Vanguard Reviews

It helps me manage my investments very easily from any one of my electronic devices. It consolidate accounts into one place and is easy to navigate and understand. It works to help me avoid financial risks.

Vanguard released a new Android App called Beacon. It is garbage. I am unable to see positions, or trade on it. Vanguard help makes no specific commitment to fix this. The prior app at least somewhat works - the new one is USELESS.

Vanguard is a trusted leader whom I depended on over five years. The have mutual fund which I invested in was fantastic. Their charges are moderate and have excellent website. They never disappoint. Their slogan is Vanguard is the best.

Vanguard caused me to have a big problem when they told me that "after tax" money is not really "after tax" money in my pension fund. After a withdrawal I got a big hit on my taxes and spent several weeks trying to resolve it. I had to liquidate several Roth IRAs to pay it back. After 2 weeks waiting, they dragged their feet on this, saying that they were "very busy." Fortunately, I called the pension fund administrator; he apparently read the Riot Act to them and they restored the account as it was when all this started several months ago within 2 days.

We have been trying to withdrawal from my 401k for 32 days for a house down payment with my plan allows for. We have overnighted paperwork to them multiple times. We have spent countless hours on the phone with them. Each time getting told different answers. It feels like they are trying to gate keep the funds until you give up. When asked to put a supervisor on the phone, there are none available. The documentation they send in response to requests are vague and unhelpful form letters. Calls mysteriously hang up when you are talking to them. So because of their inability to provide actual customer support, and their dragging of their feet with my requests, I may lose my first home. Stay away from this company.

I had an account with Vanguard for over 20 years. After adding a large amount to my account received from the sale of my home they triggered a new security requirement without informing me. When I had desired to move the money to avoid a certain stock market conditions, I was not allowed to do so without completing this additional procedure. I lost about $10,000 as a result. I will never forgive this company. I will be moving the money to another brokerage house ASAP.

I been with Vanguard over 10 years. I have have seen my 401k lose 20k at one time and that's the market game but trying calling or discussing your investment or try to move your funds or get fund these are the most incompetent people I have ever encountered. Lost paperwork not notes. Just a bunch of children playing with my investment and can't explain anything. I know that when I retire from this company or leave I am taking every cent to a different company. Don't trust them with your money..

Vanguard is the WORST investment group our employer has ever contracted with. I can't get access to my funds for hardship withdrawal to catch up on bills as a result of the COVID-19 pandemics. Vanguard will easily take your money but is impossible to get it back unless you leave your employer. Absolutely the worst company. Horrible experience!!

I've been working with Vanguard for over a month to resolve an issue and every time I call, I get a different answer on the situation. The issue is still ongoing. First off, every call took forever to get a hold of a representative, there is no point-of-contact to communicate with. They transfer me from one person to another with no one giving me a concrete answer on what's going on. One person told me they will give me a call back to update me but that never happened. I made a mistake on the application because of the way it was structured and contact Vanguard to try and fix the issue, each person assures me the issue would be resolved but I haven't gotten any updates.

Vanguard is well known for their low fees, but should also be known for their atrocious customer service. During the last month, I have contacted their customer service line 6 times attempting to get a simple tax form. They refuse to send this form to my secured Vanguard email box and when I paid to receive it via FedEx overnight, they still haven’t even processed the request 5 days later! I have close to $1 million dollars in Vanguard accounts and plan to take my business elsewhere after my terrible experience.

I transferred my ira over to Vanguard. 3 months later and it’s still pending. Customer service is terrible and long waits and still have no damn clue as to where my $ is. Very bad company to deal with.

We have an brokerage acct and investment accounts. Their help has been dismal and in accommodating. We are currently looking to move our money to some who seems to realize on the other end of the phone is not clients a b or c.

I have been a Vanguard client for probably 20 years. They used to be fabulous. If I ever had a question, I could call and reach a representative (of any sort) within a minute or two, no matter when I called. Now, as others have noted, the hold time - no matter what day or what time you call - is AT LEAST 30 minutes, and often much more.

I created 529 account and I can't access it online. It writes 'password is disabled'. No way to reset password online. Need to wait forever on the call and anyway they can't help. They promise to transfer me and drop the call. Worst support experience in my life (I'm 47).

One star is grossly overrated. I have been kept on hold over 70 minutes on two different occasions with NO HELP. I have asked electronically to have someone call me. The response is “we are sorry for this poor service but we don’t have the manpower to call you, please give us a call”! I will close my account and move to a company with customer service. AVOID Vanguard. TERRIBLE company. DEPLORABLE.

Over the past two years Vanguard customer support has declined and when doing any transaction more complicated than buying or selling you can expect errors. My mother had IRAs with Vanguard for 25 years. When she started doing her RMDs Vanguard said they could automatically do the calculation and withdrawals. First they left one Vanguard account out of the calculation. My mother had a brokerage and mutual fund account. After calling customer support I was told it was my problem not their problem.

2/23/21 tues opened a new brokerage account. After opening, cannot access online. I have an existing 401k account from work. Called customer service and said they will email me in 30 mins for the instruction on how to register again bec they have to merge my accounts. 2/24/21 wed. Nothing happened. No email received. Now I cannot access my 401k account. Called again the customer service. Spoke to another person. Said it will be fix at the end of the day thursday. 2/26/21 friday. Nothing happened. Received an email saying "it's in the process" and Talon **- customer service is handling my case. 3/2 /21 tues. Received an email from TALON **. Customer service said there's a technical issue needed to resolve. 

I am a non- sexual person. I have a sex, but I do not have relationships or any of the above. Two of the three security questions require answers that make me uncomfortable.

I tried to open a new account but had difficulties matching the address on record. I understand this is a security concern, but I genuinely had no idea which address it was and none of the options I tried worked. I imagine this isn't the first time this has happened, but the customer service "professional" who answered (name is James C.) reacted in such a rude manner that I was left speechless.

I have been on hold for almost 2 hours trying to speak with a person. Last two days they said they would call me back and save my place in line, no they don't. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. They do not respect their clients or care about customer service. If your time is remotely important do not waste your time with Vanguard.

Every time I've called, I've had to wait on hold at least 30 minutes to get an actual person. And when I do get someone on the line, it is always a rude, condescending, incompetent person. When I try to log into my account, it says that I have to get call Vanguard for assistance. This seems to be a very common problem reading through these reviews which is kind of scary if that's where your money is kept. The rep that I spoke to concluded that I could not log in due to my computer security settings, not true. I tried on 3 other devices and same problem. The whole time, he was just rude, trying to get me off the line. I initially called to roll my 401k plan to my new one. The rep mumbled the whole time. I could not understand a word he was saying. Every time I asked him to repeat himself, he got agitated. So glad I don't have to deal with this company anymore although I would like to be able to log into my account.

It is Friday around 2:10PM, and I am waiting for Vanguard customer service to pick up my call. I am on hold for 1Hr and 7 mins. This is not the first time. DO NOT OPEN ACCOUNT WITH VANGUARD. When you have more than 200K in account have to wait for hours for someone to help you, it's pathetic. Vanguard software removed the ticker of my stock which I have in my account that I am trying to sell. I am not able to sell as there is no ticker. I have been waiting for more than 1 hour and 11 mins for help. This glitch and pathetic service hold will cost me $700. And this is not the first time. So often verification text messages don't come on time so you try to wait to log in to account. I am moving to Charles today.

I was pretty happy with Vanguard until recently their wait times have been incredibly long. I had a simple request which took multiple phone calls and a wait time upwards of an hour. This is ridiculous. When I called the first time, they gave me the option to get a call back once someone was available. But once I got that call, they verified me AND THEN they transferred me again to another department..that wait time took 45 min. Seriously? Hire more people on your customer service team. You guys are trash.

It is extremely difficult to comprehend how a company can be so outdated and understaffed. To open a new account, multiple phones calls ranging between 40 - 60 minutes are necessary each time. I am on my fourth attempt in two weeks. When you receive an email to call back to provide new information, the number provided in the email is never the correct department. Of course, the first operator needs to verify all of your information just to tell you that you have called the wrong department. Then, they cannot directly transfer you, but rather, you are on hold again for at least 20 minutes. This company is absolutely not for someone who needs to contact them a couple of times a year. They need to add more staff to answer the phones. And no this is not covid related. It was like this before covid.

I run a small business and have been using Vanguard's Small Business plan to disburse money into my employee's SIMPLE IRA retirement accounts every month for the past several years. I have also had a personal account with Vanguard for over 15 years. About 2 weeks ago, I got locked out of my Small Business Account, and it indicated I needed to contact the Small Business Dept at Vanguard, which I did- and they were not able to help me get back into my account, so they transferred me to another department who were not able to help me, and they transferred me to another department... you know how this goes.

The worst customer service I've ever dealt with. It's always your fault. Incredibly inefficient processes. Have received zero support. They will not contact you to tell you ANYTHING. Upon leaving a job, I was never notified whatsoever before they cashed out my 401k loan and now I will owe tens of thousands in taxes. My fault. In trying to roll over my funds to another lender, the funds have now been tied up for almost 2 months. My fault. I've been lied to about checks being mailed. I've been held on the phone for dozens of hours. I still don't have my funds. I have incurred more than $20k in losses due to these funds being tied up. I have no recourse.

I am a Vanguard customer for 25 plus years. Used to have regular direct deposit to IRA - Rollover account. Beginning of this year notified them to stop all the regular withdrawal from my Bank of America Checking account due to financial reason. Yesterday they took $7000 from Bank of America with out any notification. They have stupid excuse "we were trying to help you to save more in your IRA". Called on the same day. Bank of America notification came at 4 am, called Vanguard at 8.00 am to cancel their action and put money back in my checking account. However, they can't cancel their mistake. Has to sell and refund the money they took it. The loss is close to $175.00. Very hard to deal.

I've been a client of Vanguard for about 10 or 12 years. I'm very satisfied with the excellent quality of service they provide, I get my e-statements every month explaining everything down to the penny, their customer service department are very knowledgeable on every aspect of the service, A+ with me, thank you Vanguard.

Vanguard's old system was fairly efficient and they’ve just upgraded. Excited and expect the new system to set the bar as to the standard of service. Have used at least 2 other major brokerage cos and this was the best.

Very open and accessible to inquiry. Vanguard provides great account maintenance and customer service without obfuscations I have experienced with other brokers. Of course their low brokerage costs are a big plus.

