Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

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nguy44
Posts: 596
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:52 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by nguy44 »

My main issue with Fidelity: I cannot transfer funds from my tIRA to my Roth online. I have to call them to do this. They explanation they give me is that "you have an old tIRA account (opened close to 20 years ago), and its format is not supported for online transactions".

I only do transfers a few times a year, and the reps over the phone are fine, they do what I ask with no issues. But it is still some phone waiting time, and it is crazy in this day and age why this limitation would exist. I have been too lazy to pursue it, but probably should step it up and escalate the issue. Maybe the next time they call wanting to review my finances (in hopes of me letting them manage it), I will say unless this issue is resolved, I will not even consider it :happy .

In comparison, my wife's tIRA at Vanguard is almost as old, but I do not have this issue, I can do tIRA->Roth transfers online without issue.
nalor511
Posts: 5015
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:00 am

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by nalor511 »

nguy44 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:49 pm My main issue with Fidelity: I cannot transfer funds from my tIRA to my Roth online. I have to call them to do this. They explanation they give me is that "you have an old tIRA account (opened close to 20 years ago), and its format is not supported for online transactions".

I only do transfers a few times a year, and the reps over the phone are fine, they do what I ask with no issues. But it is still some phone waiting time, and it is crazy in this day and age why this limitation would exist. I have been too lazy to pursue it, but probably should step it up and escalate the issue. Maybe the next time they call wanting to review my finances (in hopes of me letting them manage it), I will say unless this issue is resolved, I will not even consider it :happy .

In comparison, my wife's tIRA at Vanguard is almost as old, but I do not have this issue, I can do tIRA->Roth transfers online without issue.
They already explained it to you, you have an old account that is not compatible. Why don't you open a new IRA, move the old funds over (have them do it), and then rejoice that you can now do conversions online?

Same thing Vanguard has been trying to do for years, get people to upgrade to newer accounts. Seems super easy to do, what's the holdup?
nguy44
Posts: 596
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:52 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by nguy44 »

nalor511 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:10 pm They already explained it to you, you have an old account that is not compatible. Why don't you open a new IRA, move the old funds over (have them do it), and then rejoice that you can now do conversions online?

Same thing Vanguard has been trying to do for years, get people to upgrade to newer accounts. Seems super easy to do, what's the holdup?
Interestingly, they have never offered that as an option, the couple of times I have questioned this. I will ask them why not.

The only holdup is, as I have mentioned, it is not yet a big deal, more a curiosity. The amount is relatively small, I cannot convert more than $20k a year to avoid moving into a higher bracket, and it will take me several years to complete. I am also retired, and and more fun ways to spend my time at the moment :happy.

Vanguard, on the other hand, converted my wife's IRA to a brokerage account with no issue, so line transactions are fine there. Maybe I should threaten "If you cannot figure this out and let me keep FDGRX I'll move to Vanguard" to light a fire under them. :happy
mervinj7
Posts: 2496
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2014 3:10 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by mervinj7 »

nguy44 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:40 pm
nalor511 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:10 pm They already explained it to you, you have an old account that is not compatible. Why don't you open a new IRA, move the old funds over (have them do it), and then rejoice that you can now do conversions online?

Same thing Vanguard has been trying to do for years, get people to upgrade to newer accounts. Seems super easy to do, what's the holdup?
Interestingly, they have never offered that as an option, the couple of times I have questioned this. I will ask them why not.

The only holdup is, as I have mentioned, it is not yet a big deal, more a curiosity. The amount is relatively small, I cannot convert more than $20k a year to avoid moving into a higher bracket, and it will take me several years to complete. I am also retired, and and more fun ways to spend my time at the moment :happy.

Vanguard, on the other hand, converted my wife's IRA to a brokerage account with no issue, so line transactions are fine there. Maybe I should threaten "If you cannot figure this out and let me keep FDGRX I'll move to Vanguard" to light a fire under them. :happy
You should be able to open a new IRA online within a few minutes. After that just transfer over the assets from your old IRA. I don't think any fire is necessary.
nalor511
Posts: 5015
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:00 am

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by nalor511 »

mervinj7 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:42 pm
nguy44 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:40 pm
nalor511 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:10 pm They already explained it to you, you have an old account that is not compatible. Why don't you open a new IRA, move the old funds over (have them do it), and then rejoice that you can now do conversions online?

Same thing Vanguard has been trying to do for years, get people to upgrade to newer accounts. Seems super easy to do, what's the holdup?
Interestingly, they have never offered that as an option, the couple of times I have questioned this. I will ask them why not.

The only holdup is, as I have mentioned, it is not yet a big deal, more a curiosity. The amount is relatively small, I cannot convert more than $20k a year to avoid moving into a higher bracket, and it will take me several years to complete. I am also retired, and and more fun ways to spend my time at the moment :happy.

Vanguard, on the other hand, converted my wife's IRA to a brokerage account with no issue, so line transactions are fine there. Maybe I should threaten "If you cannot figure this out and let me keep FDGRX I'll move to Vanguard" to light a fire under them. :happy
You should be able to open a new IRA online within a few minutes. After that just transfer over the assets from your old IRA. I don't think any fire is necessary.
+1
PatrickA5
Posts: 976
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:55 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by PatrickA5 »

About every 6 months, I get a letter in the mail from VG telling me that I no longer have a dedicated advisor. Got a new one yesterday. Not a big deal to me considering I closed all of my VG accounts several years ago. :?
User avatar
Cheez-It Guy
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Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:20 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by Cheez-It Guy »

PatrickA5 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:41 am About every 6 months, I get a letter in the mail from VG telling me that I no longer have a dedicated advisor. Got a new one yesterday. Not a big deal to me considering I closed all of my VG accounts several years ago. :?
Zeroing out and closing are not the same thing. If you really want to close them and you still have a working login, there is an easy online process for account closure.
Hergskrat
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by Hergskrat »

Vanguard’s transaction search tool is way better than Fidelity’s.
nguy44
Posts: 596
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:52 pm

Re: Vanguard vs. Fidelity [Customer Service Reputation]

Post by nguy44 »

nguy44 wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:40 pm
Interestingly, they have never offered that as an option, the couple of times I have questioned this. I will ask them why not.

The only holdup is, as I have mentioned, it is not yet a big deal, more a curiosity. The amount is relatively small, I cannot convert more than $20k a year to avoid moving into a higher bracket, and it will take me several years to complete. I am also retired, and and more fun ways to spend my time at the moment :happy.

Vanguard, on the other hand, converted my wife's IRA to a brokerage account with no issue, so line transactions are fine there. Maybe I should threaten "If you cannot figure this out and let me keep FDGRX I'll move to Vanguard" to light a fire under them. :happy
Okay, this time, Fidelity gave me an answer in line with what previous posters have said, so I have put the matches away :happy :
================================================================================================
Dear nguy44:

We appreciate you taking the time to email Fidelity regarding your accounts. As part of your Service and Trading Team, I am more than happy to assist.

I apologize for any frustration that this process may have caused and that no additional solutions were presented to you during your calls to our Service Team. Upon review of your accounts, I am able to confirm that your Traditional IRA is in an older registration type and is a "mutual fund only" account. Accounts with this registration type may be limited with how they are able to transfer funds on the Fidelity Website.

As you have mentioned, in general the best solution would be to open new accounts on the Fidelity Website.

Once the account is opened, you can contact our Service Team by calling to have the old mutual fund account transferred "in kind" to the new brokerage account. The old mutual fund account will be considered as "closed" in our system.
=================================================================================================

I can work on this when I am ready to do my next tIRA to Roth Conversion.
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