GuidelineReviews of guideline.com

WOW! The most messed up company I've ever had to deal with. Requested a disbursement from my 401K with them. I cashed the check about 60 days after receipt. The check was denied. I was told it was canceled, not because it had expired (180 days until expiration), but they had no idea why. Meantime, I'm getting over draft fews from my bank. I called Guidelines they assured me the check would be sent overnight at their expense and I would receive Thursday or Friday (it was Wednesday). On Thursday, I called to find the status because for each overdraft I'm being charged $34.00 per day until the funds are in my checking account. Now they tell me the fastest they can do it is a 4 business days but they're going to pay for rush UPS shipping...they won't reimbursement for any overdrafts and I call my bank with them on the phone but the bank will not do me any favors because Guideline messed up. On Friday, I call and I'm told their bank cut the check, sent out via UPS and I would be supplied the tracking code, before they closed, via email. One hour before they close for business I receive an email that it's going to be a least 4 business days - this email was sent by the representative who told me the check was cut! I then called again, was disconnected, sent multiple emails to be sure someone called me before close of business, and I was told they're putting the request on hold until they investigate further...WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not the best sponsor I've ever dealt with. While their support chat is very kind, information given was incomplete and downright wrong on more than one occasion. I'm literally opting out of this 401k and matching from my company to avoid doing business here.

These guys don't support industry-standard ACAT transfers and take 4-6 weeks to send a paper check with distribution. Causing you to miss market moves for a long period of time. Yet they still want to charge a $50 fee for the distribution which is neither timely nor through ACAT. They also ridiculously won't send the distribution check directly to your new custodian and instead require it be mailed to you first, so more time is wasted in the process.

Transfer of 401k a total mess. Taking over 6 months something that should take 30 days tops, they provide wrong instructions on how to transfer that resulted in wasted time. They lost our checks saying they didn't receive them, but we provided proof they received them and then they magically found them days later. Reps can't answer basic questions and seem like total noobs with only basic training. Give timelines they never meet. If you do anything but create a brand new basic 401k from scratch with them you will have a very bad time, NOT RECOMMENDED! They seem in way over their heads. I don't know what kind of mismanagement they have but it's terrible.

My former employer used Guideline for 401k. Had an ok experience until I left the company. They contacted me saying that they were going to start charging me monthly fees to continue to manage my 401k. I found this unacceptable as many competitors do not charge monthly fees. Upon initiating a rollover, I was informed that they charge $50 for a distribution fee, which after consulting Charles Schwab was told is not an "industry standard" as they claim. Disappointing.

Terrible customer experience. Aren't able to handle simple requests. Rollovers are quoted 7-10 business days, but typically take closer to 6 weeks to process. Lack of communication. Don't recommend.

Run (don't walk) away from this company. Guideline is easily the worst vendor or SAAS provider we've ever used. Their employees don't understand 401ks and their customer service is absolutely atrocious. I've been waiting 5 weeks to get an answer on a basic question that my last 401k administrator could have answered on one phone call. And I continually have to explain to their 401k "experts" how 401ks work and the rules and regulations that govern them. Every person I speak with over there sounds confused and uninterested. They're literally clueless and don't know the basics of 401ks. They hired a bunch of young, techie college grads and tried to turn them into financial advisors overnight, and it failed miserably.

Guideline looks like a fintech, slick experience. But when you rollover funds they act like a bank circa 1970. They do not have electronic integration to rollover funds. it has literally been 15 years since I have been through this type of experience.