Vanguard - last straw?

[ownyourfuture]

Don't be lazy. It only takes 180 seconds to update your personal info on the Vanguard website.

That sounds great, except for the fact that to do that, I'd need to be logged in.
I couldn't login because they only had my old cell phone number as a contact.
(couldn't text me a login code)

Yes, it was an oversight on my part not to update at Vanguard as soon as I changed my cell phone #, but the thread title isn't "make sure to update your contact information ASAP" the thread has more to do with poor service @ Vanguard, which includes long wait times.

That's all I mentioned in my comment.

FYI: I didn't purchase the Logitech Bluetooth headset to use exclusively when I'm trying to contact Vanguard. I had been considering purchasing one months before. I bought them to use any time I make a call that might = a substantial amount of time.

 

[purplesky]

That sounds great, except for the fact that to do that, I'd need to be logged in.
I couldn't login because they only had my old cell phone number as a contact.
(couldn't text me a login code)

Yes, it was an oversight on my part not to update at Vanguard as soon as I changed my cell phone #, but the thread title isn't "make sure to update your contact information ASAP" the thread has more to do with poor service @ Vanguard, which includes long wait times.

That's all I mentioned in my comment.

FYI: I didn't purchase the Logitech Bluetooth headset to use exclusively when I'm trying to contact Vanguard. I had been considering purchasing one months before. I bought them to use any time I make a call that might = a substantial amount of time.

If Vanguard does not recognize a phone number it will slow down customer service.
With your cell phone number now updated the Vanguard verification system will verify and process your account info quickly.

So moving forward you should get quicker phone service from Vanguard.

 

[Koolau]

I think most brokerage companies charge a nominal fee when an account is closed and the assets moved to another house. Maybe that is what @retired1 is referring to.

From a quick search it looks like Fast Eddie charges $95. I could not find what Schwab charges but I'd be surprised if it is zero.

Okay, if you change houses, maybe. Heh, heh, nothing about Fast Eddie would surprise me. Vanguard? Never had it happen WITHIN or TO vanguard. YMMV

 

[target2019]

If Vanguard does not recognize a phone number it will slow down customer service.
With your cell phone number now updated the Vanguard verification system will verify and process your account info quickly.

So moving forward you should get quicker phone service from Vanguard.

It probably takes less than an hour to transfer all holdings to Schwab or Fidelity. We still use Vanguard, but do more business at Schwab.

If you have an on-going CS problem with a company, you can easily move elsewhere.

 

[MRG]

I think most brokerage companies charge a nominal fee when an account is closed and the assets moved to another house. Maybe that is what @retired1 is referring to.

From a quick search it looks like Fast Eddie charges $95. I could not find what Schwab charges but I'd be surprised if it is zero.

Fast Eddie has been known to charge when he passes gas.

I looked briefly at a few other advisor pushed fund companies and didn't find anything about account closure fees. TBH I only spent a few minutes looking.

 

[yakers]

Wells Fargo charges $100 to close a brokerage account, I don't like it but had many PMA features (free trades, safe deposit box and more) that it is worth it. And if I ever move an account to another broker they may pick up the cost.

 

[sengsational]

Is the Vanguard site working for everyone else? Yesterday and today, it's showing "technical difficulties" after I click the login button. For a few months, when I logged on it said "technical difficulties", but I still could type a URL and it took me to a page that required authentication. That no longer works.

ETA: I had some voicemail messages where they were trying to give me one time pass codes. So the web site said technical difficulties, but really wanted me to complete the out of band authentication.

ETA2: I had the referrer function of my browser turned off...that was the problem. I'd like it if referrer could be on for same domain referers and off for the rest, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

 

[Rianne]

Is the Vanguard site working for everyone else? Yesterday and today, it's showing "technical difficulties" after I click the login button. For a few months, when I logged on it said "technical difficulties", but I still could type a URL and it took me to a page that required authentication. That no longer works.

VG website worked fine for me yesterday evening.

 

[VanWinkle]

It is working fine for me this morning, must be on your end-browser extension problem maybe?

 

[sengsational]

It is working fine for me this morning, must be on your end-browser extension problem maybe?

Yes, seem my edits, above. My attempts to reduce snooping by bad actors often snags the good guys.

 

[RunningBum]

Working fine for me. Monday evening I had problems but it worked later in the evening. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=379187 covered it.

 

[mathjak107]

How many Vanguard account owners wait 2 hours for a customer service Rep to answer their call? I would guess close to zero.

I left the phone on speaker and finally hung up an hour and a half later after calling back and being transferred to the same number no one answered .

