Vanguard is going downhill

[beowulf]

There is one feature I would really like VG to have - the ability to deposit checks electronically by taking a picture of them on your cell phone. Both credit unions I belong to have that and it really saves time and you get instant verification of receipt. Not sure if there is some law against companies like VG doing this, but it would be nice.

As to VG going downhill, I'm with W2R - I'm about 95% satisfied. Also unhappy about the brokerage account requirement as well as having to do almost everything in 2 separate steps. It's still possible to move money from the MM fund to your bank in one step. Just don't do it on a Friday and expect the money to be there on Monday.

[HarveyS]

No problem logging in. I no longer have a Flagship rep/picture/phone. A while back I was assigned to the pool. I recall a letter explaining this would be better for me. It is interesting that some others still have the individual rep.
My asset level with VG qualifies for Flagship, not Flagship Select. Maybe that is the difference?
I have been with VG for over 15 yrs. I have not seen service materially deteriorate, but I am a passive buy and hold investor.

[aja8888]

I moved my Vanguard account funds BACK to Charles Schwab after VG took 3 weeks and a dozen phone calls from me to change my email address. I was trying VG as an alternative to CS (kept CS open with some funds in it during the time I was with VG). I was with VG for 5 years total. Closing a Solo 401K account with them was another memorable experience.

Now my IRA and brokerage funds are back at CS where I have had an account for the last 37 years. Now if I have any issues, I can just go to their local office and meet with a live person.

[ownyourfuture]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf Also, at least 40+ years with Vanguard. 1. Current website/software. Difficult to navigate. Statements a mess, to understand. (old format, printed statements, crystal clear). 2. If you have. Non IRA, Non Roth, accounts. AND IRA & Roth accts. With, the "mandatory" Fed. Vanguard money settlement acct. YOU UNDERSTAND, what a mess this is. And you have your $ in Vanguard Prime MM, cause it pays a higher rate. 3. MM check account number do not match Statement acct. numbers...... Agree, And I have complained. Vanguard, is going "Down hill"

Agree. I'm not even sure if I can do it, but at some point, I may consider transferring my 401(k) to Fidelity.

[Alectoris]

I've used them from about 2005, so not an extremely long association.

I've been pretty happy with fees and my own performance.

The only stupid that I have seen with them was a recent 401K to IRA transfer. I was lucky enough to be "fired" and able to leave my high fee, low selection and in my opinion, low performing 401K and send it to my IRA at Vanguard. Due to stupid (my opinion) at the 401K plan, four checks (all different funds) were issued to Vanguard. From what I can tell
after investigation, Vanguard decided to accept three of the checks and declined to accept the fourth check. These were all mailed in the same package.

To their credit, Vanguard was extremely apologetic and the situation was resolved.

I put it to a huge corporation with so many moving parts. I will stay with them.

[Hopeful]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beowulf There is one feature I would really like VG to have - the ability to deposit checks electronically by taking a picture of them on your cell phone. Both credit unions I belong to have that and it really saves time and you get instant verification of receipt. Not sure if there is some law against companies like VG doing this, but it would be nice.

I have that option on the Vanguard app. It is under “mobile check”. I have a mutual fund account vs brokerage, but I wouldn’t think that would matter.

[Kwirk]

I haven't had any problems with Vanguard but it has been inconvenient that they don't do tax withholding for Virginia. Va. withholding would have greatly simplified completion of my state tax return last year. I'll be moving IRAs to an institution that will do this if I can find one.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne No problems logging in. The format changed a bit. Now we have a picture of our Flagship rep and his phone #. Seems easier to move around and get the info I want.

Wow! That's almost as good as a Christmas card! I don't have rep anymore. I have a whole team!

[statsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kwirk I haven't had any problems with Vanguard but it has been inconvenient that they don't do tax withholding for Virginia. Va. withholding would have greatly simplified completion of my state tax return last year. I'll be moving IRAs to an institution that will do this if I can find one.

Is it possible the restriction is coming from Virginia and out of Vanguard's control?

[frayne]

I've been a VG customer for twenty years plus. Recently moved a small IRA (<$100K) from VG to FIDO in nine business days. Did everything on line without dealing with any humans. I have no problems with VG or their site.

[Kwirk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by statsman Is it possible the restriction is coming from Virginia and out of Vanguard's control?

It looks like Schwab may do Va. withholding. (Maybe somebody can verify this?) Schwab PDF

I won't be surprised if Fidelity can also do Va. state withholding but I haven't checked yet.

