No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Is Vanguard unreachable by phone on the weekends? That seems crazy to me. Surely I overlooked something.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Says it right on their website: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/serviceCenter/develop wrote:Is Vanguard unreachable by phone on the weekends? That seems crazy to me. Surely I overlooked something.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
While I've never called on a weekend; I just noticed it's 8am - 10PM est Mon-Fri.
One of the reasons Vanguard keeps costs so low. I guess the reasoning is that markets are closed
on the weekends.
One of the reasons Vanguard keeps costs so low. I guess the reasoning is that markets are closed
on the weekends.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
There used to be Saturday phone service, but it was dropped. However, it didn't go on to late afternoon even when it existed.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Thank you for your responses.
I did see that information on the website, but again, I thought I must have missed something. Some websites make it difficult to find the best contact line, to try to encourage chat and secure messages, but a 7-day phone number can be found if you hunt.
I am disappointed that the largest brokerage/mutual fund company in the U.S. can't be reached on the weekends. Most people are busy working during the week and look at their financials on the weekends. I guess I am spoiled by Fidelity's excellent customer service.
I was thinking of moving towards Vanguard for future contributions, but I don't think I can give up the customer support. Being able to call Fidelity and get great support, anytime, has been too valuable to me. This is very disappointing, because I was looking forward to better access to Vanguard's funds, etc.
Thanks again for the confirmation.
Edited for grammar.
I did see that information on the website, but again, I thought I must have missed something. Some websites make it difficult to find the best contact line, to try to encourage chat and secure messages, but a 7-day phone number can be found if you hunt.
I am disappointed that the largest brokerage/mutual fund company in the U.S. can't be reached on the weekends. Most people are busy working during the week and look at their financials on the weekends. I guess I am spoiled by Fidelity's excellent customer service.
I was thinking of moving towards Vanguard for future contributions, but I don't think I can give up the customer support. Being able to call Fidelity and get great support, anytime, has been too valuable to me. This is very disappointing, because I was looking forward to better access to Vanguard's funds, etc.
Thanks again for the confirmation.
Edited for grammar.
- randomizer
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
If you like Fidelity better and are comfortable with their fees, you should switch to them. Competition and choice are wonderful things.
87.5:12.5, EM tilt — HODL the course!
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Thank you; I am with Fidelity, and I think they are an excellent brokerage company. I was not planning to leave Fidelity completely, but to have, perhaps, an IRA with Fidelity and taxable with Vanguard. This would give me great access to both of their funds, research, etc. Oh well, I guess I'll just stick with Fidelity.randomizer wrote:If you like Fidelity better and are comfortable with their fees, you should switch to them. Competition and choice are wonderful things.
Thank you all for the feedback.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I always hate it when I call on a weekday and nothing can really happen because the markets are closed (M-F after 4p EST/1p PST). Story would be the same on a weekend. They always offer to do the transaction on the next business day, but I can usually do the same thing myself, so reaching them after hours has never really helped me anyway. They can rarely do anything on the phone that you can't do yourself online, including schedule transactions for effect the next business day, which is very likely why they do not offer phone service after hours/weekends.
So in conclusion, personally, due to the restrictions of entering a transaction when the market is actually open, and customer support not being exempt from this, I do not miss extended hour phone support, personally, because it's not helpful even when it's reachable. You can do it all online (hopefully), and when you can't, you need to be calling during market hours anyway.
So in conclusion, personally, due to the restrictions of entering a transaction when the market is actually open, and customer support not being exempt from this, I do not miss extended hour phone support, personally, because it's not helpful even when it's reachable. You can do it all online (hopefully), and when you can't, you need to be calling during market hours anyway.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I appreciate your feedback, and I am glad that Vanguard works well for you. That being said, I have been helped by Fidelity on many occasions on the weekends. They helped me with something just last weekend, and I was glad they were there.nalor511 wrote:I always hate it when I call on a weekday and nothing can really happen because the markets are closed (M-F after 4p EST/1p PST). Story would be the same on a weekend. They always offer to do the transaction on the next business day, but I can usually do the same thing myself, so reaching them after hours has never really helped me anyway. They can rarely do anything on the phone that you can't do yourself online, including schedule transactions for effect the next business day, which is very likely why they do not offer phone service after hours/weekends.
