I walked into Fidelity, not expecting to be able to meet, or even see my financial advisor as it usually requires me to set up an appointment. The front desk staff promptly assisted me. While I wasn't there to do any financial transactions, I was able to see my new advisor, Anthony Rossi. I don't want to set the wrong expectation that you can walk-in and see your advisor, but he had a few a few minutes to chat. He was charming, and made himself accessible so that I could fill him in on a brief transaction that was in process. He listened, and assured me that he would get back to me as well as monitor it for any issues along the way. As far as wealth management, and customer success, you knocked it out of the park. I'm pretty sure I will be sticking with your team forever. Thanks again, dude! BTW, that coffee machine is actually pretty cool read more

Tried to contact the local branch on 5 attempts and they never pick up. After the 6 try I called the 800 number and had then transfer me to the SB branch. I wanted to open a brokerage account and was told to do it online, no biggie, however the only portal would not let me open a new account. Pretty much got brushed off like they didn't want my business. Called Charles Schwab and opened an account over the phone with the local branch in 5 minutes. Customer services sucks these days, but this was beyond bad. read more

I always get fast, efficient and friendly phone service on my account. I never have to wait on hold. Their web site and iOS app are excellent. I have been a client for about 35 years. read more

Well, the best I can say is they have a really interesting coffee machine. It actually does what it says it does, as opposed to the office it is in. I'm not going to bore you with all the non-service we received just beware of this office. read more

An investing firm is an investing firm. I like this one, because of the customer service and the guidance of how to use the online system. They accept checks that post the nest day and have never seized to assist me. I recommend all to stop on by and give this place a try! ***P.S.*** If you don't have the money to play the market, then don't invest and blame the company. read more

Several years back I moved 50% of my account to another firm, Impossible to get ahold of ANYONE in a pinch. When the market took a hit in 2020 it was three days before I was able to talk to someone to move my money and then was told the process would take an additional 3 days.. They did nothing during this market correction except sent out a blanket email to its customers to stay the course while mine and many others watched their account drop to a point of no return. I was only able to stop the bleed when I finally got a hold of a real person in utah and directed them to move my funds. Something they should have done. Phone number is not accurate, they are not customer based, most all service must be done on line and automated including trying to contact someone. They only work core time and I was told by my rep after more then a week trying to reach out to him, he only works the core times. On line chat is not a person as well, Bottom line is they have moved away from customer service like so many others. I will be moving more of my account I have with fidelity to my other more customer friendly firms. I welcome Fidelity of Santa Barbara to provide a direct phone number to their office that is NOT automated read more

I have been with Fidelity for over 25 years; my husband moved his accounts to Fidelity about 14 years ago. For the last 5 years we have been bumped from one rep to another without any regard for informing us up front. Its almost impossible to reach the Santa Barbara office directly. We have moved our accounts this week and would not recommend Fidelity to anyone we care about. They are too big for their britches. read more

We moved several of our accounts here recently after repeated problems with another brokerage. I had no trouble to reach someone by phone at this location and we made an appointment in advance to meet with a representative to handle our account transfer. The transfer was handled efficiently and professionally. We have never sought investment advice here so I cannot comment on their advisor services, but their web site is easy to use with ample research functions. Unlike the brokerage we left, Fidelity offers a simple automated bond ladder service through the web site. At our previous brokerage it was necessary to call and speak to poorly trained "bond specialists" whose sole function seemed to be to dissuade clients from shifting funds from stocks to bonds. Fidelity also has a notary on staff so it is not necessary to schlep financial documents around town to complete a transaction. All in all we are very happy with our switch to Fidelity. read more

Their published number goes around in circles after you finally get through. You can't get to speak to someone and when I thought I finally got through, I was on hold for a long time. Did it a few times, I have finally given up. read more

Jeff Avila and Kai Bartschi are rude and demeaning -- they said my investment account (hundreds of thousands of $$$) was not worth their trouble -- these guys are not professional financial advisers, they are the Taco Bell of franchised money changers -- word in the financial community is that Jeff Avila left Fidelity back in late 2000's but couldn't cut it in the private sector up against the real money pros so he skedaddled back to Fidelity tail tucked between his legs -- DO NOT USE THEM read more

Although I have been a Fidelity customer since 1985, I am closing my accounts. About 4 years ago I noted the absence of benchmarks for their funds and wrote to corporate HQ to request benchmarks and that they be plottable with the fund performance on the website. They did respond, though it was to say that they did not provide benchmarks because they did not have to. This struck me as arrogant, but I did not close my accounts. This month I looked again at the online fund info, and they now have benchmarks, which is good. I noted that they do not provide a way to estimate the effect of their expense ratios. Vanguard, for example, discloses to the customer the dollar amount that would be lost to expenses for a hypothetical $10K over 10 years. Fidelity does not provide this so I had to estimate the loss by multiplying the expense ratio by my balance for each year and adding them up. The expense ratio varies a bit over time, so this method is an approximate, and Fidelity is clearly in a much better position to figure it out than the customer. The results revealed that for 3 of my 5 funds, the expenses were less than 20% of my return, and this seems reasonable. For the cash reserves fund, however, Fidelity got $946 in expenses over the past 6 years while the customer got $24 in earnings in the same period. That disparity is large, especially since Treasury bills are returning many times more than the cash reserves fund is, and Treasury bills are a big holding for money market funds. For a bond fund, the expenses were 44% of the return I got on the fund, which is also unreasonably high. I met with a rep and asked how she would calculate the effect of fund expenses on a given account. She dodged twice and then said she would not waste her time doing it. Accordingly, the we-don't-care-because-we-don't-have-to-care mindset still seems to inform their actions. For me, the tipping point has been reached, and I'm closing my accounts. On the upside, they have a physical office close by, and its squeaky clean. read more

My husband and I each have retirement accounts with Fidelity. We are very pleased with their service, their friendly manner, and their responsiveness to inquiries. We are knowledgeable regarding investments but not day traders so we appreciate their assistance when needed. read more