Today I received a notification that there was an iPhone update to my Fidelity mobile app. My app had been working fine in the past and I always downloaded the latest update.
Bottom line - big mistake.
I tried to log in many times. It said my password was invalid. I went to my desk PC and all worked fine.
I deleted the app and downloaded it again. Same problem.
I called Fidelity. They confirmed there was indeed a problem. They had no estimate on when the issue would be resolved.
This financial app is a bit more important than something like "angry birds". People rely on the Fidelity tools for their investments.
Click on "read more" to continue
Click on "read more" to continue
I have been in software QA/QC for decades. The lack of regression testing on something this simple is appalling and inexcusable. What is even worse is that Fidelity has still not put the previous version of the app back on the app store for folks to download.
I have been a Fidelity client for over two decades. I have always thought their service was terrific. I guess it was just a matter of time until they failed. Unfortunately, in the investment game where Fidelity supplies tools for investing it is a prime example of lackluster attitude and a lack of professionalism to have a problem of this sort go on for hours at this point in an industry where fortunes can be gained or lost in seconds.
In twitter jargon .... big #fail for you #fidelity.
I am tracking how long it will take for this to be resolved.
Here is my commentary on facebook and Fidelity's response:
Here is my commentary on facebook and Fidelity's response:
3/21/13 - The problem continues in the heart of the trading day....
Fidelity Investments Myles, we’re working to make the previous version available to you as soon as possible, while we continue to work on a fix for the update. Again, we’re sorry for the inconvenience.
Myles Rose It is still not there. It still does not work. It is the heart of the trading day. You folks have really messed up big time.
Myles Rose Side note - 2,416 folks have read the blog piece since it was posted yesterday afternoon. You have made it into the 5th position of the top 10 for this running week. 10,615 people have been to the blog today and the number is rising. These numbers are as of this moment and this was prior to social media distribution was activated.
As I may have said before .... I am tracking how long it takes you to resolve this issue. You have almost been worthless for half a trading day today. The clock continues ticking and you have not made the last working version available on the app store.
I have now turned on the tools to distribute this information to twitter, facebook, Digit, Google, Google buzz and about 75 additional social media sites. I was hoping that you would resolve this in a responsible and professional manner by making the last working version available but that has not been the case. When you get this resolved, the sooner you let me know the faster I will report that you have resolved the problem.
As I may have said before .... I am tracking how long it takes you to resolve this issue. You have almost been worthless for half a trading day today. The clock continues ticking and you have not made the last working version available on the app store.
I have now turned on the tools to distribute this information to twitter, facebook, Digit, Google, Google buzz and about 75 additional social media sites. I was hoping that you would resolve this in a responsible and professional manner by making the last working version available but that has not been the case. When you get this resolved, the sooner you let me know the faster I will report that you have resolved the problem.
There was a comment on Fidelity's facebook page on my post. My response to the comment is below:
Myles Rose Scott, they are generally a top rate organization. I have always been pleased with them. But this most recent screw up is huge and it could have been resolved so easily. Every hour that passed lowers my confidence in them and makes me wonder what happened.
Myles Rose Fidelity, I am formally requesting the name of the manager or head of the department that develops your mobile application.
As of 10:30pst I received a message on facebook from the Fidelity facebook page in response to my comments. I was informed that the previous version of their mobile app was now up on the app store. I downloaded the prior app and all is once again working.
I still have to wonder why it took them the better part of two trading days to make this happen after it was a reported problem by many individuals yesterday. That is one question I have for the department head of the team that develops their mobile application. I am formally requesting that I am given his or her name and contact number. I intend to have a talk with them in regard to QA/QC, regression testing and why some applications such as investment applications are more time critical than things like games, angry birds or iTunes. If they would have understood this basic concept it would have not taken almost 24 hours to fallback to a stable software platform.
November 25, 2013 - Bad customer service again + Software regression:
Below is the latest Fidelity customer service dialogue. Once again they win the Asshat of the Day award.
