Vanguard Reviews

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.

I have tried multiple time over the past day or two to contact the "customer service" number at Vanguard so I can roll over my 401K. I have been on hold for 10 - 15 - 30 minutes with a message "all agents are busy - wait time is 5 to 7 minutes" (!), so eventually gave up. The "customer service" number I used was 1 800 523 9442 and one or two others when that did not work, but to no avail. I wonder if I should be even thinking of dealing with this organization to invest my money?!

My wife and I have been using Vanguard as a chief provider for our savings accounts for 30 years: Retirement, College, Personal. We were recently locked out of our college savings account. It took 20 phone calls and a certified letter to gain access to our account again. This occurred over a 60 day period. During this time, some idiot decided to blanket us and lock us out of the rest of our accounts. We were told that the notes on our account said we were posing as impostors. We have made numerous additional calls. There is never a supervisor available to speak with us. We have been given times to expect calls. The calls never come. Then they said we had to send another certified letter! We did and followed up with a call and instead of unlocking our other accounts, they rest our college account.

I have been trying to get a hold of Vanguard for the past week and end up being on hold for hours. Where is the sec enforcement people regarding protecting the consumer.

Customer service is not setup for quick or customer convenient resolution of matters. Phone calls can only be placed during working hours, tough for me to do. When you do call you go into a holding loop, first time after 40 minutes my phone was dead and I had to get back to work, second time it was about 20 minutes,. E-mail is a 2-10 day delay to get response for each email. Instructions are conflicting, in my case for a rollover I was told how to send and address check. After I mailed I received a phone from a representative who said 'Vanguard would not and could not' accept my check for legal reasons and I would to get new ones cut. Then Vanguard cashed the check and deposited into my account. At this point I am so frustrated. I still trying to get this money. Vanguard couldn't accept back to; I can invest at a broker who does have good customer service.

We have been Vanguard clients for over thirty years. Lately, we have been consolidating assets. Because of PAST good experiences we naturally chose Vanguard. Mistake! The higher level customer service numbers for larger accounts continually state that "Vanguard is currently closed" when it is absolutely not closed. Brokerage Reps can't answer questions. The entire situation is proving impossible.

Everything takes weeks to process. You call then wait on hold for 30-45 minutes in order to talk to someone who has no clue how to do anything. I have been trying to withdraw from my IRA for a month now, every time I call them I talk to some new 20-year old that has no clue what's going on and wants different documents. I keep sending them different signed documents. Still no money has been sent, meanwhile my account is losing money. I get an email every once in a while to contact them. I call them and get a new story every time.

Until earlier this year client services were generally very good at Vanguard. Then, suddenly the good people got promoted and the less experienced, read... know nothing reps moved in. Additionally, it was no longer possible to dial a number and be transferred to your reps phone. No. Now you push prompt 1, 2 or hold. And hold and hold. If you actually want to speak directly with your new inexperienced rep, then you're directed to make an appointment by going to their website! This is absolutely insane. I guess Flagship service is like saying Sewer service at this point. It also took them a month to do an institution to institution IRA transfer, after making me fill out paperwork twice. They are now totally clueless. Having funds with low charges is one thing, but providing zero competence to handle these funds is something else.

Absolutely the worst. Slow. Inaccurate. False promises. I brought my IRA money into Vanguard...a supposedly 10-day process. After 8 weeks, and still not getting my accounts set-up the way I wanted them...I finally gave up and transferred my funds to E-trade. Keeping true to the horrible Vanguard service, they are retaining a portion of my IRA, and not allowing it to be transferred to E-trade. Despite numerous phone calls, and false promises...it looks like things are going to get legal.

I created an online account for a traditional IRA on Oct 24. I was told to send in the paper work. I did. On Nov 14, I got an email about not receiving my paper work. I called and checked with them. They told me they did receive the paper work and it would need 7 business days and once the account has been created, they would send me an email. Today is Nov 21 and still have not received any information. I called them and they told me to call back another time and talked to someone else.

