Having a horrible experience with this company. My employer stopped paying for their 401k services and I emailed/called them several times since April 2024 to cash out. Every time I call, I get redirected to someone, then to someone else, until finally the call drops, or they give me weird answers like, "we are on summer recess" or "your plan is pending." I haven't been able to cash out my 401k or get any status update for two months. I call every week for an update and email them, have sent in all pertinent forms, but no answer. They are a scam. About to hire a lawyer to get my money back. read more

I have had the worst experience with this company for my Solo 401(k) account. The customer service is terrible and I had to request a supervisor. My request took weeks to handle and not until a supervisor took over after over 40 days since my initial issue, did something happen. Then they did not back date my request to the date I submitted, so it resulted in a loss in the market. When I requested a correction they simply said they could not back date the transaction without any explanation. I have since called several times and requested a supervisor to call me back, and I have NOT received a call back. I was given an email address that the one supervisor I spoke with said I could reply to and that she would answer. I have only received short responses from her, or what I assume is her since she does not sign the emails with her name. And she has refused to call me back. I have also been hung up by a support representative who was yelling at me and not listening to my issue. I would never recommend Ascensus to anyone and I am rolling my account over to another financial institution. read more

This company has the worst customer service that I have ever experienced. My solo 401k was moved here from Vanguard, and it has been a nightmare trying to deal with Ascensus. I want to move my funds to Fidelity, and have spent hours on hold, calls dropped every time after long wait times, trying to get info from their terrible website, and finding having no success. Fidelity tells me they are unable to get transfers of funds from Ascensus in the ways that work for other companies. It is like they are holding on to customers' funds by making it almost impossible to transfer out. Avoid this company! read more

I am the Plan Administrator of a Simple IRA. Vanguard migrated us to Ascensus. The website could be much better. It has metrics on it that I was told are for other types of investments, not for our Simple IRA. There is also a menu choice at the top of the page for "Employee" with no information. Did an intern build the website? It was a very disappointing experience that made me question the competency of the company. read more

How can I give this company less than 1 star? The worst. I guess I got accustomed to excellent customer service at Vanguard and am now not worthy of a call back (yes foolishly selected that option after 20 mins waiting). There is no chat option. The team didn't actually call me back. I'm now headed down the 401k management wormhole to find a better provider! ugh. read more

My Solo 401k was transfered to Ascensus and I am blocked from my account and my money for over a week. No one answers my emails, and the hold times are over an hour long. I am pulling all of my money out of both Ascensus and Vanguard (for their negligent choice) as soon as I can access it. read more

Horrible Customer Service! After years with Vanguard, Vanguard has decided to move all their Small Business Account Customers to Ascensus this month. Things that were simple and easy with Vanguard are tiresome and take forever with Ascensus. Called yesterday and the hold time was forever and after being given the option to get a call back I decided to do this. Of course no one EVER called back. Today I am on hold and it has been over 30 minutes already. Completely unacceptable! If they want to keep Vanguard customers they need to fix their problems IMMEDIATELY! read more

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT start a 401(k) with Ascensus! If you ever get tired of fees or their lack of customer service, it is a nightmare to move to some other 401(k) custodian. They gave me incorrect documents to complete, they did not respond to emails, wait times on the phone were more than an hour, AND the whole process took 6 months! Oh and I'm not done. After terminating our 401(k), they continued to charge my business fees! They never responded to emails to refund the fees or communicate at all. I do not usually give reviews, but this company seems to be so awful, I just had to. If you happen to have already started a 401(k) with this company, I feel really, really sorry for you and your future headache. read more

I would give them negative stars if I could. There site is awful. It doesn't work and customer support is USELESS.

Horrible! I am a small plan administrator. I have had no good experience dealing with Ascensus since day one of the merger. Initially, I could not log in, that resolution took several phone calls and emails over three weeks. Our TPA submitted a plan change in May. Today, almost three months later, I am told the case was re-opened on August 8th and was assigned to an account representative yesterday, August 13th. I feel sorry for their employees who have to deal with angry customers daily. read more

Like many other reviewers, I would give them -0- stars if possible. After Vanguard dumped my solo-401k accounts, and despite having opted OUT of the Ascensus transfer, Vanguard sent funds to Ascensus. Then, I called and walked through every instruction on the Ascensus documentation with a rude Ascensus employee to get my money out and rolled over to SCHWAB where it should have gone in the first place. Despite completing all documentation correctly and verifying it with the Ascensus person on the phone step by step, I was shocked and infuriated to find Ascensus sent a paper check to my business office address instead of being sent to Schwab as instructed (and carefully verified). So, now it's my responsibility to send it on to Schwab myself. The Ascensus-Vanguard circle jerk has cost me close to 8 weeks in the market and incalculable frustration. read more