For laughs I wanted to see how long it would take to answer as the recording said please hold for the next available representative .

I pulled my money out as they were terrible in service and policy

 

[Retch The Grate]

Yes, seem my edits, above. My attempts to reduce snooping by bad actors often snags the good guys.

Yeah, I run into this problem with badly written financially websites distressingly frequently. I have to use my old machine to log into Shareworks because just the default settings on the M1 version of Safari apprently cause it to fail, never mind no-script and ublock origin. Oy.

 

[purplesky]

I left the phone on speaker and finally hung up an hour and a half later after calling back and being transferred to the same number no one answered .

For laughs I wanted to see how long it would take to answer as the recording said please hold for the next available representative .

I pulled my money out as they were terrible in service and policy

Cool story.

Vanguard will survive without you. lol

 

[RetMD21]

I make appointments with my Flagship representative, and he always calls on time or a couple of minutes earlier. I guess experiences vary.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I make appointments with my Flagship representative, and he always calls on time or a couple of minutes earlier. I guess experiences vary.

ALL flagship clients used to have an assigned rep. That's not the case anymore.

To still have an assigned rep, you have to have significant assets with Vanguard (more than the garden variety flagship customer).

I'll leave it at that.

 

[Koolau]

ALL flagship clients used to have an assigned rep. That's not the case anymore.

To still have an assigned rep, you have to have significant assets with Vanguard (more than the garden variety flagship customer).

I'll leave it at that.

Kinda sounds reasonable. Good customers get more perks than those with smaller accounts. YMMV

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Kinda sounds reasonable. Good customers get more perks than those with smaller accounts. YMMV

Yea, there was a time having over $1M at Vanguard was considered being a good customer.

 

[travelover]

Yea, there was a time having over $1M at Vanguard was considered being a good customer.

There was a time when a million was a lot of money. At Vanguard you are just one of 183,000.

As of June 30, Vanguard reported about 55,900 401(k) millionaires, up 37% from 40,700 at the end of 2018. There were 126,800 IRA millionaires in the second quarter.

 

[purplesky]

Yea, there was a time having over $1M at Vanguard was considered being a good customer.

The Vanguard low cost business model has definitely become a tricky one.

As a Vanguard shareholder with millions now invested at Vanguard in 2022. I would rather have the disgruntled Boomers move to Fidelity or Schwab if they are still expecting old school phone service.

The amount of new money flowing into Vanguard funds is mind blowing.
So common sense and patience is required to be a shareholder at Vanguard.

As both a Vanguard shareholder and investor I am good.

If you leave Vanguard you are basically firing yourself.

 

[Koolau]

Yea, there was a time having over $1M at Vanguard was considered being a good customer.

Sorry, are you indicating that $1M is no longer a good customer at Vanguard? Of course, I didn't know $1M was ever a "good customer." The subject never came up.

Slightly different topic, but I recall a few years back when Vanguard methodically went through all my funds and upgraded them to Admiral status - without me asking (or, frankly, being aware that Admiral status had been made available.) I thought that was good service. YMMV

 

[mathjak107]

The Vanguard low cost business model has definitely become a tricky one.

As a Vanguard shareholder with millions now invested at Vanguard in 2022. I would rather have the disgruntled Boomers move to Fidelity or Schwab if they are still expecting old school phone service.

The amount of new money flowing into Vanguard funds is mind blowing.
So common sense and patience is required to be a shareholder at Vanguard.

As both a Vanguard shareholder and investor I am good.

If you leave Vanguard you are basically firing yourself.

No problem , with service and company policy’s like they have I deserve to be fired

 

[Koolau]

No problem , with service and company policy’s like they have I deserve to be fired

Do you mean fired or FIRE'd?:cool smiley:

I don't do a lot of communication with Vanguard, but I just have not seen real issues. I hate ever using a robot to get started, but everyone is doing that now. Maybe I'll join the "hate Vanguard" next time I call, but so far, I'm not there. YMMV

 

[VanWinkle]

I'm tired of reading these "I hate Vanguard service" threads. They are like Walmart, someone always hates the big winners. I have accounts at Vanguard and at Fidelity. I see no difference in the service, but I don't see anyone bashing Fidelity on an almost weekly basis.

VW

 

[Koolau]

I'm tired of reading these "I hate Vanguard service" threads. They are like Walmart, someone always hates the big winners. I have accounts at Vanguard and at Fidelity. I see no difference in the service, but I don't see anyone bashing Fidelity on an almost weekly basis.

VW

Come back next year. That's when it's Fidelity's turn in the box.