Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
lws
Posts: 831
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:12 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by lws »

To avoid using the back button, use full screen mode on the web browser to hide the back button.
This really helps.
Broken Man 1999
Posts: 8626
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:31 am
Location: West coast of Florida, near Champa Bay !

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

lws wrote: Mon Jun 27, 2022 2:27 pm To avoid using the back button, use full screen mode on the web browser to hide the back button.
This really helps.
Heh!

Good idea!

Even after so many years of using TD, I use the back button occasionally.

Though TD has it's share of dissatisfied customers, it seem as though the customers who are able to logon are pretty much OK with the service. It ain't fancy, but it is functional. I value functionality more than fancy.


TreasuryDirect® Survey Results
Thank you for completing our survey. Your feedback is very important to us, as we work to improve our services. The results shown below are for the last 30 days and include your score. Due to rounding, the numbers below may not add to 100. Also, some of the numbers may be 0 because of either rounding or small sample size. If you'd like to provide more specific comments, please e-mail us.


TreasuryDirect
Excellent 62%
Good 28%
Fair 6%
Poor 4%

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
Emerson11
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2022 11:13 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Emerson11 »

willthrill81 wrote: Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:27 pm
tidelandp wrote: Wed Apr 27, 2022 1:28 pm
ChiGuy wrote: Wed Apr 27, 2022 1:16 pm On some other site, I read that you had the best chance of getting through if you called after 3 pm on Wednesday - Friday.
The one time I tried calling was around 4 pm ET, about midweek earlier this month. The system refused to put me in the queue because wait times then would take call past their closing. This is not a place that subscribes to putting the customer first.
I just called, and the message was 'We are closed due to a federal holiday.'

There is no federal holiday today.
[Political comment removed by admin LadyGeek]
retiarius
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:14 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by retiarius »

anfwsj wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 7:19 pm Hey folks, I'm Andrea Fuller, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal. My friend told me about this thread and I'd love to chat with some of you ... I'm trying to write an a-hed about how ibonds are hot right now but the customer service is not (and is in fact, from the 1950s). I have ibonds so I've seen the insane point and click keyboard first hand.

I would love to talk to any of you! Feel free to DM me or shoot me an email at andrea.fuller at wsj dot com
Looks like the Andrea Fuller WSJ piece is out, dated June 29.

My thoughts, after doing a mistake similar to the "John Grisham" error
("What was your first car?" Now was that "Plymouth Valiant" or just
Valiant and do caps matter, wasting a try on that ...)

At least having a telephone callback system would help, as it does for
other agencies such as Social Security and the California DMV.
Although modernizing government software is a major undertaking,
these phone systems are probably off-the-shelf items. Less stress for both parties.
Blue456
Posts: 2152
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:46 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Blue456 »

Just a data point. On Monday morning I placed a phone call at 8am. I was told wait time is 2 hours or more. My phone was picked up in 1 hour and 22 minutes. For comparison Ally bank I had a wait time of 33 minutes.
tenkuky
Posts: 2626
Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 3:28 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by tenkuky »

Blue456 wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:39 am Just a data point. On Monday morning I placed a phone call at 8am. I was told wait time is 2 hours or more. My phone was picked up in 1 hour and 22 minutes. For comparison Ally bank I had a wait time of 33 minutes.
My data point... Called at 845 AM on Monday, wait time informed 1 hour 45 min, picked up in 1 hour 47 min.
Excellent rep, resolved my issue.
Blue456
Posts: 2152
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:46 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Blue456 »

I agree the rep didn't seem as beat up as my recent Amazon CSR phone call. He was actually quite pleasant and up beat.
davidferrer31
Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:32 am

Locked out of Treasury Direct

Post by davidferrer31 »

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

I was on the treasury direct website and was trying to change my address on file for I recently moved. The website asked some security question and I couldn't remember, which movie I chose. I was unable to log on and then I received an email from treasury direct stating that I had been locked out of my account for security reasons. Then they listed their phone number and instructed to call them. Is this the only option to get back into my account? I have heard bad stories about long wait times with the customer service. Or am I out of luck and then forced to call and be on hold for hours?
User avatar
heartwood
Posts: 2700
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:40 pm

Re: Locked out of Treasury Direct

Post by heartwood »

Short answer, yes, you have to call.