So in conclusion, personally, due to the restrictions of entering a transaction when the market is actually open, and customer support not being exempt from this, I do not miss extended hour phone support, personally, because it's not helpful even when it's reachable. You can do it all online (hopefully), and when you can't, you need to be calling during market hours anyway.
I do love Vanguard's funds and investment philosophy. That is why I wanted to open an account with them. But if I notice something over a weekend that doesn't look right, or I need support, I won't want to have to wait until Monday, and then deal with this sort of thing after work. I may still keep a small amount with them, but I am not sure I can feel comfortable having the bulk of my investments with them. If Fidelity didn't exist, I'd take my chances with Vanguard and their poor(er) customer service.
Thanks again!
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I just call during the week, which has always worked out for me.develop wrote:Is Vanguard unreachable by phone on the weekends? That seems crazy to me. Surely I overlooked something.
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I'll be honest, while I appreciate the fact that Vanguard actively tries to keep their costs low, sometimes I get the feeling they go overboard with it. They just often seem woefully understaffed from a customer service point of view. I get that they do things thing to help keep costs down which ultimately gets passed along to us, the investors...whoever I feel like there is a "bare minimum" level of customer service, website stuff, etc...and vanguard definitely flirts with that level.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
well said, i am increasingly disappointed with vanguard and wonder about their IT and customer support. Fidelity index funds are not much different in expense.SpartanBull wrote:I'll be honest, while I appreciate the fact that Vanguard actively tries to keep their costs low, sometimes I get the feeling they go overboard with it. They just often seem woefully understaffed from a customer service point of view. I get that they do things thing to help keep costs down which ultimately gets passed along to us, the investors...whoever I feel like there is a "bare minimum" level of customer service, website stuff, etc...and vanguard definitely flirts with that level.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Me too!munemaker wrote:I just call during the week, which has always worked out for me.develop wrote:Is Vanguard unreachable by phone on the weekends? That seems crazy to me. Surely I overlooked something.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
If I'm calling, I want them to be open on weekends; if I work there I want everything closed on weekends. But, if I'm calling I also like to talk to people who like working where they are working. I guess I don't think it's obvious that not having weekend hours is a bad thing, particularly if there is excellent M-F service.
Last edited by stlutz on Sat Jan 07, 2017 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
No longer being a trader, I closed Fidelity years ago and switched to Vanguard. Vanguard is not a great site for trading (just ok). Fidelity has better tools. But, my Vanguard results, on a risk adjusted basis usually beat my Fidelity.
Even though some costs are low at Fidelity, they were dragged screaming into low cost index funds. I am more confident that Vanguard will always look to lower costs for investors. I don;t feel Fidelity has the same philosophy. There is a reason Vanguard zoomed past Fidelity in AUM (assets under management).
Even though some costs are low at Fidelity, they were dragged screaming into low cost index funds. I am more confident that Vanguard will always look to lower costs for investors. I don;t feel Fidelity has the same philosophy. There is a reason Vanguard zoomed past Fidelity in AUM (assets under management).
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I'll second that. I rarely call, but when I do its usually a question that requires a more senior person to answer. So, even when I could call on Saturday morning, I'd usually have to wait until Monday for the answer since the weekend folks were less experienced.I do not miss extended hour phone support, personally, because it's not helpful even when it's reachable.
I found the same when my step-mom passed away last year. She had several brokerage accounts with small dollars in each (so no premium number to call), including Fidelity. All of them had Saturday hours, and I tried to avail myself of them to work out the ToD process. But while the Sat person was always cheerful and tried to be helpful, it generally came back to: 'can you call back on Monday?' Yeah, I get that filing death certs is not a common occurrence, but what is the point of being open if you can at least advice on the paperwork required for Transfer of Death (I was named)?