I went to Ascensus on the recommendation from Vanguard but my experience has been a nightmare. I have not been able to access their sponsor website since enrollment. On this issue alone I've called on 4 separate occasions with over 30 minute wait times. Emailing customer service does nothing, instead I got a snarky response from their service representative Zach Caldwell. On my last call, I waited 40 minutes and they said to call back because I was routed to the wrong department. What a joke. read more

incompetent and inefficient, we have a small company with less than 4 people on the 401k plan, we did not have problem with PAI for years, customer service was not helpful, we tried to close the account, and have been paying fees, left and right, $1500 termination fee, $230 true up fee, plus $95 each month even after the account is officially close on 12/31/2024, they continue to charge "service fee", and seemed not want to close and do rollover for my employees. I'm not sure what is the hold up, is it so they can continue to charge people with no service provided at all? read more

Zero stars. Disaster, nightmare, junkshow...absolutley terrible customer service. Been trying to get them to distribute my 401k funds to reinvest after my boss died in 2021 and have gotten nothing but runaround and excuses from them. DO NOT let these people get ahold of your money. read more

I have a small business and we used PAI for our 401K for over 10 years without any problems. PAI was bought or transitioned to Ascensus and it has been a disaster. They ask us to send emails with our questions and the emails go unanswered. The call wait times are over 50 minutes. End of year reporting is not automated and they use excel spreadsheets. We are changing companies, but warn anyone to stay away from Ascensus. read more

I could not agree more with these reviews, I was with PAI for years and it was easy. Ascensus is a nightmare! I've been trying for 2 days to do my year end. Hold times are over an hour, they don't respond, and their system is compicated. Stay away! Stay away! Terrible service! read more

Absolutely worst retirement company possible!!!! Our business can't get them to do last year's calculations , and it's already July! They are incompetent-every time we give them the information they need, they seem to lose half of it or feed it back incorrectly. I get the feeling they have no one in their calculations department who has any training whatsoever. They are happy to take your money, but provide NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. It is costing us thousands as the delay continues, and the only way out is probably to pay an outside firm to finish the job. PATHETIC!!!! read more

Trying to rollover my money has been a nightmare. I am terrified that these people are in charge of my funds. Supposedly I provided an incorrect account number for the check they mailed. (Did I? I can't even get onto my account anymore to see, even though my login info was saved.) They insist they need the physical check mailed back. And I have to fill out a SPRI document that ALSO requires the signature of the plan rep from my old company and ALSO must be mailed in. I called to ask if there was a separate form they could fill out because mailing this twice seems like the dumbest thing ever. The person on customer service said I could scan it. I told her that was not what the email seemed to say, or the form. She claimed I could scan it. I asked her to send me an email confirming that these were my instructions. She hung up on me. Tried to get through again. Call ended after 14 minutes of silence after the hold music stopped. What is with this place??? read more

The absolute worst company to deal with. I have been an advisor for 24 years and this company is by far the most horrible organization ever. The customer service wait times are the longest ever. 40 min to an hour just to get someone to answer. Then most of the time they arent sure what exactly to do. No one knows what the others are doing there to get things done. If you are an advisor, or anyone for that matter do anything you can to stay away from this company. I hate the thought of having to make any call there for anything. STAY AWAY. I never take the time do reviews but if this helps at least one person, then my time has been worth it. There has to be better 401k custodians somewhere else. read more

This company has the worst customer service I have encountered in over 20 years as a small business owner. I have made 2 phone calls (after digging to even find a phone number to use), waiting 15 minutes one time and an hour the second time, before giving up and leaving messages ... that were never returned. I got my 401k plan advisor involved, thinking he might have better direct access. But he waited 35 minutes for someone to pick up. I also sent 1 email that took a week to be responded to, and I just sent another yesterday that still (of course) has no reply. All of this was/is to correct a small contribution error so that my year-end numbers all match. It would take maybe 15 minutes total time with any other company. My wife's small business also has its plan with Ascensus, and we are considering moving them both elsewhere. read more

In the short span of a year after they purchased our former 401-k provider they charged my small company more ridiculous fees then can be counted. Thousands of dollars that could have gone to my employees fattened their pockets until I had enough and eliminated our 401-k plan. read more