I submitted the required paperwork for Vanguard to roll over my 403B. Vanguard reported I didn't have the correct information. Then, after talking to numerous people at Vanguard, it was finally confirmed I did complete the correct paperwork; however, my ex-employer hadn't updated the plan administrator. I informed Vanguard the plan administrator had retired. I quit the job in March of 2013 and did not have access to the newest plan administrator information. Vanguard wanted me to update the plan administrator, but finally, after discussion with MORE workers at Vanguard, it was resolved that Vanguard would update the information.

I have had to call Vanguard multiple times recently about rolling over my retirement account. I didn't speak to one cordial person. Every call I had to wait a minimum of 20 minutes for someone qualified to help since the first person answering said they were not. Then the qualified person would remind me that I was on a recorded line, and when I answered that I was not married they would read from a statement warning me about the consequences of perjury. I was told initially that the rollover forms would be mailed and I would have to mail them back. When I inquired about electronic transfers and asked the Vanguard representative to hold while I called Schwab for routing numbers she hung up while the information was being read to me.

So I needed an emergency disbursement of funds. I can only say the whole mechanics of this disbursement was poor. First of all, the agent lack knowledge and the ability to give direction on how to handle issue. I needed a small amount. I asked that all taxes be removed. I stated how much I needed. I was disbursed lower than I needed. I feel since I stated the gross I needed, he should have had calculated that into the request to ensure I received the base. He told me I had to calculate myself the tax to be removed. What? This is not my only IRA. Second, I couldn't register my account because my name is wrong in their computer. So now I have to incur the cost of a notary to correct my name which has always been my name.

I have had a brokerage account with Vanguard since late 2015, just less than a year. The funds and their performance are excellent, and at the time I set up my initial accounts, the customer service was also excellent. I couldn't have been more pleased. All that has changed. I attempted to make another of the same rollover transactions that I had in the past and suddenly it is brain surgery. One phone rep somehow sets up two accounts instead of one and tells me I can fund it electronically. When nothing happens, I call again. This time I am told I need to fill out paperwork, so I do.

My accountant pointed out to them specific discrepancies in their statements and documents and we have been trying for over a month to get them to respond with answers and I keep wasting my time calling them and getting total run around. Never use this company for anything!

In July 2016 we sent two separate $6500 checks to Vanguard - Vanguard has all of our IRA's - for our 2016 Roth IRA contributions, along with explicit instructions & account information that one was the husband's contribution and the other was the wife's. Husband's contribution was duly recorded in Vanguard periodic summary; wife's never showed up. We phoned on 10 October to find out what happened to the wife's contribution, were transferred to the brokerage department, rep reviewed records and agreed that the $6500 check never made it to wife's account. Spent a fair bit of time on hold - twice - while rep made inquiries. Hung up eventually because the 2nd hold was waaay too long.

WARNING! DON'T EVER USE VANGUARD! I was forced to use Vanguard by my employer for a 401k plan. Since the day I started with Vanguard it never had a good experience, there customer service is HORRIBLE. The worst I ever dealt with in over 30 years. You will have to wait at least 10 minutes if you lucky enough to get someone on the phone and then another at least 10 minutes more each time you get transfer because the previous person does not know what he/she is doing. I have tried to terminate my service with them for over a month now and was not able to do it since they make a mistake and transfer my account to nowhere land. The people that they hired to handle your hard earned money are STUPID. DON'T EVER USE VANGUARD!

I recently opened a brokerage account with Vanguard. Almost as soon as I am done with the registration, I was told that I do not have access to the account and was directed to call their customer service number, at which time I was told that I had other accounts that was locked up. I have to wait one week for them to mail a form for me to fill out, then send it back to them before I can have access to my account again. Over the phone is impossible, plus, I do not know who are the people answering the phone. They are rude, arrogant, disrespectful, they really tried hard not to please any customer, but to annoy them, they tried to yell so that their voice could cover yours, and then asked you to repeat what you just told them.