Longer 5 pages of posts answer, viewtopic.php?t=376372
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95704
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by LadyGeek »

I merged davidferrer31's thread into the ongoing discussion.

(Thanks to the member who reported the post and provided a link to this thread.)
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Aguilar
Posts: 538
Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:01 pm

Anyone successful in reaching an agent at Treasury Direct?

Post by Aguilar »

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

I'm locked out of my account and have called daily for a week, sometimes waiting up to an hour on hold. Finally got through to someone yesterday but they couldn't help me bc their systems were down. About to give up on iBonds.
mnsportsgeek
Posts: 555
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:39 pm

Re: Anyone successful in reaching an agent at Treasury Direct?

Post by mnsportsgeek »

I called today and got told that they had stopped taking calls for the rest of the day due to the number of people on hold. They don't answer emails anymore either.

[Unnecessary comment removed by moderator oldcomputerguy]
belowaverage
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue May 03, 2022 2:51 pm

Re: Anyone successful in reaching an agent at Treasury Direct?

Post by belowaverage »

Aguilar wrote: Tue Sep 20, 2022 1:55 pm I'm locked out of my account and have called daily for a week, sometimes waiting up to an hour on hold. Finally got through to someone yesterday but they couldn't help me bc their systems were down. About to give up on iBonds.
Same thing happened to me! I have been locked out of my account, the person that responded to my email told me to call, when I finally was connected with someone I was disconnected somehow :oops: . I wish there was a broker to purchase iBonds from (I'd even pay a fee at this point). :confused
ebeb
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 1:18 pm

Re: Anyone successful in reaching an agent at Treasury Direct?

Post by ebeb »

Just when i-bonds started paying high rates last year I called to re-activate my TD account and got an agent who asked me to create a new TD a/c as they cannot re-activate inactive accounts.
80% VOO | 20% BND+TBILL+CASH | Don't believe Nobody because Nobody knows nothin' - Anon
TravelGeek
Posts: 4902
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 3:23 pm

Re: Anyone successful in reaching an agent at Treasury Direct?

Post by TravelGeek »

belowaverage wrote: Tue Sep 20, 2022 2:58 pm I wish there was a broker to purchase iBonds from (I'd even pay a fee at this point). :confused
Why are iBonds not available at brokerages? To enforce the annual limit?

Fortunately I haven’t really had a need to interact with a human. I set up the bank link to my Ally hub account a long time ago and basically just log in once a month to capture the current balance and once a year to buy the annual allotment.
Last edited by TravelGeek on Tue Sep 20, 2022 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
lws
Posts: 831
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:12 pm

Re: Anyone successful in reaching an agent at Treasury Direct?

Post by lws »

Feel for you.
TD has been continuously overwhelmed.
Wait a week and try again.
Good luck.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95704
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by LadyGeek »

I merged Aguilar's thread into the ongoing discussion.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
Tubes
Posts: 1883
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Tubes »

In case you didn't notice, TD was down a few hours yesterday afternoon for "maintenance."

I suspect the downtime lead to even more calls today.
j9j
Posts: 385
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by j9j »

Amazingly I got through today in about less than an hour. I called between 8am and 9 am. The hold time estimate was 30 min versus 2 hours on prior attempts. Actual wait was about 45 min. Account unlocked and now I got to file the paperwork at bank to add new account. Archaic process but what can you do if you want to put money in i bonds.
glamdring269
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:08 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by glamdring269 »

This is quite possibly the most ludicrous part about this whole system to me:
As part of our efforts to provide additional security for your investments, you must complete and mail a Bank Change Request Form FS 5512 E to add a new bank or edit an existing bank.

