Fidelity Review - Cold, Uncaring, and Only Out for Themselves Fidelity is hands down one of the worst financial institutions I've ever dealt with. They don't care about their customers, only about protecting themselves. People make mistakes -- it's part of life -- but Fidelity acts like they're above it all. Even if it's your first issue, they'll slam you with restrictions like you're a threat, without a shred of empathy or understanding. Their customer service is a joke. Good luck getting a rep who does more than copy and paste policy. They don't listen, they don't help, and they certainly don't care. Managers? Hidden behind layers of scripted nonsense and red tape. You're not a person to them -- you're a number, and the moment something goes wrong, they treat you like a liability. What's worse is they pretend to be all about clients, when in reality, it's all about control, image, and covering their own backs. I don't even have much money in my account with them -- but I'm closing it anyway. That's how disgusted I am by how they operate. It's not about the balance, it's about the principle. Their rigid, heartless approach says it all: they are not here to help you. They're here to help themselves. I'll never recommend Fidelity to anyone. Save yourself the stress and take your money somewhere that actually values people. read more

My mother passed away;presented them with NYC Official "Letters of Administration" that indicated I (her son) had the right to handle her estate. The woman there said that wasn't sufficient proof from NYC - even though both a lawyer and the NYC Government Department both indicated this is the correct documentation. The Fidelity system had errors in it, I presented my mother's old passport for them to correct the error;they refused. Of course I got agitated after all of the blatant self interested ineptness (who had also given me conflicting information prior to this). As a result, a young man in the office purposely stood physically in my way to not allow me out of the door. After that, he said he was kicking me out of the office. Don't ever put your money into Fidelity. They're not trustworthy if anything should happen read more

My wife wanted to rollover a 401K from her old employer to her new employer and sense the check was written on a Fidelity investments check we decided to go to this location to make the transfer go smoothly. We were greeted at the door by Bryanna with a warm welcome, genuine smile and offered her help. She also offered refreshments from the service bar. After explaining our purpose she did the proper research and reported promptly with the solution of the check had to be mailed to another office for processing into my wife new 401K and even offered to overnight mailing it herself. We were so pleased with the service that it prompted us to write a review. Of course we forgot to write it the first encounter however as events unfolded the rollover never posted to my wife new account therefore we had to return to figure out what happened. Again, we were greeted at the door but this time not just by Bryanna but by Austin and again Bryanna offered her services as well as the refreshments from the service bar. While my wife was explaining the reason for our visit I decided to help myself to something from the service bar. This service bar can be quite intimidating as the amount of choices is more than 20+ so I asked for some help from Austin. Austin admitted he was unfamiliar with the service bar however he said, " We can probably figure it out together!" There is something to be said for a man to admit he is not knowledgeable but than to turn the situation around and make it a positive with offering to help is something else and shows talent. As it turns out we figured out the service bar and the coffee was as impressive as our visits. Customer service seems to be something of a lost art and artificial intelligence (AI) just does not hold a candle to good customer service. BRAVO Fidelity on consistent customer service as well as an impeccably clean facility with tasteful décor. Our issue was resolved timely and I highly recommend this branch for any needs related to financial needs. They will dig until they reach GOLD!!! read more

I've had an account with them for several decades. Two of the three funds I invested in are traditional IRAs. This year was the first year I had to take a "required minimum distribution" (RMD) and I decided to donate it to a charity through something the IRS calls a "qualified charitable distribution" (QCD). They do NOT know how to handle these and refused to answer my questions about it. Therefore, I am in the process of transferring my funds elsewhere. read more

I moved my investments away from Fidelity to another brokerage firm after 15 years due to a recent pattern of poor customer service. I had waited on hold at various times for 40, 48, 63, and 38 minutes. I was able to move away from Fidelity in less time than being on hold to talk to them. All my positions were moved cleanly from one firm to another, never skipped a beat. Poor customer service in such a crucial area (my money), should be punished. i will not say who I moved to, but they all make it easy. I am never asked to wait on hold more than 10 minutes with the new firm, and after switching I had a few questions and called them. read more

Five stars for Fidelity in general, three for this location, net four stars. I've had my retirement accounts with Fidelity Investments for a looong time and have really appreciated their online research and analysis tools. When the Albany branch opened a couple of years ago I got a message that my account would be handled here from now on, starting with an interview with an account manager who would help me figure out the investing strategy I thought I had already figured out. I told them I preferred to maintain the online relationship. Today, I stopped in for the first time because my account (an old-school Keogh) requires me to make a deposit with an actual check. The scene was chaotic day before April 15, though to be fair account people came out from the back to help the folks standing in line. There was some confusion about depositing my check and i got the feeling this was the first Keogh contribution they'd seen. In the end, all accomplished successfully. Bottom line, this is a handy place to have in town if you need to do retail banking in a Fidelity account, but don't fail to make full use of the great online tools. read more

Been trying to get through to them for the last 3 days. Been in hold for a total of an hour and a half. Do not understand why if they are that badly understaffed they don't give you the option of leaving your number for a callback. Really poor customer service for a company that is handling people's money. read more