It's Jan 1, 2026, and Vanguard's Online system is down. I just want to download my 401K data, but no access on a holiday? For a system that's mainly automated, this is pretty weak. read more

During training....never saw or spoke to any managers to get a WELCOME. Usually that is the norm in my work history. The turn over is high. Information passed around is always confusing when helping clients due to so much personnel movement and new hires. You get tons of tools to use but they throw it at you in speedy training courses they have for new hires. One really feels lost and tries to fake it til u make it or get a new job elsewhere. Smh read more

On January 8, 2026, my husband and I were extremely fortunate to talk to Sierra to help us implement the transition to the brokerage account. We were experiencing some difficulty in completing the application, etc. and were very appreciative of Sierra's assistance. She was extremely professional, tech smart and knowledgeable and resolved our issues with a kindness and patience that we truly appreciated. Thank you for the AA++ excellent "above and beyond" customer service, combined with the great financial investments we have made with Vanguard throughout the years, we are very pleased. Gary and Loretta Hymel read more

These guys are a terrible financial service. If you don't have your exact date of hire and last day worked, you can't get any information about your account, even when you have your own account #. Hmmm, makes it hard to do a withdrawal, and Vanguard gets to use your money for longer. That might be a conflict of interest. Also, their customer service people read off scripts, can't answer questions, and their supervisors don't call back when an appointment is set. read more

It's all by phone and you will never meet a live person unless it's a security guard.

They never call back I have been trying to obtain a 401k for 3 years , never call back , never respond . I'm filing in court to get my money

Had to come back because unfortunately while I successfully extricated myself from this GAWD-AWFUL institution as noted in my original review, my wife unfortunately still has an IRA account which we can't easily remove without incurring tax consequences, so we're temporarily stuck for the duration. We both find ourselves cussing up a ROYAL BLUE STORM every three months when it's time to download our quarterly statement, because @#$%@% Vanguard makes it IMPOSSIBLE to log in. They require @#$$#@@@ two-factor authorization in the form of a phone call - then when they call you, they ask you to press "1" to receive the code - then when you press "1" the @$%@$#@$$@@ Vanguard call HANGS UP ON YOU. This is the absolute most miserable, worst, crapola, deserving of damnation to the deepest circle of the darkest and hottest hell, website I have ever dealt with in the entire over 30 years in which I have dealt with the internet. I can only hope that the CEO of Vanguard pays attention to these reviews and that whoever designed this @#$@$!#!@# verification system loses their job and gets blackballed so severely they are never able to obtain employment in web design again for as long as they live. My original review (which still stands - every word of it!!!) I enjoyed working with them for over 20 years but they recently apparently started forcing two-factor authentication on me which makes it nigh impossible to log in. The last straw was their repeated dunning requests to convert my all-mutual-fund account to a brokerage account. After I had spent 20 minutes filling out online forms and uploading requested trust forms, the site would not allow me to complete the process and all my work was for naught. Their Vanguard 500 Index fund was a great investment for me for over 20 years but thanks to these piss-poor website hurdles, I have sold all over $225K of my Vanguard holdings and had them send me a check. I will be re-investing these funds in my Chase brokerage account which, unlike Vanguard's horrific website access barriers, remains hassle-free for me. Don't make it difficult for customers to access their accounts, Vanguard. We won't put up with it. read more

VANGUARD INVESTMENTS: STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! I called them to get a correct address. After 45 minutes and given 4 WRONG Numbers, I finally got a number that I could leave a message. All 4 persons couldn't find my account ( $74,000.00 deposited)!!!!!! That included my Social Security number given to them as well as other info. IS THIS VANGUARD'S customer service? I have had these issues every time I call. read more

I have been receiving emails from this company, apparently I have some kind of investment account with them. I called today to get information and it was a waste of time. They want you to answer security questions about your hire date or termination date. I asked for the name of the employer and was told they could not give me that information. How am I supposed to know the hire/termination date if I don't know the employer. You only get 2 attempts to answer the questions too! Ridiculous! read more