You must sign the form in the presence of an authorized certifying official available at a bank, trust company, or credit union and mail it to us for processing. Certification by a Notary Public is not acceptable.
What in the world is this [expletive removed by admin LadyGeek] and who thought this through and considered it to be a good idea?
cookienadal
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:13 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by cookienadal »

I heard that we now could give a new bank account over the phone. Waited on phone 2.5 hours and was told the computers not working, put on hold again, and then hung up on.
hunter18
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 5:42 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by hunter18 »

I tried to access Treasury Direct today. Got same run around said sent OTP to my AOL email.... checked not received. Did this three times same negative results. I back tracked past complaints do not see any recently. Anyone also having this issue.
Thanks
Broken Man 1999
Posts: 8626
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:31 am
Location: West coast of Florida, near Champa Bay !

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

I just tried, signed on with no OTP required.

Microsoft 10 w/Edge browser, FWIW. Clear your browser, history.

Very frustrating, for sure.

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
hunter18
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 5:42 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by hunter18 »

were you able to access your account?
Northern Flicker
Posts: 15371
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:29 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Northern Flicker »

TD did extend the call center hours to 5pm eastern time, from 3pm or 3:45pm before. I was able to reach someone with a 2hr 10min hold.

Never login to TD without having answers to your so-called security questions in hand. It may ask for answers when you do not anticipate it, and even logging out to get the answers and logging back in to complete the task that asked will lock the account.

After my account was unlocked, I logged in to check that it was working, and the landing page after login was a page asking me one of the questions. I very nearly locked the account again when logging in to verify that it was unlocked.
Last edited by Northern Flicker on Mon Nov 14, 2022 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hunter18
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 5:42 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by hunter18 »

It looks like my only solution is to call and wait and wait and wait. awful not to have access to one's own funds. At almost eighty I should be immune to this nonsense.
Thanks for help
JayB
Posts: 673
Joined: Sat May 28, 2022 9:57 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by JayB »

hunter18 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:58 am I tried to access Treasury Direct today. Got same run around said sent OTP to my AOL email.... checked not received. Did this three times same negative results. I back tracked past complaints do not see any recently. Anyone also having this issue.
Thanks
You might check if this OTP email ended up in your spam folder.

In any case, I suggest adding Treasury.Direct@fiscal.treasury.gov as the email address for a new contact entry (you can simply name the contact Treasury Direct); this email address is where my most recent OTP code was mailed from. Most email providers will not filter out messages from contacts into the spam folder.
Broken Man 1999
Posts: 8626
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:31 am
Location: West coast of Florida, near Champa Bay !

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

hunter18 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:21 pm were you able to access your account?
Yes, I was able to access my account.

A couple of days ago I was trying to sign on at a different site (NOT Treasury Direct) and I didn't get my OTP. I tried three times, gave up, went on to other tasks. Later I checked my emails and I had received three OTPs, but it had been 15-20 minutes after my initial attempts to sign on. Of course by them they were all invalid because of the elapsed time. After I saw the emails I tried signing on, worked perfectly.

So, they can be substantially delayed at times.

Hope you can resolve whatever issue is causing you to not receive your OTP.

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
Makefile
Posts: 2657
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:03 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Makefile »

Broken Man 1999 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 3:12 pm
hunter18 wrote: Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:21 pm were you able to access your account?
Yes, I was able to access my account.

A couple of days ago I was trying to sign on at a different site (NOT Treasury Direct) and I didn't get my OTP. I tried three times, gave up, went on to other tasks. Later I checked my emails and I had received three OTPs, but it had been 15-20 minutes after my initial attempts to sign on. Of course by them they were all invalid because of the elapsed time. After I saw the emails I tried signing on, worked perfectly.

So, they can be substantially delayed at times.

Hope you can resolve whatever issue is causing you to not receive your OTP.

