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Fidelity Investments Complaint - Fidelity = Horrible Customer Service - 401k
401k - Complaint
My husband passed away leaving me two young children. When I notified Fidelity that his 401k should be disbursed to his beneficiary they told me I would have to call his former employer and get their "permission". After doing that I was informed that 401k's are not just distributed to your beneficiary. The investment company just creates a new account in the beneficiaries name and puts all of the money in there. Another account for them! They wouldn't disburse the money because there was a discrepancy between the zip code I provided and the one they had on the form (mine was right and their's was wrong). They had the right zip code on all the statements they sent us! They insisted I would have to fill out a change of address to correct their wrong zip code.
They finally said they were sending the check but when I called three weeks later they hadn't issued it and the value of the account had fallen. Their reps called my answering machine three times leaving an extension to call back on but their phone system doesn't allow you to enter extensions. You can not even speak to someone without providing your SS. When I first called them I didn't have an account with them and did not want to just hand out my SS. When I complained to a supervisor about the horrible way they treat bereaved people he just kept saying uh-huh, uh-huh... I might as well have been talking to a wall.
I think if most people realized how many hoops their loved ones will have to jump through to get access to these funds they would never invest in another 401K. If they do, they certainly should do it with Fidelity.
They finally said they were sending the check but when I called three weeks later they hadn't issued it and the value of the account had fallen. Their reps called my answering machine three times leaving an extension to call back on but their phone system doesn't allow you to enter extensions. You can not even speak to someone without providing your SS. When I first called them I didn't have an account with them and did not want to just hand out my SS. When I complained to a supervisor about the horrible way they treat bereaved people he just kept saying uh-huh, uh-huh... I might as well have been talking to a wall.
I think if most people realized how many hoops their loved ones will have to jump through to get access to these funds they would never invest in another 401K. If they do, they certainly should do it with Fidelity.
Comments:
Posted by financiallyfit on 2009-04-27:
My sympathies on the death of your husband. I used to work as a Supervisor for a mutual fund call centre and I was horrified by the way customer service reps treated bereaved people calling to settle their loved one's estate. Most financial companies try and bend the rules slightly for those calling about a deceased person's account, but many CSRs are so focused on the "rules" that they don't listen. Normally you will find someone who understands and can help you, and if you can't, make sure you transfer out any other accounts you have with the company.
Posted by Mr. Pleasant on 2010-09-25:
There are many registration regulations that unfortunately, must be followed. Just press # 3 times, and you will go straight to a representative.
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