Sure, Vanguard's customer service is not the most state of the art, but then they also don't spend the retail marketing dollars that Fidelity does. Some investors love having a branch in town where they can conduct biz. I prefer lower overhead costs and M-F...
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
re: No Weekend Customer Support ....
My recollection is that there was weekend support (perhaps for investors with more funds at Vanguard, i.e., Flagship, Voyager, ... etc.) until about a year or so ago.
I recall at that time, there was new law related to overtime, and that there was some press - example below - about re-classification of Vanguard employees with respect to overtime.
For example, in the second (below) DiStefano article, he quoted a Vanguard spokeswoman:
PS: I have also linked (below) an article by Adam Robinson in The Morning Call, which does a pretty good job of laying out the impact of the overtime rule on tech startups. While VG is not one of those, I believe (can anyone confirm with link or personal recollection) that impact of then-new law would have ALSO fallen on folks in customer support, and might [?] have provided Vanguard with additional incentive to eliminate the support hours.
I am not sure if Robinson's analysis is correct, but he wrote:
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard and the new federal overtime rules
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists ... rules.html
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard workers ask if new rules will cost them
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq- ... -list.html
Adam Robinson @ The Morning Call: Tech startups: The casualties of Obama's new overtime rule
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/c ... story.html
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard boosts boss bonuses
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq- ... eport.html
My recollection is that there was weekend support (perhaps for investors with more funds at Vanguard, i.e., Flagship, Voyager, ... etc.) until about a year or so ago.
I recall at that time, there was new law related to overtime, and that there was some press - example below - about re-classification of Vanguard employees with respect to overtime.
For example, in the second (below) DiStefano article, he quoted a Vanguard spokeswoman:
- Vanguard "reclassified certain jobs as overtime eligible, due in part to the anticipated Department of Labor regulatory changes, along with broader changes to our job classification structure..."
PS: I have also linked (below) an article by Adam Robinson in The Morning Call, which does a pretty good job of laying out the impact of the overtime rule on tech startups. While VG is not one of those, I believe (can anyone confirm with link or personal recollection) that impact of then-new law would have ALSO fallen on folks in customer support, and might [?] have provided Vanguard with additional incentive to eliminate the support hours.
I am not sure if Robinson's analysis is correct, but he wrote:
- In this sense, the overtime rule attacks the compensation structure of technology startups as well as other small businesses that emphasize bonuses, profit sharing or equity participation.
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard and the new federal overtime rules
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists ... rules.html
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard workers ask if new rules will cost them
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq- ... -list.html
Adam Robinson @ The Morning Call: Tech startups: The casualties of Obama's new overtime rule
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/c ... story.html
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard boosts boss bonuses
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq- ... eport.html
Last edited by Vegomatic on Sat Jan 07, 2017 11:40 pm, edited 7 times in total.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I've been with Vanguard for about 10+ years and I never called them. I can do everything on its website. The website, btw, is available on the weekend too. Available on weekend is nice, but not necessary, IMHO.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Yes, Vanguard had Saturday customer support,(10am-4pm(ish) minimally- I'm not sure of the end points). As your OP states it went away within the last yr., more than likely because of the new laws you also cite above @ Philly Inquirer links .Vegomatic wrote:re: No Weekend Customer Support ....
My recollection is that their was weekend support (perhaps for investors with more funds at Vanguard, i.e., Flagship, Voyager, ... etc.) until about a year or so ago.
I recall at that time, there was new law related to overtime, and that there was some press - example below - about re-classification of Vanguard employees with respect to overtime.
For example, in the second (below) DiStefano article, he quoted a Vanguard spokeswoman:
At more or less the same time (I think) VG eliminated the weekend support. - Unintended consequences? - Does anyone else remember when the weekend support ended at Vanguard? Thanks. - Ira
- Vanguard "reclassified certain jobs as overtime eligible, due in part to the anticipated Department of Labor regulatory changes, along with broader changes to our job classification structure..."
