Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

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tc101
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Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by tc101 »

I have accounts at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab and several banks. Fidelity has the best customer service I know of. They quickly pick up the phone and the person I talk to is helpful and knowledgeable. They respond to email more quickly, and their responses are clear. Has that been your expeience?

Most of my investments will stay at Vanguard because of the low fees and great funds, but I think I am going to use Fido cash management for banking and everything else.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by jebmke »

I have to admit that I haven't had to use "customer service" at financial institutions for quite a while. A couple of years ago we moved our checking account from BofA to USAA and never looked back. BofA made mistakes and charged fees. So far, we have never needed to interact with a human at a bank.

The only time we have spoken with people at VG was in regards to an inherited IRA issue and our rep immediately put us in touch with one of their IRA specialists who was able to provide what we needed.
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Jake46
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Jake46 »

I have been a Fidelity customer (including brokerage, IRA, family partnership & cash management accounts) for almost 10 years & I agree completely about its excellent customer service.
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tc101
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by tc101 »

True that I also hardly ever have to use customer service.

I am about to go to closing of a house sale, and in asking different institutions near the closing office how long they would put a hold on a large cashiers check, Fidelity was noticibly superior. When I wanted to learn to take a picture of a check with my iPad for deposit, fido was superior.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by cheapskate »

tc101 wrote:I have accounts at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab and several banks. Fidelity has the best customer service I know of. They quickly pick up the phone and the person I talk to is helpful and knowledgeable. They respond to email more quickly, and their responses are clear. Has that been your expeience?

Most of my investments will stay at Vanguard because of the low fees and great funds, but I think I am going to use Fido cash management for banking and everything else.
Agreed. Fidelity has been top notch. I have had an account there since 2006.

Schwab has been pretty good as well. Right up there with Fidelity.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by indexfundfan »

I had good experiences with T.Rowe Price too.
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prudent
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by prudent »

When I read posts like this (regardless of which company is being praised) I always wonder how much of the great experience was because of the amount of assets the customer holds at that firm. Some places look up accounts by caller ID while the phone is still ringing, and based on the customer's value it can be routed to a higher level CSR, or simply routed out of the automated system to a live person, or other special handling. We once had an account at a place which analyzed caller ID to process calls - for the longest time I would get a live person when I called. Then at some point my calls went to a "press 1 for X, press 2 for Y..." computer that had 3 or 4 rounds of responses before you could talk to a human. About the third time in a row this happened, I grumbled a bit to the CSR I eventually reached, and while trying to convince me their system had not been changed she told me it was because we no longer had the level of assets at the firm that qualified for having calls routed to a live person automatically as long as I was calling from the number connected to our account.

Anyway I think it's great that people can still get good service somewhere no matter what the reason, because it's getting harder and harder. Perhaps financial firms are more sensitive to providing good service compared to other types of businesses.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by bungalow10 »

I have no experience with Vanguard, but lots with Fidelity and I have to agree their service is top-notch.

I've had to call or chat with them numerous times over the years and they have always been great. I'm really fortunate that my company 401k and pension were recently moved to Fidelity as well, so now everything we have is under one roof.

FWIW - we started with very little there (only our two IRAs - which started at zero about 9-10 years ago), and still have just a few 100k there. We are quite a ways away from being "big fish", but are always treated like we are important customers.
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Leif
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Leif »

Agreed.

At one time I moved my accounts to TD Ameritrade from Fidelity. The reason was that was the only agent my new advisor used.

TD Ameritrade completely messed it up. In desperation I called Fidelity. They told me don't worry, that would work with them to get it fixed. This was from the company that was LOSING my money!!!

They did.

I moved my accounts to another advisor. This advisor was new and I suggested he add Fidelity to the agents he used. Once he did that it was about 1 or 2 microseconds for me to transfer the accounts back to Fidelity.

One other thing. Just last Friday I arrived at the Fidelity Office about 10 minutes after closing. I walked up to the glass door. The lights inside were off, however a rep was still at the counter. She waved, came over and unlocked the door, and I was able to deposit my check. I'm not sure every broker would do the same.
Last edited by Leif on Mon May 13, 2013 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by chicagobear »

Almost all of my money is there in a brokerage account and it has been fine except that they assigned me a broker and he periodically bothers me trying to sell me something. I've told him that I'll let him know if I need any advice (which I won't) so that is a bit irritating.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by frugaltype »

prudent wrote:When I read posts like this (regardless of which company is being praised) I always wonder how much of the great experience was because of the amount of assets the customer holds at that firm. Some places look up accounts by caller ID while the phone is still ringing, and based on the customer's value it can be routed to a higher level CSR, or simply routed out of the automated system to a live person, or other special handling.
Schwab does that, have a low enough balance and you're dirt.