System: Thank you for contacting Fidelity Investments. All interactions are subject to recordkeeping and monitoring. IM representatives of Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC are unable to accept any trading requests to buy, sell or exchange securities, nor do they provide legal, tax or investment advice.
MYLES ROSE: Initial Question/Comment: I already reported this but .... In your latest version of Active Trader Pro v10.0 your username is not encrypted and anybody getting on your computer can see your username. For a major investment firm this is a major blunder. Shame on you and shame on your lack of response in resolving this issue.
System: Alan Garrett has joined this session!
System: Connected with Alan Garrett. Your Reference Number for this chat is 4869748.
Alan Garrett: Good morning and thank you for choosing Fidelity, Mr. Rose!
MYLES ROSE: Good morning
MYLES ROSE: I was in software QA for decades. Your latest blunder is inexcusable.
Alan Garrett: I see your concerns with the username on the latest Active Trader Pro release.
MYLES ROSE: I documented an issue with you folks in the past on my blog where one could not log on to the mobile app. I may update that piece with this latest info. I was going to let it go after reporting this earlier but since it has not been resolved I may update and re-distribute the post.
MYLES ROSE: http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2013/03/asshat-of-day-award-fidelity-investments.html
Alan Garrett: Are you referring to the use of the "Remember Me" field not using an asterisk for the last three characters of the username like the Website does?
MYLES ROSE: The password is encrypted. The username is not. It used to be in the last version even when remember me was invoked.
MYLES ROSE: If one checks remember me, and anybody gets access to their computer they will not have the username of the client.
MYLES ROSE: This is a major security breach.
MYLES ROSE: Bottom line = it worked fine and properly in the previous version.
MYLES ROSE: If you are typing anything other than "we are sorry and this will be resolved" you are not going to make me happy.
Alan Garrett: I understand your sentiments, Mr. Rose. The issue is not a matter of encryption. Active Trader Pro (ATP) is still encrypted just like the site and our mobile applications. It's a cosmetic thing with how it appears. This was the case in ATP 9.6 before it was masked out in later versions. We have received feedback in this regard from other customers, but there is definitely not a security breach regarding the use of the asterisks. Until our teams have decided to change this appearance based on the feedback we have received, using the "Remember Me" is not required.
Alan Garrett: I have passed your additional concerns in this session to our teams, Mr. Rose.
MYLES ROSE: Are you dense? THE ISSUE IS .... If the remember me function is utilized your complete user name is shown to anybody that has access to your computer. That was NOT the case in the previous release.
Alan Garrett: Someone would still need to know the password, Mr. Rose. Again, I understand your feelings in this regard. I do agree the appearance can raise an eyebrow.
MYLES ROSE: Cosmetic or not, it is a way for other people to possibly see your user ID unless you want to inconvenience the user by having them type in their username name each time and bypass the remember me function.
MYLES ROSE: Again - are you kidding me? Each piece of information is one less piece of information that identity thieves need to draw conclusions.
MYLES ROSE: I will go on record and say I am very unhappy with your response. I will copy this data and paste it into the fidelity post as an update.
MYLES ROSE: Once again .... you have software regression. This worked fine in prior versions.
Alan Garrett: I sense your frustration. Other than tell you that the application is still encrypted, ensure you your comments have been passed, and have you visit https://www.fidelity.com/security/overview, I do not have much more information to share with you at this time. Our teams will definitely re-evaluate the appearance of the application based on the initial feedback that has been received, Mr. Rose.
MYLES ROSE: Why don't you go back and actually read and comprehend what I said. ANYBODY WHO GETS ON YOUR COMPUTER WILL HAVE VISIBILITY TO YOUR FIDELITY USER NAME.
Alan Garrett: I fully understand what you have posted, Mr. Rose.
MYLES ROSE: You never responded to THAT. You skirted the issue. VERY bad customer service.
MYLES ROSE: It is clear from our dialogue that you either did not understand or were just inept at communicating with your customer.
Alan Garrett: I do agree that seeing the username not masked out would cause me to look at it twice. I never denied that.
MYLES ROSE: And you never addressed that and brought up all sorts of side issues. NOT a good was to communicate.