I filled out all the forms to create an account and was told they would send some micro-transactions to my checking account in order to verify it. One week later everything was dead silent. No calls, emails, or any other attempts to contact me. After calling them it turned out there was some kind of error and they needed to confirm some things with me, but why did I have to reach out to them to find this out? Another week goes by and still no communication after my first talk to a rep. I sent them a 'secure email' using their message center, and got no response twice. After sending another email telling them I am fed up, I had a rep call me at 8 in the morning out of the blue.

The only reason I have Vanguard funds is through an inheritance. I will quickly move out of Vanguard as soon as possible. I submitted paperwork and Vanguard could only find it because I have the FedEx tracking number. Vanguard has had my paperwork for over a month, and still not implemented the requested change of ownership. I asked for copies of statements; Vanguard said it would post them on my account and mail them to me. Nothing was ever posted and I received the statement by mail a month after my request. Hold time are at least 30 minutes and, even then, I often have to hold again, and again, as my call is switched to the "appropriate" department. I never call Vanguard unless I have at least an hour open for being on hold. There are other, more user-friendly, mutual fund families to use and, these days, Vanguard is no longer "THE" fund to use for low cost fees. Bottom line: avoid Vanguard!

General Atomics retirement accounts 401k's accounts were previously handled by Schwab and switched to Vanguard about a year ago. I liked Schwab so much I started an personal account with them. They are very fast and responsive. Vanguard is horrible. You cannot reach anyone over the phone. Brokerage transactions are so slow it's pathetic. Whatever money they saved in the switch over it is not worth the headache for dealing with Vanguard. Vanguard is below sub standard. It's easier for me to schedule a HMO doctor visit than to deal with people at Vanguard. I am going to contact HR and complain. I am extremely unhappy with Vanguard and I am a very undemanding type of customer. I do simple things with my 401k.

I like Vanguard. It's been a good company to deal with. I've been pleased with the funds and fees. Vanguard began using HSA Administrators as a major custodian for their HSA business which in my opinion and experience was a very big mistake for clients. I have had nothing but bad experiences with HSA Administrators. HSA Administrators gets a lot of business by claiming to be an arm of Vanguard. Many other top notch HSA custodians deal with Vanguard as well as other funds.

Vanguard is too big. While their customer service reps are very nice and very friendly, expect wait times of 30 minutes if you want to talk to a live person and, unfortunately, if there is a problem to resolve, it likely will not be resolved through only one call.

This has ranked very high among the most moronic experiences I have ever had (and I'm nearly 73). I called your client service for one simple question. I had tried to enter an order for BRESV and got an error message with the advice to phone an (800) number. I did so, with the simple question: "What does the error mean?"

VANGUARD'S RETIREMENT ACCOUNT SERVICE IS DISMAL. A year or two ago I had a negative experience with Vanguard regarding IRA transfers. Because Vanguard was then engaged implementing new procedures and I had contributed to the confusion I called it a wash and got on with my life. On June 10, 2016, acting on a need to re-balance allocations, I completed Vanguard's on-line form requesting a partial transfer of appreciated assets from an IRA in custody of one of my brokers, Wasatch Funds, to an IRA in custody of Vanguard. After printing it out, attaching a recent Wasatch account statement, signing the form in the presence of my bank's representative and obtaining the bank's Medallion Signature Guarantee, I walked the mailing to a USPS station.

I have recently tried to take out a hardship withdrawal to pay off medical expenses. I have contacted them at least seven times within the last month faxing papers, talking to people on the phone, faxing more papers because the first "weren't accurate", mailing papers, etc... This company is 50 times worse than dealing with your local DMV! I would not recommend Vanguard to anyone out there. They are next to impossible to deal with, even when it's your money that you're talking about. If I didn't have to give them one star I wouldn't give them any at all. Grrr.

In trying to create an account, I ran into a problem and had to call Vanguard for clarification. My questions were met with exasperation and impatience. The representative treated me as if I were wasting her time, and even tried to hang up on me before I was done asking about the account creation process. She made no attempt to address my concerns. The most frustrating part was that, after hanging up with the Vanguard representative, I discovered a solution to my problem. So my problem was solvable, the representative just had no interest in trying to work with me. Even though I did find a solution to the problem, I will not be completing the account creation process, as I was so put off by this whole experience. Furthermore, the website is a disaster, with every fifth click or so leading me to an error that would then require me to sign back in. Overall, my experience with this company has been frustrating and discouraging. Do not recommend!