PS: I have also linked (below) an article by Adam Robinson in The Morning Call, which does a pretty good job of laying out the impact of the overtime rule on Tech Startups. While VG is not one of those, I believe (can anyone confirm with link or personal recollection) that impact of then-new law would have ALSO fallen on folks in customer support, and might [?] have provided Vanguard with additional incentive to eliminate the support hours.
I am not sure if Robinson's analysis is correct, but he wrote:
As noted elsewhere, while VG is not small, it does have a profit-sharing/equity participation plan (see below), so there may be something to Robinson's suggestions.
- In this sense, the overtime rule attacks the compensation structure of technology startups as well as other small businesses that emphasize bonuses, profit sharing or equity participation.
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard and the new federal overtime rules
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists ... rules.html
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard workers ask if new rules will cost them
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq- ... -list.html
Adam Robinson @ The Morning Call: Tech startups: The casualties of Obama's new overtime rule
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/c ... story.html
Joe DiStefano @ Philly Inquirer: Vanguard boosts boss bonuses
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq- ... port.htmll
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I'll admit I don't understand why these two must go hand in hand. You can pick Fidelity and use Vanguard funds. They aren't mutually exclusive.sambb wrote:well said, i am increasingly disappointed with vanguard and wonder about their IT and customer support. Fidelity index funds are not much different in expense.
Use what works for you.
There could be transaction implications of doing this depending upon your scenario, but I haven't found this to be too much of a deterrent. Then again it could just be me and the way I invest.
I have accts at both and to be honest have found neither to be amazing, but there's little question IMO that Vanguard is the worst from a service POV of the two. But for most of my accts, it works. And for the rest I take the business elsewhere, and still end up owning Vanguard funds in some of those accts anyway.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
If you're going to respond to the same number of calls, why does it matter if you spread them out over seven days or compress them into five? If anything, five days would require more desks/phones/etc. 

I am not a lawyer, accountant or financial advisor. Any advice or suggestions that I may provide shall be considered for entertainment purposes only.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I know I may be in the minority here, but that is just nuts. They can pay janitors to answer the phone on weekends and tell you to call back on Monday, and - in my book - that is not weekend service. I've had most of my money at Fidelity (all of it now) and I can't imagine moving it to Vanguard given what I read here. I really love the Vanguard funds, but they need to get their act together. They can lower their E/R to zero but if no one can answer the phone, they are charging too much.Big Dog wrote:I'll second that. I rarely call, but when I do its usually a question that requires a more senior person to answer. So, even when I could call on Saturday morning, I'd usually have to wait until Monday for the answer since the weekend folks were less experienced.I do not miss extended hour phone support, personally, because it's not helpful even when it's reachable.
Steve
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- in_reality
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Yeah really! And why have support open in the evenings after markets are closed????letsgobobby wrote:I'm curious what is so urgent that it must be done on a weekend, since all markets are closed.
Seriously though, isn't there anyone in your family who leaves for work before 8am and gets back after 10pm M-F except for national holidays? Wow lucky you!
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
You can not do everything on the Vanguard website. I have a taxable and tax deferred account. The taxable hold 3 Vanguard funds. I wanted to change the beneficiary on one fund, and leave the other two alone. I could not do it.
I had to call, and it took 3 weeks for the change to become effective.
I had to call, and it took 3 weeks for the change to become effective.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
That's the beauty of competition. If you need Saturday service (for whatever reason), stick with Fidelity or other brokerage.I know I may be in the minority here, but that is just nuts. They can pay janitors to answer the phone on weekends and tell you to call back on Monday, and - in my book - that is not weekend service. I've had most of my money at Fidelity (all of it now) and I can't imagine moving it to Vanguard given what I read here. I really love the Vanguard funds, but they need to get their act together. They can lower their E/R to zero but if no one can answer the phone, they are charging too much.
btw: surely, you don't expect 100% full service on the weekends? (Financial services is generally a M-F industry, and the senior, most-knowledgeable retail folks will NOT be working weekends.)
