Fidelity’s poor customer phone service

[Dawg52]

I'm low maintenance so rarely ever call. The last time I needed to talk to someone I sent a message to my pc rep telling him what I was interested in and for him to call me back. He called later in the day which was fine as it was not a pressing issue. But if someone did have a pressing need I can understand the frustration. Hopefully my method continues to work.

 

[Ready]

I also tried sending them a “secure email” on Monday and they still have not acknowledged receipt as of today (Friday). I gave up waiting on hold last night after one hour.

 

[splitwdw]

I'm low maintenance so rarely ever call. The last time I needed to talk to someone I sent a message to my pc rep telling him what I was interested in and for him to call me back. He called later in the day which was fine as it was not a pressing issue. But if someone did have a pressing need I can understand the frustration. Hopefully my method continues to work.

+1 I rarely call. When I do have questions I put them in an email and either ask them to call back or email the answer. I figure this gives them time to find answers. I don't think I've ever had a pressing problem that I've had to wait on the phone. Sorry for those of you that had wait times. I hate to be put on hold.

 

[MRG]

I have been satisfied with my Fidelity phone interactions recently.

I think it depends what area you are calling. Yesterday, when I called, Netbenifts and Private Client had short hold times, but both calls resulted in a transfer to the common rollover IRA group and they were very backed up.

 

[braumeister]

Two phone calls and one secure message exchange last year, and both were quick, pleasant, and efficient. I have never had a problem with Fidelity's customer service.

 

[VanWinkle]

Wait times for Fidelity are not getting any better for me. I’ve been on hold for 45 minutes with their IRA department and still have not gotten through. Last week I waited at least 30 minutes each time I called, and I got disconnected in the middle of my call several times and none of the reps had the courtesy to call me back. In total I spent more than 3 hours trying to get through to someone who could help me.

Maybe it’s related to COVID but they need to figure something out. This is just awful.

I use the call back feature and have found it to be very reliable. I also hate to wait on the phone.

 

[audreyh1]

I think it depends what area you are calling. Yesterday, when I called, Netbenifts and Private Client had short hold times, but both calls resulted in a transfer to the common rollover IRA group and they were very backed up.

I called the Private Client number recently and still had a long wait.

I wasn’t given a callback option as I would gladly have used it.

 

[nwsteve]

I called Active Trader line yesterday to do an in kind RMD transfer. 30 min wait time, with transaction taking another 5 min. Rep was a pro and knew exactly how to complete. He also shared that Fido has had a full court press on hiring the last two years. Finding qualified talent has been a big hurdle.
In order to get proper cost basis on transferred shares, I also sent a email to our private client rep and got answer back by end of their day.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I think that the Gamestop issue has rippled through the industry...especially with respect to the CSR experience. Lots of new accounts being opened, people moving from broker to broker, etc. I had to call TDA yesterday for a fairly simple issue that I couldn't resolve online and was on hold for over an hour before I could talk to someone.

 

[JoeWras]

I think that the Gamestop issue has rippled through the industry...especially with respect to the CSR experience. Lots of new accounts being opened, people moving from broker to broker, etc. I had to call TDA yesterday for a fairly simple issue that I couldn't resolve online and was on hold for over an hour before I could talk to someone.

This is a good point. And I think it is bigger than GME.

Anyone remember late 90s when people were signing up for E*Trade accounts, for example? A whole new generation was getting into retail stocks.

I get a feeling that due to all the stock talk, more people are getting involved and opening accounts. Add the churn from GME/Reddit and typical new-year volume, I can see how this may have happened.

This is some sort of market signal, I think, but I don't know where it will lead.

 

[Markola]

I don’t doubt the OP’s experiences lately but, just an observation that we seem to have a balance of periodic posts here about customer service experiences at either Fidelity or Vanguard. I’ve been with both over my 30 years of investing and have always had great, timely, expert and friendly customer service at both. Same with Schwab.

 

[jschner]

Fidelity never seemed to be slow when they send me trade violation emails. lol I have actually had good response times in the past, I have not called them for over a year so not sure how they are today.

Interestingly, Fidelity called me this year. They let me know I have a financial advisor I can use when needed. I asked why call me now after 30 years, they said I hit 55 and my account was larger than $250k. I asked how much the advisor was and they said free. Hmm? So I have her team running some retirement plans for my situation right now and another appointment this Friday. We will see if this is a sales job to let them manage my portfolio for some type of fee or not.

 

[ERObjd]

I have only been with Vanguard for a very short while as I got fed up when USAA sold their mutual funds to Victory capital. Victory was a nightmare with high ER and poor customer service.

When I switched to Vanguard their phone lines were busy but their auto voice said they would call me back in 30 minutes and they did. I had to call them about 2 times since and they always called me back in about 30 minutes. Maybe just luck of the draw since there are complaints about long wait times for Vanguard as well .So far my experiance with Vanguard customer service has been good.