Easy to work with. Understand not everyone talks tech and don’t mind explaining the technical parts. Not pushy or upset if more time is needed to decide. Don’t overwhelm with phone calls and messages. Polite and respectful. Remembers names and important dates.

I like that transitioning to a competitor was relatively easy. Also, they gave me time to make the change. When I had an emergency it was fairly easy to get my money. My portfolio was very diversified and I was able to keep abreast of any changes, trends, losses and gains. All in all Vanguard was very easy to deal with. The people I spoke to were knowledgeable and very helpful. When I changed employers I wasn’t able to keep them. Otherwise I would not have switched companies.

So far it has been a smooth sign up. It is been a free service and has many helpful tools for learning. They offer various calculators and shows an idea what earning can be. Whatever you want to invest in by utilizing the calculators it help to decide how much you should be investing over time.

Vanguard makes it pretty easy to put your money in a money market which is much higher yield than a typical savings account. It also has good analytics so you can see your personal performance including how much money you've put in and how much you've made.

Typical online broker; very helpful when they are trying to get your business, but after getting the business they are not helpful. They are easy to access, but not always responsive. Easy to use online site.

I have been using them for several years now. The website is very easy to use and is very informative for those looking to find new investments or to find information on current investments. Fees are very low to purchase stocks and if you want you can get an advisor at Vanguard to help you invest.

Low expenses. Courteous reps. Wide range of services. Reports monthly. Available for a wide range of time frames to call and discuss one's portfolio. They don't suggest any investments, and the online tools can be a lot easier to use.

Vanguard representatives are knowledgeable regarding financial strategies that you should consider to meet your financial goals. What I really liked was their patience on making sure I understood all options.

Great variety of good performing mutual funds and ETF - no upfront charges, low fees on both index funds and ETFs - easy to use website, in transferring money from outside accounts and making fund purchases and great customer service.

I have an 401k through my employer with Vanguard. Through recent events of my child becoming sick and extra cost to keep her well and my father passing, I feel substantially behind on my financial responsibilities. I tried my best to manage all that I could and submitted a request for a hardship withdrawal to cover my rent. I was denied twice because I did not meet the minimum threshold to make a withdrawal. How in the world in the middle of a pandemic can you have the audacity to deny a hardship withdrawal because I am not asking for enough? I am now facing eviction and will be removed at the end of the month. I guess once I lose my residence and then my job, I can then take all of my money out and take the tax penalty. Will never nor would I recommend anyone ever do business with Vanguard.

My stepdad had a 401k with them. My mom was the beneficiary. He passed away. My mom passed the next day. I was appointed the personal representative of my Mom’s estate. I have been trying for months to get the proceeds from my stepdad’s 401k moved into the estate account. I have asked for a signed copy of the contract my Stepdad had with Vanguard. They persist in sending the same forms over and over not what I asked for. Their position is that my mother predecessors my stepdad which in fact she didn’t. I still haven’t received a copy of the agreement. Every time I call I get a different representative and I have to start over. They are unprofessional and will do anything to rip people off. Stay away!!!

My Father has an account with Vanguard, unfortunately he now has dementia. I have POA and have been trying to change the address and submit my POA for over a year!! I am still getting the ring around, wrong forms, wrong information. This company is unorganized, rude and unprofessional. Not a place you want to put your money with when they cant handle a simple change or address and adding a POA. Stay away.

So- I had a relative pass away and leave me some Vanguard investments in their will. Okay fine- I called Vanguard and after 30 minutes(!) on hold because they have terrible customer service I was able to get the paperwork online. Okay, fine...so I filled out the paperwork and emailed it back to them. That was TWO MONTHS AGO. They went quiet. Nothing. Nada. So I call back again. 45(!) minute hold this time! FORTY FIVE MINUTES after the automated voice said fifteen minutes. What do I find out? Nothing. They had NO IDEA about the paperwork I'd filled out. They couldn't locate it! I mean...the unprofessionalism is...well....it's mind blowing!

Vanguard's customer service that I had always believed to be the model for the industry, is now horrible and probably the worst in the industry. Current wait times to speak with an agent are in excess of 15 minutes (even before COVID). Vanguard should not offer options trading, if basic functions cannot be completed online. Requiring a customer to call the options trading desk to create a basic spread is circa 1980. The level of customer service is even worse at the Options Desk, if and when you can reach them.

I tried to enroll in their Personal Adviser Services with a "Thomas **" for myself and my mother, and explained that my mother was competent enough to manage her affairs, but needed some extra phone help because she has trouble using the Internet, and I asked if they could make a Reasonable Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. ** said they would "look into it" and we proceeded with the startup authorization.

I went to a promoted seminar by Vanguard in February 2018. They charged me $8000 to relinquish both of my timeshares. That was their business. They felt they could finish by the end of the year but in some cases my take until the beginning of the next year. I have talked to them many times but now they won't return emails or calls. They have done nothing for me in 2 1/2 years. They are a rip off and DO NOT USE THEM FOR ANYTHING! THEY ARE CROOKS!

I transferred my accounts from Chase to Vanguard and it took weeks with zero communication until I followed up several times to find out that they could not transfer an account but did not tell me. None of the customer service or transfer department reps talk to each other so they don't know what's going on and one rep Khalif ** (clueless!!) just called me to ask how things are going after over a month of silence. I told him, "You don't know? Talk to your transfer department, you shouldn't have to ask me what's going on with my account and why it wasn't transferred, ask your colleagues, they're the ones that didn't do it." Unless you are doing your own investing, DO NOT USE Vanguard and even then, you may not be able to transfer funds or it could take months.

I have been trying for 30+ days to get the distribution check from my 401K after retiring. The website for self service was very confusing. It appeared as though the check would be sent to my home. When I called to get status on the check (after 15 days) which I thought was coming to my home, it was sent the the custodian of my IRA. So they agreed to cancel that and send a new one to my home. Called today (another 15 days later) and turns out that check was also to the custodian of my IRA. I would have to pay to change the address. So the replacement check was never going to go to my home in the first place. No customer service, no taking responsibility, just wanting more of my money.

UPDATE: Once I reached the knowledgable personnel within Vanguard my issues were quickly resolved. It wasn't easy to find the right personnel. I had to do a little corporate research and invent about ten name iterations for email once I found the person I wanted to email. As luck would have it, one of those email address was correct and I received an immediate reply and things turned for the better in a week's time. In the end, it still took approximately four and one-half months to find the right people and get my transfers complete. Now that my assets are there, I'm enjoying going through all of the tolls and information Vanguard offers its account holders.

My wife's traditional IRA and Roth IRA Vanguard mutual funds have been converted to the brokerage accounts. Explanation was that Vanguard moves funds to a new platform. I don’t know about advantages of such innovation however for now I just get confused with the statement of 03/31/20. As a customer of Vanguard I want to see the statement with the same format as a mutual fund statement. I’m not a professional in investment industry and I need the information presented with user friendly approach. Actually I prefer my money returned back to the mutual funds.

I have been a Vanguard customer for many years. In fact I was about to have them manage my retirement for me. Vanguard thinks it's unimportant to help customers; they do not trust that their relationships will produce revenue for them; they act like kids out of college trying to get money for relatives and not a firm once dedicated to the consumer. STAY AWAY.

I needed help with a very recent investment that had a minimum investment of $3000/- purchased two days ago. On trying to change the investment balance I was informed that it dropped by 6/- dollars below 3000/- dollars and needed to wait till the end of the day as my investment would probably drop more and needed to add more dollars to be able to change the investment mix and received no advice on investment for a beginner. Very disappointing experience. My experience with Ally, Discover and Fidelity was really great especially Ally.

When I left FOX Broadcasting Company twenty-three years ago, I took my IRA and invested it with Vanguard, in Admiral accounts, which included an investment advisor. I repeatedly called for twenty-three years, to speak to an advisor, and was left on hold. Never spoke to anyone. Now at almost sixty-four, I watched $100,000 evaporate from my account. The worst of it was that I wrote two checks to cover my property tax. Then I receive a return check notice from Bank of America-- both checks bounced from my fully funded IRA account.

Started working with Vanguard trying to set up a high wealth account two months ago. Was informed by vanguard that an investment between 1M- 5M qualified me to be part of the flagship group with a team of professionals handling my account and access. After two month dealing and waiting for personal service I receive a message on the site of what my account should look like. Not only did they have all the income sources incorrect but they put in place a cookie cutter plan that you would get in a handbook. Vanguard is great if you desire to purchase your own stocks but they have no concierge service for your wealth planning.

The Vanguard website hides its telephone number in a maze of Q&A topics that drive the consumer to distraction. Its app does not allow for operations without confirmation by phone. If you’re lucky enough to find the phone number, a recording informs that they can not attend to you because of “a high volume of calls”, and summarily hangs up on the caller.

I've tried for over an hour to create open a new Trust account. For details, see below. To summarize, the enrollment forms end up giving errors. It doesn't work. Maybe someday when Vanguard turns into a professional company they'll actually make a functional website. For now, you can plan on wasting your time going through their enrollment process that doesn't work. Don't waste your time here. Go to Fidelity.

I understand that Vanguard has a good reputation however when I decided to open a new account their system was completely inadequate. I spend hours on the phone with at least 7 persons trying to open an account and because I had a very old retirements account with 0 balance there appeared to be a problem that I identified not the Vanguard representative. In the end after spending a ridiculous amount of time when my scheduled advisor said she could not help me either I gave up. I have investment accounts with several other organizations and I have never encountered such difficulty. Needless to say I will not trust my investments with an organization that can't even open a new account. Beware of incompetence!!

This is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. With a large number of their products they can only be updated through the mail. They are always fast to respond over the phone but the core of operations is stuck in the '80s...not the 1980s but the 1880s. Did you want to change something on your account? Mail it in. Did you get a new phone number so you can no longer access your account?? I hope you didn't need to access your account for a while....mail it in. They were recommended to me. I wish I had never heard of them. Horrible!!!

I called customer service recently (January 2020) and asked about brokerage accounts. I have questions to ask and the customer service representative is especially impatient with me. He also explained in a way that I couldn't understand, and I had to ask him to repeat and I still didn't understand, then I gave up. Later, I needed to ask questions about my child 529 plan and he transferred me there. This time, it was even worse. The customer service representative was not only impatient but also condescending. I hated it. Later I wrote an email to Vanguard and complained about the customer service. They replied in a form letter and said they forwarded this to the management team. However, I haven't heard from the management either through email or over the phone. Therefore, I found this site and would like to post this for everyone to see, especially for Vanguard people, that they should fix this problem.