Trying to buy a home and I need to withdraw the money from my 401K. Send everything they needed. They stated additional info, needing MISSING pages. There are NO missing pages. When I call the people that answer the phones can CLEARLY see in their system the info they need from me IS THERE but for some reason the person actually processing my request can't. I spoke with 2 people last week who stated that they can see the info and they will send an email for my request to be re reviewed. I was told if I do NOT get a call back within 3 business days then my paperwork is moving forward, but if I do get a call back they will let me know what is still missing.

I was a Vanguard fan for many years. In the last 12 months I have become extremely disappointed with them. I try to do something which should be very simple, like transfer funds from one account to another both of which I have full authorization. The transactions should take seconds. Instead they have to send me a form that needs to be notarized (a change of address). I do that and FedEx the form back. Days to process on their side. I complete that hurdle and then they say, "you need to have check writing authorization." Again, another form another notarization not discussed when I originally asked to transfer funds. Again back to the notary and again FedEx. They inform me a standard 10 day queue. This is just one of about a dozen similar examples with them over the past 12 months. Very very disappointed.

The company my husband works for recently sold, requiring us to roll his previous 401k from Fidelity to Vanguard. We needed to do this quickly, as we wanted to borrow against his 401k to purchase a property for my disabled father. We contacted Vanguard to see what was required and we reassured that if we overnights our check to them they would get it into his current 401k and that after the check was processed, we could have it into our personal account by the next business day. I thankfully overnights a very large sum of money to them this past Tuesday (costing us $71), and did it through UPS to assure I'd have a tracking number.

They have terrible customer service. I have been hung up on, lied to, and subjected to very condescending remarks. I have had problems with them in the past but this recent issue trumps them all. I am even more motivated to find another job just to be rid of them. They don't even know their own formulas and policies. As a result they are costing me more money waiting for them to provide information on my loan availability. I am so frustrated at this point I would prefer using a loan shark. At least I know what's involved (you either pay the loan back or we break your legs). It's beyond painful when you are requesting a loan on your own money in which you yourself should have a right to.

I had taken most of my RMD back in July but still needed to take the remainder before December 31. On December 29 I called Vanguard and requested the remainder of my RMD to be sent to the IRS. In other words 100% to the IRS. I was shocked when I received a paper check that indicated 10% had gone to the IRS and 90% to me despite that my account is set up so that all money sent to me is electronically deposited in one of my checking accounts and aside from the fact that my order was that 100% was to be sent to the IRS. Then on top of that "mistake" on December 31st shares totaling the identical amount were again withdrawn from my account.

I called Vanguard to get some initial information about setting up an account with them. I am retired and looking to invest in a low-cost, reputable institution. I had a prepared list of questions which the initial rep felt should be answered by one of their investment advisors. The rep scheduled a call between me and the advisor for the following week and asked that I send to Vanguard a list of my current investments in order that they could tailor their advice to my specific needs. I was told that I qualified for this investment advice because I have a million plus portfolio. Now I know that a million ain't what it used to be, but still, I was very surprised to have a "no show" for the scheduled call. I sent an email to the original rep and left him a voice mail that I was still waiting for the scheduled call.

I received a letter from Vanguard regarding money in a retirement savings plan distribution options from the company I worked for 17 years. Since I was unsure how to proceed in this matter, I spoke with a Vanguard rep to find out how much money I would received monthly from the annuity I wanted to set up. First he asked was I married (yes) then do I want to go with Vanguard for my annuity. I told him I would make a decision about who would handle the annuity later, I wanted to know how much I would receive.

April 14, 2016. I just received another 2015 corrected Year-End income tax statements today via mail after my income tax returns was sent out to IRS. Those statements were dated April 8, 2016 and was the 3rd received. Aren't they supposed to send the statements by March the latest according to the rulings??? Why didn't they send via express or send alert email??? The 1099-Div shown corrected ordinary dividends, Qualified dividend & foreign tax paid; all were more than before. That means I was under filed. Don't know what IRS would do. If they fine me, I would want Vanguard to pay all charges and pay for the amendment tax returns. They made similar mistakes in 2014. I have to worry about my investments in Vanguard.

