Vanguard communication frustrating

[socaldonnan]

DH and I have sold our residence and when escrow closes need to wire funds to Vanguard. Escrow company needs pertinent info for the wiring of funds in the middle of February. Logged onto Vanguard and it appears that all you can do is send them a secure message which I have done. No where do I see a phone number for verbal communication. We are Flagship members and this will be a substantial deposit. Does anyone know if they no longer accept phone messages?

 

[wanderingwheelz]

877-311-0014 would be where I’d start. I’m a flagship customer there, too.

 

[Athena61]

I just logged into my account. I am also Flagship. On the far right of the page is a photo of my FS representative and right below that is a number to contact him.

The main number in my contact file is 800-345-1344. But I haven’t called it in awhile.

 

[pb4uski]

Go to https://personal.vanguard.com/web/c1/service-center-contact-us/
Then Bank Transfers
Then Where can I get instructions to wire money from my bank?
That will bring you to the log in page... log in
The select the account that you want to wire to and it will provide wiring instructions that you can print and give to your escrow company.

Or if you log in and go to the bottom of the home page then you should see a picture of your Flagship resentative and phone number.... 800-523-7995

 

[Scrapr]

They will reply. It's best to get the info in your secure message folder. Then print it out & hand carry it to the escrow office. There are lots of warnings about spoofed e mails & escrow companies.

Or you can call customer service 800-528-4999.

 

[firemediceric]

Related but different...Although I have found Vanguard's telephone customer service to be excellent, I dislike their mobile phone app. I much prefer the Schwab app on my phone simply for tracking stuff.

 

[momoftwo]

I'm not a current Vanguard customer, but might be down the road.
It seems odd to me that there are 4 different contact numbers recommended for OP to try.
Isnt there one main customer service line?

 

[deserat]

Just did this in Sep. Called VG, rep walked me through process to get wiring instructions letter with a account numbers, intermediaries, etc. It is auto populated and then you can download it and send it to escrow co.

Now, the escrow company's process, that was another story. They made me retype all of the info in the VG letter onto their form. Gotta love the higher probability of getting those account numbers wrong with a separate manual hand jam onto their form... sigh.

It all worked out and VG was not the problem child in the transaction.

 

[teejayevans]

IIRC, the phone number(s) are on every statement. Flagship, Voyager, etc all have different numbers.

 

[Souschef]

One thing I learned recently was the bank may have a different routing number for wire transfers than the one on a check.
I had to wire funds to my son's account at B of A (shudder) and they have a separate routing number for their ACH transfers. Fortunately it worked out. I got a funny e-mail from DS-"The Eagle has Landed", which meant the funds were in his account.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm not a current Vanguard customer, but might be down the road.
It seems odd to me that there are 4 different contact numbers recommended for OP to try.
Isnt there one main customer service line?

Yes there is... see below... we were just giving him
customer service numbers for our Flagship reps... an organization Vanguard's size has oodles of them.

 

[momoftwo]

Got it, thanks!

 

[Texas Proud]

I am listed as Flagship but the lower tier... so no rep or phone number listed anymore...


I called them earlier today and it was a struggle to get a phone number... they now have some kind of decision tree to route you through to get you your answer without having you talk to a person..


It did not work for me and I STILL did not get a number to call...


Yep, Vanguard will be losing a customer... and I have been one for well over 30 years...


Problem that I have is I have so many different accounts there... have to do it slowly...

 

[JoeWras]

I just logged into my account. I am also Flagship. On the far right of the page is a photo of my FS representative and right below that is a number to contact him.

The main number in my contact file is 800-345-1344. But I haven’t called it in awhile.

I don't have a photo of my rep. I used to, but got converted to the pool? Maybe you have more dough than me.

Anyway, MY number matches YOUR number. So we aren't all getting different numbers.

