Vanguard warns its phone-reliant investors of 'termination' -- without warning or explanation -- under new contract, effective July 1

I am transferring 5 accounts away from Vanguard. They are no longer a customer focused leader in my mind.

Very accurate, timely and nice description of state of affairs at Vanguard. Vanguard does still have some excellent funds and ETFs but I would hold them in other real brokers accounts rather than in Vanguard fake me too brokerage. Vanguard culture has become condenscending to customers.

While large numbers of investors and advisors continue to rely on phone service, it is possible to identify those who are excessive users. However, before abandoning these users it is essential for a responsible institution to be certain that no emergency exists! Simply because someone called several times last month does not disqualify them from prudent treatment. Before shutting the door on an investor or an advisor, the institution should determine if an urgent situation exists and provide a direct path to solutions. Unfortunately, most IVRs handle emergencies very poorly with difficult access to someone who can help. Any cutbacks in phone service should be preceded by emergency access procedure.

Vanguard is not "firing grandma." Having worked for (insert discount 9.99 broker name) on the phone lines- there are a lot of 'clients' who will call for no reason other than to talk to a human knowing they can. They don't place a trade, they don't have a service need, they ask for one quote, then will go off on tangents just because they are lonely and need interactions. If one phone rep dumps the call quickly, they just call in and look for more interaction with the next person to discuss their gold stocks, the white house, etc. They are never even break even relationships, let alone profitable ones even if these are "owners". Other bd's have fired clients for the same reason, or in my previous spots case- they re-routed the phone number to the longest queues hoping they would call in less frequently.