Broken Man 1999
It's possible for this to be caused by greylisting. This was an anti-spam trick where a mail server, upon receiving a message from another mail server not known to it, will refuse the message the first time it sees it. A legitimate mail server will try again later while a spammer is (or was) less likely to do so. This was a neat trick in 2005, but spammers have adapted so it doesn't work anymore and only serves to add yet another layer of unreliability to email.
hunter18
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 5:42 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by hunter18 »

I was able to connect with Treasury Direct customer service. Went on at exactly 8 AM EST. After fifteen minutes got an agent. She was very helpful. It seems somehow, they were sending OTP to my wife's AOL account. They corrected the email account. I can now get the OTP and can sign into my account.
One issue that is still a problem, when I check the recognize account box, so no OTP needed, it does not work. I decided not to push my luck. So, I will get an OTP and sign in each time when needed. I do not check this account that often in any event.
HeelaMonster
Posts: 1045
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2019 11:46 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by HeelaMonster »

hunter18 wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:51 pm I was able to connect with Treasury Direct customer service. Went on at exactly 8 AM EST. After fifteen minutes got an agent. She was very helpful. It seems somehow, they were sending OTP to my wife's AOL account. They corrected the email account. I can now get the OTP and can sign into my account.
One issue that is still a problem, when I check the recognize account box, so no OTP needed, it does not work. I decided not to push my luck. So, I will get an OTP and sign in each time when needed. I do not check this account that often in any event.
:beer Glad to hear. That may be a record for shortest time on hold!
hunter18
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 5:42 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by hunter18 »

The way things look will be holding my 2021 and 2022 purchases for a while with the inflation as it appears to be here for a while. Anyone had the need to cash in the I Bond . Just wondering if it will be a hassle when time comes.
User avatar
StevieG72
Posts: 2215
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:00 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by StevieG72 »

Misery loves company! Count me in, behind the LastPass hack I have been tightening up security on key accounts. I got locked out by answering security question wrong too many times. Called yesterday at 4pm, 1 hr hold time and customer service hours end at 5pm so no luck.

I will try calling earlier in the day, typically don't like calling while at work as I don't have access to my PC.
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.
howard71
Posts: 478
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2020 11:10 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by howard71 »

Closed both of our accounts at TD a few years back because I just don't trust them.

Couldn't resist the attractive rates last year however so I tried opening new ones. No problem with my wife's but when I tried to do mine I was told I couldn't open a new one because I already had one. But when I try to login to the old one it tells me it doesn't exist. Gave me a number to call but I didn't even bother because I figured it would be an exercise in futility.

I still have 20k sitting in my wife's but don't think I'll be adding any more.
User avatar
heartwood
Posts: 2700
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:40 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by heartwood »

I'll bet this thread will see a spike soon as TD users get emails at the end of January that their US Savings Bond 1099s are available. And get locked out.

That's what got me last year. Why can't the default be to mail or email you a 1099? Logon/download is the only option now.

So dust off your answers to your security questions!
MarkBarb
Posts: 908
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by MarkBarb »

howard71 wrote: Sat Jan 14, 2023 12:31 pm Closed both of our accounts at TD a few years back because I just don't trust them.

Couldn't resist the attractive rates last year however so I tried opening new ones. No problem with my wife's but when I tried to do mine I was told I couldn't open a new one because I already had one. But when I try to login to the old one it tells me it doesn't exist. Gave me a number to call but I didn't even bother because I figured it would be an exercise in futility.

I still have 20k sitting in my wife's but don't think I'll be adding any more.
I'm not sure I'd go all the way to "don't trust them", but I know how you feel. I sometimes wonder if the hassle of dealing with the worst security system I've encountered in years is worth the incremental gains on a few tens of thousands of invested funds. Not to mention that I can't easily download their information into Quicken or other tools. And the notion that I could buy an extra $5,000/year by overpaying on my taxes and then taking the bonds in paper form is way past what I'm willing to put with. It's a shame that they do so much to discourage buying their products.
Fremdon Ferndock
Posts: 1181
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2021 11:26 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Fremdon Ferndock »

My concern is with the burden I fear my successors could have trying to retrieve their inherited I-Bonds I've left to them. They are completely unknowledgeable about TD to begin with, and if it is hell to get in touch with any representative at TD they will curse me in my grave. I wonder if anyone else is having this concern?
"Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything." ~ Morgan Housel
marana
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:09 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by marana »

