I used to like Vanguard. They were responsive and provided a good product with reasonable fees. In fact I have referred many friends to them over the years. At this point, I am having regrets. They are clearly under staffed. I have spent nearly an hour on hold today. I would hang up but this has turned into bit of a science project. They need to quit over paying the guys at the top and hire a few more people that actually work directly with their customers. read more

Prepare to wait for hours on hold. I've waited for phone assistance for a request that I am unable to carry out online for over an hour several times. This is unacceptable read more

I agree with other reviewers...cs is no bueno and going downhill...their online "Open An Account" doesn't even work...idk how they can maintain much of a client base or even increase customers if such a tool doesn't even work...It's been almost a week...we've done this on multiple machines with still a technical error at the last step only to be re-directed to start all over again. We called in to be put on a lengthy hold..the 1st cs rep told us he'd have to transfer us and normally it'll take at least an hr hold but he'll fast track us so we'll get someone in a shorter time..several minutes...uhmmm idk how they can do that but "ok"...uhh nooo...I waited for an hour and 16 minutes only to get an automated response that they're now closed...lmao...the hubby said pfftt..forget about it..go to etrade and so that's what we did today..easy easy...lol... read more

Amid the hype about Vanguard's consumer orientation, I've never seen discussed what I take to be their paralyzing risk aversion. I've had significant retirement assets invested with Vanguard, and here are two of my experiences: [1] I was assigned a Vanguard advisor to help with my investments. He made several errors, including recommending a certain roll-over, which turned out to have tax consequences of over $10,000. I complained about the erroneous advice and was told that Vanguard did not give tax advice. However they had, and were now just avoiding responsibility. Discussions with advisors are recorded by Vanguard, and I asked for the recording to prove my contention, but they refused to provide it. [2] I hold Google stock through Vanguard, and wished to present a proposal at the Alphabet Inc stockholder meeting. Alphabet naturally required a letter from Vanguard stating that I actually was a stockholder, and to my surprise, Vanguard refused to provide it, effectively depriving me of my stockholder rights. Several weeks of emails, phone calls, threatened complaints to the SEC, and lawyer letters followed, until Vanguard finally relented and provided the required statement. Vanguard's transaction costs may be low, but the hidden costs of trusting one's investments to them can be high. read more

I called Vanguard to get information on rolling over my 401K. After being on hold for 60 minutes I chose the call back option. I recieved a call back two hours later. The person who called me back asked me three security questions. Even though I answered the questions correctly she indicated that they were wrong. Maybe it was her poor command of english that was the issue...regardless she would not proceed with me. The next morning I called again. This time I was on hold for 44 minutes before I got someone on the line. Same three security questions...same three answers...except this time my answers were correct! Seriously??? The problem here is that overnight my account went down by $500 so when I finally was able to complete the IRA rollover my net was $500 less than it would have been a day earlier...and to add insult to injury Vanguard charged me $25 to close the account. My advice...read reviews before choosing a fund. read more

Great funds but terrible website and recently customer service has gone down the tubes. Seriously considering moving my Brokerage and IRA accounts to another brokerage firm. Customer Service - They removed secure messaging as a means of communication, and don't even have a chat option. One of the reasons, I believe, is to avoid a paper trail. If you can't find an answer in there poorly worded FAQs or Support section, you are forced to call a representative. Expect to be on hold for a really really long time. In addition, many of the reps seemed inexperienced and not well versed on Vanguard procedures, content, or products. Mobile Check Deposit - Apparently you can take pictures of checks (Investment, rollover, etc) and use their app to take a picture and deposit. However, the website does not provide guidance on where, or a link, to get the app. I checked the Apple Store and there were 5 different Vanguard apps. Which one do I use?? Website Investment tools and research - one of the worst websites for researching stocks and investments. They do a good job tracking cost basis and tracking taxable distributions. Website does need a provision to show on one page: Investment price / NAV, daily investment change, market value and cost basis ($ Value and $/share). read more

