ChicagoGal
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2014
- Messages
- 159
I'm so frustrated with Vanguard these days. Might be the end of the road for me.
I opened my Vanguard accounts (brokerage and IRA) 10+ years ago. Transfer of assets into Vanguard was super easy. And I let them sit there relatively untouched ever since. All good.
Fast forward to this year. I retired in April. Had a number of things to consolidate. Decided to open a Fidelity IRA and transferred the Vanguard account in along with my 401(k). But left the brokerage at Vanguard.
I was in the process of refinancing my mortgage, which became a challenge after retirement (my fault - should have completed the darned thing before leaving work). My mortgage broker asked me for a letter from Vanguard related to my assets there. In July, I reached out via the online messaging. Got a response back in August that I would have to call. So I called. Got disconnected. Called again, and spoke to a very nice representative. He wasn't sure if they could do as I requested, but would get back to me. I received an email back stating that I would have to call to request a custom letter. Which is what I had done already, both in writing and on the call. I would have preferred they just say they can't do it, if that were the case. Sigh.
Thankfully, my mortgage broker is awesome. Yesterday, she said they came up with another route, and I just needed my last two statements (July and August) from Vanguard. I went online and for some reason, there is no July statement. Every other month is there, but no July. So I called again. Got through the self-identifying rigamarole. Auto-transferred me to the "right department". I hear a message saying I had reached the mailbox of (some representative) who could not answer, and the mailbox was full. Disconnected me.
I don't know if any other company is better. I'm generally pretty self-sufficient so rarely need personal help. But I think at this point, I'll probably move my brokerage account to Fidelity as well. At least with them I can go to a local branch and look someone in the eye, if need be.
I opened my Vanguard accounts (brokerage and IRA) 10+ years ago. Transfer of assets into Vanguard was super easy. And I let them sit there relatively untouched ever since. All good.
Fast forward to this year. I retired in April. Had a number of things to consolidate. Decided to open a Fidelity IRA and transferred the Vanguard account in along with my 401(k). But left the brokerage at Vanguard.
I was in the process of refinancing my mortgage, which became a challenge after retirement (my fault - should have completed the darned thing before leaving work). My mortgage broker asked me for a letter from Vanguard related to my assets there. In July, I reached out via the online messaging. Got a response back in August that I would have to call. So I called. Got disconnected. Called again, and spoke to a very nice representative. He wasn't sure if they could do as I requested, but would get back to me. I received an email back stating that I would have to call to request a custom letter. Which is what I had done already, both in writing and on the call. I would have preferred they just say they can't do it, if that were the case. Sigh.
Thankfully, my mortgage broker is awesome. Yesterday, she said they came up with another route, and I just needed my last two statements (July and August) from Vanguard. I went online and for some reason, there is no July statement. Every other month is there, but no July. So I called again. Got through the self-identifying rigamarole. Auto-transferred me to the "right department". I hear a message saying I had reached the mailbox of (some representative) who could not answer, and the mailbox was full. Disconnected me.
I don't know if any other company is better. I'm generally pretty self-sufficient so rarely need personal help. But I think at this point, I'll probably move my brokerage account to Fidelity as well. At least with them I can go to a local branch and look someone in the eye, if need be.