MYLES ROSE: 5,000 to 10,000 folks read by blog each day. This will be published later today.
MYLES ROSE: All I want to hear from you is .... You have a problem, you will resolve the problem and somebody will contact me with the date of problem resolution in the next 24 hours.
Alan Garrett: I did speak to the fact that the username is not hidden with asterisks. Hiding the username and encryption are two separate things. I do understand you are not happy with the fact the username is visible and someone can see it if they come to the computer.
MYLES ROSE: We are getting nowhere.
Alan Garrett: I have definitely passed your comments along.
MYLES ROSE: I think it's time I send this along to others at Fidelity and the rest of the world in general.
MYLES ROSE: No thanks for your inept customer service skills. Thankfully I have your name.
Even though this was never resolved I feel that Fidelity services and customer service are the best in business. Their tools and website usefulness are terrific. My personal Fidelity rep Chris was on the phone with me in a flash on this incident trying to do what he could to escalate the problem. I have been a Fidelity client for around two decades. They are top notch folks.
September 20, 2015 - New issue
I called Customer Service this morning a 9:45pst. I had a question regarding approval levels of options trading. Your rep could not answer the question. I asked to speak to somebody who could answer my question. I was transferred to a supervisor. Well, not really. I was left on hold for 15 minutes before I hung up. I called back and got somebody else. They informed me that nobody knows why or why not or how various levels of option trading are approved as "that is a back office function" and there is no way to get that information.
Looks like I may be calling TD Ameritrade. It was nice working with you folks for almost three decades but we may be coming to the end of a relationship.
February 6, 2017
I have not received my 1099 from Fidelity. Legally, this was supposed to arrive by the end of January. Below is my dialogue which does not include numerous phone calls and being left on hold.
Me - My last 2016 tax form says it won't be available until 3/4/17. I thought you had to mail these so they arrive before the end of February. What's the deal? You get later each year. This is not acceptable.
Flag this message Delete this message
Fidelity - Hi Myles, I can understand wanting to get your taxes done. To avoid sending you incomplete or incorrect info, we file an extension with the IRS when we haven't received tax info for all of your holdings. We do have resources you can use to help with your tax planning now -- to learn more, please give us a call at 800-544-6666 or chat with us: http://go.fidelity.com/qr4r . Thanks.
Me - An extension? Totally unacceptable.
Your rep left me on hold while he was getting a supervisor so I hung up.
You guys figure it out and call me back.
I am getting pretty fed up with you.
But... how come my son has his 1099 from TD already. He is much more active, we trade the same positions.
Fidelity - Thanks for reaching out, Myles. I am sorry to hear you're upset and I'll definitely share your feedback regarding your experience. The time frame for a tax form depends on the account type and the investments held within that account. To avoid sending you incomplete info, we'll file a 30-day extension when we haven't received tax info for all of your holdings.
Me - I don't want an extension. I want my 1099 that was due the end of last month. My son, with a more complicated portfolio and some of my same holdings that I have, received his 1099 from TD Ameritrade last month.
No more excuses from you. Fix this issue or I am going to escalate again.
I have granted you no extension as a side note. I am your customer, not the IRS.
I am still waiting for my call back.
1400pst 6 FEB 2017
A conversation with my account rep was no help. He escalated to his boss, the manager of the Burbank office. She told me there was nothing she could do, I would have to wait until March 4 for my 1099. I instructed her to escalate to her boss and to have my rep send me emails on who her boss is, when they were contacted, and maintain an audit trail in writing of this incident. ISO9000 procedures (document) are now in place.
Continued conversation in writing with Fidelity also continued:
Fidelity - Thanks for following up with us, Myles. I've escalated this to the appropriate team, and someone will be reaching out to you so we can look into this and address your concerns. Thank you.
Me - My rep in the Burbank office escalated to his boss, the head of the Burbank office and she has now escalated to her boss as this was beyond her level and said she could do nothing. I requested all correspondence in the future is in writing so it can be fully documented. Again, TD Ameritrade has had their own clients 1099s received within the legal timeframe. Fidelity's main plus was customer service. It seems that may no longer be the case.