Vanguard has always been very nice to me, regardless of my account balance. And they do route you right off to IRA or brokerage specialists if that's who you should be talking to.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by nisiprius »

Fidelity was fine for me but not in the L. L. Bean league. I'd give 'em A-.

They almost lost my business the day a rep wished me happy birthday; I know they know my date of birth but they don't have to rub it in.

Probably the worst experience--I'm not saying it was bad, as "worst experiences" go it was pretty good--involved a rollover of about from my Fidelity 401(k) to my Fidelity Rollover IRA. As viewed online, the balance in my 401(k) went to zero promptly, but for a period of about four weeks it did not show up in my rollover account.

What was aggravating was that I called them weekly and went through three repetitions of a nearly identical conservation.

"Hi, this is Joel at Fidelity, I hope you're having a real great day, now just what can I help you with?"
"I transferred $XXX from my 401(k) to my rollover IRA on X/Y/20ZZ but I'm not seeing it showing online in my rollover IRA."
"Sure thing, I can help you with that, mighty glad to do it, just give me a moment to look into your account. Hmm. That's funny. It should be showing. May I put you on hold to check one thing?"
"Sure."
[Music: Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia, compressed to 16K bits/second from a Blue Amberol cylinder of the Edison Concert Kazoo Orchestra]
"Hi, I'm back, thank you so much for holding, may I just put you on hold a little longer?"
"OK."
[Music: Borodin again, and I discover it is a loop of just the first minute]
"OK, I found the problem and I fixed it, it should go right through now."
"How long before I see the balance showing in my account?"
"You should see it within a couple of days."
"OK, thanks."
"So is there anything else I can help you with today?"
"No, that's it."
"Well, have a great day, then."
"Yes, you too. Bye."
"Bye. Great to talk to you."
"The pleasure was mine. Bye."
"Give my regards to the wife and kids, will you?"
"Yes, certainly, and my best to you and yours. Bye."
"If you don't see that transfer in a few days, feel free to call back."
"Yes, I sure will. Thanks. Bye."

One week later: lather, rinse, repeat. At no time were they able (or at least at no time they were willing) to tell me what was really happening, or what the problem had been. Final outcome, all OK, not a penny missing, no real problem.
Last edited by nisiprius on Mon May 13, 2013 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by BruceM »

My first foray into brokerage services in 1997 was with American Express, who offered 20 free trades/yr (or something like that), which then the average trading cost for the 'discounters' was about $25 as I recall. So I went with AE. What a disaster. Almost every monthly statement had an error on it that I then had to call, go on extended hold, and finally talk to some rep who promised to fix the problem that usually didn't get fixed. After a year or so of this, I decided to transfer assets to Fidelity. It took almost 4 months and $200 charged by AE to complete the transfer.

Since that time in 1998, I have had almost no problems with my 6 accounts at Fidelity. Now, I'm an income investor and so hold about 50 income securities and will generally average about 20 dividend transactions per month. With only a couple of exceptions, every monthly statement is correct, as are end of year 1099s and end of year activity statements. The few minor issues I've had over the years, the Fido rep has been responsive and if it was an error on their part...or even my part....it is promptly fixed.

I don't know what's in their secrete sauce, but I can't say enough good about Fido in meeting my needs.

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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by SpringMan »

I generally agree about Fidelity's customer service. I do think they over do the customer satisfaction surveys. I made a mistake and did what they call a "round trip" trade on one of their bond funds. I checked to assure there was no redemption fee but failed to hold the shares 30 days. The next business day I got a call from a Fidelity rep who explained what I did and warned that if I did it again it could result in being locked out of that fund or possibly all Fidelity funds if abuse continued. I thanked him for the heads up. The mere threat of Fidelity locking my accounts, makes me consider taking my business elsewhere. What really bothered me was the email I received from Fidelity requesting I take a short survey based on my recent correspondence with Fidelity. First, I did not contact them, they contacted me. I took the survey but felt like it was inappropriate due to the nature of their call to me. It just served as a reminder that I did a rather minor screw up. Surveys in general seem excessive these days. For example, I took my car to the dealership for a slow service oil change. They sent a survey to be filled out. Having waited over an hour at the dealership, I explained that the price was very good but the long wait made it not worth it and I had made an appointment.
Last edited by SpringMan on Mon May 13, 2013 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Snow Boarder »