There is no ability to email customer service without logging in to your account. There is also no international number to call when out of the country. When I did finally get a hold of customer service on the phone, I could tell that the customer service rep was definitely at home and dealing with a lot. While that isn't a problem, especially during COVID, the roosters crowing in the background at 7pm EST is not a good look. I'm calling my broker to discuss retirement planning, and the guy on the phone sounds like he's living in a barn. I'm thinking a change in asset management and broker is in my future. read more

Initially, I stayed with Vanguard because of their low-cost Mutual Funds. As I gained more experience with investing, and going to brokerage companies that do NOT charge any fees, I became more disillusioned with Vanguard. There was ONE particular problem that - to me - symbolized how little they listen to their customers. After year-end, we get the 1099s, with a few (arithmetic) columns that we need to report to IRS. However, these columns were never added so that the totals showed! And many times, there could be multiple pages! So, I had to add up all the columns with their multiple pages. I suggested to Vanguard that they give the totals, be it each page, or one total at the very end. I mean, HOW HARD CAN THIS BE???? Of course, got the usual "Thank you for your suggestion... blah blah blah." For about 7 years, I made this suggestion, without any changes. At that point, combined with other irritations, such as with Admiral shares, I decided I didn't need to do the summaries any more. I never had any problems with other financial companies, and not sure WHY it was "so difficult" for Vanguard to do it, unless they really don't care what would make it easier for customers - which seems to be the case. read more

One star because with all these online and digital technology available especially to the financial institutions, Vanguard gives your money in form of a check when you're withdrawing funds even if you give them the wire transfer information of another bank. Not so, when you're depositing funds, though! read more

This is the worst place to put your money they don't have any one to help you with your money it's a fraud they try to keep your money and will not release it no matter what information you give them read more

Wow well over 2 1/2 hours on hold just to get a simple answer!!! Just needed to know how and if i can withdraw money from my 401K to pay for my wife classes she wanted to take. closing my account with them. read more

Vanguard Group - Investing Near Me - Malvern, Pennsylvania

As always, when a US company grows they send all customer service calls to Manila, Philippines. They have poor customer focus, they over talk the customer, poor listening skills and overall a horrible experience. Vanguard didn't disappoint and routes our US calls to Manila. I would NOT RECOMMEND this company to invest with. You will NOT get the assistance you need to withdraw your money for emergencies, like being impacted by hurricanes. The rep I spoke to offered unreasonable options. Electronic transfer, 20 day hold on the funds. Overnight, open a FedEx account...for what? I'm willing to pay for the overnight service but fail to see the purpose of opening a FedEx account for 1 delivery. The rep only wanted to read the script she was given. Couldn't answer any questions not related to her script and repeated the same information multiple times. I can't believe how our customer service is in the hands of people who live in India, Manila or any other country for that matter. read more

Wow--after 3 conversations with Vanguard's tech team, the password function will not work! Tech support suggested we turn to paper communication! Are you serious?! We are closing an account that we've never even been able to SEE because our password has never worked. Stay far far away from this company. They will use up your time -- over 6 hours we have wasted on their incompetence. read more

Vanguard's customer service is awful, as is their inter-departmental communication. When you are on hold, it is routine to be disconnected from the representative while you wait on hold, and then they never call back. It is nothing to wait on hold with them for an hour or longer. What is going on at this company? You cannot get the simplest of things done. They also do not have effective tech and communication with tech. In the online portal my requests for paperless statements have been there for months, yet I still keep receiving them in the mail. Many of the representatives that I speak with seem uninformed about how investing works, and they seem very unable to answer the simplest of questions and to complete the simplest of tasks. If it weren't for their low cost indexed funds, I would be out of here. It is really sad how a company with so many billions of dollars in assets is this bad when it comes to customer service. read more

Customer support experience is terrible. 2 hour wait time to connect with support over the phone. No email options. No way to schedule a phone call. read more