Feb 7, 2017 - This incident warranted a new post which is now online at http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2017/02/fidelity-investments-vs-td-ameritrade.html
September 11, 2017
Fidelity wins the #asshat of the day award today for worthless customer service via social media.
Chat transcript follows. As of 4:00pm PST, there is still no update. The update is less of an issue as the subject of why nobody could tell me why this anomaly is happening. The initial chat representative was worthless and his supervisor was no better.
Live Chat
New party ('MYLES ROSE') has joined the session
MYLES ROSE: Why are the Fidelity positions such as FEQTX not updated yet?
Thank you for contacting Fidelity Investments. All interactions are subject to recordkeeping and monitoring. Brokerage chat representatives are registered with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC and are unable to accept any trading requests to buy, sell or exchange securities in ANY account, or to process any transactions in your retirement saving or benefit plan, nor do they provide legal, tax or investment advice. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC
All of our representatives are currently busy, but we will be with you in a moment. Please hold and your chat will be answered by the next available representative.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
New party ('Christopher Rooklidge') has joined the session
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello! Thank you for taking the time to contact us today. My name is Christopher and my role is to assist with service and trading questions. How are you today?
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello.
Christopher Rooklidge: Unfortunately I can not say for sure why they have not updated yet, but it is usually two to three hours after market close
MYLES ROSE: Answer my question
Christopher Rooklidge: So I suspect they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: It has never been past 3pm pst.
MYLES ROSE: Why today?
Christopher Rooklidge: I do not know
MYLES ROSE: Find out
Christopher Rooklidge: I am sure they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: That is a pretty lame answer
Christopher Rooklidge: There is no department to call on this
MYLES ROSE: How can you be sure when you did not even see the anomoly
MYLES ROSE: Please escalate to your supervisor. Now.
Christopher Rooklidge: i would not say this is an anomaly.
Christopher Rooklidge: I can transfer you
MYLES ROSE: I know YOU would not say that.
MYLES ROSE: I perform ISO 9000 audits on your service. You are failing.
Christopher Rooklidge: I am sorry
Christopher Rooklidge: One moment while I get a supervisor
MYLES ROSE: I am still waiting for you to do that as I requested.
MYLES ROSE: Question: Why has over an hour passed with no updates of Fidelity funds, past typical update times of the past YEARS?
Christopher Rooklidge: Again I do not know. I am getting a supervisor now
Party ('Christopher Rooklidge') has left the session.
New party ('Will Van Wagenen') has joined the session
Will Van Wagenen: Hello Mr. Rose.
MYLES ROSE:
New party ('MYLES ROSE') has joined the session
MYLES ROSE: Why are the Fidelity positions such as FEQTX not updated yet?
Thank you for contacting Fidelity Investments. All interactions are subject to recordkeeping and monitoring. Brokerage chat representatives are registered with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC and are unable to accept any trading requests to buy, sell or exchange securities in ANY account, or to process any transactions in your retirement saving or benefit plan, nor do they provide legal, tax or investment advice. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC
All of our representatives are currently busy, but we will be with you in a moment. Please hold and your chat will be answered by the next available representative.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
New party ('Christopher Rooklidge') has joined the session
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello! Thank you for taking the time to contact us today. My name is Christopher and my role is to assist with service and trading questions. How are you today?
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello.
Christopher Rooklidge: Unfortunately I can not say for sure why they have not updated yet, but it is usually two to three hours after market close
MYLES ROSE: Answer my question
Christopher Rooklidge: So I suspect they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: It has never been past 3pm pst.
MYLES ROSE: Why today?
Christopher Rooklidge: I do not know
MYLES ROSE: Find out
Christopher Rooklidge: I am sure they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: That is a pretty lame answer
Christopher Rooklidge: There is no department to call on this
MYLES ROSE: How can you be sure when you did not even see the anomoly
MYLES ROSE: Please escalate to your supervisor. Now.
Will Van Wagenen: I am a supervisor in the Electronic Response Group.