BruceM wrote:I don't know what's in their secrete sauce, but I can't say enough good about Fido in meeting my needs.
I am a boglehead and I use Fidelity. (Sounds like I am at an AA meeting). They have exceeded all my expectations. I have enough there to be assigned a representative to act as a sounding board. I came in to let him look at my core four portfolio, AA and tax efficient fund placement choices. He said ~ You have a very good handle on things. You are moving in a sound direction. You really don't need me. Keep on doing what your doing. No sales pitch there just sincerity. He earned my respect that day.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Perpetual »

Fidelity is top-notch. I called them three times over the past week, all during regular business hours, and they picked up immediately. Furthermore, each agent I spoke to was extremely knowledgeable about my somewhat-rare situation.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by fourwaystreet »

My one and only experience with Fidelity was quite opposite of what most of you are describing. In 2006 my wife passed away and I wanted to roll her 401(k) to a VG IRA. It was like pulling teeth to get the funds moved. Fidelity had every excuse in the book explaining the delay, none of which seemed plausible to me at the time or now. I remember telling one of the several Fidelity reps I talked to "What would happen if I needed this money to pay the bills?"
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by gerrym51 »

key phrase is i know of. i use 3 (did not start with a choice) and they all have been equally well.

fidelity,troweprice,and futurefund, have all been equally good.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Ged »

My father had his investments in Fidelity when he passed away. I was the executor of his estate. Fidelity was a big help to me in the process of dealing with the process. Other financial institutions were not close to the level of support I got from Fidelity.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by JPH »

The service I have received from Fidelity is top notch. They have always gone the extra mile for me; even on a rollover of three retirement accounts to Vanguard.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Dandy »

I used to manage mutual fund customer service and also invested in Fidelity. They always were a leader in service.

It is very tough to educate, motivate and retain top notch customer service people. A lot depends on how management views the importance of service and what they use to measure service. One fund I managed was overly focused on how quick you answered the phone. It took awhile for them to realize the real key to service was once the phone is answered does the caller reach a friendly, knowledgeable Rep that is empowered to answer the questions completely and resolve most problems on the first call.

As an executive in charge I wanted to be compensated on what the callers rated the service provided rather than stats such as how quickly the phone was answered. Not that answering the phone quickly isn't important but that is like rating a restaurant on how quickly they seat you. If you had to wait a few minutes to be seated and then everything else was great -- you would probably rate the restaurant very good or excellent. Once the fund created and focused on customer service surveys it really made a difference.

The real test of service is what is the response when something goes wrong. An apology with a quick accurate resolution gives you confidence that you are dealing with a company you can trust. So far Vanguard has provided very good service but I have not had a problem to really test their service recovery -- and I hope I don't have that opportunity.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by frugaltype »

SpringMan wrote:Surveys in general seem excessive these days.
It seems like I can hardly go to a website nowadays without one of those surveys sliding over. And they never give you a comments box so you can say, No more surveys!
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by OneWorld111 »

Fidelity, Troweprice both are great. TRowe Price was very pleasant eve if I wanted to transfer the funds to Fidelity.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by KarlJ »

My experience with customer service at Fidelity has been very good.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Allan »

We are 50/50 Fidelity and Vanguard and I too like Fidelity's customer service a bit better than Vanguard. I also like that Fidelity has a walk-in office 3-4 miles away, I know that probably adds a bit to their costs (and my expenses) but I think it is worth it.

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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by GracieLou »

I have also had great customer service from Fidelity even though I don't have a large sum of money with them. I contacted them via phone and used their email feature and received prompt responses each time. So far, they have worked out for me :happy
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by scrabbler1 »

I have been with Fidelity since 1990 and their service has been quite good. When you have a large enough portfolio with them, I learned in the 1990s, you get put to the head of the queue when you call them.