Anyway, it appears that Vanguard is falling behind. I'm sorry to say that because I really appreciate that Vanguard led the way.

[lucky penny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwraigty Not a Vanguard fan, but this isn't unusual and it's got nothing to do with Vanguard specifically. My 1099's at Fidelity and Schwab are usually delayed until mid-Feb. as well. I don't consider this a deal breaker for having a brokerage account.

1099s for mutual fund investments have always arrived in mid-February. The schedule is on Vanguard's website.

Long-time VG user & I've never had any problems or noticed a decline. I handle most transactions through their website, which is very user-friendly. Whenever I called or sent an email with a question, their responses were prompt & helpful.

[JoeWras]

I haven't had any issues lately on VG, but I'm standing down on opening any new accounts. If I have to, it will probably be Fidelity. It is just part of keeping a balance between providers out there.

Fidelity changed their home landing page this week too. I get Fidelity's change. You have to click more to get more info. It should unload their servers.

Not sure what VG's change did for load. It just seems like a change for change's sake.

[iloveyoga]

Vanguard user here. I have not needed to log in, so I haven't. I always transfer my money electronically from my bank account. I do need to rebalance next week.....so will be logging in.

[donheff]

I haven't had any problems with VG. I was alarmed at the report that exchanges were dropped so I logged in to check. Exchanges are still available for mutual funds. I don't have ETFs so can speak to those.

[Go-NoGo]

No issues with Vanguard, quite happy with them.
In the interest of diversification I keep accounts with VG/Fido/Schwab

[Looking4Ward]

I've been with Vanguard for about 12 years. The only times I've had an issue with them was when I needed to do something that involved an employee. But I'm not a power user and have only initiated two or three requests over the years. And each time it was somehow bungled.

I'm not overly impressed with the website but it accomplishes the simple tasks I need to do.

Probably the biggest irritant to me was when they stopped offering free tax software to select client tiers. I honestly don't know what advantages there are to being "Flagship" these days.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff I haven't had any problems with VG. I was alarmed at the report that exchanges were dropped so I logged in to check. Exchanges are still available for mutual funds.

Yes, of course they are! My goodness. It's not THAT bad, yet. Or at least I hope it isn't. Sorry if I led you to believe that.

I didn't encounter any problems until I actually clicked on "exchange" and actually tried to DO one, and it wouldn't let me exchange to anything except a money market fund. The software was in place and looked the same as always, and I could specify which fund the money was to come from, but the problem was in clicking on what fund the money was to go to. Anything but exchanging to a money market fund just didn't DO anything. My mouse made the clickey sound but it was as though I had sat there doing nothing. Like I already said in my previous post, that was probably a result of one of three things:

(1) A temporary glitch in the software,
(2) Overload on 1/1/2020, when everyone and his brother was trying to rebalance just like me, or
(3) A "loose nut at the keyboard" (me!). Maybe I should have re-booted? Anyway, it all worked out by doing a two step process, but it was pretty unnerving for a while.

I am sure that if this had been a permanent dismanteling of the "exchange" procedure, instead of a temporary issue for me, complete chaos would have ensued over at the Bogleheads forum. I need to make it absolutely clear that nothing like that has occurred AFAIK. Nevertheless, I still didn't like that it happened even once. It never happened even once during my decades of investing with Vanguard, until I was pushed to switch to the brokerage side.

I forgot to mention that I don't like having to have that treasury money market settlement fund either, like some other people mentioned above. I'd rather just have one money market fund, Vanguard Prime MM, since it has much higher interest rates. Still, I'm about 98% happy with Vanguard and I do not plan to change.

[easysurfer]

I haven't had any issues with VG with their website's functionality or their customer service the times I've called.

I don't log in too often. Mainly to just check balances every quarter and rebalance every year.

I'm not too crazy about their push to try and switch everything over to brokerage accounts. I've just been ignoring, as happy to stay with funds only .

The way I see VG, since it is owned by the clients, the business model is sort of like a credit union. Some like that and some don't.

[RunningBum]

I had some issues last week. I wanted to move part of my VTIAX to domestic index funds. At one point there is a popup for something in the exchange and the box was blank. I couldn't get beyond it. Somehow related to this it kept asking me which shares I wanted to sell, even though I had already done so. I had to X out of that browser window, and switched to another browser where the exchange went fine. Sometimes I hit issues like this because I have Ad Blocker Plus and Ghostery on FireFox, but I'm sure I've done VG transactions on this browser before.