I retired from the federal government and wanted to transfer my 401k to Vanguard. After sending me an email that stated all my paperwork had been processed and mailed to TSP, I received an email that my transfer was cancelled. The person handling my transfer was in training and nobody could help me. Finally a week later I received a call that my paperwork had been sent? The woman on the phone said I received the confirmation email and the cancellation email by mistake. I pushed it up the ladder and never heard back. Then I received another cancellation email!

I am in the process of rolling over an IRA from another institution to Vanguard. Vanguard's representatives have made what is really a relatively simple transaction very complicated and have provided wrong information over and over. Long telephone waits, transfers to other departments, more long waits, all so I can talk to some snide and condescending person who misinforms me about the process. Not sure how this is going to end but all I can say is I am extremely disappointed to see how poorly Vanguard treats its customers lately.

I have been with Vanguard for more than 11 years and never had an issue probably because I did not any help. Recently requested a direct transfer of an IRA out and was trying a direct transfer to another IRA in. They got the check for this transfer in about 2 weeks ago and did not deposit it because they have put a "restriction" in the account. Refusing a deposit does not seem like a smart business practice. They told me several times that the restriction would be lifted. Today I was informed that the check was returned to the sender. This poor handling of accounts suggests that this is not a reliable company. Getting all my money out of Vanguard.

I am extremely disappointed that I have to begin writing reviews on Vanguard. I opened accounts here because I thought "How bad can it be?" I am shocked to find out that in the four months since I opened accounts there, I have not been able to find or speak to one person that seems to have even an average knowledge on the subject of investments. They have wasted hours and hours of my time on the phone and in email. After asking to have a manager contact me, someone emailed me letting me know that I was not making their employees feel good! I guess I am not making them feel good because of the horrible advice I received. If I had followed the advice of one person who was assigned to sell me funds, I would have lost almost $100,000 during the last three months. It is clear from the simple questions that I have asked, they are either not educated in the field or they just don't understand what is best for the individual customer.

If you have a relative who has money with them and are nearing the end of their life, get them out of Vanguard.

I am in the midst of two harrowing incidents with Personal Advisors Services and the Annuities Group with inherited assets. Annuities group sent me forms and received them and said all was well mid-November. Nothing happens by early December (first annuitized payment fails to send out.) The first representative spoken to yesterday researches, puts on hold, etc., consults, and says should have letter in three weeks confirming everything is fine with first disbursement now in early January which I pointed out was past the one year IRS deadline on inheritance. They held their ground and asked for manager. They stated one would call back in 1-2 hours (and of course they did not, never ever gotten a call back from a Vanguard manager to date.)

They try to be helpful when you call and I think the major issue is their website which is very inconvenient. The security locks in place are ridiculous as far as accessing your account is concerned. So I switched my phone number and ever since I have been unable to log in since I need a code send to my old phone number to log in. I have called and they have updated my phone number in the system and even at one point they walked me through the steps to update my phone number and banking information, but strangely the phone number is still stuck in their system after several attempts.

I had a problem with my account verification. Nicholas ** was very helpful and patient with me. He went out of his way to provide a step by step walkthrough of how to access my account. Issue was fixed. =)

Vanguard seems to have reduced the number of index funds and other options. Also, we have been underway on a transaction for my wife for a month without resolutions. They seem to be stepping on their own two feet. Finally, they seem to be pushing more their new “advisory” service more than effectively providing existing services. I plan to abandon ship.

Called Vanguard recently with three simple questions regarding my retirement account. The rep. placed me on hold three separate times for a lengthy delay each time. I was on the phone with them for forty-two minutes and for thirty-eight of them I was on hold. Their reps. are inept and extremely poorly trained. They knew nothing. After all the BS, they still could not answer my questions and advised me that they had to research the questions and send me the answers via snail mail in five days. PATHETIC!!!! In contrast, I called Merrill Lynch regarding a separate retirement account regarding the same three questions and was on the line less than five minutes and never placed on hold. Stay clear of Vanguard!

I'm an American living in Germany, and today I found myself locked out of my account because I no longer have access to my US phone number and therefore Vanguard can't text me a security code. Thinking I could easily get this rectified (PayPal fixed the same issue for me in 3 minutes), I called their help line. The rep told me the ONLY way to remove this added layer of security, and thus to get into my own account, is to fill out a paper form that must be NOTARIZED and then mailed to the US. The kicker is, I can't just use any old German notary. I have to use a US-certified notary, meaning I have to make an appointment at the closest US embassy (4 hours away by train), then pay $50 for the notarization on top of shipping costs.

Originally I thought a company like Vanguard should have an easy to navigate website for retirement plan participant to use. However, it took me very looonnng time to find the right link for investment option changes. The company purposely designed the web to make investor confused so finally they have to click the company's "advise service" to choose the funds. By the way, the link I found worked for the first two time, I could not be open for the third time.

I've been with Vanguard for over 25 years, and have been extremely good to me. In questions, recommendations, and lately, a banking issue. I had a few of my accounts linked to my bank and even though it took a while, the resolution center/group added my other accounts to my bank so I could do transactions. My other alternative would have been to get a notarized application for each account and mail it in. Great company.

I would not recommend Vanguard under any circumstance. July 18, 2019 I tried to transfer $10K of stock in-kind out of Vanguard to a different company. I gave an incorrect acct # causing the receiving firm to immediately send Vanguard a rejection notice--which they claimed over the course of 5 calls with my investment firm to NEVER have received...until we provided them with a tracking number from the receiving firm. So, they were generally lying for convenience. Also, Aug 13 Vanguard called me to say the transaction "settled"--BLATANT lie #1.

I have had an account, though sure not the largest, with Vanguard for many years. I have never had an issue until this summer. Briefly, I made an online international wire transfer of Euro 20K from my bank in Spain using the instructions on the Vanguard website. The account number is not correct for international transactions by some banks as it is a sorting code for US funds transfers only. Therefore my transaction was rejected by HSBC, NY. I began phoning both my bank and Vanguard. A man in Arizona was assigned to research the matter.

Every time I call Vanguard, I get a different answer. Today, I spoke with a woman who seemed as if she was really trying to help me only for her to hang up on me in the end. This has been an ongoing issue since September 5th, so this is my 4th phone call and still to no resolve. Anyway, after the debacle with the representative that pretended to assist me, I called back and got the rudest and most condescending csr I have ever spoken to. I was asking specific questions about the letter I’d received and instead of her answering my questions, she kept reading the letter to me. Why is vanguard so difficult to deal with? And how do they get away with subpar customer service? And for so many years, at that. I’ve had an account with them for 15+ years and I can honestly say, it’s always been horrific.

If you trade stocks or options do not USE Vanguard. One they will rape you on the commissions for Options tell you its because they keep COSTS low??? (Mind blowing). Each employee I talked to had no idea about the fee schedule and then just said oh well buyer beware. The arrogance of its employees is mind blowing. It’s almost like you have no shot. The technology for a company so big is well criminal in my opinion. I am thinking about suing over lack of clarity of fee schedules and lack of technology. DONT USE VANGUARD.

I've been a Vanguard client for over 20 years. 18 months ago the new CEO Buckley came in and changes happened quickly. Their platforms are the worst in the industry, slow, not the relevant info an investor wants, no understanding of good client relations and their claim to fame of low priced funds has been matched by every other fund company. Personnel are only saluting the hierarchy in the ivory tower. Suggest getting out ASAP!

Vanguard sucks. The way they run their business is horrible. They might as well take the hardship withdrawal option away because even if you meet the requirements for this it won’t be approved. What the ** is it there for? Thanks for wasting my time and providing misleading information regarding your requirements for this service. Do your ** job lames. I would smack all of you if I could. In conclusion they suck. And I would like to say ** for wasting my time with this scam.

I have been using Vanguard for 8 months now. No matter which browser or device I am using the website is incredibly slow. There are some options you can't get to work at all. Today was the last straw when the site wouldn't load for up to five minutes, then told me I had a zero balance. I called their 800 number and was told they were undergoing maintenance. What investment company undergoes maintenance during stock market hours? The person in the phone asked me if I wanted to make a trade or do something with my account. How the heck would I know? I can't see anything. Then I was totally stonewalled. Poor management. Pulling my money out as soon as I can. Anything would be better than this.

I am trying to enroll a new account to manage my retirement/401K with my new employer. Vanguard won't let me because their systems shows an old account from years ago. The issue is that I have two names (my maiden and married name) under the same SSN. They won't allow me to show proof of who I am by providing a copy of my ID or marriage certificate. They want me to guess which home address was used when the old account was setup. Because I've been working for several years, for different companies and have moved several times and I am playing a guessing game that's become very annoying and inconvenient. They will not provide any hints like year or employer name. I have to call customer service and provide 2 possible addresses. If neither address matches, I have to call back and try again. They need another process to verify old accounts. I have not had a good customer experience so far.

I was denied a hardship withdrawal for a pending eviction! I received an email from the company after 9pm (after business hours, so there is no way I could address the issue by phone the same day); stating I needed a signed eviction notice on company letterhead with my place of residence. I provided this by fax (the only way they will accept the documents and most antiquated form of transmitting business documents). I've had 2 strokes in 3 months and am on short term disability. My patience for clerical errors, incompetency to operate by guidelines the company has communicated to its clients is paper thin.

After the new president Mr Tim Buckley, was installed Dec 2018, and man who started Vanguard died about Nov 2018, I was not happy with all Buckley changes, so I started to transfer my accounts to Schwab on July 1, 2019 via electronic transfer. But Vanguard did not transfer my cash mutual funds nor permit me to sell them as I have done in the last 10 years.

Vanguard broker lied to me about there being no fees for transferring to another fund; the next day I looked at my Vanguard page and I had been charged $5,100.00. I immediately filed with the SEC online and then, I called and I got a girl broker who said the fund I was put into made less money than the fund I was in. The SEC==Security and Exchange Commission--helped me get "whole" the way I was before the broker lied to me. I had to call Vanguard every day to make sure they were restoring me to "whole" because it took a few minutes for that transaction but 7 days with me calling the manager every day to put back my account the way it was before the lying broker screwed me. I was told Vanguard had to "hand post" every entry. Never trust anyone with your money especially a so-called investment broker because they get paid to churn your money; this is how they make a living.

