GuidelineReviews of guideline.com

I transitioned our existing 401(k) to Guideline in 2019. Originally, things were great. The transition was smooth, the employees were helpful, and the flat monthly fee per participant was competitive. All that changed in 2021 when the company went against their own values/advertising and began charging a monthly fee based on Assets Under Management (AUM). The company claims the decision was in response to customer feedback because it eliminated fees for one-off services, however, my company had never paid a single one of those fees. The new pricing model did nothing but take money away from my employee's retirement and felt like a huge bait-and-switch by Guideline. I have also experienced a decline in customer service. When I first switched to Guideline I could call and speak directly to a customer service representative. Over the course of the last two years that has dropped off and now when I call customer service all I get is a voicemail where I am asked to leave a message. Sometimes they call back... but not quickly. When I moved our 401(k) the decision came down to Guideline vs. Vanguard. Guideline offered access to the Vanguard funds, but with a lower cost for administration so I made the move to Guideline. However, with the new pricing structure based on AUM there is almost no cost difference between Guideline and going directly with Vanguard. I would recommend anyone considering the same choice I had to set up with Vanguard so you don't make the same mistake I did.

In boarding failed to disclose a key change in my plan due to Guideline's limited template capabilities. I was then told my plan would be honored, months later I was told it would not be honored. Your system could not properly calculate my PSP contribution because I was a mid-year transfer. Finally, a manual calculation was performed. Your system shows that I have a compliance issue based on my PSP contribution. It is wrong and no one has fixed your system I have requested it be fixed numerous times; as well as, the compliance update process does not reconcile to the version of my agreement. I have requested numerous times for a reconciliation with no response other than with the first request... "we'll research". At my previous provider I was able to make my PSP contribution in February, but this year I could not until March because Guideline was "not ready" until late February and did not figure out how to properly calculate the PSP amount until just before the corporate tax deadline. Guideline recommended I use one of their integrated payroll companies. I switched to Gusto. This created all kinds of bad information being sent to me from Gusto driven by info they got from Guideline. With Gusto, it now takes me 5-10 times longer to complete my payroll and retirement plan bookkeeping entries.

Very poor customer service. Hardly responsive, gets critical information wrong a lot of the time, and cannot help employees with more than very basic 401k questions.

Significant errors (including withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars from our bank accounts without authorization), terrible follow through, frequently changed account representatives such that issues had to be explained over and over again over a period of time while we waited for problems to be resolved. I would not recommend Guideline to another business owner.

Great if you have a simple payroll and never need customer support. When there is an issue or problem, there is zero support. Guideline have been repeat deducting our business account for canceled payrolls and requests for calls/a response are not being returned. Terrible customer service. Am desperate to stop them randomly debiting our bank account.

I have repeatedly tried to contact the customer service and do not get a response.

Although Guideline initially started off with a mission to eliminate fees on AUM which we strongly believed in, we've been betrayed by the introduction of these fees this year and now it's just like all of the other 401k companies that take advantage of workers everywhere. Guideline should be ashamed of the way it has treated its customers with this horrible bait and switch. At the very least they could allow customers to choose whether to accept fees on AUM or one-time fees for certain services as before. We will move to Vanguard, a company that is owned by and actually cares about its customers, as soon as reasonably possible.

If you are looking for an amateur operation to manage your 401k, then you find the right company. Cleary inept and surly unable to "Guideline" anyone on the right course to staying compliant with their plans. Their success team has what seems to be zero training; after account set up, it's no better. Appointments are missed, communications are poor, and their ability to resolve issues or concerns is nill. They have a slick website, but don't let that fool you - their systems are far from customer-centric and filled with erroneous information. Their upper management is non-responsive to concerns failing even to return phone calls. Don't trust them with your money!!