Vanguard Reviews

If you can avoid doing business with Vanguard, I would recommend taking your business elsewhere. They have the worst customer service of all financial institutions I have dealt with over the years. I had a 401k through Vanguard with a former employer and when I submitted a request to rollover the money to Charles Schwab, allegedly someone from Vanguard called me to verify my information but "said I couldn't verify my personal information" so the wire transfer never took place.

I am trying to add signatories (additional permissions) Was given 4 different sets of answers, none actually worked. Whenever I call for any purpose, the representative puts me on hold to look up the answer, but clearly struggles to understand basic questions. In this case, we've followed all indications, and the folks we are trying to add keep getting sent in circles on the website. Support questions on the website do not actually answer this very basic need.

After speaking with Fidelity and receiving amazing customer service, I called Vanguard for the same reason (upcoming RMDs). When I finally got through to a human, the customer service rep Adrienne, put me on hold immediately, and when she finally returned to the call, she was rude. She said I needed to use the website. I explained that I tried, but the website kept reloading. She said I had to use Google Chrome. After more of her rudeness, I thanked her for helping me make the decision to move all my Vanguard investments to Fidelity! Which I will do during an upcoming financial meeting!

If I could give negative stars I would. This is possibly the worst company that I have ever dealt with for the past 3 years. I was advised by a financial advisor through my work to switch from Fidelity to Vanguard. This has turned out to be the worst financial decision I could have possibly made. I have had nothing but problems since I switched my 403B money to Vanguard. It first started just about 3 years ago when my father passed away unexpectedly. I had to take an unpaid leave of absence from work so I borrowed from my 403B to cover my expenses while I was home grieving. I had filled out the appropriate paperwork to apply for my loan.

Horrific! I received an email months ago re: an interview unclaimed check. I called right away. After several hours on the phone I was told that the letter was a fraud. Recently, I received a letter by mail with the same information. After three hours on the phone I still don’t know what is going on or what will happen. I was told that a check should be sent to me and that it was a stake check, not a fraud. There’s more, but this should not happen!

Engaging their customer service reps is akin to going through 12 hrs. of labor in the maternity ward, painful and time consuming. Reps have no power to escalate an unresolved issue to a supervisor/manager on the same day. They give a scripted answer each time and advise that the supervisor/manager will call back the following business day, which could result in playing phone tags. Not sure what their process is on issue resolution and escalations but they’re definitely not consumer friendly. If there’s a way to deal with the problem online that’s the best way to go. Otherwise, even if their products are highly rated it’s not worth the time and hassle.

BE CAREFUL!! Vanguard STOLE $8,600. from one of my Brokerage Account and has done everything to justify doing it? They don't give you enough space to explain in detail, but I have a copy of the full complaint I will be filing with Government Agencies that oversee fraudulent companies like this. I ended up in the hospital with a stress related break down because of this?

I have been trying to access my deceased wife’s 401(k) for 10 business days, and the process has been extremely frustrating. When I first called, I was told it could take up to 7 days to hear from someone—it took 8 days. Since then, I’ve called multiple times and have been sent to voicemail, only to be told it could take another 3 days for a callback.

This company has very bad customer service. They charged me hidden fees of $25 for statement delivery last year. I called 3 times today and asked to remove those hidden fees, but the agent was very obnoxious and arrogant and unwilling to help. I asked to speak to manager, they put me on hold for 20 min. and the hanged up. Terrible company.

I have been dealing with Vanguard recently due to my Father's passing, trying to transfer his investments on to his beneficiaries. It has been nothing but a nightmare!!! You almost never speak with the same person twice and, I don’t know if it’s by design or not but they always seem to for get to include small details that help you navigate the process!! It’s been more than two months now and I still have not completed the rollover!! Closing out my Father's estate has been a challenge of Phone Tag, Email Tag and Snail Mail Tag!!! Also the frustration of Automated Answering Systems has been horrible and Vanguard is among the worst!!! I have investments of my own with another company where, I can go to their office and look a HUMAN in the eye and explain my concerns directly. That’s how business should be done. Once I am done with VANGUARD, I will almost certainly be transferring the funds to my other account!!!

