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Vanguard Group Under Attack by Terrorists! Huh??
August 14, 2002 | Doc Savage

Posted on 08/14/2002 11:00:18 AM PDT by Doc Savage

For several years I have been regularly investing with Fidelity Investments. They've always been very competent, very friendly, and very professional. However, in today's unsettled economic environment my wife and I decided that perhaps it would be wise to diversify our portfolio by investing with an additional firm. We decided to approach Vanguard............


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: vanguard
For several years I have been regularly investing with Fidelity Investments. They've always been very competent, very friendly, and very professional. However, in today's unsettled economic environment my wife and I decided that perhaps it would be wise to diversify our portfolio by investing with an additional firm. We decided to approach Vanguard.

Since their corporate offices are just a few miles from my home I drove over with some information on potential investments, my usual savoir~faire, and my check book. I got as far as the security checkpoint. A grim and determined female guard cautiously approached my dangerous looking Dodge mini-van.

"CanI help you?," she said. I explained that I wanted to meet with an investment advisor to set up an account and invest in certain Vanguard funds.

"Do you have an appointment?," she barked. No. I explained I just lived a few miles away and thought I would just drive over and open an account.

"If you don't have an appointment you'll have to leave," she said. I asked her why. Why couldn't I just speak with someone and open up an account and give them my millions? Didn't they want my money? "Not unless you have an appointment," she said, thrusting a printed set of instructions at me and telling me to move on.

I asked her if Vanguard was afraid of me. She said no it was the terrorists they were afraid of. Naturally, this was the first I'd heard that Vanguard was a target of Osama bin Laden, but hey, live and learn I always say. So I said to her are you afraid I might have a bomb strapped to me. She said yes.

By this time she was eyeing me a bit more closely. Coward that I am I decided retreat was called for. But I must say it seemed a rather poor way to greet new customers.

It seemed rather strange to me. When I go to a Fidelity office they have a warm hello for me, a pleasant smile, and they always ask if they can help me. I never realized that it was going to be difficult to give my money away to Vanguard. I surmised they must be so filthy rich they didn't need anymore money. At least not from some common proletariat driving a Dodge mini-van.

There was a number to call for an appointment so I called and spoke with a customer service representative. I explained my conversation with the guard and he told me that I had to schedule an appointment and that it had to be done a minimum of 36 hours in advance.

Now color me crazy but for all the security guard knew and the customer representative knew I might just have won the Pennsylvania Lottery and had 50 million burning a hole in my pocket. Talk about tough to give your money away.

He said that on May 6th, 2002, Vanguard closed all its offices to unscheduled visitors. They had done this in response to September 11, 2001. Hmmmmm, I said, let's see, October, November, December, January.......I thought, ok, I guess I could understand if on September 12th they made the decision in a moment of panic, but it took these guys until May 6th to come up with this idea???

So I said I wanted to make an appointment to open up an account and that I'd like to speak with someone about investing in several of their funds. Nope! Impossible. I couldn't schedule an appointment unless I already had an account. But I explained that that was exactly why I had driven over but they would let me in. He said they wouldn't let me in because they had changed the policy regarding visitors on Mat 6th and besides I might be a terrorist and I might have a bomb to blow up Vanguard.

It was at this point that I was almost convinced that I had somehow contacted Rod Serling from the grave. I wasn't a terrorist, just a middle-aged shlub trying to give a few of my paltry dollars away, and apparently it wan't going to be easy to do.

I called again about an hour later and a grandmotherly voice told me exactly the same thing. So I asked politely If I might speak with her supervisor. She placed me hold during which I listened to a recording extolling the friendliness and hospitality of Vanguard for their customers and how all I had to do was bark and an investment consultant would be happy to meet with me to plan my future. Well, at that point my future consisted primarily of my beard which had grown a couple of inches while I was on hold and a head that felt like Jimmy Stewart's in Vertigo.

When she finally came back on the line a decade later she explained that her supervisor was too busy to speak with me and that she was transferring me to New Accounts.

Aha, I thought! At last we're getting somewhere. After 30 minutes on hold waiting to hear a human voice, I decided it was just too much trouble trying to give my money to Vanguard and hung up in dismay.

So I drove over to the local Fidelity office, deposited my money in the Automatic Deposit Computer, sat down with a very friendly and knowledgable investment VP and in 15 minutes my money was deposited, the funds purchased, and I was on my way.

Now I'm sure that there are many Freepers who are very satisfied with Vanguard, but I must say they were not customer friendly and I would hesistate to recommend them to any of my family or friends. How they became convinced that terrorists are after them I'll never know, however I wish them good luck as they toil away in their concrete windowless bunkers.

Doc Savage

1 posted on 08/14/2002 11:00:18 AM PDT by Doc Savage
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To: Doc Savage
You should forward immediately to John Bogle and those at Vanguard HQ (he is semi-retired).
2 posted on 08/14/2002 11:05:09 AM PDT by donozark
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To: Doc Savage
Isn't Vanguard almost exclusively a mail/phone/wire/web shop?

Their corp HQ is likely just a corp HQ, and not a walk-up brokerage shop.

And as one of THE largest investors (with other folks' money) in the world, they are understandably paranoid.

3 posted on 08/14/2002 11:08:59 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
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To: Doc Savage
Call them from a phone booth and attempt to make an appointment using an angry, arrogant middle eastern accent. Tell them that you will be bringing a large duffel bag filled with 'money' with you.