MYLES ROSE: Your service is worse today than I have ever seen it be.
Will Van Wagenen: I am just reviewing what you discussed with my colleague now.
MYLES ROSE: So, what is the reason?
Will Van Wagenen: I see you are concerned that the pricing has not updated for some of your mutual funds, including FEQTX.
MYLES ROSE: The three funds in one of my account still have not updated.
MYLES ROSE: It is over an hour past the time they have updated for years.
MYLES ROSE: What is the reason?
Will Van Wagenen: I can reiterate what my colleague indicated. There is no exact time each day the the pricing updates. It just depends on when the individual funds calculate their closing prices (based on the performance of each security in the fund) and provide that information to us. The timing of the update is a bit different each day.
MYLES ROSE: FLPSX, FPURX, FEQTX
MYLES ROSE: And again .... I have NEVER seen it go past 3pm PST.
Will Van Wagenen: Sorry I understand why that may be frustrating.
MYLES ROSE: So again, what is the anomaly?
MYLES ROSE: This is not an issue of updating as much as it is an ISO 9000 audit of your customer service.
Will Van Wagenen: In the ten years I've worked at Fidelity I've never observed a consistent time in which all the fund prices update. There is unfortunately no contact we have that can provide an update as to why it may be taking a bit longer today for those funds than is perhaps normal.
MYLES ROSE: Shall we escalate this to your supervisor?
MYLES ROSE: The funds have been updated between 2:15pm pst and 3:00pm PST for years.
MYLES ROSE: I have NEVER seen it go past 3:00pm PST. Check your records as your memory seems to be faulty.
Will Van Wagenen: I apologize there is not a way to escalate this issue to a supervisor above me. I do apologize that these funds are updating later than must be normal. I can assure you they will be updated today shortly, but I apologize I do not know when exactly.
MYLES ROSE: I think at this time I will just close this session and send this transcript to others.
August 8, 2019
Back in July there as another update to the mobile app for you folks. At that point, the transactions for credit card use was no longer displayed. I called you folks. Initially the person on the call was not even aware of the issue. After a very long conversation with multiple people I was told it would be resolved by the end of July. I was told on another call it would be resolved in months. The problem became so apparent that Fidelity, rather than address the issue, as of two days ago made changes to the application to now display this:
I explained that I had a few decades of software QA / QC experience and it was quite clear that the update was not regression tested in the least for basic functionality. I tried to talk to somebody in your software department but that request was refused.
Your next update, a few days ago, did not resolve the problem. If you look on Twitter you can see the number of times this has been mentioned at this point, complaints increasing each and every hour on this issue, and even more on your declining customer service in general.
I have been a Fidelity customer for over two decades but instances like these, and declining customer service, especially the lack of testing before implementation rollout of software, makes Fidelity a bad choice today for online financial management. TD Ameritrade has superior help on a technical level and is known for software functionality. They are the market leaders in online investment, you folks have continued a decline for the last two or three years.
I have dozens of captured Tweets of the inconsistent banter between you people and myself on this issue. There are countless issues one can see on Twitter as an ongoing stream with other customers and your customer service on all sorts of ongoing issues which have not been resolved BUT, the interesting common thread to me is the canned script based way in which you communicate with the customer, telling them little, passing them around, waiting for them to tire and just go away,
Fidelity. You folks had a good run. It appears to be over after a few years of decline. You want to respond? Maybe read some of these: https://twitter.com/Fidelity/with_replies
By the way. Since July 22 (two updates ago) I have stopped using my Fidelity credit card.
1400pst 6 FEB 2017
A conversation with my account rep was no help. He escalated to his boss, the manager of the Burbank office. She told me there was nothing she could do, I would have to wait until March 4 for my 1099. I instructed her to escalate to her boss and to have my rep send me emails on who her boss is, when they were contacted, and maintain an audit trail in writing of this incident. ISO9000 procedures (document) are now in place.
Continued conversation in writing with Fidelity also continued:
Fidelity - Thanks for following up with us, Myles. I've escalated this to the appropriate team, and someone will be reaching out to you so we can look into this and address your concerns. Thank you.