Useless company. If you have an account and want to access it via the phone, forget it. I've spent 2 hours on hold and trying to get through two different 800 numbers they provided. One number was a disconnected line and the other was some internal number where they asked for the phone number of the employee you were trying call. Crap, all I wanted to do was get into my account. They simply don't do phones. So, be warned. read more

Summary: Thousands of dollars lost, hours of time spent on tech glitches and being on hold and getting run-around from customer service. If you want the low-cost Vanguard funds, buy them via some other broker. You'll get the same investments for the same price with competent tech and customer support. App is broken. Website is broken. They've removed all means to contact them online, directing you to use the phone. Facebook team refuses to forward tech bug reports, and insist you call. But their phone support lines are only open part of the day on weekdays, and have hours-long wait times. Support staff are incompetent and rude. I was trying to do a 401k rollover from Fidelity, which Vanguard required filling out a form online, printing it, and mailing it in with a check from the other institution and vaguely defined documentation. I gave all the documentation I had, and a letter that requested they spell out what documentation they needed if it was insufficient. They rejected the rollover request without clarification. I called and was on hold for 1.5 hours before a rep told me they needed a "letter of determination." I said I included a letter. He said it wasn't the right kind of letter. I asked what specifically they needed, and he said all he could tell me was the wording on their script, but suggested that Fidelity might know. I asked if this was a standard bit of documentation, why didn't Fidelity include it with their rollover packet. He didn't know. I was told I could fax in the letter and they could continue processing the rollover. I called Fidelity, was on hold for 2-3 minutes, the rep quickly found the letter I needed and mailed it to me. They didn't know why Vanguard needed it. When the letter from Fidelity arrived, I also had an envelope from Vanguard containing my check and another copy of the form saying it was rejected for vague reasons, despite them saying they were waiting for me to fax the info. So I had to find a way to overnight the check and the letter from Fidelity and a new rollover form from Vanguard. A day later, Vanguard called me, but I missed the call and they didn't leave a voicemail. When I called back, and waited on hold for another 30 min, the rep said they needed additional documentation. I was stunned silent. Finally, I said, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me that when I called last time?" The rep asked me to "keep professional", which, as a former professional customer service rep, is NOT what you say to an angry customer if you want them to calm down. Also, which one of us is the financial services professional here? Like the previous call, he suggested I could get the info from Fidelity. I called Fidelity, was on hold for 2-3 minutes, the rep quickly found what I needed and offered to mail it to me, but also did a little research and explained to me why Vanguard didn't need this info. You know. Like a "professional" would. I called Vanguard back, was on hold for 40 minutes, I got a different rep and told him what Fidelity said. He said I'd need to fill out a new form online. I pointed out that they had all the info they needed. He said they didn't, citing the original form I filled out online. I pointed out that the last form I sent them had the correct info. He told me he had that form, but it was wrong. I got him to read the form to me to prove that he had the old form. I said, "Vanguard has acknowledged they got the fucking Fidelity documentation, why can't you use the fucking form that was in the same envelope?!" He again pulled the "act professional" line on me, which shows that they're all getting the same bad customer support training. He said, "we can't process it unless you submit the correct form *electronically*." I asked why I had to mail in the form if the electronic one was the only one that counted, but he didn't know. Finally, he offered to wait on the line while I submitted the form. Fortunately, I had recently figured out that the Vanguard app let me access the 401k website, so I was able to submit the form, and he could confirm that they had all they needed to process the rollover. I complained about what a horrible experience this was, and that I planned on leaving Vanguard over it and warn as many others to stay away. He offered a half-hearted apology, which was the first I got from any of the reps I dealt with. Too little, too late. Since then, I've read articles about how common this experience is. Vanguard hasn't spent the resources to keep up with their growth. Company spokespersons have admitted as much, but have bragged that this was a feature of their low costs. Maybe so, but it seems the solution is simple: Invest in Vanguard funds, but not at Vanguard. read more