If they refuse to see you, bark something like, "No. That is not acceptable. I will come now!" and hang up.

4 posted on 08/14/2002 11:09:11 AM PDT by DWSUWF
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To: Doc Savage
Fidelity maintains retail offices, I do not believe Vanguard does, nor is it part of their business model. Try dropping by most corporate offices and they'll give you the boot. If you want in-person service, you'll have to pay for it, which is why Vanguard tends to be cheaper than Fidelity.
5 posted on 08/14/2002 11:11:09 AM PDT by evolved_rage
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To: Doc Savage
I live near GE's corporate headquarters, but don't think I'd get too far if I drove up asking if I could come in and buy some light bulbs.
6 posted on 08/14/2002 11:22:12 AM PDT by triplejake
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To: Doc Savage
My daughter works for Vanguard and, I can tell you, there
isn't a more politically correct corporation on the face of the earth than Vanguard. I would last about two hours working there...
7 posted on 08/14/2002 12:08:43 PM PDT by Russ
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To: Doc Savage
Speaking of Fidelity, I hope you're not invested in one of these funds.
8 posted on 08/14/2002 12:17:52 PM PDT by Middle Man
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To: Doc Savage
If they won't let Doc Savage in the door...that's plumb un-American.

I bet The Shadow could get in, though...

9 posted on 08/14/2002 12:24:18 PM PDT by The Duke
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To: Doc Savage
Except for the case of full-service brokers marketing "load" funds to people who know nothing about investing, I have never heard of the practice of dealing face-to-face for mutal funds. This industry (no-load funds) is normally by mail, telephone or internet.
10 posted on 08/14/2002 1:17:08 PM PDT by snarkpup
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To: Doc Savage
Review the funds here: http://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/PersonalHome
Decide which you want to invest in and send them a check with an application form. Then you are ready to go. You can get more personal attention if you invest $500K or $1M. If you want more hand-holding, other mutual fund companies might be better. But check the fees and charges in the fund prospectus and you'll know why independent investors use Vanguard. (Opinion: Index investing has been and remains the best method of investing for 95% of the public.)
11 posted on 08/14/2002 1:33:51 PM PDT by Faraday
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To: Doc Savage
I am proud to be a Vanguard "crew member" so I just wanted to set the record straight. First off, I couldn't ask for a better place to work, it is a very professional, but friendly, environment. There is a security checkpoint to get onto main campus, which we didn't have before September 11th. You were trying to "just stop by" an investment company's corporate headquarters! Vanguard doesn't have "branches" or "retail stores" like Fidelity and some of the other investment companies, which does keep their fees lower. If I were a security guard, I would have "eyed you a bit more closely" too if you asked me "are you afraid I might have a bomb strapped to me"! Financial/investment companies are targets of terrorists - who do you think occupied the World Trade Center??? And, as far as staying on hold for a half an hour and speaking with people who are not friendly - I find that very hard to believe. Maybe you were the exception, but Vanguard is known for being very customer oriented and for not leaving people just hanging on the phone!
12 posted on 08/15/2002 2:04:02 AM PDT by SunMoon
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To: SunMoon
Prior to September 11, Vanguard had three Investment Centers in the US. Charlotte, Scottsdale and Malvern. Investors were invited to stop by, make deposits, and seek advice. I had called a year ago and was told to just drive over and they would help me open an account.

If you work there you should have known that. But you didn't. Also, it was only after the guards said they were afraid of terrorists that I decided they were all nut cases and decided to have a little fun with them. They are however locked and loaded for that initial assault by Muslim extremists.

I would suggest that these idiots have more to fear from their own employees than terrorists. At the very least they could put a cheap suit like you at the front gate to greet potential investors like myself.

Customer friendly!!!???? What are you smokin' pal. Fidelity can run rings around you. My wife was in charge of selecting a benefits manager for a DOW 30 company. This was megabucks. Fidelity met them at Logan with Limos. At Fidelity HQs they brought out the first team and CEO. At Vanguard they got some low level staffers and a stale pastry. Guess who got the business. And I mean hundreds of millions.

Customer friendly!!!???? LOL

13 posted on 08/15/2002 7:02:41 AM PDT by Doc Savage
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To: Doc Savage
Number one, I am definitely not your pal. Number two, you are obviously in the dark about investing! It seems the only things you are interested in are limos and pastries, not lower fees and fund returns. Did you read the other replies to your ranting and raving? You know nothing about me, so don't assume anything! I am not a cheap suit and I don’t work in a concrete bunker. I am an intelligent, successful woman. The majority of the people who work at Vanguard have college degrees, including me. Don't run your mouth about a company and its employees when you know absolutely nothing about them. If Vanguard is so horrible, then why did you want to invest your money with them in the first place???

14 posted on 08/15/2002 4:21:13 PM PDT by SunMoon
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To: SunMoon
Doesn't Vanguard target a more conservative and often wealthier demographic than does Fidelity? In addition to low fees, I believe the Vanguard funds generally offer lower stock turnover to the effect of tax deferral.
15 posted on 08/15/2002 4:34:50 PM PDT by decimon
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To: Doc Savage
Well, actually...I've invested with Vanguard for years. My experience has been quite different from yours. The Vanguard reps have been friendly, capable, efficient...everything I could ask.

Go to their website (links have already been posted, I see), order some prospectuses on funds that seem appropriate to your needs, and handle your transactions by mail. It will work much better...

16 posted on 08/15/2002 4:47:58 PM PDT by neutrino
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