Me - My rep in the Burbank office escalated to his boss, the head of the Burbank office and she has now escalated to her boss as this was beyond her level and said she could do nothing. I requested all correspondence in the future is in writing so it can be fully documented. Again, TD Ameritrade has had their own clients 1099s received within the legal timeframe. Fidelity's main plus was customer service. It seems that may no longer be the case.
Feb 7, 2017 - This incident warranted a new post which is now online at http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2017/02/fidelity-investments-vs-td-ameritrade.html
September 11, 2017
Fidelity wins the #asshat of the day award today for worthless customer service via social media.
Chat transcript follows. As of 4:00pm PST, there is still no update. The update is less of an issue as the subject of why nobody could tell me why this anomaly is happening. The initial chat representative was worthless and his supervisor was no better.
Live Chat
New party ('MYLES ROSE') has joined the session
MYLES ROSE: Why are the Fidelity positions such as FEQTX not updated yet?
Thank you for contacting Fidelity Investments. All interactions are subject to recordkeeping and monitoring. Brokerage chat representatives are registered with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC and are unable to accept any trading requests to buy, sell or exchange securities in ANY account, or to process any transactions in your retirement saving or benefit plan, nor do they provide legal, tax or investment advice. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC
All of our representatives are currently busy, but we will be with you in a moment. Please hold and your chat will be answered by the next available representative.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
New party ('Christopher Rooklidge') has joined the session
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello! Thank you for taking the time to contact us today. My name is Christopher and my role is to assist with service and trading questions. How are you today?
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello.
Christopher Rooklidge: Unfortunately I can not say for sure why they have not updated yet, but it is usually two to three hours after market close
MYLES ROSE: Answer my question
Christopher Rooklidge: So I suspect they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: It has never been past 3pm pst.
MYLES ROSE: Why today?
Christopher Rooklidge: I do not know
MYLES ROSE: Find out
Christopher Rooklidge: I am sure they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: That is a pretty lame answer
Christopher Rooklidge: There is no department to call on this
MYLES ROSE: How can you be sure when you did not even see the anomoly
MYLES ROSE: Please escalate to your supervisor. Now.
Christopher Rooklidge: i would not say this is an anomaly.
Christopher Rooklidge: I can transfer you
MYLES ROSE: I know YOU would not say that.
MYLES ROSE: I perform ISO 9000 audits on your service. You are failing.
Christopher Rooklidge: I am sorry
Christopher Rooklidge: One moment while I get a supervisor
MYLES ROSE: I am still waiting for you to do that as I requested.
MYLES ROSE: Question: Why has over an hour passed with no updates of Fidelity funds, past typical update times of the past YEARS?
Christopher Rooklidge: Again I do not know. I am getting a supervisor now
Party ('Christopher Rooklidge') has left the session.
New party ('Will Van Wagenen') has joined the session
Will Van Wagenen: Hello Mr. Rose.
MYLES ROSE:
New party ('MYLES ROSE') has joined the session
MYLES ROSE: Why are the Fidelity positions such as FEQTX not updated yet?
Thank you for contacting Fidelity Investments. All interactions are subject to recordkeeping and monitoring. Brokerage chat representatives are registered with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC and are unable to accept any trading requests to buy, sell or exchange securities in ANY account, or to process any transactions in your retirement saving or benefit plan, nor do they provide legal, tax or investment advice. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC
All of our representatives are currently busy, but we will be with you in a moment. Please hold and your chat will be answered by the next available representative.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
Thank you for waiting. All of our representatives are still busy and we do apologize for the delay. Please hold and your chat will be answered as soon as possible.
New party ('Christopher Rooklidge') has joined the session
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello! Thank you for taking the time to contact us today. My name is Christopher and my role is to assist with service and trading questions. How are you today?
Christopher Rooklidge: Hello.
Christopher Rooklidge: Unfortunately I can not say for sure why they have not updated yet, but it is usually two to three hours after market close
MYLES ROSE: Answer my question
Christopher Rooklidge: So I suspect they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: It has never been past 3pm pst.