It used to be a great company but since the founder died it turned to shit....I expect they will be taken over the company has turned to shit...no contact by phone only email then you wait 10 days for an answer and they answer to the question is never on point.....I was with this company for 20 years......now all I can say is DO NOT PUT YOUR MONEY HERE.........RUN !!!!! read more

Pros: Great returns, low costs Cons: Terrible customer service The Vanguard employees one has first phone contact with (not the specialized departments) have the intelligence of rocks, and that is being kind. Did they finish high school, let alone elementary school? It would even be far better to outsource these initial calls to Pakistan or Uzbekistan than deal with these morons. Repeated calls and repeated statements verifying the same information over and over again, then long hold times. At the initial call, one has to resort to being belligerent to gain contact with someone who is not an idiot. In addition, there is no place on the Vanguard website to register a customer complaint: Crystal Henderson needs to go back to working at McDonalds. read more

Opened an account through the Personal Advisor Services. At first I really liked the service and having a Personal Advisor to consult was great. But note that you have to submit a fair amount of money to get this service. Once I closed the account and moved it to a regular Federal Money Market Fund, the customer service is non-existent. When calling to try and move my money to a regular checking account, you'll get routed to their incompetent staff and hostile customer service reps who seemed annoyed when asking them questions or updates about your account. This is the last time I'll use their services and will move my money to other online brokers. read more

Worst customer service ever. After an hour of waiting my phone went dead. Mobile app is not functional. I have two accounts I can't even make a transaction with the mobile app. read more

i would rate it as a zero if I could. My mother has been with Vanguard since the 1990s. They use to have a flagship representative for her. They eliminated this And since the customer service is horrible. I currently am On hold for one hour and eighteen minutes. I did a transaction earlier and they said it was complete. I later got an email that they were missing information and a message on the website they had what they need. If I don't talk to them in 4 business days, they will cancel. I'm not sure I can get hold of anyone in four days. When I do I will be starting the process to move all my mothers inheritance out of vanguard. and this will result in my children's gift and inheritance at some point being somewhere else. Customer service is non existent. read more

I wanted to buy two Treasuries. The first one went off fine. The second one, entered just a couple of minutes later did not. Since I received nothing back from Vanguard for the second one, I unfortunately waited a couple of hours and called them up after I had logged back in and saw my order had been "Rejected". Customer service was unable to explain why my order was rejected (the trader had not entered a reason). I still wanted to do the trade so I replaced the order but the market had moved a bit (not in my favor) and I was out a few bucks. Vanguard would not make me "whole" for what was clearly a software or human error. Very disappointing. read more