I called to process a forced 401K pension plan rollover. A prior employer, CVS, forced the rollover. Upon contacting Vanguard I was inaccurately provided information on payout options. I set-up a rollover IRA, per Vanguard's instructions, to be processed by electronic payment. Turns out they can't process as they stated. Hey, mistakes are made, I get it. But Joe ** of Vanguard on the return call was so grossly incompetent and rude in addressing the problem (that they created) that it was unconscionable. He argued, yelled and refused my multiple requests to be transferred to another representative, preferably a manager.

Have been on the phone with this company several times in ten days to inquire about cash out process. Not only was I told I never "registered" when setting up the acct., but that is humorous, since you have to do do ANYTHING online. *So, first mistake on their part. *New phone number was never entered as requested, so I am being told there is a & DAY WAIT Time for access. *Second mistake on their part. Three options were given for cashing out. FEDEX account would expedite one night delivery, but FEDEX website is down. Sending a check by mail takes up to ten days, which is ridiculous. Plus, changing your address makes it another seven days. *I have moved, so I can't help that.

Fell on hard times after getting out of a 20+ year toxic marriage where his “injury” led to falling behind on our mortgage. Requested a hardship withdrawal with all necessary paperwork included. Initial request was approved but I resubmitted with a revised amount because the previous one had expired. Now for some reason it’s been denied. The lender and attorney for the lender have never seen anything like what Vanguard is asking for in the way they need it. Not to mention the legal document they said I could request to have modified to satisfy them specifically excludes what they are requesting to protect my privacy. They don’t care and they’re rude. They won’t let you speak with anyone else, not even the “reviewer” making the decision! So I may be on the street in just a few weeks because I’m not able to get my own money! With three children as a single mom. There is something seriously wrong with this company.

I had employer sponsored 401K Plan with Vanguard for 5 months and terrible experience, they charged administrative fees $59 per year without any disclosure. I had rollover funds from my previous employer to Vanguard,I contributed 6% in order to get employer matching 3.5%, but they said I cannot get matching benefit because I did not stay with the employer long enough, it was not mentioned in any disclosure. When I changed my new job and requested Rollover Check from Vanguard, my funds were missing. When I call customer service, wasted time for over 30 minutes waiting and they said market dropped, that's why I received less. Please be aware of that, better save in your saving account.

Something I’ve never seen discussed is what I take to be Vanguard’s extreme risk aversion. I’ve had significant retirement assets invested with Vanguard and here are two of my experiences:

I am rolling over my previous employer 401K (Voya) plan to my current employer. Voya sent check to Vanguard a week ago and it was cached by Vanguard couple days ago. Vanguard has no records of my funds whatsoever. Vanguard is refusing to investigate why/how my retirement was lost. All info I gave (check #, tracking #, etc) was not enough for them. They keep telling that they cannot do anything on their end. It is amazing that financial institution like that cannot guarantee a safe fund transfer (paper check, really?)... But refusal to do anything on behalf of Vanguard is simply astonishing.

Vanguard site is frequently excessively slow or unresponsive. This has continued for months without resolution. Further, the site kept on loading a page pushing paperless after every transaction even though our account was already signed up for paperless. This went on for over a year - found out that we were supposed to call them to turn this off!

We sent our 2018 IRA contribution on April 15 2019. We have proof of the postmark. The mail must have been slow that week, because Vanguard got the check on April 23 (or so they say). They said since the mail was slow, they would not apply our IRA contribution to the prior tax year (?) We spoke to a number of other institutions as well as the IRS, and they all said the contribution should be accepted for the prior tax year. Vanguard thinks they can arbitrarily assign contributions to any tax year they want to, regardless of tax laws and regulations. We are filing complaints against them with both the IRS and the SEC and moving all of our families' funds out of these accounts to a more responsible and less incompetent institution.

Vanguard is the leader in providing low-cost index funds that have revolutionized and simplified investments for average people. However, Vanguard's service is quite poor and service investment advice can be remarkably poor. My impression is that Vanguard is staffed by rather green young professionals who have been taught to provide "The Vanguard Response" that is a curt and seemingly "definitive" advice... but without any understanding for or concern of the clients they are interacting with. And then, if you subscribe to their paid advisory service you get to pay $30,000 or more every year for their advice that does not fit the circumstances of your own unique life. My guess is that they don't have enough life experience to realize how naive and inappropriate they are. I don't think they are purposefully rude: they just don't know.

Timeshare Exit. When I was a young man, I went to one of those free lunch deals and got trapped into a timeshare. I gave up trying to get out of it and kept it for many years giving away my timeslot to family and friends. I thought all hope was lost until I talked to John. He assured me every step of the way, until I was finally free. Again, thank you guys so much. Now that I got some extra cash in my pocket, maybe I should buy another timeshare... Just kidding! Haha.

My father passed away and every single one of the three people I spoke to were absolutely horrendous. No sensitivity whatsoever. I can't even believe how rude they were to me. If they could only imagine losing both parents by 28 years old. I don't want to have to deal with this anymore than anyone else. But be sensitive, they essentially even asked me why I was calling, just to inform them that he passed away? Wow. I am so disgusted.

I was enrolled for many years in a retirement plan with Vanguard through my employer. For the most part, I did not reach out to them for assistance with anything and managed my decisions on my own. However, when I left my employer I decided to transfer my retirement funds to a new service provider. That is when I learned just how terrible this company is when it comes to providing customer service.

Working for TJX TJMAXX of Port Jefferson. I was automatically enrolled with Vanguard since start date I have created a platform for life benefits. Vanguard website & customer service has been a great experience. I love the options & extensive foundation for future service... Vanguard is definitely the way to go!!! Absolutely love working with them.

I applied for a Hardship Medical Withdrawal on March 26th, 2019. They asked for a detailed bill on letterhead to be included for processing my request. After spending 25.00 dollars to overnight the information, They waited three full days before posting that my request had been denied because now they needed an explanation of benefits to process the request and it would take another three days. It was suggested that I fax the information. I faxed the information as requested and after two days, they claim that they hadn't received the fax. I wasted 11.00 dollars on faxing the information that they claimed they never received, and that faxed went through on April 2nd,2019. After speaking to yet another customer service agent, I was told that it would be better to mail it rather than fax it. So I spent another 25.00 dollars to overnight express the information that was dated and received by Vanguard on 4/9/19.

Very professional and always willing to answer questions about how they invest your money. They give you wise advice on which way to get the most for the money invested. One of the best retirement investors.

I have had to push back my closing THREE times because of Vanguard's outdated and unrealistic processing. Firstly, I called every single day to make sure there was nothing else needed after having all my documents mailed overnight. Every employee told me everything was received, I then get an email at 10pm on a Tuesday that they were sure enough missing supporting documentation but didn't say what they were missing. So I did my own digging and sent what I thought they may have been missing. Whenever you send new documentation your processing time starts over another THREE business days, and you better believe they wait til the 3rd business day and hour. These employees don't care about the clients either, Jennifer ** and John **, rude and out of line. Moving my money to another Roth!

I have been a flagship client of Vanguard for many years but I am pulling all my money out. I used their filled-in deposit slip to deposit 3 checks in to my Vanguard Prime Money Market account. They "honored" two of the three checks and credited my account. They could not "honor" the third check which was identical to one of the other checks BUT THEY WOULD NOT DISCLOSE WHY. After numerous phone calls talking to numerous different customer service reps, they still could not tell me why they would not honor the check. They also could not tell me why it took over two weeks to return the check to me.

I was given incorrect information concerning using my IRA to make a service purchase from my state retirement. Vanguard made out the check incorrectly. Now I must pay taxes and an early withdrawal fee or get a new quote from the state which will increase my purchase price $5000 to $7000. Stunning incompetence for a financial company.

I would probably used all the expletives in the dictionary as to how frustrating it is to get them to process a loan following their own timeline. I started this loan request on March 8th, and today is March 20th and the transaction is still pending!! I am at day 12 of a request for a loan, the last piece of information they needed was sent 8 days ago, and they still have not wired the money. It took me 3 days to be on the phone with them constantly because they kept saying they didn't receive the paperwork, even though I submitted it, they kept saying I did not fax it.

Despite being a Flagship investor for over 10 years, Vanguard service has been the worst ever in my 30 years dealing with multiple financial institutions. They do not really care at all about personal investors. I am moving all my money elsewhere. Now that most Vanguard funds can be purchased elsewhere, I do not need to put up with their terrible service.

I have a Vanguard account through my work and my husband does not have any account. He wanted to do individual investment on opening traditional IRA account with Vanguard and we started the process online but had few questions before we started. With my husband's busy schedule he had asked me to call Vanguard to just get few simple questions answered before we open his account. I called Vanguard when my husband was at work. Customer service agent asked to talk to my husband and I told her he's no available and before even listening to my questions she said she can't answer any of my questions without talking to my husband. I wasn't asking any questions related to his or my account. Questions were just general and she would even listen to my question. They have clearly lost our business.

Some of the most incompetent people I have ever dealt with. Called about withdrawal information on multiple occasions. Got different answers from many different people. All give you the runaround. Finally someone condescendingly gave me the correct info. The ones that originally answer that never know anything anyway or normally friendly. The ones they have to get to actually try to answer you are always unfriendly and talk to you like you are stupid for asking.

It is pretty sad when you see so many people complain about one of the largest IRA holders in America. Did you know that when the market went down in Oct. 2018, people tried to get a hold of their account with Vanguard, and Vanguard froze all accounts for 3 whole days!! They blamed it on a computer glitch!!! No, it was because people were scared of the market and tried to cash out and Vanguard was blocking people from doing so. That is scary people!!! I have helped thousands of Americans protect their IRA over the last 12 years. My clients didn't lose in 2008 like most did. It is very simple to do. You have to look at all the warning signs right now!! Experts once again are warning us of social unrest and a financial crisis on the horizon. Are we going to ignore the same experts that warned us before the 08' crash again, or are we going to listen this time and protect our hard earned money?!!

Having been a Vanguard fan all these years I decided to open an account there and move some assets in. Long story short: 6 weeks into the process I still don't have my assets in Vanguard, thanks to the ineptitude and bureaucracy of Vanguard. Now for long story: I needed to open a revocable trust account. To open an account I had to establish an online ID, for which I had to call, talk to a rep and got that done. Did that, submitted the docs needed and waited. A couple of weeks later, got notified that account was open.

