are not willing to fix it immediately .How does something like this even happen ?

 

[MRG]

I consider taking an extra $20,000 from an account plus the $8,000 for taxes a major screw up and the fact that they are not willing to fix it immediately .How does something like this even happen ?

I would ask Vanguard, it's a very legit question.

 

[SecondCor521]

Totally agree that it should be automated, but no need for a paper form... I have done 3 recharacterizations over the last few years and all have been by phone.

Good to know. I couldn't figure out a way to do it online, so I called and asked how to do a recharacterization. The rep said I needed to fill out a form, so I filled out the form.