Better customer service: Vanguard or Fidelity?

[Brat]

I suppose there are all kinds of Roths but I have opened, even initiated, Roth accounts at Fidelity. Some investment firms won't accept particular types of assets in IRAs, real estate comes to mind.

 

[greydog17]

Nothing but good experience here with Fidelity, website, phone and in person.

 

[mickeyd]

I have heard about folks that are unhappy with VG service, but I have never had any CS issue with VG in the 15 years of investing there. I have had a brokerage account @ Fido in the past and they also gave excellent service. Flip a coin.

 

[Singletrack]

I have worked with Fidelity for a long time. I’ve been very impressed with their web resources, telephone support, credit card fraud prevention, and employees at their local retail store front.

 

[sakowitzm]

I'll add to the (something like) 70% that favor Fidelity. Professional, knowledgeable folks that answer the phone calls, excellent website with good research capabilities.

Any my own personal anecdote. Years ago, when I left a job and transferred a 401(k) balance to a Fidelity IRA, the brokerage house I left charged a $50 fee for the move. I complained to Fidelity, and they credited me back the $50. Voluntarily. I was just calling to ask about it. They voluntarily said they would made it good. Customer for life (which so far is 40 years with Fidelity.)

 

[eytonxav]

I have both, but Fidelity is far and above Vanguard with respect to customer service.

 

[PatrickA5]

DW and I went to the local Fidelity branch to open up a cash management account and test the Fidelity waters. We couldn't have been more pleased with the 1 1/2 hours the advisor spent with us.

We were looking into Fidelity because we thought it might be better, once I'm gone, if DW (and ultimately kids) had a local office to talk to someone in person. Right now, all of our retirement accounts are at VG. Over the years, I've had both good and bad experiences with VG customer service. I thought we might give Fidelity a try and see how it goes. The "test" will be if the Fidelity advisor tries to "sell" us some high cost investments - after I told him we weren't interested in anything but low cost index funds. We'll see.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Fidelity
Another + for Fidelity
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...and-billpay-going-away-97990.html#post2242234

 

[beeboy]

I see many of you recommending the two big vanguard funds quite often - Wellington and Wellesley. What are the funds most like these at Fidelity and are there ETFs at Fidelity that track similar w/out fees or a lock-up period?

 

[MRG]

DW and I went to the local Fidelity branch to open up a cash management account and test the Fidelity waters. We couldn't have been more pleased with the 1 1/2 hours the advisor spent with us.

We were looking into Fidelity because we thought it might be better, once I'm gone, if DW (and ultimately kids) had a local office to talk to someone in person. Right now, all of our retirement accounts are at VG. Over the years, I've had both good and bad experiences with VG customer service. I thought we might give Fidelity a try and see how it goes. The "test" will be if the Fidelity advisor tries to "sell" us some high cost investments - after I told him we weren't interested in anything but low cost index funds. We'll see.

My last Private Client representative was a dirty rotten, high pressure annuity salesman. I fired him to be replaced with the 800 number.

I'd had a long term relationship with my previous rep so it just depends.

 

[esposla]

I have moved funds to fidelity . Approx $300k. They offered to meet with me . We spent an hour (my decision, it could have been longer).my husband also has $500k with them in work 401. I made another appt with her,at her suggestion. I guess I find it odd they meet for free. Is it typical? How often would I need to see her? I’m 61yo.
(I met with financial advisor “guru” office that wanted 1.75% of assets annually fee. Wouldn’t pay that)

 

[gayl]

Much of your experience will be colored by the rep to whom you happen to be assigned. I've had excellent reps and poor ones. If you are disappointed ask for a new rep.

I've had 2 reps at Schwab over my 30+ yrs with them that I didn't like and a nightmare at FIDO that necessitated meeting with the branch mgr. But OP your portfolio is so simple the question really should be whether you want to be able to walk in or not. There aren't physical Vanguard offices everywhere.

 

[PatrickA5]

My last Private Client representative was a dirty rotten, high pressure annuity salesman. I fired him to be replaced with the 800 number.

I'd had a long term relationship with my previous rep so it just depends.

We'll see.

I won't be moving my retirement over for awhile just to see how this plays out. I've left some detailed instructions with DW on what to avoid once I'm gone, but you never know what someone (including me) can be talked into.