I have used online chats, phone reps, letters, and my own Account Executive at the local office to handle my questions. I have also had to contact someone in their executive office when I had a question which could not be handled by the underlings. That was back in 2005 when they made some changes to their FAST phone system which inadvertently prevented me from making phone purchases (I was not yet using their website for those transactions but I do not know if the glitch was there, too). Once I told them in my letter to Jeff Carney (who was the Fidelity prez at the time) that their failure to fix the glitch was costing them thousands of dollars in investments, they fixed the problem.

I also had been "poached" at the local office by a new, pushy Account Executive. I wrote a letter to his boss and quickly got switched to a different AE. My new AE has been very helpful with issues relating to my account so I don't have to explain things over and over to new phone reps.

When I ERed in late 2008, I worked with an AE (a good one) to get my Rollover IRA done right and made some other large investments to get my Early Retirement going.

Fidelity has been very good for me.
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frugaltype
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by frugaltype »

Allan wrote:We are 50/50 Fidelity and Vanguard and I too like Fidelity's customer service a bit better than Vanguard. I also like that Fidelity has a walk-in office 3-4 miles away, I know that probably adds a bit to their costs (and my expenses) but I think it is worth it.

Allan
I used to be ten minutes from a Schwab office. Now it's a thirty minute drive into a city where no sane person drives. I just looked it up and that's the only place Fidelity has an office also in my state.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by pennstater2005 »

jebmke wrote:I have to admit that I haven't had to use "customer service" at financial institutions for quite a while. A couple of years ago we moved our checking account from BofA to USAA and never looked back. BofA made mistakes and charged fees. So far, we have never needed to interact with a human at a bank.

The only time we have spoken with people at VG was in regards to an inherited IRA issue and our rep immediately put us in touch with one of their IRA specialists who was able to provide what we needed.
Same here. And if I ever need any help I almost always use email. I can wait a day or two for a response.
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tc101
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by tc101 »

I am a late adapter with new technology. I got an iPad over 2 years ago and just last month added the Fido ap that lets me take a picture of a check and deposit it that way. It works just fine. That means no more trips to an ATM, eccept to get cash, and the Fido debit card refunds all fees charged by any ATM I use. Now that I have checked it out for a month I think I am going to switch to the Fido cash management account as my major bank.

I have had good banks in the past, but they keep getting bought and combined with other banks and changing. Fido is more likely to stay the same.

I will still keep my other accounts open at banks that have local offices, just in case.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by tc101 »

One problem with Fidelity is that the debit card is through Melon bank, and you have to use the Melon bank customer service.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Leif »

tc101 wrote:... I am going to switch to the Fido cash management account as my major bank.
...
I will still keep my other accounts open at banks that have local offices, just in case.
Fidelity has been my ONLY bank for about 10 years now.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by tc101 »

Fidelity has been my ONLY bank for about 10 years now.
The only problem that I can think of is if you ever need to get a signature guarantee.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by sometimesinvestor »

I have had some problems with Vanguard and none with fidelity but fortunately problems don't occur very often. Still as I told a vanguard rep during a troubled call dealing with changing the registration an an UGMA account "Sometimes I wish that your er was slightly higher and your web site much better."
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by tfb »

tc101 wrote:
Fidelity has been my ONLY bank for about 10 years now.
The only problem that I can think of is if you ever need to get a signature guarantee.
Fidelity will give you a signature guarantee at their local office.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Random Musings »

I've had two experiences with Fidelity service.

Fidelity service wasn't so hot when I had to assist a rollover on a 403b. Guess when assets are going out they drag there feet a bit. Slightly negative, but not surprising. So I'll give that a pass.

However, when it comes to customer service, I believe we can't ignore their advisory services. One of my fellow office workers received a plan offering a multitude of overlapping funds having relatively high ER's and slapped on a annual AUM to boot. From previous threads, I don't believe this is an isolated event. I recall all in was around 180 basis points if you wanted this form of service.

Another form of service that Fidelity provides to customers are retirement plans. On average, are they as good as Vanguard plan offerings? From various surveys, it looks rather tight with Fidelity being ranked higher in lower AUM plans but Vanguard has the edge when AUM in the plans are larger. But I have a feeling that more people on this board would prefer a Vanguard 401K or 403b over a Fidelity one.

For Bogleheads DIY's, as on this thread, customer services that they utilize is good because the Fidelity traps are avoided. But for the larger majority of less educated investors, or for those who are lumped into retirement plans, I believe their services come at a price which can be steep in certain cases. That's how their owners became billionaires.