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I really like Vanguard and their products, but their customer support is very lacking these days. I will mention a few of the issues that have been irritating to us - it takes longer to get through on their telephone lines, they migrated accounts to brokerage accounts and in the process mobile checking disappeared (still not fixed and no timetable, although they tell me a high priority), for part of our account we are using their personal advisory services (and they default to average cost rather than specific ID or high-low, etc) which has made tax loss harvesting more difficult; we made changes in our account titles and it took 6-7 weeks for Vanguard to process ( ith multiple calls and them not knowing why it was taking so long - in contrast it was done in 4 days at Fidelity). I find they are being penny wise and pound foolish by making changes that might make sense to the company, but are annoying to their customers and without providing a consistently high level of support.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
^^yet Vanguard had an influx of $300 Billion last year....
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I'm curious to hear what kind of customer service people use from their finance company.
I've had Fidelity and T Rowe Price for 30 years now and almost can't remember calling them at all except when I wanted to buy my fixed annuities and set them up. And with everything online these days, I'm almost can't think of anything at all,
and certainly not any need to call on a weekend.
But that's just me. (I do know someone who bought Fidelity's advisory service for 1% of AUM and active fund expenses and sits down with them in person time to time, but I think you know what anyone here would think of that approach. OMG, you should hear the gobbledegook he relays to me about what they say to him just to keep him in the plan. Things like the "value of timely industry exposure.")
I've had Fidelity and T Rowe Price for 30 years now and almost can't remember calling them at all except when I wanted to buy my fixed annuities and set them up. And with everything online these days, I'm almost can't think of anything at all,
and certainly not any need to call on a weekend.
But that's just me. (I do know someone who bought Fidelity's advisory service for 1% of AUM and active fund expenses and sits down with them in person time to time, but I think you know what anyone here would think of that approach. OMG, you should hear the gobbledegook he relays to me about what they say to him just to keep him in the plan. Things like the "value of timely industry exposure.")
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
70 hours a week seems adequate but perhaps not ideal to provide an opportunity to deal with personal financial business. Someone who is working 14 hour days presumably takes time for lunch or can otherwise set aside time to call (e.g. while driving). All of this of course assumes that the transaction cannot be completed online. If that isn't adequate, there other other competing companies which claim to provide extended hours customer service. I can't remember the last time I called any of them on the weekend but I'm sure people do so. Vanguard seems to be doing well despite limited support hours. Ditto for many other businesses which are closed on the weekend.in_reality wrote:Yeah really! And why have support open in the evenings after markets are closed????letsgobobby wrote:I'm curious what is so urgent that it must be done on a weekend, since all markets are closed.
Seriously though, isn't there anyone in your family who leaves for work before 8am and gets back after 10pm M-F except for national holidays? Wow lucky you!
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I probably have called Vanguard less than five times since I've been with Vanguard. I've always been able to do online everything I needed to do.
I see a lot of complaints here about Vanguard's website. Again, it's never been a problem for me. When I had a 401(k) with Fidelity, I found their website more problematic than Vanguard's, and many seem to think that Fidelity's website is superior. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
I see a lot of complaints here about Vanguard's website. Again, it's never been a problem for me. When I had a 401(k) with Fidelity, I found their website more problematic than Vanguard's, and many seem to think that Fidelity's website is superior. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Gordon
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I agree with those that say there are many choices out there and if Saturday/Sunday service is your goal, you want to pick someone other than Vanguard. Here is why weekend service is important to me. I travel about 50% of time for work and even when I'm in the office, I leave for work by 6 Am and typically get home around 7:30. The last thing I want to do then is to have a conversation with my investment company. At this point, I just want to eat dinner and spend time with my family or winding down from the day.
Perfect example of how I use Schwab on weekends is that when I have a question or a problem, I call them on Saturday or Sunday. There are times when the department that deals with my question is closed that day, but the customer service specialist I do talk to takes great notes and forwards it to the right department for them to look at on Monday. 95% of the time they are able to either take care of the situation or provide my answer by secure messaging. If they need to get in touch with me, they leave me a voice mail with exactly what they need and I call back at my convenience to address.