HeelaMonster wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:19 pm
hunter18 wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:51 pm I was able to connect with Treasury Direct customer service. Went on at exactly 8 AM EST. After fifteen minutes got an agent. She was very helpful. It seems somehow, they were sending OTP to my wife's AOL account. They corrected the email account. I can now get the OTP and can sign into my account.
One issue that is still a problem, when I check the recognize account box, so no OTP needed, it does not work. I decided not to push my luck. So, I will get an OTP and sign in each time when needed. I do not check this account that often in any event.
:beer Glad to hear. That may be a record for shortest time on hold!
No, it wasn’t.

I pre-dialed the number at 7:59 EST and pressed “send” at exactly 8 a.m. I got thru right away. Keep in mind that my weather station syncs with National Atomic Standard and its time is so precise.
User avatar
Doom&Gloom
Posts: 5421
Joined: Thu May 08, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Doom&Gloom »

Fremdon Ferndock wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:21 pm My concern is with the burden I fear my successors could have trying to retrieve their inherited I-Bonds I've left to them. They are completely unknowledgeable about TD to begin with, and if it is hell to get in touch with any representative at TD they will curse me in my grave. I wonder if anyone else is having this concern?
Not at all. DW's TD account is established and functional. Instructions that she can follow have been left. People can be ingenious and very resourceful when it comes to retrieving cash.
HomeStretch
Posts: 11423
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:06 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by HomeStretch »

Fremdon Ferndock wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:21 pm My concern is with the burden I fear my successors could have trying to retrieve their inherited I-Bonds I've left to them. They are completely unknowledgeable about TD to begin with, and if it is hell to get in touch with any representative at TD they will curse me in my grave. I wonder if anyone else is having this concern?
Every financial institution is going to have a process for your TOD beneficiaries and/or your Estate’s Executor to follow to claim your assets. The more financial institutions, the more work to claim. So reducing the number of financial institutions and accounts will have the biggest impact on how difficult claiming assets will be.

If Treasury Direct is one of my few financial institutions, I don’t see TD’s process as unnecessarily onerous for a TOD beneficiary. TD’s reps are knowledgable. TD’s biggest issue these days is their long processing time due to unprecedented high I-Bond demand over the last 1-2 years. Prior to this blip, I found TD’s transaction processing time to be about 2 weeks.

I am TOD beneficiary on a parent’s electronic I-Bonds. When my parents passed recently:
- I called TD (wait time was 15 min), they locked the parent’s account, gave me a claim #, told me which Form to use and said a bank notary public could now provide the guarantee. 10 min wait, 10 min with rep.
- The downloaded Form took 10 minutes to complete and was signed after a quick drive to my local bank with free notary service.
- Dropped the Form off via USPS mail (I was given the option to fax too).
- within a week I received a TD e-mail saying to allow up to 13 weeks for the I-Bonds to be transferred to my TD account (alternatively, I could have requested the bond’s be redeemed). UPDATE: I received the transferred bonds n 14 weeks.
- after transfer, I’ll update the I-Bond registration and assign transact rights (10 min)
Last edited by HomeStretch on Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Philly30
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2022 7:06 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Philly30 »

I have no idea why my account was just locked but no one is answering the phone, it just rings
Bexla
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2023 12:41 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Bexla »

Hi: I'm having the exact same experience -- I call the phone number ((844) 284-2676) and it just rings, and rings, and rings ....

I'll try calling exactly at 8 am PDT tomorrow.
Tier1Capital
Posts: 185
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 5:27 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Tier1Capital »

marana wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:55 pm
HeelaMonster wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:19 pm
hunter18 wrote: Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:51 pm I was able to connect with Treasury Direct customer service. Went on at exactly 8 AM EST. After fifteen minutes got an agent. She was very helpful. It seems somehow, they were sending OTP to my wife's AOL account. They corrected the email account. I can now get the OTP and can sign into my account.
One issue that is still a problem, when I check the recognize account box, so no OTP needed, it does not work. I decided not to push my luck. So, I will get an OTP and sign in each time when needed. I do not check this account that often in any event.
:beer Glad to hear. That may be a record for shortest time on hold!
No, it wasn’t.

