Fidelity’s poor customer phone service

[braumeister]

I called Fidelity Customer Service a couple of weeks ago to make my annual Roth Conversion withholding transaction. They do not allow this type of trade based on dollars online, only share trades.

Not in my experience. I've always done that online.

 

[CRLLS]

Not in my experience. I've always done that online.

I can do some of it online, and I do, for the actual converted number of shares (in kind?) from the IRA to the Roth. For some reason, I can only select the number of shares to sell, not specific dollar amounts. I am converting/selling mutual funds that get valued at the end of the day. I don't know if that is the difference or not. Maybe I just don't know the secret drop-down menu to use specified dollar amounts.

 

[Time2]

My last call to Vanguard had a long wait, I just surfed the net while waiting.
I did complain about it in the survey they sent.

 

[braumeister]

Oh, I see what you mean. I simply sell the desired dollar amount of a fund and then convert the cash, so a two step process.

 

[OldShooter]

OS, Do you have the Schwab voice ID service? ... I have found that using voice ID is so much better when I have to call Schwab.

Yup. My experience is that it is just one more step of screwing around. Peck in account number, peck in zip or 4 digits from SSN, do the voice dance, wait on hold, answer at least a couple more id questions from the rep. This is all especially infuriating when I am calling with some kind of admin question (which most of them are) that does not require that the rep access my accounts all.

As I said, overall I am happy with the responsiveness/little time spent on hold, but their elaborate idenification games are huge time-wasters on administrative type calls.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Yup. My experience is that it is just one more step of screwing around. Peck in account number, peck in zip or 4 digits from SSN, do the voice dance, wait on hold, answer at least a couple more id questions from the rep. This is all especially infuriating when I am calling with some kind of admin question (which most of them are) that does not require that the rep access my accounts all.

As I said, overall I am happy with the responsiveness/little time spent on hold, but their elaborate idenification games are huge time-wasters on administrative type calls.

Edna mode:

(I use this clip sometimes in an intro course discussing biometric authentication)

 

[Texas Proud]

I was on hold for a bit but did get one of those 'we will call you back'...


Got a call back from a very good person who knew a LOT about investing...


We discussed a few things and I said some of what I knew I got on a forum... he asked the name and said he was going to do some reading!!!


I guess I should get paid for moving traffic here!!

 

[easysurfer]

I have had LONG hold times at both FIDO and VG.

I don't have an account with FIDO.

But haven't called VG in years as when possible, I do everything online. Haven't had the need to reach a human voice .

 

[jazz4cash]

I've never had 30 minute hold times with Fidelity. And their phone reps are as knowledgeable as any I've ever experienced.

I would imagine they get really busy certain days and certain times of the year.

Same here but I do seem to recall an instance when they “were experiencing very high call volume” so they gave me an option to get a callback when my spot in the queue came up. I missed the callback and when I finally got a live rep I complained about getting bounced to the back of the line because I didn’t answer quickly enough. I think telling callers an estimated wait time and/or offering a callback service is a bare minimum for good service. I don’t mind waiting 5 minutes but the worst part is having no clue how long before someone picks up. Fido is also frustrating to me sometimes when they have different a different group to handle workplace savings so after they finally pickup you get transferred. Their pretty good about doing a live handoff vs do upping you into a different queue. I guess it takes extra patience now days with everyone working from home. I called in to modify my auto policy and the insurance company greeting explained that agents were working from home so you may hear a child or pet in the background!

 

[pn3069]

I have had LONG hold times at both FIDO and VG.

The month of December tends to have long waits no matter which brokerage.

I also had to wait long time at Fido and VG and Merrill as well.

 

[Bruno]

Yeah. I am in some kind of heavy hitter category at Schwab and the number I have been given does not appear on their web page list of customer support. I rarely have to wait very long; .

Better yet maybe you could post the number here...

 

[MRG]

The month of December tends to have long waits no matter which brokerage.

I also had to wait long time at Fido and VG and Merrill as well.

Wait till April.

 

[steelyman]

I just submitted my 2020 withdrawal requests for Fidelity and Vanguard. For Fidelity there was a wait for the call to be transferred to the appropriate dept (the account is a Roth 403(b) which is handled by a specific group handling my former employer). Once I got through it was simple. In total, the call to Fidelity was 22 minutes. Since I only do this once a year in late December, it doesn’t seem like a hassle.