I have been with Vanguard since around 1986. I am satisfied with performance of my investment. I was very annoyed by the email I received today regarding new fees. I am not upset, necessarily, about the new fees. Why would you need 14 pages of gobbledygook to explain new fees. Put it in an easy to read and understand table on a one-page format. Who is going to read 14 pages? Is that the plan? Someone needs to fix this!!! I went to the website and there is no place to register a complaint about anything.

Applied 7 business days ago to activate margin access on my account. Found out today, we were denied!? How DARE you tell us what we can and cannot do with OUR money!! Ridiculous. When I have completed my research, we will be moving ALL of our money to another broker! Would not recommend to ANYONE!

I've invested my retirement funds through Vanguard for more than 40 years. Very simple and straightforward. Keeps growing in spite of RMD's that I now have to take each year. WOULD DO IT AGAIN!

Vanguard is by far the worst investment company in the market. More H1B hires than any 5 companies combined. If you speak English, choose another company. If you expect Customer Service, seek and choose a company that provides it. If you want a company that has a strong online platform, forget looking at Vanguard! Absolutely awful in all three areas and I'm just hitting the high points. Vanguard is just a shadow of the company that your Father told you about and insisted that you use for your money. Tip for Vanguard: Hire Americans that speak English. Also up your online platform game!

If you have your 401k at Fidelity or anywhere else KEEP IT THERE COMPARED TO VANGAURD. Just try Vanguard and you will see why ConsumerAffairs has them at a review rating of 1.1. I promise the day will come you will stand in shock when you realize they control what you can and can't do with your own money and yes I know I'm yelling. Make a decision to move your money between funds and then decide you want to cancel a pending order? Here is the answer you will get. “SIR WE DO NOT ALLOW CANCELLATIONS OF PENDING ORDERS JUST BECAUSE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND”. The very definition of investing and trading is changing your mind. UNBELIEVABLE.

I requested a standard rollover from a 401k to an IRA on February 11, 2026. I have had to call Vanguard four times to cancel and reissue their check because of address corrections. They refuse to wire or FedEx funds and will only use snail mail! The customer service is trained apparently not to empathize or acknowledge their shortcomings. I am not blaming the customer service reps, it's not their fault, they are not trained. I would caution anyone doing business with Vanguard to think twice.

I have experienced the absolute worst customer service EVER! They have given me misinformation, required me to incur legal fees I otherwise would not have incurred, given me the runaround, sent me incorrect forms and not processed account changes as promised. I have been through at least 4 different agents that always promise to follow up until all the issues are addressed, however none of them will give me a direct extension or email with which to follow up and they all end up dropping the ball. I end up having to call back in and start the process all over. Last week I was on hold for over 3 hours, they followed up with a response letter that didn't even have my correct name on it. Issue is still not resolved. It is a complicated case, but no one will pass me to anyone at a higher level to get it resolved, they just keep giving me the runaround.

Vanguard has gone down hill rapidly. I have had an account for over 50 years. They give inaccurate information involving gains--how they calculate them just makes them look good I guess but not truthful at all. The robotic systems are a joke and the website gives you summary information yet makes it difficult to complete any task. They are impossible to reach by phone and it will go through 8 to 10 different people if you're lucky enough to get through the redundant and circular robotic system. They do not care about investors and they just hope to get more money from you and cannot or will not explain how they take that money. They are just a horrible company now.

Opening a traditional IRA with Vanguard turned out to be an extremely frustrating experience. I spent over 10 days trying to set up the account, but was blocked due to a legacy account from 25 years ago that had already been closed. There seems to be no efficient way to resolve this issue. Very disappointing for a company of this reputation. I ultimately opened an account with Fidelity, where the entire process was smooth and completed in under 30 minutes.

