VanguardReviews 44

I've been a customer of Vanguard for 20+ years. I used to be very pleased but in the past two years their service has hit rock bottom. Folks on phone give you contradictory information, they promise to investigate issues and call back but the call never comes. I've had a repair ticket outstanding for 2 1/2 months for a problem they acknowledge should be fixed but no resolution. Run don't walk to another provider!

My father had the upmost trust in this company and now that he has passed on, I find that they are as helpful, honest and polite as he said they were. They are happy to do a bit of hand-holding with me, as I figure out how best to manage my affairs. I could not recommend them more highly!

Vanguard really pushes you to look for information on their unorganized and multiple websites, or suffer for calling them. There should be a contact email or text chat option on the website at least. I was calling about an employer sponsored 401k and the wait time is not bad. But the reps that picked up kept transferring me to the individual investor accounts department. The wait times are long for individual accounts (over 20 minutes on a good day). There's a lack of communication between departments and they didn't listen to what I was calling about, only for a reason to transfer me away. I've called the correct number and was transferred, waited an hour, only to be transferred back. I've had to call Vanguard at least 10 times this past year, and they don't seem to document any information given during the calls. They also made me wait 2-3 weeks for mail, only for it to be sent to the wrong address even though I confirmed the address multiple times. The level of incompetence is astounding especially for such sensitive matters as transferring upon death.

Back in 2020 I changed my Vanguard account to a managed account and I have been paying them for 2 years to do absolutely nothing. After scheduling a couple of meetings, and making it clear that I was not happy with the way they were handling my account, I receive a letter stating that they will no longer charge me for managing my account. Why were they charging me in the first place? Not only did they not make any changes to the investments, even though I was losing a significant amount of money month after month, but they were also charging me as well. Well enough was enough. I moved all of my money from Vanguard to a more customer focused firm 2 weeks ago and I'm glad I did. In one of the meetings, and after losing 20% of my account, I asked them how much money they were going to watch me lose before they made any changes to the account. They said they would not make changes because they felt my investments were exactly the way they should be. Really? I have been extremely dissatisfied with Vanguard. By the way, I have had another IRA with another firm side by side with Vanguard, and the other account has done much better in this bad market.

It seems that they are intentionally making it harder for traders to check buy/sell history and open orders for individual stock or etf.

Recently moved, new computer, etc., tried to access my Vanguard account. Could not answer the ludicrous challenge questions, got locked out of my account, called customer service. They offered to send me a PAPER form to sign and have notarized to unlock my account, would not let me speak to a supervisor, or provide any other number of relevant docs, SSN numbers, passport, passwords, etc., but they would unlock my account if I could tell them the name of my first girlfriend or get the spelling of the town I honeymooned in exactly right. Security is important but you also need to have a heart and a brain... One star, I'mm done with these guys...

Updated from 2 stars:
The last rep I spoke with was an absolute crouton.

Every time I try and contact them it takes forever to speak to someone. This is after providing the same info multiple times to the IVR system (robot voice).
Once I do, it starts with just an operator who then has to transfer me, causing even more wait time. Been waiting to speak to someone right now for 2 hours. And this isn't the first time.

If you're going to lack in the customer service dept, at least make your app/website more modern and user-friendly.
It shouldn't take a bunch of digging to figure out how do something as simple as edit a 401k contribution... The 'search' field on the website does not help at all.
Whenever I try and log into the retirement section of the website, it again, asks for my login details, then shoots me back to the investor center section of the website. Somehow I was able to access it today and got my issue resolved on my end while still waiting for customer service.

This company is run like an old - school Bostonian financial advising firm. The consultants are educated ladies and gentleman with personal experience in finance, investment and/or banking. Many have MBAs or were business majors in college.

They encourage diversified portfolios; the more you invest the more you advance in terms of representation and access to consultation.

I have been associated with Vanguard for quite some time and remain pleased and impressed by their competence and savvy expertise.

Five stars...

Been with them for 18 years. Every single year, when we compare, we are reminded it was the very best choice we ever made. We like to have "some" say in our investments, not leave it 100% to a stranger, and we like to have someone to "hold our hand", at a very competitive fee. Vanguard does all that for us. Over time, we move more and more of our investments to VGD. Excellent.

The lowest fees of any investment firm I'm aware of.

Vanguard has the lowest fees of any broker or money manager. It's the best way to manage your savings and retirement accounts.

When my Mother died, I contacted 4 financial organizations to start the process of settling her estate. Vanguard was by far the WORST experience.
1. I called 3 times and got 3 different sets of instruction what to do.
2. One of the agents gave incorrect tax-related information. Checked with a CPA and Vanguard was 100% wrong. Could have cost us a lot.
3. Called to clarify the conflicting information I was given. Put on hold for 22 minutes. I hung up and a called back to leave a message to have them call me back. Never got a callback.
4. They put a 7-10 day hold on the account for no reason. I was already an authorized trustee and should have had uninterrupted access to the funds.
5. The other 3 financial institutions sent a simple form to fill out and send back. It took 1-7 days to take care of business with them. Vanguard required a notarized signature and a several-page form. They also - in error - sent other forms that were not required. It's been 4 weeks already of back-and-forth, and still the business is not completed.

Summary: Extremely poor customer service. And they don't care. By all means - deal with Vanguard if you are looking for a financial institution that freely dispenses high stress and wastes your time.