The Vanguard withdrawal was done entirely through their mobile app, so zip zip it’s done.

 

[nwsteve]

Raised this issue with our Fido rep yesterday during our annual chat. He, of course, apologized and shared they have been really under the gun all Q4. They have already hired over 4000 new reps and aggressively looking for 2k more. He said biggest issue is finding qualified people and getting them trained to Fido standards.
I had over a 30 min wait last week but when I did get someone he knew exactly what to do and offered a couple of options.

 

[VanWinkle]

Has anyone been on hold for over 30 minutes for Fidelity in the last year? Before the plague, this happened to me when I called their 800-number. Yesterday, my nephew said he was on hold for 30 minutes, then transferred, where he was again on hold for 30 minutes. I spoke to Vanguard last week and had no wait. My IRA accounts are in Fidelity, the others in Vanguard, but if this continues they’re all going to Vanguard.

I also have accounts at both locations. I have used the call back option at Fidelity and it works great. I do not call Vanguard often, but would like to see the call back option there as well. I don't waste my time waiting on the phone if I don't have to.

 

[CoolRich59]

Yesterday, I needed to call Fido, Vanguard, and Chase.

I tried Vanguard, twice, and gave up after being on hold for a while (although it wasn't 30 mins).

Then I tried Chase and ended up abandoning that call as well.

At that point, I didn't bother trying Fidelity.

None of the three matters needs to be done before year end, so I'm just going to wait till January.

 

[MRG]

I received an email from Fidelity today asking me to call them. I was transferred from the 401k group(I don't have a 401k) to the retail group who had zero idea what Fidelity wanted to talk with me about my accounts.

After a while I was transferred back to the 401k group. They were responding to a question I had in September 2020. I remember the request it was confirming they had 10k for me as a result of a lawsuit against Megacorp. They didn't know Megacorp had filed to prevent them from distributing these funds. Oh well I guess I know where it's at.

 

[carnivalday]

I transferred a roth brokerage account to Fidelity last week, and did it all online. I had a few questions, and I always use chat, so I got on chat (it was mid afternoon) and I was 149 in the queu (sp??). So I opted to log off and try again later on that evening. I got on chat around 6 pm and I was 3 in the queu. So it appears the time of day makes a big difference. Also, one of the chats the rep told me that this is the busiest month they have ever EVER had, so wait times could be longer. I dont mind waiting while in the chat queu as I can do other things while I wait. I also like chatting over a phone conversation, as I can save it for future reference.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Happening to me right now with Fidelity. 15 minutes to speak with someone who turned out to be a mutual fund specialist & couldn't help me. I'm now at 20 minutes waiting for someone who can. I realize call volume is higher in late December, but it seems to me wait times have been gradually going up ever since they went commission free.

 

[Ready]

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.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

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

<rant>
This is a pet peeve of mine. Trying to contact lots of companies anymore (e.g., Vanguard, Amazon, credit card companies), you get the message about extended wait times, yada yada yada.

Come on, we're almost 12 months into the pandemic and that excuse is getting old. Figure it out already. So you got workers that are working from home, are they goofing off or what?

I have a theory that companies are losing too much money, so they are skimping on things like customer support.
</rant>

[edit] Well, the losing money theory wouldn't apply to Amazon.

 

[audreyh1]

I had to wait a long time. Unfortunately their UI simplification meant I could no longer do certain transfers online. Very annoying. So I had to call in to get it done, and wait a long time. I wish they had call back.

The rep told me that they’ve got way more people on the phone than they ever had, but with the offices mostly closed the call volume is massive. Not a good time to decrease online functionality.

This too shall pass.

 

[MRG]

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 called for help with a rollover that I couldn't do. Calling Netbenifts was easy and they changed my address but couldn't help with a rollover. She transferred me and after 30ish minutes I was interrupted and had to end the call. When I called back I was on hold for 20, and figured out how to do it myself. I still had questions but I'll deal with them later.

A that said it is to be expected. The industry has a seasonal peak in their work via all customer channels, running from the first of the year to after tax deadline. Systems that work all year go absolutely sideways during peak season[emoji2961]. Add in the complexities of managing a remote workforce and training for any regulatory changes it's gotta be a nut house at all these organizations.

 

[davebarnes]

I have been satisfied with my Fidelity phone interactions recently.

 

[Dtail]

I have been satisfied with my Fidelity phone interactions recently.

Same here.