I recently tired of the stock market up & downs. I decided to transfer my Vanguard fund to TIAA bank money market. I did the transfer paperwork thru TIAA on January 10th to start the process. It's February 12th and I still don't have Vanguard's money yet. They say they still have nothing from TIAA. TIAA says they sent it to Vanguard on February 1st. Who's at fault; I don't know????

Vanguard failed to execute a stock order. When notified of their error, I was asked to submit proof which was promptly faxed to them. They then refused to rectify the error after several weeks of lengthy calls with often incompetent arrogant reps and "supervisors". This is not the first time I had a problem with timely execution with Vanguard, but it was certainly the most blatant as that same heavily traded stock was filled within that exact time frame at another brokerage house I had placed an order with. My family has been with Vanguard since it first started in the 1970's. I am at the helm now and I have sizable assets with them.

I recently scheduled a transaction to move my 401k from another financial institution to Vanguard. First of all the process is frustrating because it has to be done through a paper check in the mail. Really unbelievable in the XXI century. Second - When Vanguard received the check in the mail I was out of the country. Although I had call Vanguard prior to ensure they had all the required information, they were missing some information. They sent me an email asking me to get in touch with them. The only phone number provided was an 800 number I can not dial from abroad.

I'm working with my financial advisor to consolidate my 401k's and contacted Vanguard to have my 401k rolled over to another company. They tell me the company put two security questions on my account that only they have the answer to. How does that keep my money secure if the company is the only one with access? They refuse any other forms of proof of identification. Even after speaking with a supervisor they tell me if I cannot answer the questions I cannot access my 401k. Unbelievable. My financial advisor is as astounded as I am. I'm attempting contact with my former employer, but I may have to hire a lawyer to access my funds.

For at least five years I have had to write a check and transfer the money by iPhone. I have been sent the wrong forms, given conflicting advice and incurred unnecessary notary and attorney's fees. If they would look at their records, they would see a consistent transfer of the interest on a monthly basis for five years. The latest thing is no one notified me that they were changing checks which rendered a check I wrote to charity invalid. Now I will have lots of fees and stress trying to straighten this out. There is plenty of money to cover the check in the account. Once the craziness of the season is past, I am going to try to transfer to USAA. The attorney and the notary both stated and commented in a negative way about the absurdness of the situation.

The last 11 months of dealing with #Vanguard have been THE WORST experience I have had with ANY company. I’m not a dramatic person, I’m telling you the truth. We have received no information and then wrong information on numerous occasions, as well as paperwork that has been lost. After continued incompetence by a number of Vanguard reps my brother and I now risk losing 50% of our late father’s IRA. So frustrating and infuriating.

I want to advise I find that Vanguard to be the least customer focused investment company you could find. I deal with several and they do not hold a candle to the others. Their staff is not trained at all, takes multiple calls, errors are high and they do not value their client. Ease of doing business is horrible, like dealing with the government. Error after error after error even when you call to confirm it is wrong. Also Vanguard just doesn't care. A horrible company. Use someone else such as Fidelity.

Fellow consumers, do not ever use Vanguard. They made major and highly problematic - unauthorized changes to my account, refused to reinstate the prior account settings, and insist they didn't. Made no meaningful effort to correct their errors. Frequently offered forms of sympathy in response to my protests, took no responsibility.

I have been trying to request a loan from my 401k since 11/29/18. It is now 12/11/18 & Vanguard is still dragging their feet with this! There is absolutely no reason why I shouldn't be able to access my money at this time!

I came upon hard times and after using all of my resources I got the bright idea to apply for a hardship loan. On 11-15-18 I applied for the loan. Today is 12-6-18 and I still haven't received it. Upon calling Vanguard after waiting 5 days for a deposit. I was told my bank rejected the deposit. No-one reached out to me to let me know there would be a delay. Guess I can read minds. I was told it would take 3-5 days to process and an additional 7-10 days to receive in the mail. My thing is this. If I am applying for a HARDSHIP LOAN that means times are hard. I literally can't afford to wait all of these extra days.

Via online, I requested a "sell" and transfer of funds to me via postal service via check. A full 28 days later and check has not arrived. In the meantime, I "connected" my Vanguard account to my bank as I anticipated that they would either have to resend a check else electronically transfer. Their procedure for "connecting" Vanguard to one's bank includes two "microtransactions". After one views the transactions at one's bank, they are to go back online with Vanguard and enter the two transaction amounts. Vanguard then retrieves those two microtransaction deposits. A FULL two days after Vanguard retrieved those deposits, Vanguard STILL does not allow me to transfer funds electronically to my bank. So I merely asked them to send me a replacement check via snail mail. I hope it arrives. Vanguard's customer service is absolutely pathetic. In the New Year, I will be moving my IRA far, far away from Vanguard.

So my younger sister died from metastatic breast cancer, she had an IRA with Vanguard. Vanguard's last statement to her said it was worth $1785. That's not much, but she paid into it what she could. She suffered for five years with the cancer before she left us. We started the process to close the account and cash it out. They told me that my Durable power of attorney was no good as it pertained to their company, it would hold no water and we'd have to use their paperwork. They sent the wrong paperwork to fill out and return, questioned my sisters state of mind when she signed the power of attorney and questioned the notary that handled the power of attorney. Delaying the process at every step. My sister passes and it goes into a lawyer's hands at this point. They claim the value of the IRA to be $1100 now and after three times before a judge, the final payout was $600.

I am writing pertaining to a Hardship Withdrawal I recently made. My request was for $2000.00 to cover my “Hardship” but when all said and done, the amount I received was $1500.00. I understand the $200.00 Federal Withholding amount and the $50.00 fee to process from Vanguard but I don’t understand where the other $250.00 went? I am aware of the so called fluctuation in the market that you listed that could affect the withdrawal but I did not see any proof of this fluctuation listed anywhere. So I am to assume that the “market” just fluctuated as Vanguard stated, so I am out $250.00? When I request a certain amount, that is the amount I need. So I need to request more than the amount I need so I can get the amount I need? No. Also what if the “Market” fluctuates up? Then you are going to give me more than I requested? I think not.

I am Trustee for my brother and have tried unsuccessfully to establish an IRA and an additional fund for the RMD and then be able to invest this money in other accounts. In order to have the forms notarized with two additional signatures I have to take my handicapped brother from his assisted living facility to an accessible lawyer’s office. First attempt, "Fill out this form for the IRA." Second attempt, "Wrong form, fill out this one." Third attempt. "We need the first form but you need to redo it." Fourth attempt. "Fill out this form for the other account on retirement account." Filled out the form and mailed it in their prepaid envelope. They lost it. If there was a no star rating, I would give it. This process has spanned months and taken hours of time. I have been a client for over ten years and not had problems. Anything that involve me as a Trustee will be handled by local professionals going forward. I just pulled the money from Vanguard.

My sister and I are trustees and executor of our deceased parents' estate. We have been attempting to establish access to my parents' investments for about 9 months now. Each time we file paperwork, Vanguard says that is not the correct paperwork, or it is not filled out correctly, or it is now expired, or additional paperwork is needed. We get a different story every time we call. We fill out the exact paperwork they send, and put in exactly what the Vanguard person tells us to enter, then weeks later an entirely different person tells us that is not correct. They act like they don't have any idea why we were given those forms or those directions.

I recently put in for hardship withdrawal. First I mailed my application with supporting documents. It was going on one week. And no one call me to tell me that I downloaded the wrong application. No email. Nothing. Then I went to fax over the application. Another week goes by. The fax was not right. I had to fax another one over. Every time I called not one told me that when my application is terminated all the documents. I am thinking they still have my letter from the landlord. Another week goes by. Getting stressed as ever. So I finally get my application over. Waited 2 days and gets deny again. The very first rep should have told me that would happened. Not fair. I just want my money.

Unfortunately, my husband and I fell on hard times about two weeks ago and we were behind on the rent. We received a three-day notice on our door, and after exhausting all our resources, I decided to take a withdrawal from my 401K with Vanguard. On 9/15 submitted my request via their website and on Monday, 9/17, I faxed all supporting documents (application and three-day notice) to the 1-800 number provided on the application. I waited about 2-3 days on the decision of my withdrawal request. I decided to call on Wednesday and I was told my documentation would not suffice as it was not on company letterhead. OK, no problem. Our leasing office reprinted the letter on their letterhead and I re-faxed the document on 9/20.

I have been dealing with Vanguard to do a hardship withdrawal since August 15th and they keep telling me they need more information. They have asked for more information at least twice a week at this point, and now our closing is next week and we still cannot get the money because once again they need more and different information! This is the most ridiculous company to deal with. They do not even know what they are looking at when they get the information from you. I was on hold for 45 mins while 2 associates looked at the information I sent them because they couldn't figure it out either - so they make up more excuses. I believe they try to not make the deadline of the request. Nobody should use this company. Unfortunately that is who our company uses for 401k. I will be informing them of the issue I had with this as well - because I am sure there are more people in our company that have had issues.

I spent a total of 12 hours this summer on the phone with Vanguard filling out paperwork to switch my accounts to Vanguard, explaining in each conversation that I am a US citizen who lives and works abroad. In my last conversation with a Rep, (before sending in my paperwork), the man even asked me for my foreign address, and I gave it to him. I sent in all my paperwork, being reassured that I could open accounts with them, and then I get the letter saying my accounts cannot be open because I live and work abroad!

I started a rollover request with Vanguard on July 20th. They liquidated my account that same day and supposedly mailed out my check the next day. It has been over a month, and still no check received by my bank. We are in a new millennium yet they don't have the means to do a direct transfer to my bank. They use snail mail on purpose, so that they can claim that the check is LOST, and then they get to sit on YOUR money for months, before you can get the money into a bank and start investing on it.

Vanguard is all smiles until you are in need of your money for an emergency. The nice act goes out the window! They will tell you anything you give is not good enough. They ask for letters they know apartments are not willing to give. They are sly and they take 3 days to review paperwork every time you send in something new. They won’t call you with updates. You have to harass them and find out what’s going on. Me and my family are about to be homeless because of Vanguard!

Extremely bad customer service from Corey ** that, he should be fired. Very irresponsible, immature worker. Never helps, always round and round. Please help me seek my letter which I had sent last Tuesday, July 31st, it has court letter and death certificate. Never ever use this worst institutions again.