We are at a loss... My husband has been with his company for over 20 years and their 401(k) plan is administered by Vanguard. Several years back he had taken out a loan which he paid in full in June 2015. Vanguard's plan rules do not allow another loan for 12 months after payoff of any previous loan. We recently moved and are in a crummy apartment, so when we were approved for and found a home, we were ecstatic! My husband called Vanguard who initially told him he had $31,000 available for a hardship, but later told him he could only take out the money for cost related to purchase and we needed to submit supporting documents. So, we did everything they told us: faxed documents, mailed documents, promptly followed up to every message on the account...

I have been with Vanguard for nearly 10 years. When I first went with them, they were very good, they had true professionals who can properly handle an investment account and provide very good service. However as you can see with the mounting complaints on ConsumerAffairs, I am observing what many others are observing and that the service I have experience is horrendous. Hold times are very very long, when I complained about being on hold forever, a representative hung up on the phone on me. This I have no doubt in my mind was intentional as when I expressed with my dissatisfaction with a very frustrated voice, he said "Don't talk to me like that". Then next thing I know, he click the phone shut.

Tried to get the Vanguard funds transferred to my account. It's been three months, have gotten nothing but cold response and no remedy. I gave up but believe they have to be reported to NASD for not responding to my questions in a matter that's satisfactory. All the other brokerage firms are so much better, E-trade puts them to shame. Hate Vanguard.

I am so disappointed in my recent experience with Vanguard customer service. I feel that I submitted all paperwork correctly for my withdrawal according to the information on Vanguard's website and on the form that I filled out. Customer service person was rude and sarcastic and just kept repeating that what I had submitted was not acceptable and that I should resubmit it via FAX. When I tried to get more information about what was wrong with what I had already submitted, I was told he could "read the statement to me again" as if I am not intelligent enough to have heard him the first time.

I thought I was alone in my experience of rude and inept Vanguard reps until I came across more complaints. We've been getting the run-around just terminating our 401K and rolling the money over into an IRA account. It's taken over 6 weeks. We've called 4 times and finally were sent some papers but they weren't all the papers that were needed. Just got off the phone with a rep named Maria. She started out by saying "let me educate you..." and then laughed in a strange way. I'm thinking we should just pull the money out completely and go somewhere else.

It's hard to believe that it takes 20 business days to update the new address in the account. I have a rollover account and employer-sponsored account with Vanguard, the employer-sponsored account receives the current address from payroll and is up-to-date. Unfortunately my rollover account does not reflect the new address. I was under the impression it will be easy for them to look at the feed from employer, verify the information and update, so I called them and explained, I was told it does not work that way. I had to go through the paper-based address change form, get it notarized and send to them - I even did that.

Trying to get money out of 401K for down payment of house. They say you can only fax the request (very archaic way of doing things these days) so we fax and then 3 days later, they call to say they can't read it. The copy is so poor (or their fax machine is old and inefficient) so I fax a new, very legible copy and now they say have to wait another 3 days. I ask questions on how they determine how much I can take out and NOBODY CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION. So I ask, "Can I speak to someone that can answer the question?" and I am told NO, that department does not talk to anyone.

As a financial institution, Vanguard has the worst customer service - it is slow and inefficient. I was requesting to rollover my 401(k) to another institution, and it didn't allow me to do it online. Then I called the customer service 4 or 5 times just to figure out how - none of the calls managed to process the transaction and each time there was a different error. I was told that I didn't have my PIN activated. So I had it activated and the system still wouldn't let it through so they said "Oh it has nothing to do with the PIN." Finally someone said he could do it over the phone (because guess what? You can't request a paper form but you can't do it online either) and apparently I needed to have the address of the other institution ready.