I had been with Vanguard for well over 10 years. Initially, I complained about their statements. Why do they NOT print the Mutual Fund symbol when they show the Name and its performance, instead of making me go back to the page that has the Symbols and Names? Then there's their End of Year Tax Form. Why can't they show the totals on the page instead of making me add up all the various columns? I mean, considering that the sums are all there, but too much bother to print it out? I made these complaints/suggestions almost once a year, to no avail. They don't bother to listen, or pass on suggestions, or upper management doesn't care. ------- Try talking to some Rep - it is like talking to a bunch of 6 year olds, get bounced from one Rep to another, each one as clueless as the other. ------ Yes, I realize that Vanguard's low price, but ... compare similar Mutual Funds with Schwab, Fidelity, etc., and they're fairly comparable. Judging from all the problems that people have had getting money out, trying to get something done, etc., is it worth the hassle and headaches? ------------------ I am now very happy with Fidelity and Schwab. I can talk directly to a rep, or go into their offices and talk to an intelligent live person and things get done. I can send an email asking for something or a question - and SHOCK! I get an answer that resolves what I am looking for. And I'm greeted warmly when I walk into their offices. Amazing, compared to a voice over the phone that never seems to get things done w/o talking to 4 or 5 reps and it still takes 30+ days before something gets done. AND ... OMG! My tax forms have the totals right there so I don't have to add up the various columns myself. AND SHOCK - the stocks and Mutual Funds have the symbol right there with the performance for me to review instead of trying to remember what the symbol was in connection to the name. WOW - guess that was too hard for Vanguard to figure all this out, despite how many years in this business? So happy to have left Vanguard now for 3 years! read more

The most frustrating investment company that I have ever dealt with. I have been trying to start monthly withdrawals from my investment. At last count, I have talked to 6 representatives, all with varying stories. I started this project on June 22. As of August 13, I am still trying to withdraw my money. I was told today that a previous rep had neglected to enter my desired withdrawal date. The correct date was entered today but the request will not be completed for another 30 days! I'm trying to purchase a car before my current one dies. These delays are making nervous or irate, take your pick. read more

Too many screw ups, transferring trust/stocks a nightmare. No one taking responsibility, can't talk to a supervisor, pass around files, etc. This all started in February when my mom passed away and her trust/stocks inherited to her children (me, age 69). It's been a nightmare. Me and my husband are now considering driving up to Scottsdale to speak in person with someone of authority. We are considering pulling all our accounts with Vanguard! In the past, we had no problems and Vanguard was #1 for all our investments. This has created so much stress to our family. Help!!! read more

After 40 years I left Vanguard because the service became so atrocious. I have seamlessly moved everything over to Fidelity and the difference in service is like night and day. read more

Customer service is atrocious. When calling, you will have to talk to a bot to even get to a real person. Be prepared to alter your speech and tone for the bot to understand you. One must behave as a machine to be understood in order to mover through the system to talk with a real human (you're lucky if you make it to one). read more

Vanguard has been at the forefront of the low cost/ low management fee mutual fund movement started by John Bogle some forty plus years ago. Bogle's philosophy was based in part on the concepts put forth by the University of Chicago Nobel economist Harry Markowitz. It stated that the stock market was truly efficient, and therefore impossible to outperform through stock selection. Instead, Vanguard offers an Index approach to overcome this conundrum. Today, the equity markets have embraced the Index fund movement. No longer is Vanguard just Index'er, but have grown to include ETFs and annuities as well. Though headquartered back east in Pennsylvania, their Scottsdale complex is huge. I've found it equally impressive driving past there at 6 am and seeing the entire parking lot full. As Harry Markowitz proved, it is was impossible to outperform the market by timing your purchases of stocks, so consider an index instead. Yes, I am a fan. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1990/markowitz-lecture.html read more

customer service stinks........every time i have called the reps do not understand the question .....cannot provide a correct answer. disgraceful company.......looking to cut costs by hiring uneducated, inexperienced reps. reps cannot provide correct information. reps lie about having sent out a requested form.......form is never received!!!!!!! read more