You have a choice on who you use to manage your funds and you have to pick the one that best meets your needs and requirements. When I finally get to the goal of all my investing (retirement!!), my needs might change as I will have all the weekday time I need!
Perfect example of how I use Schwab on weekends is that when I have a question or a problem, I call them on Saturday or Sunday. There are times when the department that deals with my question is closed that day, but the customer service specialist I do talk to takes great notes and forwards it to the right department for them to look at on Monday. 95% of the time they are able to either take care of the situation or provide my answer by secure messaging. If they need to get in touch with me, they leave me a voice mail with exactly what they need and I call back at my convenience to address.
You have a choice on who you use to manage your funds and you have to pick the one that best meets your needs and requirements. When I finally get to the goal of all my investing (retirement!!), my needs might change as I will have all the weekday time I need!
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Yet another example of poor customer service: In 2016, I opened by individual Roth 401K with Vanguard. I then decided to fund my traditional 401K and contacted Vanguard by telephone just before Christmas to open that account, and fund before year-end (I know I did not need to fund by 12/31, but that was my stated objective). Over 2 weeks have passed, and the account has still not been opened. I have a tIRA with Schwab and decided to convert some to a Roth IRA. I opened the account, and was able to convert the next day. Why does it take Vanguard 3 weeks to open a traditional 401K when I already had opened the Roth 401K and all info was already provided? Frustrating.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
It's certainly up to everyone who they want to invest with. While I'll reiterate that I don't miss weekend support one bit (because it wasn't ever helpful with the market being closed), and I don't personally have an issue with Vanguard customer support, I think anyone who does have an issue should absolutely consider whether it's the right place for their money. No broker is perfect, including Vanguard.
Personally I trust Vanguard to keep my costs down as much as possible, particularly on the back-end where it's hidden to me, while I do not trust other brokers to do the same. If Vanguard finds $5 on the floor, they have an MO of returning it to investors, while others have an MO of pocketing it in the name of 'fees', whenever they can get away with it. That's why I've stayed with VG, despite others offering bonuses to entice me away.
Personally I trust Vanguard to keep my costs down as much as possible, particularly on the back-end where it's hidden to me, while I do not trust other brokers to do the same. If Vanguard finds $5 on the floor, they have an MO of returning it to investors, while others have an MO of pocketing it in the name of 'fees', whenever they can get away with it. That's why I've stayed with VG, despite others offering bonuses to entice me away.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I'll chime in, I am a long-time Vanguard investor who is getting increasingly irritated with the (lack of) customer service from Vanguard.
First, they closed their investment branches. I believe they left their token HQ branch open for a few years longer, then did away with it entirely.
They used to have weekend phone hours. Not anymore.
I have had to do multiple CD IRA transfers over the past 4 years to Vanguard and its not an easy process (used to be until the "upgrade" brokerage option was instituted on my IRA account. Typically, the bank waits until the CD matures, and then sends the assets as cash to Vanguard.
With the new brokerage upgrade and irritatingly confounding transfer forms, each year I do this it is hit or miss. They latest one is a fiasco. Their website says "not in good order" so I call and get "everything is fine, wait a few days" generic answer.
I work long hours during the week and have a family to support before and after my time at the office. Am I asking too much to have a little support on the weekend to call?
I used to be a roomate with with a Rep for T. Rowe Price 20 years ago in Baltimore. As I recall phone hours were something like 8:00am-10:00pm M-F and 9:00am-5:00pm Sat and Sundays. Had plenty of branches for in person suppprt as well, great for medallion guarantee issues.
In a nutshell, it seems Vanguard is using its market domination to force the every investor into web only interactions. Unless you are retired, who has time to call during "business hours"?
First, they closed their investment branches. I believe they left their token HQ branch open for a few years longer, then did away with it entirely.
