Vanguard is going downhill

[Hopeful]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[W2R]

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.

In the past few minutes I just transferred $30K from my settlement fund to Vanguard Prime Money Market. The first time I tried to do it, it told me I had to do this via "Buy" rather than "Exchange". So I went to "Buy". Then it just froze at the last step, after I told it where to get the money from. So, I refreshed the page and then was able to do it just fine and all is well now.

I never had any problems making transactions before switching over to brokerage accounts, even though I was using the same browser and computer as always; also I don't have any ad blocker in place right now so it's not that. Grrr. I don't like refreshing (and the associated uncertainty about what happened) when I am dealing with that much money.

 

[street]

I know there is a lot of love here for that group but I have also heard very negative things about them from people I know that do business with them.

I was considering do some business with them but have changed my mind a while back from the things I have heard.

Not acceptable in my books.

 

[RunningBum]

Grrr. I don't like refreshing (and the associated uncertainty about what happened) when I am dealing with that much money.

Exactly. I had to wonder if I made the transaction or not, which is never a good thing.

 

[teejayevans]

For whatever reason, the VG app seems more reliable than the website, some functions take you to the website from within the app, as long as I avoid those I’ve had good luck.

 

[easysurfer]

For whatever reason, the VG app seems more reliable than the website, some functions take you to the website from within the app, as long as I avoid those I’ve had good luck.

Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Seems apps are the trend these days.

Who wants to view financial information on a large computer screen when you have the privilege to swipe back and forth on a smartphone, hunched and squinting along the way?

 

[steelyman]

Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Seems apps are the trend these days.

I think you’re right about that trend. Apps and “cloud”-based services are slowly becoming dominant.

 

[always_learning]

In the past few minutes I just transferred $30K from my settlement fund to Vanguard Prime Money Market. The first time I tried to do it, it told me I had to do this via "Buy" rather than "Exchange". So I went to "Buy". Then it just froze at the last step, after I told it where to get the money from. So, I refreshed the page and then was able to do it just fine and all is well now.

I never had any problems making transactions before switching over to brokerage accounts, even though I was using the same browser and computer as always; also I don't have any ad blocker in place right now so it's not that. Grrr. I don't like refreshing (and the associated uncertainty about what happened) when I am dealing with that much money.

Almost the exact same thing happened to me last week, but on a smaller $ scale. I wasn't able to exchange from the settlement fund and had to maneuver around to enact a 'buy' instead and then a screen freeze.

I hate their new design. It's not pleasant to look at nor is it intuitive. I have to click around to get the account view I'm used to. I might get used to it, but I don't know. T Rowe Price changed something recently, too, and I had to click around to find something even similar to what I used to. Blech.

I think VG has severe growing pains as I've noticed a decline in the quality of information when I call. I think they have a high turnover for some reason and only get 'new grads' or something. Either that, or they pay less than their competition and people 'cut their teeth' at VG and move on to better paying companies. Either way, I'm not impressed.


Editing to add that my issues with VG last week had nothing to do with my browser, ad block, or anything. Nothing had changed on my end since my last transaction with them. It must be them.

 

[Retire52]

My experience with VG has been nothing but positive over the last 14 years I have been with them. I primarily use the VG App on my phone for checking on the account; Use the website for transactions, and occasionally call the service rep for more complex issues. At the end of last year, I got great assistance from a service rep to nail down cost basis for tax purposes. I am very satisfied with their low costs, various platforms I interact with, and their friendly customer service.

Full disclosure, I am a part owner [emoji846]

 

[mountainsoft]

I hate their new design. It's not pleasant to look at nor is it intuitive.

Agreed. The old layout was far from perfect but at least I could see my balances and whatnot fairly easily. The new layout uses really tiny text and is difficult to read. The total balance is almost hidden in the screen of tiny text.

The web site also tends to be slow to update. It took almost two days for the web site to update my balances after the 1200+ point drop the other day. As others mentioned, the Android app updated much sooner.

Except for the awkward web site, I have had no issues with Vanguard.

 

[pb4uski]

One good thing about the new layout is that my Relationship Manager is attractive and is on the front page.