My mother , invested with Vanguard when she worked for Metro Nashville Housing department. She is now in her late 70's and has Alzheimer's/Dementia. My Father, who is in his mid 80's has had to take care of her for the last 10 years. The money that she has invested with Vanguard would help greatly, HOWEVER, for the last 4 years, my father has had to contact them over 10-12 times trying to get these funds. Finally last year, they notified him that he needed to get a power of attorney so that he could take control of this account. He sent them the information that he has had for over 5 years. They sent him a message back that they decline his right to receive these funds. They have been unresponsive. They have been less than helpful. They had no problem taking my mothers $ when she was working but now that she doesn't even know where she is, they refuse to give the $ to my father so he can get assistance for her. ITS Criminal what they are doing to him. read more

Vanguard is making it prohibitively difficult for me to access my accounts. I have spent nearly an hour taking with multiple customer service agents. Even though I can get on my online Vanguard account, I can't get information on the specific retirement accounts. It is unconscionable. Truly, truly horrible. Do not put your money here. read more

I've tried to work with Van Guard in terms of investing $250,000. They don't have anybody that will come to the house to help transfer money. They don't have an office that you can go to to sit down and have them help you and explain what's going on. Everything they do is online or through the phone, in fact, they want you to do it video chat I don't know , at 85 I don't have the patience to do that and I think there's a lot of other investment companies that would be happy to have a quarter million dollars. I guess this is how they achieve low cost low management fee, mutual fund movement. But me personally I think it sucks. They were still going to charge me an annual fee of about 840 bucks. read more

I can't understand any negative reviews. Vanguard Funds are the lowest cost funds in the market. Research for yourself and you'll finds funds such as the balanced fund beat the averages hands down. I research every fund and diversify. The online risk tolerance tools help recommend funds. I chose my own funds based upon my own research but in my mind there is no question why they are the leading company. A few years ago I was audited by Uncle Sam. IRS wanted records from several years prior. I called VG and the person I spoke with very diligently brought up all the records necessary. When I need to sell shares, such as when I bought a new car, the online process transferred my money directly to my bank account quickly. read more

Wish I didn't have to give even one star to get this review posted. I'm very disappointed in Vanguard. While the company claims to care about climate change it continues to invest billions of dollars in fossil fuel companies like Petroperú. Indigenous leaders of the Peruvian Amazon have travelled from their homes to ask Vanguard to stop backing this company but refuses to talk with them. Vanguard needs to listen to these leaders and its customers. read more

For a variety of reasons, my husband and I were considering changing the management of our financial portfolio. We were appreciative of the performance of a few Vanguard funds we owned and began to learn more about the successful history of Vanguard under its founder Jack Bogle. Please understand we are sharing our recent experience with Vanguard Financial Advisor Services, not Vanguard Funds. As noted, we have been happy with many of their funds and thought it may make best sense to transfer our accounts directly to Vanguard. We read that professional management would be available from one of their Certified Senior Financial Advisors for 0.3%. If you too are considering their Financial Advisor Services, we suggest that you proceed cautiously and determine if you believe you will be well-served by their personnel and their policies. During our interactions we were unsettled by the slow return of phone calls and emails and overall poor and discourteous communications. For the 0.3% fee, we came to understand it does not include active management. The index-based portfolio lacks daily management, is non-tactical, and can only be rebalanced once a quarter. Further, we do not believe it is forward-thinking based on the current economic conditions. If you transfer other non-Vanguard accounts you can retain them, but you are not permitted to add to your positions (in those accounts) once sent to Vanguard. The overall experience was equivalent to flying business class and then mid-flight sitting in the back of the plane next to the lavatory. Once realized, we immediately decided to keep our seats back in business class, receive timely and discourteous communications, receive less cost options, and enjoy more perks. read more

Incredibly helpful and kind call center when you run into a SNAFU of any sort. They are the gold standard for mutual fund families and ETFs.