MYLES ROSE: Why today?
Christopher Rooklidge: I do not know
MYLES ROSE: Find out
Christopher Rooklidge: I am sure they will update soon
MYLES ROSE: That is a pretty lame answer
Christopher Rooklidge: There is no department to call on this
MYLES ROSE: How can you be sure when you did not even see the anomoly
MYLES ROSE: Please escalate to your supervisor. Now.
Will Van Wagenen: I am a supervisor in the Electronic Response Group.
MYLES ROSE: Your service is worse today than I have ever seen it be.
Will Van Wagenen: I am just reviewing what you discussed with my colleague now.
MYLES ROSE: So, what is the reason?
Will Van Wagenen: I see you are concerned that the pricing has not updated for some of your mutual funds, including FEQTX.
MYLES ROSE: The three funds in one of my account still have not updated.
MYLES ROSE: It is over an hour past the time they have updated for years.
MYLES ROSE: What is the reason?
Will Van Wagenen: I can reiterate what my colleague indicated. There is no exact time each day the the pricing updates. It just depends on when the individual funds calculate their closing prices (based on the performance of each security in the fund) and provide that information to us. The timing of the update is a bit different each day.
MYLES ROSE: FLPSX, FPURX, FEQTX
MYLES ROSE: And again .... I have NEVER seen it go past 3pm PST.
Will Van Wagenen: Sorry I understand why that may be frustrating.
MYLES ROSE: So again, what is the anomaly?
MYLES ROSE: This is not an issue of updating as much as it is an ISO 9000 audit of your customer service.
Will Van Wagenen: In the ten years I've worked at Fidelity I've never observed a consistent time in which all the fund prices update. There is unfortunately no contact we have that can provide an update as to why it may be taking a bit longer today for those funds than is perhaps normal.
MYLES ROSE: Shall we escalate this to your supervisor?
MYLES ROSE: The funds have been updated between 2:15pm pst and 3:00pm PST for years.
MYLES ROSE: I have NEVER seen it go past 3:00pm PST. Check your records as your memory seems to be faulty.
Will Van Wagenen: I apologize there is not a way to escalate this issue to a supervisor above me. I do apologize that these funds are updating later than must be normal. I can assure you they will be updated today shortly, but I apologize I do not know when exactly.
MYLES ROSE: I think at this time I will just close this session and send this transcript to others.
August 8, 2019
Back in July there as another update to the mobile app for you folks. At that point, the transactions for credit card use was no longer displayed. I called you folks. Initially the person on the call was not even aware of the issue. After a very long conversation with multiple people I was told it would be resolved by the end of July. I was told on another call it would be resolved in months. The problem became so apparent that Fidelity, rather than address the issue, as of two days ago made changes to the application to now display this:
I explained that I had a few decades of software QA / QC experience and it was quite clear that the update was not regression tested in the least for basic functionality. I tried to talk to somebody in your software department but that request was refused.
Your next update, a few days ago, did not resolve the problem. If you look on Twitter you can see the number of times this has been mentioned at this point, complaints increasing each and every hour on this issue, and even more on your declining customer service in general.
I have been a Fidelity customer for over two decades but instances like these, and declining customer service, especially the lack of testing before implementation rollout of software, makes Fidelity a bad choice today for online financial management. TD Ameritrade has superior help on a technical level and is known for software functionality. They are the market leaders in online investment, you folks have continued a decline for the last two or three years.
I have dozens of captured Tweets of the inconsistent banter between you people and myself on this issue. There are countless issues one can see on Twitter as an ongoing stream with other customers and your customer service on all sorts of ongoing issues which have not been resolved BUT, the interesting common thread to me is the canned script based way in which you communicate with the customer, telling them little, passing them around, waiting for them to tire and just go away,
Fidelity. You folks had a good run. It appears to be over after a few years of decline. You want to respond? Maybe read some of these: https://twitter.com/Fidelity/with_replies
By the way. Since July 22 (two updates ago) I have stopped using my Fidelity credit card.
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