They used to have weekend phone hours. Not anymore.
I have had to do multiple CD IRA transfers over the past 4 years to Vanguard and its not an easy process (used to be until the "upgrade" brokerage option was instituted on my IRA account. Typically, the bank waits until the CD matures, and then sends the assets as cash to Vanguard.
With the new brokerage upgrade and irritatingly confounding transfer forms, each year I do this it is hit or miss. They latest one is a fiasco. Their website says "not in good order" so I call and get "everything is fine, wait a few days" generic answer.
I work long hours during the week and have a family to support before and after my time at the office. Am I asking too much to have a little support on the weekend to call?
I used to be a roomate with with a Rep for T. Rowe Price 20 years ago in Baltimore. As I recall phone hours were something like 8:00am-10:00pm M-F and 9:00am-5:00pm Sat and Sundays. Had plenty of branches for in person suppprt as well, great for medallion guarantee issues.
In a nutshell, it seems Vanguard is using its market domination to force the every investor into web only interactions. Unless you are retired, who has time to call during "business hours"?
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
And perhaps that's where the market is trending? How many millenials deal with bricks-and-mortar anything nowadays? My kids don't even have check books for their checking accounts. If they can't do it online, they ain't interested.In a nutshell, it seems Vanguard is using its market domination to force the every investor into web only interactions.

- zaboomafoozarg
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I don't think I've ever had a reason to call customer support at any brokerage.
I'd much rather send an email or chat on the web. It's easier to explain things that way, plus then you have a written record.
I'd much rather send an email or chat on the web. It's easier to explain things that way, plus then you have a written record.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I would agree with you, except Vanguard emails are only view-able on their site, and disappear without a trace after a month or two (I don't remember the exact timeline). If they were available to go back to, then yeah.zaboomafoozarg wrote:I don't think I've ever had a reason to call customer support at any brokerage.
I'd much rather send an email or chat on the web. It's easier to explain things that way, plus then you have a written record.
- pennstater2005
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I bet the employees love the weekends off. Good for morale. I like my weekends off.
“If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.” – Earl Wilson
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I used to work for a tech company that would forward their phones to a call center in India on the weekends. You could talk to a real person, but most of the time you had to call back on Monday to get anything important done. I wonder if you're speaking to Fidelity's "A Team" on the weekends.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Based on my experience a few years ago, I think close enough. I have always received good telephone support information from both Fidelity and Vanguard.mcluhan wrote:I wonder if you're speaking to Fidelity's "A Team" on the weekends.
I've called Fidelity twice and Vanguard once in the last 20 years. Vanguard was almost three years ago, and strangely they had a form for (perfectly normal) Trust accounts that was not available online, you had to e-mail or call them. But I got it done without any additional hassle.
That said, I transferred all my Fidelity assets to Vanguard last year. Between the two of them, I wanted to consolidate at one company. I met with an advisor from each. The Fidelity advisor kept throwing up roadblocks and fees to do the transfer. The advisor told the truth, and nothing but the truth, but not the whole truth about certain items, kind of a sales orientation rather than a helpful orientation. With the Vanguard advisor, the answer was always no fees, no problems, just fill out the form, send it in, and you'll be all set (which is exactly how it worked).
A no-brainer for me, but it's a very personal decision. As stated above I do not need hand-holding or even much personal contact, and I don't find weekend support to be a deciding factor.
The discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind. -- Adam Smith, 1776
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Most of the calls I make to Fidelity have nothing to do with the market being open - I'm not asking them to trade for me.letsgobobby wrote:I'm curious what is so urgent that it must be done on a weekend, since all markets are closed.
- Questions about how the retirement income calculator is handling a particular asset.
- Questions about the mechanics of rolling over an IRA into a Solo 401K.
- How to find a certain form when it wasn't obvious from the search.
- Question about when fractional shares would be sold after a "sell all" order was placed.
- Questions about brokered CD's.
- Questions about beneficiary designations for joint accounts.