Vanguard is making me wait 30 days, while my beneficiary, inherited IRA is reviewed. I've already waited 3 years. They told my eldest sister, the executor, that they couldn't find me. There's still stalling, and in 3 years, the market has soured and plummeted. Don't ever use them, and I'll start a class action suit, once my account is moved to another broker so. If there's no civil penalties, there's no reform. I smell a law suit. They couldn't tell me if 30 day delay is by federal regulation or not. There's some stalling, and wouldn't recommend vanguard for any company to use, for employees. It's caused me mental anguish, I g he ave no idea how much is in there;whereas, Charles Schwab & TD Ameritrade, found me right away. Never use vanguard. If you want vanguard funds, only buy them through another brokerage. I warn everyone, and share my story with a lot of investors. read more

The absolute worst! While the representatives might be able to help you incrementally, it easily takes a minimum of 30 minutes to get a representative. Once you get one, you will make a little progress, but often they tell you that you need to wait. Then you can call again and wait before talking to someone. In total, if anything goes slightly not right online, you are looking at a total of hours and hours of your time going down the drain. read more

I've been with Vanguard for over 25 years. Their service has gone from great to terrible over last few years. Their website is antiquated and is the worst I've seen. Can't even carry on a simple transaction and zero phone or customer support. think twice before going with them. Maybe time to move on? read more

Vanguard, a.k.a. Fort Knox is located on the south side of Raintree near the 101. Home to what looks like hundreds if not 1000+ employees is this sprawling campus. Vanguard handles investments for people across the country and although they are headquartered back east this office is a major hub for them. read more

If you don't need it, put your money here. Trying to get it back from them is not easy....and the rules change every day that you talk to them. If you ask to talk to the manager, the manager will not help you either. Besides that, the monthly statement is difficult to keep track of what happened during the month and the one online is worse. Keep you money safe. read more

It took me over three weeks to make a simple change of ownership from my name to my son. At least ten phone calls, excessive wait time, each time vanguard made different process recommendations, and they did not properly make notes on my account. Once I am certain transaction is complete, I and my son will be closing all vanguard accounts. Frustrating! read more

vanguard group financial group customer service went from bad to terrible will swtich my $6 millon acount to another company i can no longer make mobile deposits waiting over an hour on the phone for customer service please move your accounts read more

This is a true example of Vanguard Group Math. If you invest $190,000 divided by $57.72 per share=3291.7530 Shares X $57.72 per share = $189999.98 would be your starting balance. That's how Vanguard cheats people everyday. Think about it 2 Cents X 1,000,000 transactions= $20,000 ill gotten gains for Vanguard. This math representation is based on a recent calculation Vanguard did when I made a recent transaction in my account. When I questioned it they said it was called "rounding". I call it cheating me out of 2 Cents. If they are doing this kind of thing to me they are probably doing it to you. How fair, and in your best interest is that? You may say "Hey it's only 2 Cents." Well, if thats the case why didn't Vanguard Round Up. How could I possible lose money on a purchase before any market activity took place? I lost 2 Cents because of Vanguard Math. Vanguard John Bogle would be ashamed of the company you have become. How much are you loosing with Vanguard? read more

Talked on the phone with Brooke Birnth. She was so helpful and made transferring my Roth IRA from Edward Jones extremely easy. Will request her next time I call. Great customer service. read more

Holy cow, I would give them no stars if possible. Sure, their funds are fine, but god help you if something goes wrong. You will likely spend hours waiting to speak with someone. What's worse, once you get to someone and identify the problem, if you need to call back, they put you in the same long wait time, and then you have to explain all over again what the issue is. You cannot simply be connected to the person you spoke with before (oh, and the person you spoke with originally will not give you a direct number anyway). If this is the regard they show for their customers, they apparently don't need my business. read more

Vanguard is one of the finest financial companies that my husband and I have ever dealt with. We were with several large institutions over the past 45 years and were introduced to Vanguard through family in North Carolina. Helpful, professional, friendly, and knowledgeable, Vanguard has gone above and beyond in assisting us with our financial planning and with our sisters estate when she passed away in February 2014. It was a comfort to know Vanguard followed up and made some very useful suggestions during this difficult time. Please note the 5 Star rating and my compliments to a company who makes you feel more like family than a customer/client. Thanks Vanguard, we appreciate all your efforts over the past 4 years on our behalf. You are - "Woohoo! About as good as it gets! Rita R. read more