My company closed thus our accounts needed to be transferred. They took out the money from my Roth and a month later it still has not been delivered. The first time I contacted Customer service they directed me to the Q&A page, the second time they told me to contact my employers HR that is no longer in business. Considering that company has nothing to do with distributions they apparently think I am an idiot. The true test of a company is how they act when you are leaving. I am happy I didn't leave my money invested with them as that was an option.

Logged into my account to find all of my funds transferred out of my account with no information on who it went to or where. Called customer service multiple times, got transferred multiple times, and no one could pull up information on my account. I called to ask for an email address to contact customer service, was put on hold for almost 5 minutes for the rep to come back and give me a website instead of an email address. Worst customer service and user experience I’ve ever had.

Vanguard’s fallen in a black hole and got stuck in the 70’s. Fed regs require I get them new W4P and GA W4. For an issue impacting 1000’s of customers, the ONLY option they offer is to US mail or fax the forms. Did I mention they outsourced customer service and it shows.

I called Vanguard regarding a recent trade email I received. I have had money at Vanguard for over a decade. The call was answered by someone working in a call center. I could not understand roughly half of what she said, as her accent was so thick and her English was so poor. It is very concerning to me that I cannot communicate with employees where my retirement fund is located. I will be calling other firms and seeing who has investment service employees that can speak English. I will no longer be a customer of Vanguard, as I expect to be able to communicate with investment services employees where my retirement money is parked. Furthermore, I am disgusted by Vanguard's choice to support foreign jobs over Americans. If Vanguard wants to invest in other countries, then Vanguard can get investment business from the people in those places.

I used to love their admiral shares health care but it is not performing, and it is a pain in the ** to have to have your phone at your side to get 2FA. Many other companies don't require this and I am not a teenager with a phone glued to me. It is too much trouble to get up and down constantly.

I recently had a very disappointing experience with Vanguard while attempting to verify proof of funds for a buyer interested in a multimillion dollar property I represent. As a broker with Keller Williams, protecting my seller’s best interests is a top priority, and verifying funds is a standard and necessary step in high value transactions. The representative I spoke with was not helpful and refused to review or acknowledge documentation I had. Because I could not obtain proper verification due to Vanguard’s lack of cooperation, I was unable to move forward in assisting the buyer.

I opened up a cash plus account 3 weeks ago and I can still not deposit money because they have not verified the account. I call customer service every day and they just blatantly lie to me and tell me it will be fixed tomorrow.

I have been a Vanguard investor for 15 years. I recently purchased a new computer and attempted to log on to my account. Vanguard did not recognize my new computer and sent a security code to the phone listed 15 years ago. I called and spent 45 minutes talking to someone I could not understand. I tried again today and explained that phone was no longer in use. I was told it would take 10 days to eliminate that number. A hold would be put on my account and they would call me back. Excellent in investing, miserable in customer service.

As I am approaching my retirement, I called Customer Service more often than before. I like their products; however, I did not realize that the knowledge of Customer Service is very poor as it relates the guidance they provide to customers. Most of the customers are young and are not trained and yet some of them have an attitude "Mr. Knows All". They don't care that they give out inconsistent guidance since it does not impact their account. They are not transparent; they did not have IRA conversion as to what price/share we will get when we convert $ amount v. total shares. Yet, when calling customer service, they think they know.

I have had a number of accounts with Vanguard for over 30 years. At the beginning, they were a wonderful company, and I recommended them highly to others. Over the past several years, they have gone downhill. As an example, last week, I was on hold for 51 minutes and then got cut off. The agent had even taken my phone number but never called me. Similar things have happened in the past, so I am in the process of transferring all of my funds out of Vanguard, and would never recommend them to anyone.

Vanguard is a complete piece of shit. Their website is unusable. It locked me out of my account and I cannot get back in. I have tried for hours to work with customer service through their phone number but I just keep getting transferred and hung up on. I hate this company with a fiery passion and will never ever choose to do business with them. I'm tempted to quit my job just so I can go somewhere that picks a less dog shit company to control our 401k.