I pre-dialed the number at 7:59 EST and pressed “send” at exactly 8 a.m. I got thru right away. Keep in mind that my weather station syncs with National Atomic Standard and its time is so precise.
This is great advice. I did the same thing recently and my call was answered right away... no waiting.
Sherwood
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:27 pm
Location: PNW

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Sherwood »

After doom scrolling through this and other posts I prepared to call Treasury Direct for the first time in the 17yrs I've had an account. I had forgotten the answer to the infamous "who is your favorite author" question having only ever been asked "what was your first car." I only tried to answer it once, but must have done something else (maybe hitting the back button) as I got locked out.

Picked a time when I knew I would be in the house for three hours (7am PST). My call was answered on the third ring by a very polite man who asked me a few questions and then unlocked my account. He was then able to confirm that my mailed in Ibond (tax refund) had been received but not yet processed. According to my phone the whole thing took 7mins!
student
Posts: 10764
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 6:58 am

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by student »

Sherwood wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 12:02 pm After doom scrolling through this and other posts I prepared to call Treasury Direct for the first time in the 17yrs I've had an account. I had forgotten the answer to the infamous "who is your favorite author" question having only ever been asked "what was your first car." I only tried to answer it once, but must have done something else (maybe hitting the back button) as I got locked out.

Picked a time when I knew I would be in the house for three hours (7am PST). My call was answered on the third ring by a very polite man who asked me a few questions and then unlocked my account. He was then able to confirm that my mailed in Ibond (tax refund) had been received but not yet processed. According to my phone the whole thing took 7mins!
:sharebeer
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by anon_investor »

Sherwood wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 12:02 pm After doom scrolling through this and other posts I prepared to call Treasury Direct for the first time in the 17yrs I've had an account. I had forgotten the answer to the infamous "who is your favorite author" question having only ever been asked "what was your first car." I only tried to answer it once, but must have done something else (maybe hitting the back button) as I got locked out.

Picked a time when I knew I would be in the house for three hours (7am PST). My call was answered on the third ring by a very polite man who asked me a few questions and then unlocked my account. He was then able to confirm that my mailed in Ibond (tax refund) had been received but not yet processed. According to my phone the whole thing took 7mins!
I am sure less people are interested in TD accounts now that the I Bond composite rate is lower than some HYSAs.
Caliscotsman
Posts: 410
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2022 7:18 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by Caliscotsman »

It's been a year since the original post.
Has the OP still not gotten through?

Long time to be on hold.
ScubaHogg
Posts: 3573
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:02 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by ScubaHogg »

Caliscotsman wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:16 pm It's been a year since the original post.
Has the OP still not gotten through?

Long time to be on hold.
OP has since left Bogleheads, so I don’t expect to see any updates
“Conventional Treasury rates are risk free only in the sense that they guarantee nominal principal. But their real rate of return is uncertain until after the fact.” -Risk Less and Prosper
User avatar
beyou
Posts: 6915
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:57 pm
Location: If you can make it there

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by beyou »

I called this morning and got through right away.
That said, the news they shared was very bad.

I had requested transfer of my savings bonds to a new trust account.
They estimated 13 weeks and now after 13 weeks still not done.
Called them and the answer was, our new estimate is now 20 weeks for requests.
realitytest
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:56 pm

Re: Account locked at Treasury Direct and cannot get through on phone

Post by realitytest »

Hooray! Contrary to all the googled answers warning one would have to wait an hour or so to get through on their phone #, I just called and got a live (and very helpful) person immediately. (At least, after choosing the correct options - about losing security questions.)

So there's hope!

Just one caveat - don't bother trying to send an email (a great nuisance, to eliminate forbidden characters, especially commas). I tried, hoping to avoid the reputed phone wait, and received an email informing me they were so busy, they were unable to reply to emails and that I had to call.
Post Reply