Vanguard has some of the best index funds in the Markets. Expense Ratio are very good, though the competition is catching up. The quality of service, their website are VERY POOR. Their first level service staff are the most incompetent and this is US based service. If they sent this service to India or the Philippines, I am sure that the technical content would be better.

Started roll over procedure month ago, got the paperwork confirming the transaction almost the next day, but still no check. Each time I call there: "We will resend the check. Please allow 10 business days."

We have been trying to transfer 4 small IRAs to Vanguard and keep getting nowhere (2 at US Bank & 2 at Reliance Bank MO). It's like they don't realize they win by accomplishing successful transfers to themselves??? We have lots more money to invest...why wouldn't they want an opportunity??? They tell us we supplied wrong account numbers (which isn't true) or the wrong paperwork (which they specifically supplied). It feels like they must do very little transactions successfully and have no good foundation for completing them.

During my divorce Vanguard showed preferential treatment to my spouse in joint brokerage and money market accounts. Although there was supposed to be a freeze on all our assets, Vanguard allowed my former husband to make unauthorized withdrawals without the court’s permission to the tune of ~ $140K. Vanguard then also froze all accounts joint and in my name only, because of a garnishment from corrupt guardian ad litem (GAL). The requested garnishment amount was over 10 times less than the value of the assets frozen. This caused extreme hardship on me and my children even after the divorce litigation was over. Also, since Vanguard’s office is in Pennsylvania and I live in a different state, the GAL could not settle the garnishment without opening a separate case in a Pennsylvania court. To say Vanguard did NOT have a client’s best interest at heart would be an understatement.

My recent experience with Vanguard.com indicates that company may be trying to maintain its low operational cost by saving on customer security and compromising site consistency. Company will benefit from complete end to end review of Information Safety and Consistency of its customer facing website. I am long-term Vanguard customer and I was routinely kicked out of the system after entering sensitive personal financial information, in the middle of financial transactions. It appears as if Vanguard is not able to fund sufficient IT support and may be using junior IT workforce.

For the last 18 years, Vanguard has been the poorest company I have ever not had the pleasure of doing business with. They are so poorly trained as how to conduct themselves with the age group of retired citizens. People who have worked for 20 yrs or more to obtain the retirement funds that Vanguard is distributing to us. This is MY MONEY, NOT THEIRS! Yet every time I need to make an address change, bank change or even just ask questions, they act like they don't know what they are doing. I spoke to one person and they told me one thing and when I called back 10 minutes later, I was told something completely different. I am now looking to have my funds transferred to another company.

Vanguard deserves zero stars for lack of caring and horrible customer service. They transferred ALL my retirement funds to another vendor without any communication on their part as to where funds were sent. The service specialist basically said it's my problem to sort out now that I am not with them.

This company failed to send me my Tax Forms for 2017. It took 4 phone calls and a FedEx letter to get this fixed. Also they changed me to electronic mail only, without my permission. I moved my money elsewhere. A bad company.

My 3 siblings and I have been trying to transfer 2 inherited IRAs to Vanguard since the beginning of February. I have redone my paperwork 5 times all because of their errors not mine. I have been constantly lied to. They blamed the holder of the assets until we conference them in and it came out all of the problems were by Vanguard and they hadn't even sent the paperwork out. All is needed is an acceptance letter but VG won't send it until they are happy with their paperwork. My siblings have called and receive the wrong forms, lies, and excuses. We have hours of time and hundreds of printed pages and aren't even close to getting this transaction completed.

If I could give them ZERO STARS I would... I applied for a hardship withdrawal to complete the construction of my primary residence. I am in the middle of a construction loan and due to overages on materials and labor versus what the original bids were, I am stuck without a completed home. I contacted Vanguard and after explaining the situation to the Vanguard associate that was on the phone, they told me no problem, told me exactly what I needed in order to complete the hardship withdrawal, and sent me the packet in the mail. Upon receipt, I read again what was needed for a custom build construction loan, I got all the information together, and sent the completed packet to them via 2 day mail with tracking to ensure it was received. I also included a cover letter explaining the hardship situation.

It's like pulling teeth to open an account with Vanguard. Many other financial institutions, including brokerages, value their clients and leverage technology to provide exceptional customer service. Not so with Vanguard. Plan on a minimum of three weeks to a month to open a new account as it has to be done in multiple steps via USPS or other hard-copy messenger. There are other options of course, if you prefer telegraph or -- wait for it -- facsimile transmission! (Pony Express would probably be faster.) Congratulations, Vanguard, on making simple processes complex and quick transactions interminably lengthy. In fact, I entered this comment while on hold with Vanguard Customer Service for 25 minutes and counting...

On March 28 I started a process for a HARDSHIP withdrawal, hence the word HARDSHIP. Today April 6, I'm still have not completed step 1 of the process. Vanguard SUCKS. I've had 401K in the past and had to withdraw and it took all of 3 days. I'm hoping I can move my 401K to a much better company. I don't recommend anyone to use Vanguard, every representative I've talked to has a different way of doing things. Khiana ** the supervisor was no better, in fact she needs a few lessons in customer service.

This company is an absolute joke. We went for 6+ months without going into the account and they refuse to let us back in. They have a lot of our money and will not help us log in. We've wasted over 10 hours on the phone with them and they are not helpful at all. We are filing a complaint with the CA Attorney General and hiring a lawyer to sue them for access to the account.

I just recently helped my wife switch over her Roth IRA from USAA to Vanguard. I've tried to get help with basic account and online functions twice. Both times, customer service has been very rude and not helpful, particularly when they see that the account is in my wife's name. As I manage my family's finances, I made the phone call. Yesterday, the guy told me he would not help me because the account was in my wife's name, then he asked to speak with my wife. I let him speak with her and she gave the answers to her security questions and handed the phone back to me. The customer service rep was still a complete jerk and not helpful at all. I'll probably be looking for a new investment company soon.

Low fees and no broker pushing something for his personal profit And no churning. They offer Solid mutual funds and ETFs that have made me money for nearly 30 years.

I retired in 2014 and had my 401K account with Vanguard. I left it there as it was doing well and I did not want to withdraw funds. Last November, 2017 I called Vanguard to inquire about withdrawing some after tax money. I was told my 401K had to be rolled over from my employer account to Vanguard. I agreed and the agent walked me through the steps. Fast forward to Feb. 1, 2018. I called Vanguard to make a withdrawal. After being transferred to several agents, it was determined my rollover was not done correctly, a 'human error' - my 'after tax' money was not moved to the correct area, whatever that means.

Vanguard's website more difficult to use than Fidelity. The information I look for seems easier to retrieve and gives me more of the information when I start up on the site cost bases, how much have I earned, and percent of loss or gain.

I don't have many transaction with VG but my entire IRA is with them because they are very clear in their processes plus prompt and reliable. I have been with them for over 40 years.

I have communicated with many Vanguard representatives, while especially within their Flagship area. Over many past years, I have spent time with Male representatives & I feel are not personally helping me out compared with other females representatives that I feel care more. But either/or, they fully & clearly including extensive support, while psychologically reviewing my overall responses & reassuring that everything was fully right on my side.

I've used Vanguard for almost 6 years. First with funds acquired through my divorce, that was put away and I watched it dramatically grow. Then this year I acquired fund from the death of a family member, and funds that they had acquire the same way. I got a personal VG assistant to help me put the funds where they would best grow. They have been wonderful at helping increase all my funds quite a bit in 10 months!

I contacted John ** with Vanguard in reference to transferring my IRA of $500,000 to Vanguard. After a brief discussion John sent me a portfolio of making only 5% over 20 years. I responded through email I would like to make more since I am working and do not need access to it. He emailed me back that based on my attitude about the market he would not offer any more.

My father passed away early October 2017 and it took until late February 2018 for the trust funds to be sent to us heirs. Other similar companies my father invested with, such Fidelity, completed the trust work within a few months. Vanguard's slowness for 5 months, losing records, back and forth with their Resolution Team, and whatever they were doing with his money, cost us many thousands in lost investment income, such as benefiting from Bitcoin's rise.

My mother has done business with Vanguard for about 15 years. She passed away recently, and my brother and I were to inherit 50% each of her TOD accounts. Documentation has been in place since 2006. Vanguard partially filled in forms that we were to finish and return to them with our wishes. I had chosen to set up a new account with my half of the funds. My brother wanted to cash his half out. Our forms were sent in, and weeks passed with no word from Vanguard. I called to see what the status was and was kept on hold for 25 minutes before I hung up in frustration.

I had a 401K plan through Vanguard with a prior employer. I have been attempting to roll the Vanguard funds into the 401K I have with my current employer (administered by another institution). It seems to be a pretty common and straightforward transaction but it has been an absolute nightmare. The "first level" customer support at Vanguard doesn't ever seem to be able to answer questions or give me the necessary information or documentation and almost always escalates my calls. After a MONTH and countless hours of phone calls to Vanguard it was determined that Vanguard was unable to supply my new plan administrator with the paperwork that my current employer-funded 401K requires in order to roll the funds into my current 401K.

This January, 2018, I began going over all the documents required to file my 2017 federal income tax return. A letter came in from Vanguard, who I and my wife have our IRA retirement accounts with. I opened the mail and found that Vanguard had mistakenly sent not one, but, two required minimum distributions from my wife's account in December. I attempted to log in to the Vanguard account to verify this error, to no avail. Seems that Vanguard has locked the account. Next, I call Vanguard and, after speaking to no less than 5 "customer service representatives" over a two hour period and being hung up on several times, I was sent a form via email to fill out, have notarized, and return via snail mail to Vanguard to get the account password reset.

I transferred 5500 into account for the IRA. Call taker said I transferred it into the brokerage account. But was walked through by a previous call taker who confirmed. Result: stocks sold at a loss today to cover the error. Fortification: call taker said the site is hard to navigate, you may have been confused. Conflict: I had never seen the brokerage transfer page which is totally different than the IRA. Brokerage is GUI interface with buttons and IRA is multi selection boxes which looks like old format which I was used to. They offered no solution. Even though my brokerage acct had 5500 in it they would not transfer to IRA account to fix issue and told me to wait 7 days. Wow. Bye.