This place sent me a letter 4 months ago, telling me that they transferred half my ex husband's 401K to another financial company, as per QRDO orders. The other company has no record of any money getting transferred. Vanguard first wouldn't talk to me because it's not my account, then told me there is no account in my ex husband's name there. My money is gone, and I have to hire a lawyer to find it. The phone person doesn't speak English well at all. I've called 4 times since September, when Vanguard sent me a letter about the account. All 4 times, got zero help.

I have multiple accounts at other brokerages and I have never in my 50+ years of investing experienced any company as bad as Vanguard. The stupid transition to a new system was handled so poorly it is costing me serious losses. I am contacting attorneys to see if I can sue them. There are many brokerage companies out there; any of them are better than Vanguard.

Hi There, I'm very upset with the service at Vanguard right now. I'm thinking of moving my funds elsewhere. I have tried, with no luck for over 10 hours of my work time to get someone to help. Sought out my son's account that has to change from a minor to an adult account and transfer the money over. I spoke to Matthew who asked me to mail in a W9 which we did. He says he would get back to me which he didn't. I tried call multiple times. They just didn't help. And got disconnected many times, they never called back. They are now saying that my son has duplicate accounts and they need to sought that out. UTMA Brokerage Account — ***. They should do this on their own, I've spoken to them multiple times to get this sorted out. NO HELP, NO CUSTOMER SERVICE EMAIL WITH ANY HELP.

Very poor customer service. I've been trying to get my funds sent to me for 6 weeks. Several times I have filled out the forms they have sent, only to find a week later they need more information. They could have let me know what was needed at the onset of my request. When all the paperwork and identity issues were cleared up they needed another 2 weeks before they would release my funds. They could not explain why. They will not send the funds electrically, only via mail, so after waiting 10 day for my check I called to verify they had sent it.

I can't log in or access my account because they have my old phone number. I called to update my phone number, but they keep giving me the run around. I called 4 different times in an hour trying to get someone who speaks fluent English because I'm hearing impaired and cannot understand what they're saying. But, she refused to get someone for me. This is so frustrating, I've never had issues like this with any other company. Don't go with this company, they'll give you nothing but headaches.

Awful, I have been trying to roll over my money for 4 months and it's still not done. Nor is it close, I just had to restart. Customer service is awful and did nothing. If my work didn't use them, I would definitely be going elsewhere. I am actually debating just starting a personal one and transferring at this point.

Horrendous customer service. My 92-year-old grandmother simply couldn’t remember her password for her phone banking, and even though she could provide them all of the information they still simply would not help her until she could remember the passcode. I conference called in with her to simply ask them to help her reset her password and they refused to do so. While I understand, this is a security issue. It is also extremely discriminatory because of my grandmother‘s age. My grandmother has been a long time, customer of theirs and the way that they treat her now is disgusting. Just make sure if you’re going to bank with Vanguard that you are of sound mind and never ever age and forget any password whatsoever otherwise they won’t help you. Disgusting. If my grandmother doesn’t have a heart attack or stroke over this it will literally be a miracle.

Website stinks. I wanted a list of my investments but had to hunt and hunt to find them. Very unfriendly website. I've been a customer over 20 years but I'm ready to move on. I wonder if Vanguard even cares because others have encountered this.

I have used Vanguard for a brokerage for years with few issues. However after opening a 529, the customer service for this is terrible. The 529 is treated almost like a seperate company, with all requested needed to be submitted by "snail mail", even the checks sent to other Vanguard accounts go thru snail mail. It has taken me almost 2 months to move funds from a 529 to a Roth. Bottom line, stay away from their 529 accounts.

I have been a Vanguard customer since the 90's. Before internet was available. This year they said my accounts are out of date and need to be converted to Brokerage accounts. I did not respond to them as I was in poor health. When I recently called they had restricted my accounts and I was not able to have them remove the restriction. Because they have been charging me $25 service fee per account for a paper statement. I asked for courtesy reversal of the fee and they told me "NO the fees can NOT be reversed." I was told that I had to pay the $25 before they can remove the restriction. I asked how? Since I can not make any transactions on my account and she said I have to sell $25 worth of shares from my account and that they would do that for me.