Vanguard does not care about its customers at all and make it exceedingly difficult to do anything. I just needed to change my last name due to marriage and have been able to do this with SSN, driver's license, passport, and all my banks and other investment firms. I cannot at Vanguard. They are not helpful at all and act condescending on the phone. I have given all that I should have to document the change but they cannot put two and two together. IT is ridiculous to me how they treat their customers. DO NOT invest with Vanguard - they don't care about you at all.

Vanguard customer service takes weeks to process simple account forms, if they receive them at all. They also don't respond to Client contact us submissions forms within their "please allow 48 hours" response time; it usually takes a week or more. They also are behind the times technologically, relying solely on snail mail to get anything done. Does anyone at Vanguard management read these postings???

My employer resolved the issue with Vanguard.

I recently requested a hardship withdrawal to pay for my son's braces. I requested the hardship in Nov. Didn't hear back from Vanguard until 12/8/15, requesting more paperwork. After submitting all the necessary paperwork, I still didn't hear back from Vanguard. I finally called them after waiting another week and they told me they couldn't give the amount I asked for but can only give me half. I sent them the paperwork showing how much is needed to start procedure, but they don't care. I'm just so fed up with this company.

The people who answer the phone to assist and answer important questions appear to be from a work study program. While the fees may be low, it is expensive in time & frustration to the customer. No less the costly mistakes. I've been on the phone with them for 2.5 hours this afternoon, much of it on hold.

I tried to open an account. According to their website it should be a breeze. Well, this breeze took over 4 weeks and in the end I decided to take my business elsewhere. After 4 phone calls, 2 faxes in and multiple emails, I concluded the following: the people at Vanguard are totally incompetent and don't know what they're talking about even though they might sound like they do. For instance, they told me I couldn't link my bank account because the name is wrong. I checked my application, they were right. I get a mail from them and I found that not only did they misspelled my name, but they also misspelled my husband's. So between me filling out the form online to them entering into their systems, someone at Vanguard (maybe they hire high school students) made a mistake, causing me the headaches of faxing them forms that I had to notarize.

We paid for a blazer to be shipped next day air and paid almost $55/00 on Thursday morning. The blazer will not arrive until Monday which is useless to us as we needed it for Saturday. Will find another place to give my business to. Their customer service is the worst!!!

My mother recently changed her POA to be me, her daughter. This was all done at great expense through an attorney who specializes in estates and elder care. Several years ago, I set up a user profile for her to have access to her Vanguard accounts, as well as her other bank accounts. When she wanted me to assist her with her finances because she was becoming confused by it all, I thought the proper way to do it would be to let Vanguard know of her new POA designation. When I contacted Vanguard to properly correct her account info (rather than just use her online login info and pretend I was her), they advised me of the forms I would have to complete, have notarized, and submit to them. I wanted to do everything "on the up and up" so I complied with their instructions.

Well, we need to take over our grandmother's account. We have a court order and the client services supervisor, Jamal **, just gives us the runaround. We have sent in the form only to be told it's the wrong form to be sent, the exact same form in the mail. We notarized both forms and overnighted both forms ($50.00 cost so far). When we called this morning, we were put on hold over and over for 1 1/2 hours!!! Now they say we need a letter from her Dr. on original paper. They should of said that originally. I think they try to not help you by creating roadblocks over and over. We only have 60 days to complete this. Also, a letter from her Dr. was taken to get the court order!!! Meanwhile, my Grandmother can't pay her rent and may be evicted, and THEY DON"T CARE!!!

It took four tries, and 3 trips to the notary public, to get an account transferred and online. Even the agents were not clear on which forms I needed (not to mention what the forms were requesting). When there was a problem, they didn't contact me - I had to call and see why the account was not opened. I never had this problem at Fidelity.

I literally just had a trust set up days before mailing Vanguard my check for proceeds from house sale, which must be done through snail mail because you have to mail the legal paperwork. Afterward, I was notified I have to fill out a W-9 and send that snail mail too. Check was mailed 7/22; W-9 was mailed within 7 days of that. On 8/17 I was informed my check was mailed back to me because I didn't fill out the W-9 with the same "Name" as the trust. No phone message, no email and nothing in the mail (since that seems to be their preferred method of contact) to notify me of the need for yet another W-9. Of course the lady on the phone was apologetic, but apparently they are not there to help anyone open an account. If you open an account here, don't expect to ever get an email and be sure to sit by your phone all day in case they call because they won't leave a message!