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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by bawr »

I agree that Fidelity's representatives are polite and that they pick up the phone quickly.

An unpleasant experience I had with them caused me to move all of my trading to Interactive Brokers. I called Fidelity to discuss what I believe was an improperly triggered stop loss order. The representative said that he would look into the matter and would get back to me. A week passed without anyone from Fidelity contacting me. I had to reopen the issue with another representative. Two days later, Fidelity informed me that the stop loss order was properly executed and that I was out of luck. My concern is not with Fidelity's refusal to bust a trade which occurred two handles lower than all other trades that day, but with their extreme lethargy in dealing with the matter.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by letsgobobby »

frugaltype wrote:
prudent wrote:When I read posts like this (regardless of which company is being praised) I always wonder how much of the great experience was because of the amount of assets the customer holds at that firm. Some places look up accounts by caller ID while the phone is still ringing, and based on the customer's value it can be routed to a higher level CSR, or simply routed out of the automated system to a live person, or other special handling.
Schwab does that, have a low enough balance and you're dirt.

Vanguard has always been very nice to me, regardless of my account balance. And they do route you right off to IRA or brokerage specialists if that's who you should be talking to.
It must be pretty low at Schwab because I don't have much there and always get great service.

Actually, I've had great service from Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Leif »

tfb wrote:
tc101 wrote:
Fidelity has been my ONLY bank for about 10 years now.
The only problem that I can think of is if you ever need to get a signature guarantee.
Fidelity will give you a signature guarantee at their local office.
True. I've done that.
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by SGM »

I don't like their higher expense ratios in my son's 401k run by Fido and the undisclosed fee he paid after the site stated he would get a check for X dollars. He received X-50 dollars. $50 seems steep to close an account. Back when I was an employee in a major company I rolled over my retirement account without any fee. Closing my Fido solo 401k only cost me $20.

A few unsolicited calls several years ago from a Fidelity rep trying to talk me into a poor investment were quite annoying. I have looked at Fidelity with a jaundiced eye since those phone calls.

I only dealt with them initially because they were early in offering a solo 401k without having to go through a third party. I tried to set one up with Vanguard and I needed to go through a third party with additional expenses. I gather Vanguard has fixed that issue since then, a little late for me.

One of Fidelity's retirement experts gave me misinformation concerning the number of retirement accounts my business could have. He insisted the business could only have one. Instructions for the 5500EZ indicate I would have to fill a form out for each PSP 401k if any one was over the limit requiring filling out the form. I have had two different retirement accounts for my business until recently and the IRS is quite aware of it and happy that I pay my taxes and they have indicated nothing is amiss.

Fidelity has been slow to add a Roth solo 401k last time I inquired.
"Let us endeavor, so to live, that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain
carolinaman
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by carolinaman »

I agree. Their website is much better than Vanguard. I have about the same amount in both Vanguard and Fidelity, but Fidelity offers more services and they are always responsive to my needs. Vanguard provides reasonable service but not nearly as good as Fidelity.
gkaplan
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by gkaplan »

Does Fidelity have the best customer service that I know of? That wasn't my experience when I had my 401(k) with Fidelity at my last job, and it certainly wasn't my experience when I rolled over my Fidelity 401(k) to Vanguard.
Gordon
vv19
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by vv19 »

How many people here have IRAs and/or taxable accounts with Fidelity? I have an IRA with Vanguard and will soon be starting a taxable account. I was wondering if it makes sense to open the taxable account with Fidelity?
Default User BR
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Default User BR »

jay22 wrote:How many people here have IRAs and/or taxable accounts with Fidelity? I have an IRA with Vanguard and will soon be starting a taxable account. I was wondering if it makes sense to open the taxable account with Fidelity?
I opened a taxable account at Fidelity in December for the transfer bonus. I haven't had any issues, but I haven't had to contact customer service since transferring. I did contact them by email prior to see whether I could get a bonus for moving my Roth as well, but I couldn't (or I should say that they would lump them together when determining the bonus).