 

[Octogirl]

Vanguard wire transfer

+1 Have not transferred $$ yet but We 'll be consolidating funds later in 2020 to Vanguard

 

[RetireAge50]

The fewer phone reps the cheaper for me! I don’t think I’ve ever called them.

I typically have wires go to my main bank and then I move it from there to Vanguard.

 

[Texas Proud]

So, they made me get all my accounts to the brokerage system... and guess what... broken stmts...


I have a total of 8 different accounts, 6 being mine... I am not getting individual stmts for all of them... and a combo for 4... talk about wasting postage as I want paper stmts...


Not sure where I will be moving too just yet... will have to try a few different platforms and see what I like the best...


You are no longer stuck with Vanguard as your platform to have Vanguard holdings...

 

[stephenson]

I think brokerage account structure is just a fact of life with larger, multifaceted financial companies.

I’ve become a Fidelity cheerleader ... yesterday needed a proof of funds letter to make offer on a rental property - 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon ... emailed my rep and letter in my secure mailbox in 30 minutes, with notice via text and email.

 

[MrLoco]

So, they made me get all my accounts to the brokerage system... and guess what... broken stmts...


I have a total of 8 different accounts, 6 being mine... I am not getting individual stmts for all of them... and a combo for 4... talk about wasting postage as I want paper stmts...


Not sure where I will be moving too just yet... will have to try a few different platforms and see what I like the best...


You are no longer stuck with Vanguard as your platform to have Vanguard holdings...

Not sure I understand this. Vanguard did not make you switch from mutual fund account to brokerage accounts. About 3 years ago they started "encouraging" folks to switch but it was NEVER mandated.
I still have and will continue to have only mutual fund accounts.

Also, why not just download statements and print them? I do this every Dec. 31.

Switching to a new brokerage after 30 years is a major pain. You will still be in a brokerage account and still dependent on the US mail for your paper statements.

 

[24601NoMore]

You are no longer stuck with Vanguard as your platform to have Vanguard holdings...

What if you have Admiral funds (eg: VWIAX - Wellesley Admiral)? Far as I know, those are not available elsewhere, nor does VG appear to have any plans to make them available to other brokerage platforms based on news coverage I've seen..

 

[teejayevans]

What if you have Admiral funds (eg: VWIAX - Wellesley Admiral)? Far as I know, those are not available elsewhere, nor does VG appear to have any plans to make them available to other brokerage platforms based on news coverage I've seen..

I don’t think that’s true, I have the Wellington Admiral fund in my HSA (Optum).

 

[JoeWras]

I'm still a Vanguard fan. But...

I recently opened a HSA at Fidelity. After I did this, I got out of the "netbenefits" box at FIDO and it opened up their full home web page on the main site.

Very nice! I like it much better than Vanguard's page. I can now do easy analysis (percentages of stocks, bonds, etc.) on all my accounts. I have multiple 401ks from multiple Megacorps. And of course, the newer HSA.

I'm probably going to open up a regular brokerage account at FIDO after seeing this. Right now I'm 2/3 Van, 1/3 FIDO. I'll probably turn that to 50-50.

FIDO's "netbenefits" page stinks. Really nice to be able to manage some aspects from their main page.

 

[Texas Proud]

Not sure I understand this. Vanguard did not make you switch from mutual fund account to brokerage accounts. About 3 years ago they started "encouraging" folks to switch but it was NEVER mandated.
I still have and will continue to have only mutual fund accounts.

Also, why not just download statements and print them? I do this every Dec. 31.

Switching to a new brokerage after 30 years is a major pain. You will still be in a brokerage account and still dependent on the US mail for your paper statements.

I had not transferred for many years... then got an email that said that my accounts would not work going forward if I did NOT transfer them to brokerage accounts..


I read that as they made me... maybe you do not..


This is not the only problem I have had with Vanguard over the last few years....

 

[target2019]

We have 5 Vanguard accounts. None have been forced to brokerage. When they figure out how to do this cleanly, at years end, I will go along with their plan.