I find it really helpful that they have well-trained and nice folks who handle these calls on the weekend. YMMV.
I don't feel like I get the "B" team on the weekend. I've never gotten the Indian-really-polite-and-completely-unable-to-help nonsense from Fidelity.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Where did you meet with someone from Vanguard? Their investment branches have been long closed.tooluser wrote:mcluhan wrote:.
I met with an advisor from each. The Fidelity advisor kept throwing up roadblocks and fees to do the transfer. The advisor told the truth, and nothing but the truth, but not the whole truth about certain items, kind of a sales orientation rather than a helpful orientation. With the Vanguard advisor, the answer was always no fees, no problems, just fill out the form, send it in, and you'll be all set (which is exactly how it worked).
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
I don't invest with Vanguard because they have good employee morale. Its clear this is a cost-cutting move, and has little to do with creating a "high-performing, highly engaged workforce." The upward mobility for a investment phone rep isnt very good. Trust me.pennstater2005 wrote:I bet the employees love the weekends off. Good for morale. I like my weekends off.
- pennstater2005
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Trust you because you're an investment phone rep? I like cost cutting moves and weekends off.CorradoJr wrote:I don't invest with Vanguard because they have good employee morale. Its clear this is a cost-cutting move, and has little to do with creating a "high-performing, highly engaged workforce." The upward mobility for a investment phone rep isnt very good. Trust me.pennstater2005 wrote:I bet the employees love the weekends off. Good for morale. I like my weekends off.
“If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.” – Earl Wilson
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
This thread is about complaints regarding customer service, not about such tertiary items like the morale of employees and how relates to your low cost of investing. I love Vanguard, and there are other places for singing the praises of its low-cost mantra, which benefits most people and most circumstances.pennstater2005 wrote:Trust you because you're an investment phone rep? I like cost cutting moves and weekends off.CorradoJr wrote:I don't invest with Vanguard because they have good employee morale. Its clear this is a cost-cutting move, and has little to do with creating a "high-performing, highly engaged workforce." The upward mobility for a investment phone rep isnt very good. Trust me.pennstater2005 wrote:I bet the employees love the weekends off. Good for morale. I like my weekends off.
These seem to be two camps here. Those that have such an easy life and have so much free time and financial genius that solving a customer service issue is fun for them, even when a random $50k here and there gets literally "lost in the mail" and those that have experiened the need for some decent customer service. This is sort of like the old attorney joke - "you don't need one until you need one."
Lighten up a little and at least try to emphathise with those that need some assistance.
- pennstater2005
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
^
I wrote a simple thing and you responded with a lengthy something I got bored reading.
I wrote a simple thing and you responded with a lengthy something I got bored reading.
“If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.” – Earl Wilson
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Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
yep, it sucks.
I have 2 factor authentication enabled on every login. Usually, it is not a big deal, usually, I will receive the code in few seconds.
Last Friday, for unknown reason, when I requested a new code, the first attempt failed. I tried again and received another code. But the code didn't let me in. After 5 failed attempts, my account was locked

I have 2 factor authentication enabled on every login. Usually, it is not a big deal, usually, I will receive the code in few seconds.
Last Friday, for unknown reason, when I requested a new code, the first attempt failed. I tried again and received another code. But the code didn't let me in. After 5 failed attempts, my account was locked


Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Vanguard's IT and customer service are lacking compared to others. It is unfortunate and one has to wonder if our assets are at risk because of it. It is sad to see that they are so far behind the curve. I wonder why they let it get so far behind.
Re: No Vanguard Customer Support on weekends
Non-profit equals more casual approach to everything?sambb wrote:Vanguard's IT and customer service are lacking compared to others. It is unfortunate and one has to wonder if our assets are at risk because of it. It is sad to see that they are so far behind the curve. I wonder why they let it get so far behind.
If those steering the ship don't have to answer to P/L, what do they answer to?
I am not a lawyer, accountant or financial advisor. Any advice or suggestions that I may provide shall be considered for entertainment purposes only.