Very poor customer service. Agents read from scripts that upper management has created. Most agents aren't knowledgeable enough to answer tough questions. I asked for a supervisor on 5 of the 10 plus calls I made just trying to get a rollover. I was told that it takes 24 hours or more for a supervisor to call me back. I never got a single call returned out of any of the requests I made!. DO NOT invest with Ascensus! You will regret every minute of the hassle they subject you to. After 3 weeks of trying to get a resolution, I still do not have my funds! They make petty excuses stating that I have not checked the proper boxes even though I was walked through the forms step by step with so-called 'trained' agents. Their fees are also excessive. Fees for processing. Fees for cutting a check. Fees for mailing a check! I have consulted an attorney and threatened to sue but they obviously could care less! It's in your best interest to invest with anyone EXCEPT Ascensus. Estimating the amount of time I have wasted on calls with their agents, it has been in excess of 15 hours due to hold times and waiting on agents to 'contact the distributions dept'. These people are highly incompetent. Take your business elsewhere! read more

Terrible customer service, glitch filled phone system. Good luck getting a competent live body

Way too many fees. Terrible customer service. Inaccurate website descriptions. Took a distribution and paid $30 for next day air. They shipped it on the 23rd. I was supposed to receive it on or before the 27th (that's not next day but whatever) It didn't arrive. I called to get reimbursed for the $30 and they refused to refund it. I was told that they couldn't guarantee it. I told them that their website should state that it is not guaranteed then. I will never choose next day again. It was like throwing $30 away. Next step... rolling over the rest of my money into a 401k with a different bank. Ascensus sucks! read more

terrible company, treat employees like dirt, lots of pressure, under paid, judgement on people all the time.

Horrible Customer service, terrible account maintenance and handling of information. Do not waste your time. You will have to stay on top of them to get anything taken care of. Take your money where you will be respected and serviced. read more

They have your funds and take advantage of the fees. Fees to open, fees to complete paper work that you already completed and did not ask for 5500 EZ, fees to close and account $200. And then it takes them over a month to give your money back. Terrible customer service, you cannot get in touch with any one. Avoid, Vanguard includes 401K small business planning for free. And they call you back. read more

These people are a disaster. They bought the actuarial firm that ran our retirement plans. When we downsized the business three years ago, we closed those plans. We are still waiting for Ascensus to do the forms that we need to do the distributions. In the meantime, we are paying thousands per year in fees to the custodian (ADP). If you see them coming, RUN. read more

I have a 401k and my employer didn't update my status after I left months ago. The automated service wasn't helpful, so I called the main reception line. The receptionist kept cutting off my sentence halfway through speaking, told me she had other calls to get to after 20 seconds on the phone, and was a totally unhelpful bitch. read more

Poor customer service. They seem to make up questions as they go along after you have already given them all your private info. They are not apologetic and seem to enjoy being negative. I am assuming they have a unrewarding work environment and take it out on unwitting customers. Not to mention the endless fees and in general poor performance. read more

Terrible customer service and so many fees. One employee invested 401k there. After they left, I called to close the account that no longer had money in it. They charged us $1500 to close the account and also charged us another quarter of fees which was almost $500 because it took them almost 2 months to close the account. Refused to waive fees. Invest elsewhere. Not worth all of the fees!!! read more

After 3 calls they still botched my 401k rollover. That is like the only thing that they have to do. Completely incompetent. Might even need to pay taxes on it because they suck so much. read more

Terrible communication and service. We started a 401K plan last year, mid-year. We asked them to prepare the employer match calculation for the 5-1/2 months the plan was in existence. They prepared the calculation based on the full year, rather than the 5-1/2 months the plan was actually in existence - even though I repeatedly explained this, and provided the relevant partial-year salaries. They never disclosed that they would only prepare the calculation based on a full year, and when I complained, I got no explanation. They refused to waive the fee, or explain. Even tried going up a level, and still they refused to either explain, or waive the fee. I agree with the other reviewer, they are only out for fees, not service. Find another provider. read more

Extremely poor customer services. Staff do not get back with one. We have a client who has been waiting on her distribution money from her retirement plan ( she is also the only owner and plan participant), for more than 2 weeks, and the only communication you receive, is when it is initiated by the advisor. Horrible experience - if you have a choice in Third Party Administrators or revordkeepers go elsewhere. These folks just don't get it. They are more interested in trying to get their hands on fees that they are not due than anything else. read more