MFOHome About Commentary Discussions Funds The Best Resources Support Us!

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

Categories

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

More reasons to leave Vanguard

sma3
in Fund Discussions
Trying to move Rollover to Fidelity, due to lousy customer service. ( We still have high six figures at Vanguard) Moved everything but Vanguard Mutual fund. Fidelity says as far as they are concerned transfer is complete, some assets undeliverable; Contact Vanguard.

Sent message to Vanguard two days ago. No response. Tried to sell the Mutual fund, and then re start transfer of cash. Vanguard system will not allow me to sell it.

I do not understand why a firm with such lousy customer service is still in business. If they wont respond to accounts of our size, heaven help smaller investors

Comments

  • ShostakovichShostakovich
    Vanguard still in business:

    "Vanguard is all about the little guy, and punching Wall Street in the nose". Until you have to deal with their customer service, which is abysmal. I have one small holding with Vanguard, which I dread moving, but which I will do sometime this year. Everything with them is needlessly, needlessly, needlessly complicated.
  • yogibearbullyogibearbull
    I don't think Admiral class shares can be moved to Fido. So, those may have to be sold, or may be in that process. That may be why further actions on those shares are blocked. It depends what the instructions were from you via Fido.
  • Sven
    Please check the funds you wish to transfer-in-kind are available on Fidelity mutual fund supermarket. In case they are not available, I would find an equivalent fund or liquidate the entire position and transfer the cash.
  • AndyJ
    edited February 2022
    @sma3: I had a similar experience when I'd had enough and was leaving V. for Fidelity, ~ 8 years ago. Like Sven said, It was an admiral shares fund that caused the problem and held up the transfer. Took days and days and more than a few calls, but I finally got out of there with the cash after selling the fund.

    (To be clear, the problem wasn't the fund transfer itself, it was how long the account was frozen, and how CSRs said it'd be fixed tomorrow or the next day as the days dragged on.)

    Thankfully that was the final act of the Vanguard drama for me.
  • sma3
    This is a Vanguard Treasury Money Market. I am sure it cannot be held at Fidelity, but I am stuck in limbo, because Vanguard online will still not let me sell it, nor have they responded to my two daily messages, going on day three now.

    Will have to call them. What a pain. Reinforces my decision to leave.

    I know for a fact you can hold Admiral funds at Schwab, but not buy more. I never checked with Fidelity
  • DavidF
    @sma3 I hold Vanguard Federal Money Market (VMFXX) in my 403(b) at Fidelity. Not sure why Vanguard Treasury Money Market wouldn't be available?
  • yogibearbullyogibearbull
    edited February 2022
    Fido 401k/403b/457 operations (NetBenefits site nb.fidelity.com) are distinct from Fido Brokerage (taxable a/c, IRAs, etc; Fidelity.com).
  • sma3
    Well, just to F/U. To fix issue we called Vanguard, got a rep within 5 min, but she couldn't fix it so sent us to Transfers department, waited on hold for 20 min. They had to call somebody else to remove hold on account, then transferred us to broker who finally sold the money market.

    All told it took 35 to 45 minutes.

    Then they finally answered my email

    " Thank you for taking the time to contact us and please accept our apologies
    for the delay in responding to your email. Recently, we have experienced a
    high volume of requests, which has prevented us from responding to your
    inquiry in as timely a manner as you have come to expect. Your patience is
    greatly appreciated.

    I apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced. We understand that
    you have already been in contact with a Vanguard representative on February
    11, 2022. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to
    call us

    Vanguard strives to provide you with exceptional service. Your feedback is
    important to us, and I have forwarded your comments to our management team.
    We hope you will continue to share your thoughts on how we're doing and how
    we can serve you better.

    We look forward to restoring your confidence in Vanguard.

    Have a great day.

    Please rate your satisfaction regarding the service you received today, by
    copying and pasting this web address into your browser:

    https://pages.e-vanguard.com/Retail/Secure_Message_Survey/

    Too bad they only have a 1 to 5 scale, and no negative answers
  • hank
    edited February 2022
    “Too bad they only have a 1 to 5 scale, and no negative answers.”

    Sounds like a negative 5 rating. Wondering if VG employs the same “customer satisfaction” team as TRP?

    Just a quick “Thanks” to those members who steered me to Fido in mid 2021. (The other highly recommended brokerage was Schwab.)
  • carew388carew388
    +1
  • Davep
    I also experienced poor service at Vanguard. Also at Fidelity. As I stared in another thread, the experience I’ve had with TRP has been nothing short of outstanding. My only complaint at TRP is they use Pershing so it takes 1 day for funds to clear when selling which means you can’t sell a fund and buy another on the same day. Also, their choice of funds is more limited than Fidelity.
  • Derf
    @Davep : That's why it's nice to hold some dry powder.
    Have a good week, Derf
Sign In or Register to comment.