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Anyone else getting frustrated with Vanguard's computer problems? If I had to describe Vanguard's capabilities to a friend I would say limited phone hours, limited online access and a wonky website,,,, if it's working. In reality they aren't the only low cost game in town and the customer experience stinks.
Sorry you're having problems. My experiences with Vanguard have been uniformly positive. The website works well for me. Phone support is very professional.
The only problem I have with Vanguard is they use warped logic when rounding numbers. Other than that, I've had nothing but good experience with Vanguard.
The best experience for an online broker is predictable behavior and ability to do everything online without having to pickup the phone.
To be fair, my experience with phone support has been fine. At this point I don't call that often but when I have a question I want an answer now. Schwab phone support is always open. Vanguard has limited hours. Maybe it's because I have more experience with Schwab that I can accomplish more on the website in less time. And the Schwab website rarely goes down like Vanguard did today. Just my experience.
Two family members, one perhaps higher-maintenance (older) and one perhaps more impatient with inefficiency and meh service (younger), are each pretty dissatisfied Vanguard customers. The older is a large-accountholder in index funds and the younger a workplace-401k participant.
I have no problem whatsoever with Vanguard online service. During busy hours their servers may run slower due to heavy volume, but so does Fidelity and T. Rowe Price.
I just called vanguard. Got to a human almost immediately. I asked him where on the website I can find what is labeled "Day Change" on my Schwab page. He was sure it was somewhere,,,, it's down there somewhere (the dude abides) but it was nowhere to be found. He was amazed and said he will take it upstairs. He even thanked me for pointing out it was nowhere to be seen. I know and we all know that we SHOULD NOT look at our investments daily but really,,,, who among us doesn't sneak a peak on a wild day.
Two family members, one perhaps higher-maintenance (older) and one perhaps more impatient with inefficiency and meh service (younger), are each pretty dissatisfied Vanguard customers. The older is a large-accountholder in index funds and the younger a workplace-401k participant.
Just tell me the same folks are not happy with TDA. Because if they are, that would really not make my day/week/month/year/life.
I'm having a hard time remembering any time I've had problems with Vanguard service. That could be because I'm a model Vanguard client - invest, make tweaks every couple of years, do ACH transfers online, and not much else.
Same sort of pattern with my use of internet banks. Set up an account, move money in and out, and watch the interest pile up. (Yes, really, over 1.5% at many internet banks these days.)
On the other hand, I use Fidelity for more frequent transactions. Their latest miscue is failing to provide me an image of a check that cleared a month ago. Called twice, each time was promised that it would show up online. Still hasn't.
Walked into an office today. Useless. Unlike the phone reps, they couldn't even see the image on their system. So no way to get a printout.
Comments
The best experience for an online broker is predictable behavior and ability to do everything online without having to pickup the phone.
Same sort of pattern with my use of internet banks. Set up an account, move money in and out, and watch the interest pile up. (Yes, really, over 1.5% at many internet banks these days.)
On the other hand, I use Fidelity for more frequent transactions. Their latest miscue is failing to provide me an image of a check that cleared a month ago. Called twice, each time was promised that it would show up online. Still hasn't.
Walked into an office today. Useless. Unlike the phone reps, they couldn't even see the image on their system. So no way to get a printout.
CMA accounts have been around since Merrill Lynch invented them in 1977. You'd think that after forty years, Fidelity could get it right.
Sure it's nice to be able to call 24x7. But if all they do is talk, what good is calling?