Omni and Vanguard trouble

[DeniseNJ]

Dh's third party administrator for his school's 403b is Omni.  He used to invest in an Invesco SP500 fund.  The money would go in on his pay day.  This summer they offered Vanguard for the first time so I set it up to invest with Vanguard SP500 fund.  Well the money never went in.  It's hard for me to call during the day since they won't talk to me and dh is at school in front of classes so he can't call.  Anyway, Omni said they sent it as part of an ACH transaction of over $400K and if Vanguard didn't deposit in his acct then that's on them.  Vanguard said they never got any ACH transaction.  I would think that Omni would care if they sent someone almost half million dollars and they didn't get it but apparently they don't.  Meanwhile Vanguard can't track what it doesn't have.  Each keeps saying call the other.  I'm trying to handle via email but not really getting anywhere.  When I call they won't talk to me.  I had dh call and then I got on the phone and Vanguard said they would escalate and call back in two days--that was a week ago but no call back.  Then one of the missing deposits finally showed up after 3 weeks, but not sure if it's the first or second, since by this time dh was paid twice.

So I went back to Invesco, even though their fees are way higher.  I'll try calling Vanguard again this afternoon. Even though Omni said they sent ACH transaction, is it possible they mailed it?  I mean, who mails anything?  Especially, what financial institution mails $400K?  And how can I be the only person complaining about this?  Has anyone experienced anything like this?  Shouldn't an ACH deposit take a day?  I'm really stumped.  I'm mostly shocked that each company says to call the other, especially Omni.

[Rob_bob]

I would be checking the routing and account numbers for those ACH transfers.  But if one did go through then.......?

[yachi]

It could just be growing pains for Vanguard getting used to being paid by Omni.  I've had 401(k) accounts where my contributions show up once a month whereas my paycheck is cut once a week or once every two weeks.  Are the deposits missing from any Omni monthly or quarterly statements?  If there haven't been any, it wouldn't surprise me if you're one of only a few people complaining about it, as not everyone checks accounts online.  Heck, not everyone looks at periodic statements either.

[Timeforfocus]

Ugh, I feel your pain! I just chased $32K between Vanguard and Empower. It is miserable, but see if you can get someone in concierge services at Vanguard. Finally after my third phone call and my third hour on hold I got an actual phone number for a real live person. It was exhausting having to call and go through the story and have a different person "research" things every time I called. Best of luck to you!

[Motostache]

It's about that time in the school year when a personal day feels real good.  Just saying.

[Dictionary Time]

I would recommend a conference call with DH, Omni, and vanguard. As well as yourself, since you are the most knowledgeable about it.

We had to do this for a fidelity —> vanguard rollover and it helped because they were each speaking the same language and I didn’t need to be in the middle passing things on.

Good luck!

[DeniseNJ]

So now regular deposits are coming in about 3 days after payday.  But the first $1675 never showed up. I finally got Omni to realize that they have to track down where they sent this money bc Vanguard says they never got it.  Apparently they are working on it. 

Funny, Omni has no problem with me calling for DH--they spill all the beans.  But even Vanguard only asked DH his birthdate, ssn, and address (and the first time dh gave the wrong house number--he was taking a nap).

[cool7hand]

Most institutions have power of attorney forms. They're a pain in the neck, but once you complete them, you'll be able to act as though standing in your spouse's shoes. Sorry this happened!

[volleyballer]

Hey I apologize if this is a thread hijack, but does anyone know how to get Omni / the school district to add Vanguard as a provider? My wife's school district has Omni, and it appears that they offered VG once before, bit it's closed to new applicants.

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[Zamboni]

Okay, I went though a similar ridiculous delay when I moved money a big chuck of money from Edward Jones to Vanguard. I'm fairly sure the delay was really on the Edward Jones end, but they blamed Vanguard (because of course they did.) The money showed up eventually.

You are wasting your time on the phone, most likely. What you need is written correspondence that makes it clear you are a well organized professional. Type up  the dates, missing amounts etc. as well as the dates you spoke to people and the names of the people you spoke with. Remind them that trust is the foundation of the financial services industry, and that you expect them to figure out what has happened to this money and rectify the situation by updating the account. Tell them in the letter that they have 30 days to correct the situation and provide evidence that they have acted in good faith, and that your next step, failing resolution of the issue by them, is to contact the FCA with a formal complaint (or whatever govt agency will fine them . . . try to figure it out and name the right agencies.) Keep it short, to the point, polite, and professional, and send it via Federal Express with signature upon receipt required. Send basically the same letter to each place, but don't let them know that you are holding the other accountable: put the blame squarely on Omni in the letter to them (you claim to have sent the money via ACH, but Vanguard has no record of it, so it is up to you, Omni, to track this down), and put the blame squarely on Vanguard in the letter to them (I have confirmed with Omni that they sent this money on this date, Vanguard, so it is your responsibility to figure out why it's not in my account already.) I'm not kidding.

Then don't think about it for a month. Seriously. See what happens.

If $400K owned by a collection of people really went missing, then that is a class action lawsuit with punitive damages in the making. Nonetheless, they'll all say that they don't know anything about it if you don't send them something trackable in writing. Good luck to you!