Brian
vv19
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by vv19 »

As much as I like Vanguard, putting all my funds in one company scares me. Which is why I am considering Fidelity for my taxable account.
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Leif
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Leif »

jay22 wrote:As much as I like Vanguard, putting all my funds in one company scares me. Which is why I am considering Fidelity for my taxable account.
I have funds at both. However, as long as you are at a major company, such as Vanguard or Fidelity, I don't think it should scare you. I have funds at Vanguard because I don't want to pay the fee to have the Vanguard funds at Fidelity, and I don't want to deal with ETFs if possible. Also, Vanguard has a Roth 401K while Fidelity does not (Fidelity has a standard 401K).

I do wish Fidelity treated their small business customers better. It is a hassle to transfer funds between my business and personal accounts, even though my business account is a SP, so there should be no registration problems.
vv19
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by vv19 »

Leif Eriksen wrote:
jay22 wrote:As much as I like Vanguard, putting all my funds in one company scares me. Which is why I am considering Fidelity for my taxable account.
I have funds at both. However, as long as you are at a major company, such as Vanguard or Fidelity, I don't think it should scare you. I have funds at Vanguard because I don't want to pay the fee to have the Vanguard funds at Fidelity, and I don't want to deal with ETFs if possible. Also, Vanguard has a Roth 401K while Fidelity does not (Fidelity has a standard 401K).

I do wish Fidelity treated their small business customers better. It is a hassle to transfer funds between my business and personal accounts, even though my business account is a SP, so there should be no registration problems.
You have a 401 at Fidelity, or taxable account?
david99
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by david99 »

jay22 wrote:As much as I like Vanguard, putting all my funds in one company scares me. Which is why I am considering Fidelity for my taxable account.
I put some of my assets with Fidelity because it also scares me to have all my investments with one company. I like having my investments in a few different places such as 403b, Credit Union, Fido and Vanguard. This way if my Vanguard account ever gets frozen for whatever reason, I can still have access to some of my money.
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EyeYield
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by EyeYield »

I've got a problem with Fidelity! I'm pissed! I've been with Fidelity for 35 years and have never had a problem. I also had an account with MS predating my Fidelity account. Two years ago I (mistakingly) brought all my DRIPs to MS and received some hefty rebalancing advice. Since I never listen to anyone when it comes to money, I started doing some hefty research, which eventually led me here and to more than a dozen books. Realizing my mistake I left MS and brought everything over to Fidelity. Everything went fine and I was assigned a local agent to talk to in person; fine, not that I really need anyone.

Now the phone support is top notch and my personal "advisor" is also ok, young, but ok - until:

In trying to help young people get started in their investing lives, I recommend they call my guy (they don't like the idea of a non b&m experience) and set up a meet and greet. The first call always goes fine, then when my broker says he'll call them back to make an appointment, he doesn't. I have to call and ask why and the broker says he lost the number - two people in a row now. This is unacceptable to me, sorry. Lost number? What are you f'n 10 years old?

Furthermore, when I went with a friend to open his account, the broker mentions how much money he makes to my friend. This too is unacceptable to me, they're only about 6 years apart in age and it sounded like bragging to me.

Instead of complaining and getting this guy in trouble, I'm going to talk to him directly and ask that he recommend someone else to be my face to face representative.

I've cooled down now, but was feeling vengeful for a while. I was going to call the phone support and ask then how long I had to stay with them to keep the bonus they gave me for moving the MS assets over, so I could get the heck out, thus setting up a vent for my rage (fake rage). Life's too short.

But don't you think this is unprofessional? Would you handle it differently?
"The stock market is a giant distraction from the business of investing." - Jack Bogle
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Leif
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Re: Fidelity has the best customer service I know of

Post by Leif »

jay22 wrote:
Leif Eriksen wrote:
jay22 wrote:As much as I like Vanguard, putting all my funds in one company scares me. Which is why I am considering Fidelity for my taxable account.
I have funds at both. However, as long as you are at a major company, such as Vanguard or Fidelity, I don't think it should scare you. I have funds at Vanguard because I don't want to pay the fee to have the Vanguard funds at Fidelity, and I don't want to deal with ETFs if possible. Also, Vanguard has a Roth 401K while Fidelity does not (Fidelity has a standard 401K).

I do wish Fidelity treated their small business customers better. It is a hassle to transfer funds between my business and personal accounts, even though my business account is a SP, so there should be no registration problems.
You have a 401 at Fidelity, or taxable account?
I have a 401 and a business account (taxable), as well as other taxable and retirements at Fidelity.
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