Yelp should give out negative stars. In the spring of 2018, The Vanguard Group sent a form letter to me in regards to a UBTI, unrelated taxable business income in my Roth IRA. Immediately, I contacted The Vanguard Group and insisted to speak to someone in their accounting department. I already had an estimated $40,000 loss on a $42,000 investment with Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR). I informed the representative "Do not touch my money! Put me through to your accounting department." The representative would not put me through to Vanguard's Accounting Department. The rep put me on hold. I waited on hold for 30 minutes. Not one representative from The Vanguard Group picked up the telephone to speak to me. Nor, did anyone return my phone call. Neither the executives nor accounting department from The Vanguard Group had any intention to speak to me. This is not how a 45-year business maintains a FIDUCIARY status. I spent nearly two years building the account, which was $79,000 in 2014 and had dropped to $40,000, thanks to VNR. In mid-September, the ROTH IRA account was up to $70,000, due to AAPL & VTSAX. Then, The Vanguard Group lost my faith as an investment company. On September 27, 2018, I logged onto my account and noticed that The Vanguard Group placed a withholding amount of $58,873 in my ROTH IRA. I find that appalling and abhorrent. If I did not fund the account and/or sell the vast majority of my assets, then on October 12, 2018, The Vanguard Group will liquidate my gains. Since my plans are to purchase a retirement home in Florida, I was not going to fund the depleted account. As of December 1, 2018, my ROTH IRA account was down to $7,000 because the market was tanking and the price of AAPL & VTSAX was going down. I find The Vanguard Group lacking as a fiduciary. They did not contact me in the Spring of 2018 when I had the right as a 25-year Vanguard Group investor to speak to their accounting department and explain the UBTI. So when I saw the principal amount of -$58,873, I contacted Vanguard. Their policy is that no one from their accounting department will speak to their clients. THAT'S NOT ACTING LIKE A FIDUCIARY. Their representative said, "They checked the calculations." This is untrue because The Vanguard Group hired an outside accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP to complete a 990-T. On October 1, 2018, I received a 990-T. Either Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP, The Vanguard Group, or Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC assigned me an Employer Identification Number 38-4074405. I never applied for this EIN #, which was stated on the 990-T. Joseph Castriano of Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP calculated $145,559 of unrelated business taxable income and the Tax Due of $58,873. I never generated any income from VNR. This tax due included a Penalty of $1678 and Interest of $1271. If Vanguard Natural Resources would have mailed the K-1 by March 22, then possibly all of this could have been avoided, especially the penalty and interest. In February 2017, VNR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and pin their losses as CANCELLATION OF DEBT onto their individual shareholders. Upon request on multiple occasions, I have insisted to speak to Vanguard Group CEO Mortimer Buckley. However Vanguard instructed one of their "supervisors" to contact me. Vanguard Group Supervisor Tan Vu of Arizona said that VNR has a "hotline" for investors to call. I was insulted by his comment. Then, Mr. Vu contradicted himself stating that he never heard of a UBTI and said "Mr. B###, you should have known what you invested in." Apparently neither did the 78 investors who tried to contact Castriano last September and October. Castriano has refused to speak to me as well as other victims of VNR. To summarize, The Vanguard Group lied to me. The Accounting Department and CEO Mortimer Buckley have refused to contact me. VNR received Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has not paid their shareholders (unit holders). According to the Price Waterhouse answering service rep, the company has received 78 calls in three weeks who received a 990-T in regards to Vanguard Natural Resources. AVOID INVESTING with THE VANGUARD GROUP of Malvern, PA. They will not let their investors enter their offices nor will help you. read more

Wanted Vanguard to transfer my $43K 401K to Chase IRA. They have lost my money and keep hanging up on me.

This review pertains to Vanguard's Personal Advisor Services, in which I first enrolled in Spring (May?) 2019. Immediately upon verbal authorization to proceed, the advisor with whom I was speaking started executing trades. By the end of October 2021, I had decided to terminate this arrangement. My advisor (not that same one with whom I had started) acknowledged receipt of my emailed request on November 1, 2021. Now on Nov 17 I am being told that it will take ANOTHER TWO WEEKS to terminate this arrangement and I can regain control of my assets. UNBELIEVABLE!!! read more

Absolute incompetence. Started a 401K through my employer and Vanguard is the only choice. My father has a family trust with a Vanguard account. I am listed on the trust. My new 401K was automatically moved from the business department to the retail department and linked to the trust. Since passwords and addresses are different, I have no access to the account and any change I make changes the information to the trust. After three months and at least 20 hours on the phone with Vanguard and being cut off more times than I can count, I was told there is no way to un-link the accounts. Their only solution is to have my father take my name off the trust. Insane! When I said to close the account, because it is only three months old, they say I am past the "window" to do that and I can stop contributions but will not have access to the money until I leave the company or turn 59 !/2. Vanguard may have low cost funds, but their service deserves zero stars. read more