I tried to transfer funds into a money market fund before the close as the market had gone down considerably that day. The website froze and when I called to talk to someone at Vanguard the lines weren't being answered and many times it would go right to a busy signal. The market closed and it wasn't until after a half hour later I was able to finally talk to someone. I thought because their website froze and they didn't answer their phones that they could do a manual entry to get me the market's close price. On the contrary, I was given a speech about Vanguard's market philosophy. The speech went "you really shouldn't sell because the market may go back up and you'll miss the opportunity." Really? How about the market already went down over 1400 points, it could go down another 1000, and I want to stop the losses.

I've been trying to rollover money from my previous employer's to my current employer's 401K, Vanguard. The website said they were still waiting for my check, which was sent January 10th, 2018. I called Vanguard today, 01/22/2018, to inquire why my balance was still low. They said no check was received and all they could do was leave a message with someone to possibly find it. I then went back and forth between Vanguard and my previous 401K company a total of five times as Vanguard requested more and more information.

Vanguard has taken a month to open my account, then double draft. I agreed to $10,000 for 2020 retirement fund. They took 10,000 then 6 days later took another 10,000 leaving me with enough cash to buy groceries for a week. To top it all, they had put my money in a Money market account, the same as a toilet account. I had been specific in my opening that it was for the 2020 Retirement fund that made 6.9 % in 2016; 15% last year. Instead it made 3 cents in January. So they had 20,000 to play around with. When I called to inquire they left me on hold for more than 10 minutes. I called back after the weekend and through all the bull they wanted to discuss they said they would wire it today, but my bank may charge me for the wire!? Wow. I said no, just send it by cheapest way, I made a mistake and since my money is still in MONEY MARKET, send me a copy of the application where I specified RETIREMENT FUND 2020.

Vanguard exhibits a pattern of retaining client funds. They have onerous procedures to delay and frustrate clients hoping many give up. That is certainly my experience and as I read the reviews of Vanguard that appears to be the experience on most reviewers. I have dealt with other brokerage firms and never encountered anything similar. Unfortunately clients look for reviews such as these when they are frustrated and not before they commit funds to Vanguard. As in my case my company used Vanguard for deferred income and 401K accounts; therefore, I assumed Vanguard had a good reputation. My experience since my retirement three years ago has not been good. I began trying to withdraw the funds immediately after my retirement and to date they still retain a small portion of my funds which they refuse to relinquish to me.

I had Vanguard for my 401k which was then transferred to a private IRA when I left my company. They had done a great job of investing for me. I suggested my husband roll his 401K money into an IRA there as well. We recently tried to transfer some of HIS money out to HIS checking account and what a disaster they have been - it is a bit of a story I won't bore you with - but basically we keep sending in the form since they wanted to verify who my husband was since I was involved, as well as verifying his identity on the phone 4 times with his security questions.

I was forced to deal with Vanguard because my employer had them as the retirement fund administrator for their plan. They were extremely difficult to deal with. In one case they waited three days from the date they received my transaction order (verified delivery by return receipt from post office) until they acted on it. The transaction value in that time moved nearly a thousand dollars in their favor, and they refused to even discuss it! Happiness is Vanguard in the rear view mirror!

Long time investor and I have all of my retirement savings. One day my password stops working. I try the online reset. No dice... I wait a few days and the same. Then I call in and while I am certain about the questions they didn't pass their system and I have to wait two weeks to get resetting stuff in snail mail... They can't (won't) email me a reset. Turns out it was a bug in their system. All said it was the condescending tone that bothered me.

I have been a client since 2003. Until 3 years ago I never experienced any negative event with Vanguard. I was praising the company anytime its name came up in a discussion. I do strongly believe that did an amazing job to make investing affordable, straightforward, and "honest". Vanguard is truly a gift to any customer. Also, I am aware that Vanguard is a low-cost solution and no-frills.

I am appalled at the lack of professionalism with Vanguard. My husband passed away in August and he had funds in 12 different brokerage houses. At the advice of our attorney, it was suggested to bring all accounts under one house as the money is going to a local charity. Ten of the brokerage firms have been outstanding to deal with and the one that funds are being transferred to has been timely and professional in all ways. All is taken care of EXCEPT for Vanguard... the request went to them eight weeks ago, and they have one rule after another… just when you think you are done, you are NOT... I finally demanded to speak to someone who knew what they were doing and participated in a three way call with Vanguard, the accepting brokerage firm and myself. After two levels of staff, I thought we were done. NO... then I got assigned a broker to move the money to me under Vanguard.

Do not use Vanguard for any retirement planning. You can find other index trading funds that don't charge the fees they do. Unless you have millions of dollars, they don't offer you any help. I tried rolling my 401k over and it took them 5 months!! They did not help at all, sat on a notarized letter for over a month and refused to apologize for it. Passive investing a great way to grow money, but just because they invented it, doesn't mean you need their help. I highly recommend placing your money elsewhere. Unless you're a glutton for abuse and shoddy customer service, do not use Vanguard!

I have been a Vanguard client for several decades and my husband has been for many years. We have always had a good experience until this last month when we tried to actually get our money out. It was the worst experience and one that has caused us to move all our retirement out of Vanguard. I had four CDs with Vanguard of which one matured in Spring of 2017. At the beginning of August 2017 I decided to use another brokerage and they sent a request to have a check for the full mature CD amount sent to them as was legally binding to do. Each week I called Vanguard and they said the check was being issued the following day for three weeks. Today going on the fourth week from their receipt of the fax to move the funds they said they just began the process. They have literally held my funds for going on a month that were sitting in cash and lying about releasing it three consecutive weeks in a row.

Applied for debt transfer of funds. Company made a mess, no communication, terrible website. This company is nothing but a scam, beware! I need legal advice on how to proceed. I wish someone would investigate these charlatans.

I am an American living in a foreign country. I will retire soon and I want to be able to wire money from my Vanguard account to my foreign bank where I live. I did this once fifteen years ago with a written letter and they sent me $10,000 no questions asked. Now, I just want to set up the same ability in the new country where I live. They now told me I need to fill in an International Wire Service form with the banking information and get a Medallion Signature Guarantee. This you can supposedly get at any American bank or if you aren't near an American bank, you can go to the American Consulate nearest you to get a Signature Acknowledgement. So on a visit to America, I tried to get a Medallion Signature Guarantee at my American bank. No, they don't give out Medallion Signature Guarantees, my bank tells me.

My 88 year old mother needed money transferred to her checking account. She has difficulty hearing on the phone and asked me to take care of it. I have power of attorney. I sent them the document last year and had no problem transferring the money. This year I hit a brick wall with every person I spoke with. Apparently Vanguard has a new form that must be notarized... They totally disregard the legal document I have to perform duties my mother request or task I must do to maintain the 24/7 care needs. It is very stressful watching your parents age, Vanguard chooses to add to that stress. I see there are many complaints about Vanguard... Maybe it is time for a group of children of aging parents begin a class action lawsuit.

Not sure why companies choose such cheap IRA companies like Vanguard. Customer service is horrible and services were worst. There is no way to send any singed documents other than hard copy in MAIL. Can't send Scanned copies to them. Oh yea forgot Vanguard have cheap Fax... Which takes forever to update your file in system or may never receive for 2 or 3 days.

I recently had to withdraw from my IRA. I read some reviews about the process and was a little nervous because they've apparently had some negative feedback, but this didn't fit my experience. I didn't ever have to wait on hold to speak to someone. That was nice, since that's obviously commonplace with any customer service department. My rep was patient and explained everything to me that I would need to know. I was initially misquoted the time it would take to process a direct deposit, but they redeemed themselves after they mailed the check to me. They quoted me 5-7 business days and it only took two days to arrive in the mail. Overall, it was mostly positive and I wouldn't hesitate to use the service again.

For the past seven months, my parents and I have been in communication with Vanguard to transfer my parent's holdings to a new account. Despite a stack of documentation and lengthy phone calls from the lawyer's office and from us, we remain at square one. In our conversations with Vanguard associates, we are asked for the same basic information which we have repeatedly provided, but it gets lost in the shuffle when received at Vanguard. They then contact us with a case reference number which they can't access when we call back or when we mail the requested material. I have never worked with such an inept, incompetent, disorganized organization before, and I fear for the money invested and held by this company.

I have had continual problems with Vanguard's customer service. My mother had an IRA with Vanguard, which I was to inherit when she passed away. When she died, the process was incredibly difficult. I had to jump through many hoops, yet every time I do so, another representative seemed to put up another hoop. It was finally resolved, over the course of a very long time, many phone calls with unhelpful and unknowledgeable representatives. That was approximately five years ago.

I tried to rollover an IRA from my credit union to Vanguard. Vanguard tried to take it from the wrong savings share. I saw an overdraft at my bank and contacted my credit union, who told me to contact Vanguard. Vanguard couldn't wait to get me off the phone; the rep was curt, kept speaking over me, and told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I asked for a manager several times, and all the rep would do was put me on hold, then finally admitted that they screwed up the transfer. I asked for a manager AGAIN, and the rep said everything was corrected and not to worry. Well. My bank told me Vanguard still had the wrong account and urged me to have Vanguard correct it ASAP. I called Vanguard back. The new rep said the IRA had rolled over, it didn't matter that the bank account was listed incorrectly on their end, and, even if it did matter, it couldn't be changed until the original bank account was verified.

The delinking occurred before July 2016 and I noted the error June 2017 so one full year elapsed with my account value noted to be $75,000 less than it actually was.

You have unprofessional personnel that is working on equipment that they have not been certified to do. This technician they have working on my Volvo don't even know what type of oil he is putting in my truck. During the middle of a service he goes to lunch. I have been here since 8:30 a.m. He started serving my truck at 10:00 a.m. and my truck is still not be yet. But he goes to lunch. Instead of finishing the service on my truck. If something happened to my truck this complaint against Vanguard will be in my phone.

Using their website is like using Windows 95 in a world on Mac technology. Overall trying to roll over any retirement account, adding an agent, or just user friendliness from their website to their forms and customer service is like dealing with a company that is still stuck in the early 90's. I highly warn you to stay away from using them because it will cost you a lot of time and grief. Do yourself an investment and look at newer alternatives like betterment and so forth.