I call them to report that I got an email that appeared to be a phishing email which I simply deleted. They thanked me by freezing my accounts and notifying me of that 2 weeks later by mail. No explanation in the letter as to why or directions as to what to do. 6 phone calls later over the course of 2 days, I was unable to get my accounts unfrozen. I was lied to, made to hold for inordinate amounts of time, told I couldn't talk to the "fraud unit" and basically told a bunch of other nonsense. However, it turns out my accounts weren't frozen via the phone and I was able to just simply orally sell my accounts. Pretty poor way of doing business.

No longer an issue because I plan to move it.

They seemed good while I was working and adding to the account -- but after I retired and tried to draw on my money, there has been nothing but problems. Customer service is useless; all they can say is "NO." It's been eight months of back and forth and I'm yet to receive a penny of my money from them. They demand forms, then ask again for the same forms over and over again. Their policies and procedures are designed to make it as hard as possible to satisfy them -- and then they'll just deny you for the fun of it.

Won't provide account number or any information on my money. Won't provide updates on QDRO account being moved/"processed". Told it will take one day after being processed - we are now at weeks. No information. Refuse to provide redemption paperwork despite asking more than once. Every time I reach out to **, they respond back with "For further questions please contact 1-800" but in order to speak to a person on that 800 number you need an account number. Their titles are senior client service people and yet I'm receiving no customer service.

When I opened my accounts it took me 20 calls, hours on the phone and two months to open my ira, roth, 401k. They kept making mistakes like crazy. For the last year I keep getting mail from them. I keep returning the mail and call them to set me for electronic delivery and they say it is done and a month later I get paper mail again. I talked to 20 different people about not getting paper mail and they are TOTALLY INCOMPETENT. And when I return the mail they block my account and then an idiotic message on my screen says "You are seeing this alert because your account may be turned over to the state as unclaimed property unless you contact us immediately at 1-877-662-7447." It is the year 2015, they should stop wasting paper for statement delivery. Every time they send me paper ANYTHING they should pay me $50 for my time to open the thing, read it and shred it.

I have been trying to open a 401K at Vanguard for the last 3-4 weeks. I initially called Vanguard in early January to see what I need to do to open a 401K pooled account. After having to go to various departments since no one seemed to know if they did individual 401K, I got the correct department. I then spoke to someone, asking all the steps that need to be done and all the correct paper work. I filled out the forms and had our administrator of the 401K program at work send in the forms. After 10 days when I had not heard from them, I called. At first, they were unable to locate my paper work, stating that they were behind in opening the mail since they were overwhelmed at the beginning of the year. Then they found my paperwork, but I found out a few days later when I called to check the status of the account that they had overlooked the attached check and no one processed it.

This company has failed to process my sell transaction for close to a week now. Back on September 12, 2014, I made a sales transaction online and the company was previously told to update my account to reflect the proper bank account. They failed to do so. I called on 9/11 to have the sell deposited to the correct bank account and they do not want to admit it was their fault.

I've been trying to get a hardship withdrawal from Vanguard to purchase a home. I've adhered to all of their requirements and they keep giving me excuses and nothing concrete of why my money can't be withdrawn.

I called Vanguard to sell my mutual fund. I asked 3 times what the price I would receive and was told 3 times it would be 15,057.50. Based upon that information I told them to sell. Two days later I received a deposit for 14,732.42. When I called I was told that the person told me the wrong number. The call was recorded conf# **.

I went online on Vanguard Website and did 3 transfers within Vanguard problems. I had no problem with two transactions. But the third transactions was transfer of funds from Vanguard European Index Fund to Vanguard Healthcare Fund. I got an error saying the Vanguard Healthcare Fund was closed. I had an existing Vanguard Healthcare Fund account. I knew the fund was closed to new investors but not to existing account holders.