 

[Dawg52]

I've never used Vanguard so can't make a true comparison. But I can say I have been satisfied with Fidelity throughout the years.

 

[Scuba]

I see many of you recommending the two big vanguard funds quite often - Wellington and Wellesley. What are the funds most like these at Fidelity and are there ETFs at Fidelity that track similar w/out fees or a lock-up period?

You can still invest in these funds through a Fidelity account if you like. That way you get the exact funds you want with the benefits of Fido customer service.

I’m a long-term Fidelity customer. Have tried Vanguard and their business model is different. Still hold many VG ETF’s but prefer dealing with Fido for their service. Never tried Schwab but did have a TD Ameritrade account for a few years. Hated their website, so happy to go back to Fido.

 

[molly312]

Have both FIDO and Schwab. Had Vanguard in the past.

Problem with FIDO is "Medallion signatures". Medallion signature greatly limits your flexibility if you don't live in a major town. For that reason.....we have moved some assets to Schwab in the past 2 years and have been quite pleased.

 

[gwraigty]

Have both FIDO and Schwab. Had Vanguard in the past.

Problem with FIDO is "Medallion signatures". Medallion signature greatly limits your flexibility if you don't live in a major town. For that reason.....we have moved some assets to Schwab in the past 2 years and have been quite pleased.

IIRC, I needed Medallion signatures to transfer assets to both Fidelity and Schwab. I seem to recall standing in the Fidelity office getting them. This was about 11 years ago.

 

[molly312]

Yes............Fidelity office will do a Medallion signature. However, our closest FIDO office is 120 miles away. There is NO bank in our town that will give a medallion sig. unless you deposit $200,000 first. This was also a big problem when my sister and I - many states apart were working on my mother's accts. You would be surprised at how difficult it is to get a Medallion signature.

 

[braumeister]

You would be surprised at how difficult it is to get a Medallion signature.

Maybe it's a geographical thing?
I was surprised at how easy it was about five years ago. My local credit union gave me a Medallion and I only had a few hundred bucks in the account.

 

[stephenson]

While I have not tried this, I suspect if you simply say, "there is no way I have access to Medallion process," Fidelity would come up with another process.

I have always found Fidelity to be highly motivated and creative.

 

[stephenson]

Yep - thought so ... here’s response from my Fidelity rep (as usual, less than 5 minutes via email) when I asked him (via email) how to deal with medallion issue ...

“The process to obtain a signature guarantee is similar to a notary so the person needs to provide a state issued ID, passport, etc. One solution is to scanning the state ID/passport and signing on a video call.

The bottom line is we find a solution.”

 

[troutnut1]

We had high hopes for Vanguard but they made everything such a struggle. And the computer systems were very primitive (at least 5 years ago they were). They kept saying how sorry they were, and they were nice about it, but it just wasn’t a good for for us. After a few months of that nonsense we just gave up and transferred it all to Fidelity. We have been really happy there. I like some of the Vanguard products, but not enough to put up with all the bull.

 

[msanniee]

Fidelity

When I decided to pay for service credit with Roth IRA money, the Vanguard CS treated me as if I didn’t have a clue. Gave me a pause. Plus Vanguard doesn’t offer the same services that a bank would.

I’m with Fidelity now. Actually Fidelity works better for me as I really didn’t need a brick and mortar bank. I have found CS to be outstanding and prefer to do all of my investing and banking at the same company.

 

[steffano]

I stayed with Fidelity (since 1981) because of their superior service. The website is phenomenal and tools within it are very helpful. Where they improved lately is in reducing costs and actually competing with Vanguard. Also my large corporate employer used Fidelity and all this showed up on my statement-including complex non qualified accounts and a Charitable gift trust.

Vanguard is fine but does not rival Fidelity for what I need.

 

[Doc0]

I think FIDO has a much better web interface than Vanguard which I think is rather clunky. I also have ETRADE and of the 3 FIDO wins. Vanguard is good for admiral class shares. Come tax time FIDO wins again because the account statements are easy to read and easy to plug data into my HR Block tax software. I Roth converted in both Vanguard and Fido and they allow asset transfer from IRA to Roth without selling the asset, just generating the tax bill for the conversion. Were it me FIDO wins easily