Base on my experience with Vanguard trying to retrieve any funds invested by loan or withdrawal are like pulling teeth. I have attempted to pay off a loan from a 403b plan and there is still a balance that reflects due to uncommon application of payment practices. There is no need to speak with a supervisor as they will only repeat information. It takes 20 minutes of hold time the representative provides them with. There is never a resolution that is applied to assist with any transaction issue that will not require a week of waiting. No complaint can be filed formally unless mailed as I was informed from a supervisor. This company's practices with pay-offs, withdrawals, and loan request should be evaluated for compliance. Also the way interest is applied towards payment should be reviewed for compliance as well.

Called Vanguard, with a question about my account. They informed me they were recording my call. I informed Vanguard that I was recording the call also. Would not talk to me if I was recording call. Why can Vanguard record the call, but I can't?

I was calling the customer service to notify them that my brother, a Vanguard customer, had died. I requested information about how to put his funds in probate. I was switched to the department who can supposedly assist me and have been waiting for 1 hour and 36 minutes now. A person comes on about every 20-30 minutes to tell me to continue to hold. Customer service is clearly the very lowest priority at this company.

Within the last year, the majority of my contacts with Flagship representatives have been negative. I have never understood the purpose of the Flagship representatives. They seem to be newbies in the firm who turn over at a rapid rate so never develop a "relationship". They are disrespectful and controlling. I was asked "why" I was making a transfer from one account to another within Vanguard (it's my money; I manage it!). Yesterday the new Flagship representative in his introductory call argued with every statement I made and after saying "internet access" could be denied, did just that. Monday I am calling a supervisor and asking to be transferred. I would really like not to have to deal with these young, poorly trained and transitional staff at all. The sole advantage to Flagship is the lower rates.

Vanguard's cs number is fraudulent. I got an error screen on the website when I tried to buy a mutual fund, and I got a recording trying to sell me unrelated products such as DirecTV and a new mobile service. When I did not go for any of the offers, it told me to hang up.

I have had 3 unpleasant experiences recently with Vanguard. I guess lower cost comes with a price. I had recently requested (Online) Vanguard to convert my small cap Investor Shares (NAESX) to Admiral Shares (VSMAX) when the online portfolio prompted me to convert because the balance satisfied the minimum required for Admiral Shares. Something got messed up in their system with the conversion and it's been a month and they have not able to resolve it. And even worse, the system does allow me to trade that fund, because the fund conversion is in pending state.

All I wanted to do was update my mailing address. The customer service rep told me that he needed the month and day that I started with my company. I asked a couple of simple clarifying questions, and he would state that he couldn't provide me with any clarifying answers. He was extremely rude and not helpful. I'm extremely dissatisfied with this representative.

I called a couple weeks ago to ask a simple question about my account. It is (was?) an employer sponsored 401k that was transferred by my former employer from Wells Fargo (very easy and friendly to deal with). Vanguard required that I contact my former employer and get my start date and separation date from that employer. I verified ALL other information and they still would not speak with me regarding the account. When I called back, like the first time, I was transferred several times before speaking to someone that could help me.

With high hopes, I started investing my wife's IRA at Vanguard a few years ago. Now that we are buying our first home, we requested a withdrawal for down-payment. Even after 9 working days, the check hasn't arrived. We already extended the closing date once, looks like we have to extend it again. And now I am afraid when we are going to get that money. I guess after this fiasco, I will move all my wife's accounts somewhere else.

After my husband passing away, his funds for 401K were transferred to Vanguard by the company he worked for. After 6 months I called them because I needed the money. They kept me on the phone for almost 3 hours and transfer my call to 5 different individuals. No one was able to help me, they couldn't located the money anywhere. I was beyond frustrated and the last person just hang up on me. The next day I did contact HR of the company my husband worked for and they told they have all the proof that my husband money was transfer there. It took another day to HR to get an answer for them. After that they requested documents included my marriage certificate in order to send me the check. I don't know yet when I will receive the check. This is the worst of the worst institutions to make business with.

I've been a member with Vanguard for more than 10 years. I've been noticing that the customer service is getting worse and worse each year. Today, I simply ask the associate to explain to me some of the transactions associated with my account and she can't explain it. She even said, "we don't have a record of where the cash came from." SERIOUSLY?! How does Vanguard (or any business) stay in business when it does know the sources of cash flow. This is a case of incoming cash... can you imagine if it were my outflowing cash? They also don't have a record of where the cash of flowing to!!! SCARY!!! She said that I needed to write a letter if I want to know where the cash came from. Write a letter?! I have tax to pay in about 15 days... and aren't we living in the digital age? Why can't this be done digitally? I'm seriously considering to change brokerage company. Sad.

Absolutely the worst investment company with atrocious customer service. Due to lack of foresight, Vanguard's lack of attention to detail caused my new company's retirement department to send me my Rollover check back to me and labeled it as an "Ineligible Rollover" because Vanguard did not include a Proof of Plan Qualification nor a Distribution statement of the funds, despite numerous requests to do so. Process started all over again with multiple phone calls to Vanguard and wait times averaging over 1 hour.

I called Vanguard to retrieve some money out of my accounts. They sent 3 checks out that took 8 days to arrive (USPS). Checks were made out to my address, my name nowhere on them. Bank declined to accept. This is when it got bad. I called Vanguard, I was put on hold and dropped several times before I finally got someone to keep me (on hold for over and hour) then just when I thought I was getting somewhere "Nathan" said he would transfer me to someone who was in the Department I needed to speak to. I sat on hold another hour. I gave up, called again, to be told that Nathan had went home for the day! Left me on hold while he went home. They assured me it would be taken care of. Checks would be sent FedEx over night, might take a day to get them out. Supervisor assured me I'd be called 2 days later to confirm this. No call was received so I called again.

I've attempted to withdraw money from my investment account to no avail TWICE in different years. They play the "wear our personal investors down until they throw their hands up and quit" game very well. Each time as requested I've resubmitted documents, submit additional document, and then resubmitted sometimes the same documents already received. The customer service representatives are well versed on the company needs, but have no clue OR have no motivation to RELEASE MY MONEY when I need it. They claim there isn't any way to speak to the department that receives these documents to verify... you have to wait until they enter them in the system. I have never been successful at withdrawing money to ease the financial burden for 2 life emergencies (12 years with Vanguard) that I've had which totally further frustrates my situation. This organization SUCKS!

I moved 3 years ago and have called Vanguard 3 times a year since (record of 9 names and dates), each time they assured me they changed my address. Over 1 hour again on the phone today only to be told they can't change as account out of their control. Meantime person information continues to be sent to my old address. This isn't okay, they have a responsibility to protect my information. Only way to change is to send them more information via fax. I am moving all accounts out. This isn't the way to protect your investors.

They have the court order in hand. It is no secret that he owes the money. He knows he owes it, and so do they. In the meantime I am losing the interest that should be growing in my children's 529 plan (which is where I wanted to place those funds). All the while my ex-husband reaps the benefits. Vanguard, you stink! Thanks for nothing. Thanks for attorney fees that I should not be responsible for because your company cannot get their crap together.

Mom had a revocable trust (sometimes called living trust). When she died, we called Vanguard, who immediately cut off access to the funds. We submitted all the correct forms within a few days. Nothing happened for a month. When we called, we were told that a specific individual was assigned to this account but he was NEVER available. Would not return calls. Nada. Finally, after 2 months of calling and writing to increasingly important people up to the CFO, the a new account was created with the successor trustee. The cost basis was not updated, as required by federal law. If the Vanguard results stood, we would have been responsible for over $74,000 in taxes which was wrong. Another 4 weeks of agony.

In Nov. I went to the bank and had their financial officer help me roll my 401k over and all was set but the check never showed. Vanguard insists that it has to be mailed and it takes 7 to 10 days. I waited and nothing. I called and they said they never processed it and could not explain why they didn't... I had to go through it all again and again the check never showed up. I called again and they canceled that check and supposedly sent another and it has not shown up as well. Here it is Jan 7 and NO CHECK plus my 401k is not earning anything. I am losing money. When I talked with Vanguard they are very unapologetic not taking responsibility and when it was suggested to overnight it they couldn't because I had no way of paying unless I had a FedEx account. You would think after all this they would PAY FedEx to overnight that check. I am angry and am getting a lawyer and I am suing! This is no way to do business with people!

I spent two hours trying to make a simple 401k withdrawal this a.m. Neither the website nor three other representatives whom I spoke with were able to assist me. Finally, I was told I needed a "termination transaction." It's important to never identify yourself as a dissatisfied customer or you will spend another hour waiting on hold like I did.

I opened an account in 2016 and have tried to change the account from sole name to a joint account. I have suffered long wait on telephone (over 30mins) then I got cut off. Missed faxes. Customer service reps gave conflicting advice. Wrong forms were sent, filled in and then and new ones were resent. Once the right ones were faxed and the representative said it would take 15 business days to deal with this request as they were so overloaded (that was nearly 4 weeks over the holiday period). The reps are all very nice but the system is broken - highly manual, forms difficult to find online, use of snail mail and general 21st century systems, applications and digital signatures.

I been investing in Vanguard for many years. It seems each year the company is getting worse in Customer service. They don't answer your questions correctly, they end of b s you, when requesting to talk to a Supervisor they tell you they are not available. What you can't understand they have your money and they really don't care. I would not recommend Vanguard at all and will transfer all money to another company. You expect more from a company that has your money.

I created an account online with rep. Jon **, a nice, professional-sounding guy. The system said it had a problem with my identity. I was shocked but since I had changed my name (legally) in 2010, I thought maybe it was a fluke. I told him my former name and he said, "No, it is not showing up as THAT name." I let it go and proceeded with the process as the system seemed to let us move forward. He indicated that he would mail me the papers overnight delivery via Fedex, then corrected himself and said twice, "No, I'll send it via Postal express." The next day I received a FEDEX envelope with the return envelope enclosed, but no papers! I called and the rep. who took my call could not find me in the system.

My wife recently tried to get money out of her account to pay the mortgage. 10 days have gone by no check. When she called getting the check canceled was no problem. They could FedEx to us overnight at our expense, but we had to have a FedEx account. Not sure how many ordinary people have FedEx accounts. The first time she took money out they offered direct deposit but did not do it. Once a check has been issued they would not do direct deposit, supposedly then anyone could get the money out of the for security reasons. If the check is void, and the account info for the direct deposit is same, there is no security issue that I can see. Furthermore, when I asked to speak to the supervisor, he never did do it, even though he put us on hold twice to speak to him. Incidentally I talked to the rep personally at my wife's request. I finally gave up and hope we receive the money in time.