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

I needed to roll over my 401k from my last employer. I retired in 2013 and left my money with them and it did very well however there were a couple things that really required me to do the roll over. My Brother is a long time investor with Vanquard and talked me into going with them citing low fees, etc. so I contacted them and got the ball rolling. All I can say is this. I got the check from the previous 401k investment house On October 31st and I just was able to get my money to Vanguard sitting in a hold account, so it's basically doing nothing until we select some funds for the IRA. The reason that it took so long is that I could NEVER get hold of anyone when I tried. Oh they send you through to someone BUT I NEVER GET THROUGH and have to leave a message, and don't get a call back. Oh I've gotten a couple calls but I either didn't have my phone or with a Dr. then I call back when I'm free, same goat rope. I realize that most employees are working from home but either the employees are slacking off or Vanguard failed to put an adequate system in place to ensure people's needs were met. It maybe different when I'm in my funds, etc but for now, I would say that their customer service is horrible and I would not recommend them. I'm willing to update this rating in 6 months if things change. read more

I like Vanguard's low fees and broad range of mutual funds. I don't like their phone service. They aren't good with anything that can't be done automatically. They keep asking for the same documents. read more

What happened to Vanguard? I have had to contact them several times the past month about various issues. I spend at least an hour on hold each time, sometimes being disconnected while on hold, so to the back of the queue I go and wait another hour. When I finally do reach a person they sounds like a clueless 20 something reading off of a script, searching a database for answers. Vanguard, your customer service is horrible. No excuse when people invest so much money with you. Time to start looking elsewhere. read more

This company is, without question, the worst, most error prone, disjointed, confused, screwed up company on planet earth. Call three times with the same question, and get three COMPLETELY different answers. Our experience with them has been an UTTER CATASTROPHE! 1-star is the most over rated experience I've ever had. The company is a slow motion, gut wrenching, TRAIN WRECK. DON'T USE THEM!! If you do, you'll look back and say, "I should have listened!" read more

Wish I had read all the reviews before trying to open an account. It took over a year to move money out of vanguard from a prior employer 401k and it took 2 months just to open a Roth. Isn't this the core of their business?? After trying to deposit money into the Roth for a week, called customer service for help and they then locked me out of my account. Was told the only way to get back into my account was to get a notarized letter mailed to them via post which could take weeks to allow me to access my account again. This was after 4 calls to customer service. Very disappointed and have been a customer for many years. Found another brokerage firm to work with going forward so that was the only way to resolve. Meanwhile don't bother to ask to speak to a manager, they hide behind customer service and won't take calls. read more

Vanguard is a bunch of thieves! Been over a month waiting for my withdrawal checks and told to continue waiting and there's nothing they can do. Completely unhelpful or willing to resolve the issue. Filed a complaint with the BBB and just like here their reviews are terrible! Unhelpful rude phone agents! I will continue be a pain until they send me my money!! read more

no customer service. i literally had my account 1 week and closed it because i never ever got anyone on the phone. They are HORRIBLE.

Worst customer service I have ever had. I am purchasing a house and using a loan from my 401k for closing costs. I asked them to do an electronic transfer and it came back in their words " the bank declined the funds". No what ended up happening is they used the wrong account number, they missed the last number on the account and supposedly once that happens a check is automatically cut and your SOL. Fine I asked for an overnight check they said you need a Fedex account in order to do overnight delivery, I agreed and got the account and they came back since it was an automatic check they cant over night it. I verified I entered in my account information correctly, its their fault for making this mistake and now I cant close on time. Now that I have to wait 3-5 for the check to get printed and 7-10 for the check to be sent out. No supervisor's available ever and you have to wait 24-48 hours for them to call back ( they never do). I spoke with 6 different people all told me 6 different things. I tried being nice, beg, and even be a Karen, it felt like I was hitting a wall over and over again. I will miss the closing of my house due to their mess up. And I have no action against them. read more

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

I have trouble linking up my vanguard with my bank and vanguard makes it so hard to that I am moving my money else where

Getting in contact with them is nearly impossible. I finally get someone on the phone, and 2 minutes in, the phone call goes quiet, a few minutes later, the phone call disconnects. How can I trust them with money if getting into contact with them is such a hassle? read more

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