Oh, interesting ... sad to see it going the way of customer service all over the world.
Last I spoke to Vanguard US was before Covid. Great experience. Back in 2013 timeframe just as I was about to start Roth Conversion, it was just outstanding.
Charles Schwab was also outstanding last year but this year I had to deal with totally clueless people. A poster here provided a few contact numbers for Schwab. I havent tried those yet, hopefully. Charles Schwab will be my last resort : if I decide not to use a wealth manager AND if I relocate outside EU AND if HL/II start putting all sorts of restrictions on what I can buy.
All want is telephone support staff who have some knowledge. Instead nowadays for every question the response is "Let me check and get back to you", taking a good 10 minutes for each question. And then unreliable answers.
I understand non residency questions are difficult but surely I am not the first person to ask it. They must be able to direct me to a manager who knows these things. I am not asking about extremely difficult topics like setting up a trust, or complicated questions on derivatives, options etc. All I am asking is what will I be allowed to do once I go non resident. And there are always nuances. All support staff can do is parrot official line "no new money". Well, what if it is coming out from a SIPP as a 25% lumpsum ? Out of syllabus. Another example of parroting : "You can buy any shares or ETF". What about Vanguard ETF VWRD ? I have to spell letter by letter V for Victory etc. And again the usual "Let me find out". But you just said ETFs are ok ?
Top management in Brokers want to pay these people as low as possible and skimp on training. They dont want smart people either who can think and ask questions. It is the same with almost every company. It was a nightmare to port my O2 mobile number given by my previous employer to a new SIM card. Finally I posted on the O2 forum and there was a top guy there (an O2 rep) - knowledgeable - helpful - who sorted it out in 48 hours. But the call centre people were clueless.
Last I spoke to Vanguard US was before Covid. Great experience. Back in 2013 timeframe just as I was about to start Roth Conversion, it was just outstanding.
Charles Schwab was also outstanding last year but this year I had to deal with totally clueless people. A poster here provided a few contact numbers for Schwab. I havent tried those yet, hopefully. Charles Schwab will be my last resort : if I decide not to use a wealth manager AND if I relocate outside EU AND if HL/II start putting all sorts of restrictions on what I can buy.
All want is telephone support staff who have some knowledge. Instead nowadays for every question the response is "Let me check and get back to you", taking a good 10 minutes for each question. And then unreliable answers.
I understand non residency questions are difficult but surely I am not the first person to ask it. They must be able to direct me to a manager who knows these things. I am not asking about extremely difficult topics like setting up a trust, or complicated questions on derivatives, options etc. All I am asking is what will I be allowed to do once I go non resident. And there are always nuances. All support staff can do is parrot official line "no new money". Well, what if it is coming out from a SIPP as a 25% lumpsum ? Out of syllabus. Another example of parroting : "You can buy any shares or ETF". What about Vanguard ETF VWRD ? I have to spell letter by letter V for Victory etc. And again the usual "Let me find out". But you just said ETFs are ok ?
Top management in Brokers want to pay these people as low as possible and skimp on training. They dont want smart people either who can think and ask questions. It is the same with almost every company. It was a nightmare to port my O2 mobile number given by my previous employer to a new SIM card. Finally I posted on the O2 forum and there was a top guy there (an O2 rep) - knowledgeable - helpful - who sorted it out in 48 hours. But the call centre people were clueless.
Statistics: Posted by bluejeansman — Wed May 29, 2024 12:53 am — Replies 20 — Views 3592
